Sinner System-Chapter 573: Sanctuaries Breached (Part 6)

Point-of-View: Rio Pentand

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Damn it...!

I veered across as a Negative Energy blast came shooting down towards me, slamming onto the ground and erupting, the force knocking me off-balance and sending me stumbling across to my right, before I leapt forward as another blast zipped down, colliding against the spot where I’d been standing.

I tucked and rolled before springing back onto my feet and sprinting forward, glancing back with a grimace as the Archdemon continued to give chase.

Damn it, she’s just toying with me!

I don’t have any ranged attacks in my arsenal, so I can’t attack her while she’s airborne!

"That’s right, run, little rat! Run as fast as you can!" She cackled in amusement, before unleashing a rapid Negative Energy slash towards me.

Shit, I can’t evade it in time-...!

Suddenly, a figure appeared beside me, grabbing my arm before I suddenly found myself atop a building, my eyes widening in bewilderment.

"Oh, Guildmaster Isla! Thank goodness, I-...," I began, a wave of relief washing over me.

"Don’t thank me yet," She responded, keeping a close eye on the Archdemon.

"Ah, another rat comes crawling out, how amusing. Now, [Demonic Art: Vibro-Blade]," Chanted the Archdemon, a blade of dark, intensely vibrating energy forming along her right hand, before she swooped down towards us.

"Drive your blade towards the middle of my body, now!" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Huh? What-...?" I began in confusion.

"NOW!!!"

I thrust my rapier towards her, before she suddenly vanished, the Archdemon appearing in her place.

The Archdemon froze, her eyes widening in alarm before she shuffled across, grimacing as my blade plunged into the right side of her chest, before letting out a snarl and whipping the vibrating blade of energy towards my head.

"[Switch]!"

Suddenly, I found myself behind the Archdemon, who stumbled forward slightly as her blade whizzed across the air, before I sprang back and raised my blade in front of myself defensively as she rapidly spun around and whipped her blade across.

My eyes widened as her blade collided against the middle of mine, coming to a momentary halt before slicing right through my blade and inflicting a deep gash across my left shoulder, eliciting a sharp gasp of pain from me as blood streamed down my chest.

As she began to drive her blade towards my throat, I suddenly found myself behind her as Isla swapped our positions, before teleporting beside me and grabbing my arm, as the Archdemon spun around and slashed at Isla’s head with a snarl.

Isla teleported us to the top of a different building, a deep cut across the right side of her forehead, blood streaming down her face.

"She’s too strong, we’re retreating!" Exclaimed Isla loudly, before rapidly muttering under her breath as she tightened her grip on my arm, "No, we’re not, attack as soon as I teleport."

Wha...?!

I cleared my thoughts and put all my focus into attacking as Isla teleported us behind the Archdemon, before chanting as I drove my broken blade forward...

"[Super Accel Wind Strike]!"

The Archdemon twisted her body across as I drove the blade towards the middle of her back, the blade plunging in and tearing through her flesh, before poking out the left side of her torso as she hissed in pain, narrowly missing her Core.

No, I was so close...!

Isla pulled me back as the Archdemon began to spin around, my blade getting wrenched out of her flesh, before she roared as she lunged towards me.

Isla used Switch to swap our positions with the Archdemon again, before letting go of my arm and vanishing from sight.

"Gotcha."

I quickly spun around, but neither Isla nor the Archdemon were anywhere in sight. Where did...?

As I looked around in bemusement, a few seconds ticking by, Isla suddenly reappeared with a grimace, a deep stab wound through the middle of her left forearm.

"Another one down," She muttered, wiping her sleeve across her brow.

There’s a faint salty scent clinging onto her, as if she went to the beach or something.

"Uh, where exactly did you teleport her?" I inquired curiously.

"A place where we won’t have to worry about her again. Now, then, I need to keep going-...," She began, before collapsing onto her hands and knees, a look of fatigue on her face.

"Maybe you should take a break, ma’am. You look completely exhausted," I remarked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"No, I...I don’t have that luxury. There are so many Monsters, I have to-..."

"I get it, but...if you take a break and regain some energy, you’ll have a higher chance of success against the Monsters you face next. But if you keep pushing yourself in this state, you could end up dead before much longer," I pointed out.

"Well...I suppose you have a point there. I guess...a few minutes couldn’t hurt...," She responded after a brief pause, a reluctant look on her face.

She’s pretty banged up, bleeding all over and trembling in exhaustion and pain...but she’s still determined and unwavering, it’s amazing.

"Oh, here. It’s not much, but I’ve got some water on me, you look like you need it a lot more than I do," I offered, as I took out a water bottle strapped to my belt and handed it to her.

"Thanks, I am pretty parched...mind if I finish the whole thing?" She replied sheepishly, as she opened the bottle.

"Sure, go ahead-...," I began, before trailing off as she guzzled the water down in a matter of seconds.

"Ahh...wow, I really needed that," She sighed in relief, setting the bottle down, before adding, "We can’t afford to lose heart. Even if it very well may be futile, we need to keep fighting till our last breath, if that’s what it comes to.

After all, if we lose this war, we’ll all die anyway. So, if we’re going to die either way, we might as well die fighting. But don’t just assume that our defeat is set in stone. We’ll keep fighting under the assumption that Kai, Aria and the others succeed in killing the Demon Lord."

"Yeah, I guess that’s all we can do, given the-...," I began with a nod.

"Alright, looks like the break’s over. We’ve got incoming," She remarked, hopping back onto her feet, as a group of four Greater Demons came into sight, making a beeline towards us...