Depthless Hunger

Their trio had been positioned close to the palanquin, but they couldn't stick too close or they would have been suspicious to anyone watching. Unfortunately, they'd been further away when the demons attacked, so they wouldn't be fast enough to intercept them even at top speed.

That gave Kai time to examine the demons as they attacked the caravan guards. There were three demonic arts users with between 600 and 700 Power, then a true demon with more than 900. She wore the usual black uniform with an added purple cape that trailed behind her. They were all using effective shrouds, so he couldn't pierce through to get more information.

Yet there was something strange about their attack... instead of taking out the guards immediately, which they should have been able to do, they split up. A single demonic arts user began hurling chakra blades, as if trying to take on all six guards herself, while the others gathered together. Two of them generated a bow that looked like it was made of blood and the true demon built up a truly dangerous blood arrow that targeted the palanquin.

It would have struck, and likely torn through, if one of the guard lamias hadn't thrown herself in the way of the arrow. Her body was barely enough to deflect it from the palanquin and she fell dead.

That conflict gave Kai and his allies time to arrive - Kai's fears of a triple-cross were relieved when he saw the demons panic. They retreated from the guards and Kai very nearly caught them all with Baleful Breath.

An instant later the true demon burst through it, her cape wrapped around her like a defensive aura. It was burning away, but it managed to defend her against his breath. He didn't have time to react and she caught him in the chest with a long silver spear.

He would have been grievously injured if Zae Zin Nim hadn't stepped in, knocking the spear aside with one palm and threatening the demon with her other hand. The demon didn't hesitate for a second, spinning the spear in a defensive motion as if prepared to fight them both. They could have taken her with Omilaena, but she seemed to be dealing with the demonic arts users.

Kai fought with Zae Zin Nim and they managed to push the demoness back... yet he still felt a sense of disquiet. She was preparing something, gathering together energy for an attack he hadn't seen yet. It occurred to him that none of her techniques against them had been similar to the initial blood arrow, which had felt more dangerous.

When the demon suddenly manifested a blood spear to match the silver one, Kai realized what it was: a half-phase of her own. Not enough to be instantly lethal like Matiavel, but still extremely dangerous. Anyone, even without phase training, would recognize the threat and hold back.

Unless they had just spent months training with defensive phases. Kai took the blood spear head on and saw the demon's eyes widen in surprise when Kai blunted her blow. The spear shattered against his side and probably broke a rib, but it didn't kill him and he saw the demoness flinch before reacting.

Zae Zin Nim struck the next second with a palm to the stomach that sent the demoness hurtling backward. Kai pushed through the pain and they tried to finish her off, but the demoness was experienced enough to realize she didn't have the advantage and retreated to a safe distance.

As soon as he had a moment to think, Kai glanced over his shoulder. He'd expected Omilaena to have finished off the demonic arts users, but instead she was nowhere to be seen. The other three enemies were creating another joint bow technique, not as powerful as their leader's but still dangerous. Before he could act, the bloody arrow streaked out and tore through the palanquin.

A lamia leapt out of its path just in time. She was one of the largest Kai had seen and definitely powerful, except she had a hideous burn scar across her stomach and the upper part of her tail. None of that meant anything to Kai... but he saw Omilaena watching from a distance and she narrowed her eyes as if something had just been revealed.

"Stop them!" The lamia cried out in a commanding voice and her surviving guards leapt to obey.

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Since nothing he'd seen changed the basic dynamics of the fight, Kai leapt in to try to help the guards, since they didn't have much of a chance. Omilaena got there first, injecting a demonic arts user with a syringe from behind. When she brought him down she looked up to Kai and Zae Zin Nim grimly.

"We have to make this work," she hissed, then leapt off to intercept the true demon.

Kai and Zae Zin Nim attacked the demonic arts users to drive them back. When they took down one in their first strikes, the other fled, racing down the road toward the wilderness.

Except the massive lamia made a gesture first and three tails of earth tore from out of the ground. The first wrapped around the demonic arts user's leg, a second punched through his chest, and a larger third wrapped around his entire body to crush him to death. Clearly this lamia was powerful, yet oddly hesitant...

Suddenly two lamia bodies flew toward her, both decapitated. Despite Omilaena joining in, the true demon had killed off the guards and hurled them toward the lamia they were supposed to be defending. She fell back, coughing painfully as if from some illness. Kai instinctively moved toward her to intercept future attacks.

As he got close, he realized just how large this lamia was. Her tail was much thicker than his chest and her entire body grown proportionately, so her human upper half was half again the size of an average woman. There was nothing about her clothing to mark her as different, but as soon as he got close, Kai realized that he was standing next to someone with real power.

"Don't worry about me," she said between coughs. "Kill the leader!"

There was no sense trying to figure out all the details while there was still a fight going on. Kai and Zae Zin Nim leapt to help Omilaena, who was struggling against the lead demon. Once they joined together the tide turned and they began forcing the demoness back. Even outnumbered, she didn't try to flee.

Somehow the demoness managed to summon another blood spear, humming with a half-phase of destruction. Kai immediately put himself in front of the others, ready to take the blow. When the demoness saw that he'd already partially healed from the previous impact, she narrowed her eyes and hurled the spear like a javelin.

He tried to intercept, but the weapon turned in midair, arcing around them toward the lamia. Kai was too slow to catch up, but Zae Zin Nim flitted in gracefully and kicked it away.

Instantly the demoness was on him again, driving her silver spear toward his heart. Kai just managed to catch the haft, but she pushed forward - the barbs on the shaft of the spear cut his hands and the tip had started to pierce his chest. She wasn't trying to use her half-phase technique anymore, just using raw strength to overpower him.

Omilaena struck from the side, fingernails flashing as they cut the demon's arm multiple times. She tried to pull away with her spear, but Kai manifested claws with the Savage Heart and held on. Using his claws the barbs couldn't cut him, so the demoness had to abandon her weapon to escape.

"Did you get her?" Kai asked as he broke the spear in half over one knee.. The wound in his chest ached and Behemoth's Heart would need time to fully restore it.

"Not quite." Omilaena grimly looked at the demoness, who had fallen back but wasn't overwhelmed by the poison on her fingernails.

"Didn't you study poison phases?" Zae Zin Nim glided in with a frown.

"Understanding the principle isn't the same as doing it in a battle like this! Just don't let her escape."

It didn't look like the demoness had any plans to escape: she'd used the moment's break to form two blood spears, which she now spun around her with unnatural skill. When they moved to fight her, she proved extremely adept at fending off multiple opponents, especially because they couldn't take her blood spears lightly.

Still, she couldn't overwhelm three opponents approaching her strength. Kai focused on using Tyrant's Claw and Baleful Breath to keep her on the defensive, moving and potentially exposing weaknesses. Omilaena managed to hit her in the leg with a needle and the demoness shrugged it off, apparently not even noticing the minor injury.

She should have taken it more seriously. This time Omilaena had successfully compressed her poison to a more powerful phase, so it was working through the demon's body despite all her defenses. By the time she realized that it was harming her, it was too late.

Kai ripped apart one of her spears with Tyrant's Claw, opening her up to Zae Zin Nim's palm strike. The demoness staggered back and fell to one knee. She might not have taken internal injuries, but Kai could feel her weaken as the poison continued spreading through her. When Kai finished her off it was almost a mercy.

All of the lamia guards had died in the fight, leaving only the supposed princess they were supposed to be protecting. She hadn't taken action or attempted to run, simply watching them from beside the destroyed palanquin. When they turned to her, she coughed another time and then spoke.

"Please bring the demons' bodies to me."

"Why should we?" Zae Zin Nim asked. "There's something here that you haven't explained to us."

"You have no idea." Omilaena moved ahead of them and then twirled in an over-elaborate bow that ended with both hands gesturing to the lamia. "You're standing in the presence of the Empress of the Coiled Empire."