Physical weapons might not be able to hurt the creatures, but I had a way of making my blows into something more. I drew both the Sundered Heart Sword and the Depthless Dream Trident. Wielding one weapon in each hand, I closed my eyes and let the power flow through me—fire into the sword and water into the trident. It only look a little Vigor to imbue the weapons with elemental energy, but it was all I’d need.
When I opened my eyes, my arms were surrounded by circles of red and blue energy as the Vigor manifested around my body. Flames danced along the Sundered Heart, and ice crackled on the prongs of the Depthless Dream.
While the initiates kept using Ground Strikes to counter one flank of the demon attack, I turned to face another. With magic flowing through both weapons and Yono and Nydarth cheering inside my mind, I leaped into the midst of the demons.
As the first of the demons appeared in my path, I swung the Sundered Heart. The sword sliced through the creature’s neck, and its head went flying to land far away amid its foul brethren. The body remained upright for a long moment, then toppled and fell to the ground, oozing black blood.
Two demons turned to face me, both carrying curved and rusted swords. When one of them swung, I caught the blow with my sword, and sparks flew. With a flick of the wrist, I knocked the demon’s blade aside, then stabbed it in the chest with the trident. It laughed as the prongs hit; then its eyes went wide as blood seeped from the wounds and ice spread out across its body.
The second demon swung its weapon at me. I pivoted on the spot, used the trident to drag the wounded monster around, and put it in the way of the blow. The rusty sword buried itself in red flesh covered with patches of fur and scales. The fire died in the wounded demon’s eyes, and it fell to the ground, taking its comrade’s sword with it. I yanked the trident free, then stabbed the remaining demon with both weapons. Fire flashed across one side of its body and ice across the other before it collapsed in a charred and dampened mess.
My success drew the attention of the other demons. They charged at me from every direction as I strode deeper into their midst, lashing out to right and left with my weapons. Bodies dropped as the monsters, which a moment ago had thought themselves immune, were shocked to discover that human weapons could work on them—if they were the right human weapons. I considered using an Acid Cloud but refrained; an area of effect skill like that would require far too much Vigor.
A demon landed on my back, wrapped its legs about my waist, and dug into my shoulders with its barbed claws. I thrust the Sundered Heart over my right shoulder, trying to stab it in the head. It swung left, so I jabbed over that shoulder with the trident and got lucky. Ice-cold steel sank into demon flesh, the pressure around my waist vanished, and it fell to the ground.
Pain flared in my shoulder where the demon had dug in. If I was going to be able to fight the cultists, I couldn’t be walking around with a massive gash. The sun was high in the sky, and I used its energy to power sap magic. A patch of Sunlight Ichor appeared, a healing amber balm that settled on my skin and soaked up the sunshine, turning it into healing power. The pain began to ease, and with it the red marks on my flesh.
That had been too close. If the demon had been armed, I could have ended up with a sword thrust through my shoulder. I was using too much Vigor already, but I needed better protection if I was going to keep wading into these horrors.
I dug deeper into my reserves and called forth Frozen Armor. Water seeped out through my flesh and across my skin, where it crackled and froze into place, forming armor plates all across my body, from jointed feet to sturdy pauldrons on my shoulders. Aside from my head, I was completely encased in armor so perfectly fitting that movements were as smooth as they had ever been.
Another demon lunged at me, grabbed my arm, and bit down hard. Teeth shattered against the armor, and the creature shrieked with fury. I sliced its head off with a clean blow from my flaming sword.
Now, I was in the very center of the demons that had come over the barricade, drawing as many as I could away from my allies and onto me. For now, they were where I wanted them to be. The creatures attacked wildly, almost blindly, with little thought to either tactics or the skills of combat. Against that, I used all the martial arts that I had learned back on Earth and everything I had added since coming to the Seven Realms. I ducked and weaved, dodged and turned, stabbed and sliced as I sent bodies tumbling all around me. Demons raked across my armor with their claws but couldn’t get through. Those with weapons smashed gouges out of the ice, only for me to refill the holes. I decided then that it wouldn’t matter whether I had enough Vigor to face the cultists if everyone around me died.
I focused on pouring energy along my acid channels, and released an Acid Cloud in a nova around me. The demons closest to me squealed like gutted pigs as their flesh melted from their bones. They clawed their way past the others to get away.
With a little more room to
