Each dash forward she made, with every step on the ground she gained 8 meters, each one being spaced out by around a second each. For a demon of her degree, a trivial speed to maintain. Within a couple seconds she was already near the old man, and readied her weapon to strike swiftly, slicing through his neck with tremendous force.

And cotton spilled out. Heaps of cotton falling out of the body, deflating it.

"Boo!" the old man jumped up from a bush to the side. "Missed me?" 

She rolled her eyes, knowing that he was stalling. A demon on full strength should have no issue casting humans, holy or not, into the very depths of hell they came from... however that is no excuse for negligence.

'He may be mere prey, but it's prey that can bite.'

The man clasped his hands in prayer as he took out a cross, a feared symbol amongst weaker demons. A white light radiated off of the man's body and cross, piercing the darkness of the night, and only getting brighter by the second.

"Scared of death?" she said as she gazed in the man's eyes.

But in a showcase of tranquility, he shrugged his shoulders. "Who lives and dies, it shall be as it may."

She stepped forward as her skin itched in the harsh light. An unseeable force was trying to push her back. But the man gestured for her to come closer, knowing such a powerless deterrence would be futile.

She found it an amusing performance, backing her into the spotlight like this. She almost found it a shame that such a man will face his demise in a couple seconds.

The man must have thought the same thing, as his eyes drooped and he spoke an inhuman tongue. In a gesture of respect, she spoke her native demonic language in return, for a final spell.

She itching turned into a burning sensation as she was only a couple dozen or so feet away from him, nearly enough to speak face to face. She could see the light slowly being concentrated into the cross. Without any care in the world she marched on.

"Alkanam vi delore, picore em sutul."

With a last cryptic that the cross rapidly absorbed all the light surrounding them. She became blinded as she was encased in darkness, and she knew that this was the time to strike. She dashed with all her strength forward and to the left, and threw her blade where the old man stood...

...and heard a yell of pain.

But the light didn't return. The man still had control over his weapon. If she was to beat him she would need to sense his movements, but this has only ended in failure.

Truly, she had never expected this fool to try and trick her again. Not only that, but gamble his life on it as well.

If he tries to escape, the negative aura will escape too, and she will be able to see. If he tries to attack, he would never be able to see if it hits. If he shoots the accumulated light, he will be defenseless after it either hits or misses... and if he does nothing, his cross will discharge that same power erratically.

So what was his plan? Was there a trick that she had missed?

… and then it hit her. all this time, he knew exactly where he was. And she figured out the reason, one so blindingly obvious it could pierce the darkness around her.

The aura, the smell of a demon. It was there, even if it was faint. A man that was keen on sensing a demon could theoretically have trained to sense it. Someone who would be very, very experienced with the demonic; A crusader.

But someone of that power scale would have the very same weakness. One may tare into the abyss, but the abyss will stare back.

A tiny, tiny flicker. Near imperceptible to the human eye, she noticed it. He was trying to go behind her.

She whispered the last word of her demonic spell as she could see that very same light suddenly halt. One of the three human responses to threat; Fight, Flee or Freeze.

She had him.

With pinpoint accuracy she flung herself to that light, causing it to jump all over as the man she was about to kill became panicked. And only a millisecond later, she forced a hellish darkfire onto the man that had tricked her so many times. The man had no time to scream or squeal, for he had ceased to exist, and only pieces of matter remained.

The cross leaked out light, as the surroundings suddenly became more visible. A dark, muddy goop remained of what was once his organs, melting into nothingness as if encased in lava.

dark flames flickered on some that were still somewhat intact. his lungs, his skin, all slowly burning up. The fight was over, but the sights shall forever be burned into those that will see the spectacle it caused as morning rises. All that remained for her was to quickly flee before she could be seen, and return to the man who gave her this opportunity for revenge, Yasou.

She charged towards her new safehouse, silent and quick as the wind, while faintly wondering if the old man in hell is cursing her for his anticlimactic death.