You could say Ryan's reaction was impulsive.

 

 

 

Ryan reached out, grabbed, and tightened his grip on Omnilord's neck, simultaneously winding up his other hand to deliver a lethal punch. Unlike his previous impulsive strike, Ryan infused the blow with immense power and speed, even enhancing his knuckles with an ice spike to penetrate any defenses the demon might have ready. As the punch sped toward its target, The Omnilord swiftly reacted, catching Ryan's fist with his offhand. The ice spike shattered into fragments that scattered in a burst that knocked Charity off her feet. The impact unleashed a powerful pressure wave, leaving everyone in the room staggering from its force. Both the Omnilord and Ryan felt the impact ripple through their clothing and hair as they were pushed back from the epicenter of the collision. Only the fact that the Omnilord was holding onto Ryan's fist kept them from flying apart. The deafening boom that followed seemed more a result of the Omnilord's activated defenses than solely from the punch's strength, though it was challenging to discern the exact cause amidst the chaos.

 

With his free hand, Omnilord pointed to the ceiling. The ward that coated every surface of the room flared with an ominous red glare, "Ah-ah-Ahh! Do you really wanna push this?" Ryan's eyes darted left and right, then refocused on Omnilord's shadowy face. The Omnilord smirked then commented, "So I guess what you are thinking is something along the lines of, 'Can I kill him fast enough to stop him from doing whatever it is that he's got hidden up his sleeve?'"

 

Ryan's lips pressed together to form a thin white line as he forced all the blood from them.

 

He said nothing.

 

Omnilord reached down and grasped Ryan's hand that was at his neck, slowly pulling it away. Ryan's face looked more than a little surprised at the difference in strength, "The answer would be, 'No' by the way."

 

Ryan abruptly pushed off of Omnilord and stood slightly crouched in a battle stance, his eyes playing over Omnilord looking for any possible weakness.

 

Charity finally found the courage to speak as she got back on her feet, "I didn't lie!" She pointed at Ryan, "I gave him all my potions!"

 

Omnilord looked at Charity, "I didn't ask if you gave him all your potions. I asked if you gave him all your vials." Omnilord pointed at the back of his head as he looked pointedly at the bun that Charity had her hair tied up in, "You missed one." Charity's hand flew to the top of her head as her eyes went wide. Omnilord continued in a pained voice like he was almost sad to continue, "A... very important vial I might add."

 

Pricilla's eyes were wide as her hands flew to her mouth in surprise. The prince looked at her and asked, "What?"

 

Pricilla ignored him and stepped towards Ryan, "Whatever he says-" A bolt of red energy exploded at Pricilla's feat that came from the ward itself. Omnilord's form grew by half a foot as he yelled, "DON'T INTERRUPT!" Pricilla held up her arms, covering herself in a protective white glow to ward off any further lightning strikes. Ryan's eyes narrowed at this. He looked up at the ceiling, then slowly down at Omnilord.

 

The Omnilord shrugged, "She had her chance. It's my turn." The Omnilord turned to Charity, "So, What do you keep hidden in your hair?"

 

Charity closed her eyes and swallowed before she replied, "Belcher's tincture." She opened her eyes as she continued, looking right at the Omnilord, "It is known to be a rather effective poison against demons."

 

She looked at Ryan directly, "And before he asks, yes. I have it in case I have to-" Her voice faltered as she found it difficult to continue.

 

Ryan's face was impassive as he completed her sentence, "...Kill me."

 

Omnilord started to step towards Charity when Ryan rushed her, letting go of the vials in his hands in the process. They scattered about the floor as he moved. He grabbed her by the throat and shoved her backward all the way across the room to slam her into the wall. She struggled and beat them against Ryan's arm, but he ignored her weak blows as he gave her a simple command, "Hand it to me."

 

Omnilord looked rather surprised at this particular turn of events and just stood there, watching the drama unfold. Charity reached up and pulled out the two needles holding her hair in place. It only took a moment for her to fish out the vial she had hidden in there. Ryan let go of Charity's throat and grabbed the vial in the process. She dropped to the floor, falling to her knees before Ryan, "Reed-"

 

Ryan pulled out his ka-bar and held it to Charity's throat as he overshadowed her with his body, pushing her against the wall. Ryan leaned in close taking up Charity's whole world. Omnilord leaned to the side to try and get a better view as he saw Ryan holding up something to Charity's face. Ryan fiddled around a bit and with a flick of his thumb, the cap of a vial flew off to the side and skipped along the floor.

 

Charity looked rather confused, "Ryan. I don't under-"

 

Ryan said softly, "Shut up and drink it." Charity looked down, then up at Ryan again. Ryan just nodded once. Charity, with a shaking hand, reached up and took the small vial, tossing it back.

 

As soon as she swallowed it, Ryan shoved himself away from the wall to walk away and stand next to the Omnilord without looking back. Ryan just stood there, his blade by his side, shoulders hunched, face blank. Omnilord looked from Ryan to Charity and back again, before catching out of the corner of his eye the moment Charity keeled forward, landing face-first on the floor.

 

Pricilla screamed.

 

Omnilord covered his mouth with his hand as his eyebrows went so high as to actually leave his face and hover over his head by a good foot, "HOLY CRAP! That-!" He looked at Ryan, "DUDE! That was COLD!" He turned back to stare at Charity, "That's not to say she didn't have it coming but-"

 

He was cut short when Ryan drove his blade deep inside Omnilord's chest.

 

Omnilord paused then looked down at the knife buried hilt deep into where his heart should be, "Reed." He looked up at Ryan, "Seriously?" He raised his hands flat toward Ryan, "I get it. You're mad. First of all, don't blame the messenger. Second-" He pointed down at the blade, "A knife? You think that's going to do anything?"

 

Ryan shrugged, "The knife? No." He gave it a sharp twist causing cracks to start to radiate out from the point of entry like a dam starting to break, "The poison I put on the blade? That's another story."

 

Omnilord's eyes went wide with realization. He looked over at Charity who was sitting up and holding the empty vial of healing potion she had drank instead of the poison. A poison that Ryan applied to his blade while it was held to Charity's throat as she knelt before him.

 

Charity took a moment to smirk and wiggle the empty vial in the Omnilord's direction.

 

Ryan smirked and was about to say something when Omnilord casually tossed a handful of white powder into Ryan's face. Ryan started to cough and gag while The Omnilord looked down at the dagger sticking out of his chest, "You fucker." He grinned up at Ryan, "Oh you got me! You got me-" Then frowned, "Oh crap."

 

Lilith moved forward to grab Ryan but he held up a hand to keep her at bay while the white powder subsided. Ryan continued to hold his throat as he staggered, eventually collapsing down on all fours.

 

Omnilord turned to Lilith with a look of concern but seemed to be talking at Ryan, "No... No no no, you'd never forgive me for that, would you?" The cracks in his chest started to spread at an accelerated rate as The Omnilord reached out with three silvery liquid-metal arms. It seemed to be taking all his remaining strength to grab Monique, Lilith, and Charity. With a fourth arm, he lashed out at the main double doors and smashed them open. As the doors shattered, the ward flared briefly but remained intact.

 

Ryan looked panicked as he struggled to stand, but the powder seemed to have taken all his strength. He could do nothing as he watched those three get yanked and hurled through the air...

 

And right out the main entrance to tumble into a heap outside the ward at the bottom of the steps. A silvery substance coated all three of them which seemed to be what allowed them to pass through the ward, but whatever it was, it evaporated off of them in a matter of seconds. The prince decided to make his move and leaped through the air to drive his sword into The Omnilord. This last blow reduced the Omnilord to a pile of shattered mirrors.

 

Somehow the pile still had a face and was still talking.

 

"Whew! That was close!" The pile shifted to 'look' at Ryan, "I know, sooner or later, you'll forgive me for making you kill everyone in this room. But I know you'd never forgive me for THAT."

 

Ryan slowly drew himself up. His skin started to turn red and harden. His shoulders grew. His arms elongated as long, crystalline ice-claws formed on his hands. His teeth started to sharpen as twin horns sprouted from his forehead. He leaped for the shattered pile of glass and loomed over it. When Ryan spoke, his voice sounded like he'd smoked a pack a day for a decade while gargling gravel for a living.

 

"What. Did. You. DO?"

 

The pile of still disintegrating glass grinned up at Ryan, "Well, you killed my Mirror Golem. You didn't think there wouldn't be consequences, did you?" It chuckled, "It took a while to put it together, but I realized if I suppress your conjuration and aura cores, your demonic core will take over and you'll rampage. My little ace in the hole."

 

Ryan seemed to finally notice that his body was changing. He looked at his clawed hands with a growing sense of horrific realization. The Omnilord continued speaking in a light-hearted and conversational tone, "But right after I drugged you, I realized you'll kill EVERYONE, including your harem!" The pile of glass looked relieved as a pseudopod of shards 'wiped' its 'forehead', "WHEH! Glad I figured that out in time! I mean, if I made you murder your fuck buddies, you'd-"

 

Wings sprouted out of Ryan's back as he lifted his hands into the air and balled them into fists. With a howl of pain, he brought the fists down on the pile of glass, pounding it over and over until it finally went silent. He let out a short, animalistic-like snort.

 

"They are NOT my fuck buddies."

 

The prince raised his sword to cut down Ryan from behind, but Pricilla grabbed his sword arm to stop him, "NO!"

 

The Prince looked at Pricilla, "Are you insane? You heard the Omnilord! Reed's going to rampage and kill everyone!"

 

Pricilla grabbed the prince by the collar, "AND NONE OF US CAN DEFEAT HIM!" She pushed the prince away, causing him to stagger back with a shocked look on his face.

 

While speaking to the room, Pricilla turned away from Ryan, "I know what's going on! If we attack him, it'll just get worse! We need to keep him calm!" She turned back to Ryan and reached out to touch him on the shoulder, "Violence just makes him stronger."

 

Ryan pulled away and seemed to be fighting some internal battle that was reflected by his transforming exterior. It was like three different beings were inside one body trying to get out. He scrambled his way over to the main entrance. The ward flared as he hit it with his shoulder, but showed no sign of breaking. On the other side, Monique was the first to recover. She was up the stairs and hitting the other side of the ward with her fists. She stopped when Ryan put his clawed hand against the ward and stared right at her.

 

Charity rushed up to the ward from the other side and pressed her hand on it opposite Ryan's. The ward vibrated at the point of contact as she cried out, "I AM SO SORRY!" Her face was contorted with regret as she looked wildly around, hoping to come up with some way to bring it down. She jumped away when Ryan punched the ward where her hand rested.

 

"ENOUGH!" Ryan was barely containing his rage, "No time for a pity party!" He pointed at the three through the ward, "Go to my lab! The back room where I keep the dangerous shit! Get the box labeled BETTY!" Ryan let out a shuddering sound like some ancient lizard letting out a low, hungry chitter. He shook his head in an attempt to regain his senses, "Pass phrase is, 'Isn't Lilith's smile lovely?'"

 

Lilith blinked, "What?"

 

Ryan howled, "LATER!" He pounded the ward with a gigantic red fist, "BRING BETTY! HURRY!" Monique, ever the professional, just nodded, "On it." She called back as she broke into a run, "Fall behind, get left behind!" Charity turned to follow, rushing after Monique. Lilith was the last to leave, giving Ryan a lingering look. Ryan just stared back as he could hear Reed inside his head, ~He was right, you know.~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~I would have hounded him to the end of the world if he made me kill Lilith.~