Chapter 94 - Soul Edge PT3

PANT

PANT

PANT

'… I went out expecting to have some research done… I did not see this coming…'

Things didn't look too good for them, and IF knew it.

The Brunette currently, knelt on one knee, with her right arm completely gone, her Biomass being used to regenerate it while her Tendrils would support Stefan who was busy engaging the Butcher with MAGES. taking to the rear, opting to buff the man as best she could. The Butcher had done a successful job in slicing off her arm, she mused with the thickest of sarcasm she could muster. It had stunned her, and the sole man of the group other than Nico had taken it upon himself to be the distraction for her while she regenerated. If course, far be it for er to remain idle while her comrades were fighting for their lives, hence why she was supporting with her Tendrils.

Still though, this didn't change the facts.

A truth that, like cough medicine for adults, IF found hard to swallow.

The Butcher didn't seem to be letting up on its attacks, not one bit. Not only did it do a good job of keeping them close to it with it's hook, but the strikes that it's large Axe made dodging its wide swings just that more difficult. It swung in wide arcs, and covered a lot of ground. Her Tendrils, of which she now had the full 12 out and ready to strike at any moment, weren't of much help directly, but they'd been useful in both deflecting the Hook, as well as pulling her comrades out of the line of fire. Especially when it charged, and her comrades found themselves on sections of the platform that were seconds away from erupting into flames.

Not to mention it liked to either A: Charge at them when they were boxed in, forcing her to grab them and pull the others out of the line of fire. This one was the easier of the creature's tactics to handle, save for when multiple sections activated and the number of places IF could deposit them with her Tentacles became even more limited. That was when it became more of an annoyance, too. Fortunately, her body had developed a strong fire resistance thanks to so much exposure to heat (that bit with the coat helped a ton, too) so she could stand to be a little less careful than before, but she'd rather not lose any more Biomass to those flames thank you very much.

Then there was B: where it would launch it's Hook at them, only to have it split mid-flight and grab onto them, bringing them all in for a strike from its Axe. THAT one was a tactic it pulled more often, and it was so goddamn annoying! It must have had some form of enhancement or something cause every time it did that, IF found herself dazed and unable to do anything until just a millisecond before the Axe would cleave them in two. Thank god her Tendrils were strong enough to grab the Axe's Shaft, therefore stopping its momentum before it could bisect them. Stefan would then attack using CRUSADER'S WRATH or any other of his Holy-based Skills, delivering some sweet, sweet karma.

Last, but not least… was its right leg.

IF's eyes narrowed into slits as she glared at the offending limb, as if it had done some great injustice against her personally, and in reality, it pretty much had. It had been what had destroyed her right arm after all, as well as drained a significant portion of her Biomass, the 'how' of that scenario being lost on her. While the leg didn't look anything special, it was what was attached to its leg that had the most significance, the most reason for her to hate so much. That something, was a bone. A leg bone to be more precise, a Boar's leg bone. She knew her anatomy, she had to with how her powers relied on biology.

During the battle they had, it had just appeared there from nothing, clinging to the creature's leg like a child would when it's parent/guardian it was scared. The Bone had this glowing white aura around it, an aura that contrasted quite significantly with the reddish tint of the Butcher's skin. It almost seemed… celestial, like it was an object of divine origin. Though, she quickly discarded that thought since something like that wouldn't be caught dead having a Demon, especially one like the Butcher, as it's wielder. Even if it were the case, then it mustn't have happened naturally. Though, whatever it was, it's appearance wasn't as important as what it apparently could DO.

Whenever it's glow would intensify, IF would feel like something important was leaving her body, absorbed into the bone then transferred over to the Butcher, which would roar in delight and newfound power, while IF herself would feel like she had expended all her stamina at once. She didn't know why that was so, but in all honesty, she didn't care. That bone was a NASTY piece of work, especially for biological targets like her.

'Whatever that bone is… ngh… I have to make sure we defeat this thing before it get's a chance to be used again… otherwise we're all in deep shit…'

Soon, she found her energy returning with how her arm had fully regenerated, and so IF began to try and stand on her own two feet again. Her form shook visibly at first, her legs almost buckling under the surprising and sudden shift in weight pressed onto them. However, IF did it, she managed to get into a standing position although she stumbled about at first. The sudden loss of power she had earlier at the hand's of that leg bone did more to her than she initially thought. Still though, now that she'd gotten herself back onto her feet, she could move on to destroying that Butcher.

Her newly regenerated arm morphed once more, becoming her Tentacles that she sent towards the Butcher. Said Demon roared as it swung it's Axe, knocking them aside for IF to grimace, reflexively reacting by having 1 Tentacle wrap around the limb holding the axe. With a large roar, IF lifted the Tentacle upwards, pulling the Butcher up into the air with it as the rest of the Tentacles circled around for a repeat performance. She gave them the mental command to attack while the Butcher dangled helplessly in the air, scratching and biting at the Tentacle to try and free itself. The brunette winced, teeth gnashing together while this happened, refusing to let the creature go.

Eventually, she got all the Tentacles around her opponent, fully restraining it's limbs before angling it so it's back faced the iron platform, then she slammed the Butcher into it with all the force she could muster. She then threw it forth towards a wall, in which it righted itself in mid air and bounced off it, flying straight towards her once more. IF however, refused to allow that to happen as she launched her Tentacles in it's direction. It evaded each of them by angling itself so they would pass by it, before throwing it's hook at her. IF responded by flinging her remaining hand in it's direction, sending a wave of super-heated Biomass to deflect the Hook away from her, then launched more super-heated Biomass into it's face to send it to the platform.

Recalling her Tentacles, IF got them ready for the next round. Even with how her blood melted away at the demon's flesh, none of her instincts told her that it was dead, it wouldn't have gone down from something like that. Not when they ad once tried putting it in the Lava where it had just bounced straight back with a messed up body, only to layer itself in Hellfire and look as good as new.

"Guys!" IF yelled, glancing over to MAGES. and Stefan while she had the chance. "I'll hold it off, you guys leave this to me!" she ordered. Right now, she was probably their best bet in taking this fucker down aside from Stefan. Stefan would be needed to keep MAGES. from harms way should she fall however, which was why she decided to go at this on her own. Stefan's lack of argument against her proved to her that he knew what she had been thinking. His holy element made him much more valuable as a defense for MAGES., as it could seriously damage the Butcher. If they could get in a good opening, maybe then could he strike the fatal blow.

For now, though, IF had to deal with this asshole herself.

Gritting her teeth beneath her armor's Mask, IF launched her Tentacles again. This time though, the Butcher didn't make the same mistake twice, not wanting to go through what it had done before. Instead, it threw it's hook and split it, each one impaling each Tentacle and pinning them to the ground. IF however, responded by morphing her free hand into her Whip, launching it in a diagonal sweep that carved a diagonal slash across its chest. the Butcher roared, stumbling back and recalling it's hook to set free the woman's Tentacles.

Morphing her limbs into dual claws, IF pumped her legs full of Biomass, and in a second she had closed the distance between her and the Butcher. Obviously, this caught the creature completely off guard, evident by the open jaw and the 'what the heck?' like expression on it's face before she delivered a fierce slash upwards through it's chest, sprouting her Tendrils to impale it further. She morphed her Claws into dual Tentacles to impale it even more, ripping through its flesh in a violent, gory manner.

The Butcher stumbled backwards close to the edge, numerous holes and lacerations across its form that made it look incredibly weak. Though, to the brunette BOW that wouldn't be the case for she could sense it's power. It still had a lot left, most of t having come from her and the others thanks to that nasty bone. Hell, IF almost felt like banging her head against the walls of this damned Chamber when she saw it's aura flare while demonic power would repair the wounds she'd caused.

It definitely sucked, having such an opponent.

'Still though, like the Herald this thing has to have a limit as to how much it can regenerate...' IF thought, readying her Tentacles. Her Tendrils receded into her at this point, since she didn't need them right now. 'It may have more reserves than the Herald, but it's basically the same formula. Stefan, once he get's a shot in, can definitely force it to expend more energy on regeneration, and in that moment I can get some good damage in. Maybe even a few mutations along the way, who knows with these powers of mine?'

Her thoughts soon halted when she saw the Butcher already coming down on her with an Axe strike to her head. She bunched her Tentacles in front of her to block it, finding that thanks to them she had a much easier time in holding the Axe off. Turned out her Tentacles must have the strongest affinity with demonic power or something, maybe they were becoming her best anti demon weapons? They HAD been impaling Demons and Demonic Cultists a lot, her Claws and Axammers falling behind them.

Detaching two Tentacles from the bundle, IF had them strike with the force of a jackhammer into the Butcher's stomach, knocking the wind out of it while a third one smacked it in the top of it's head, smacking it into the Platform. She then had all her 12 Tentacles slam into the Butcher, sending it tumbling away from her until she went and launched 2 of them, 1 from each arm. They wrapped around one of it's legs each, the right leg having a stronger grip so it couldn't use the bone-at least that was what she hoped. "Since you liked the last aerial trip, how about another?!" IF yelled, smirking beneath her armor's Mask, lifting the Butcher into the air and smacking it into the ground multiple times, before tossing it straight into a wall. She didn't let up though, and launched more Tentacle stabs in it's direction, refusing to relent until she had at least pumped it's body full of holes.

The Butcher growled again, pain laced through it's muscles as the bone once again glowed brightly, IF groaning when she felt more of her power leave her.

'Ugh! Shit!'

The little extra power went straight into the Butcher's healing, helping it regenerate it's body from all the damage she had done to it, and launch itself above her head and then into a downward diagonal angle from her rear flank like a jet airplane... an airplane that would smash her into tiny pieces way more than what a normal jet airplane would.

"IF!"

Like in those famous action hero movies, everything slowed to a crawl, each action looking like they were leaving afterimages of themselves with their motions. and Stefan called out to her, each of them making to move in and intercept. The former raised her Staff for a Magic Spell, and the Later raised Ashbringer while pumping holy energy out like a water hose. However, neither of them would make it in time, and deep down the two just knew that. So did IF with her initiated fight response triggered, even as she twirled around to strike with her Tentacles, something told her that she wouldn't get out of this one unscathed. Even so, one lunged forth towards the incoming axe, both attacks generating their own headwinds with their own relevant forces acting on each other, which would likely result in another shockwave that would send everything flying. The brunette remained transfixed while twisting about to put as much force into the next blow as possible. Hopefully her regeneration would still be working after that last little bit of leeching, otherwise she'd be in deep shit.

Just as the Butcher's Axe was swung to her head...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A huge, flaming SOMETHING crashed into the center of the platform like a meteor crashing into the earth, sending rippling shockwaves through both it and the surrounding air without mercy and with great force. Stefan and MAGES. stumbled about like headless chickens, desperately trying to retain their balance from the sudden shockwaves that ripped through the metal platform. How in the hell had this place not fallen apart yet? Whelp, maybe they should count their lucky stars, cause if it did they'd be in so much shit. On a more humiliating note, Stefan became the one to fall first, falling flat on his backside with a loud THUD while MAGES. barely managed to jab the bottom end of her staff into the Platform, and used THAT as a means to support herself. Though, she almost fell over herself regardless, such was the power these shockwaves generated. She could almost feel the entire underground dungeon trembling in response to this power. To Stefan's credit (and gratitude) she didn't bother commenting about it, instead favoring looking over to the source of the shockwaves.

The Butcher on the other hand, got sent flying away from the brunette without causing any injury, leaving it to fall flat on its bloated ass instantly, but let's not talk about that.

IF meanwhile, she'd used her Tentacles for balance, jabbing them into the platform to stabilize herself. Though, her eyes glistened when she felt something the moment she impaled her Tentacles into the damn thing. Strange, why did the platform feel… off? Like a machine hat had instantaneously lost one of it's pieces or something along those lines. Her instincts told her that this new arrival had something to do with that, but meh. She shook her head, that wasn't Important right now, whatever the source of those flames however, was. Whatever had been ballsy enough to interrupt them had not only done that, but probably saved the remainder of IF's Biomass from getting skewered.

Looking into the flames, IF saw a figure kneeling in the middle of the flames, a figure that, as time passed, she soon began to recognize. Her eyes widened in shock, disbelief and slight exaggeration as a wry smirk tugged at her lips. Recognition flashed though her being as she released an exasperated sigh from her lips, one human right hand on her hip. 'Heh, you sure took your sweet time, huh…?' she couldn't help but comment in her mind.

Finally, the figure stood tall, levitating till he hovered just above the ground before raising an arm and swiping horizontally, dispersing the flames instantly. Remnants of them could be seen as floating embers that fell down towards the iron of the Platform, but they soon got forgotten about as everyone's attention focused on the figure's form. To MAGES. and Stefan, the figure was someone that they had never seen before, and thus didn't feel too eager to trust him. Not when his power felt just like that of the Butcher's, only much greater in scale and potency.

But to the Brunette BOW however, it felt like the return of an old friend.

Floating before them, clad in his signature orangish red armour…

Was the DPU of Gamindustri: Crimson Soul.

The waves of power she could sense, the way that his body's aura flickered like a dangerous flame, the way his eyes, crimson red with those demonic power button symbols in them, sent waves of nostalgia through her system, making IF exhale sharply. Man, how long had it been since Nico had went DDD? Honestly, IF had at one point, expected him to try and transform sooner, but maybe he didn't want to aggravate his unstable powers. Yeah, that felt right, especially with what he told them after Neptune's little… stunt (She still felt anger at Neptune for that one, but the reasoning felt different in comparison). As long as she had known him, Nico had always shown himself to be a cautious individual, especially when information about his powers was concerned. She couldn't blame him, either, not with what she knew about him, yet it made sense why he would have mixed feelings about using those powers again after going bonkers like he did before. Was it just her, or did Nico have a habit of going berserk a lot?

Whelp, no need to think about that, let's go greet the guy for now, shall we?

With that, the brown-haired woman began striding over to Crimson Soul, whom looked to be examining himself like he was a completely different person.

… Huh.

So, this was a thing.

That was the sole thought that ran through his mind as Crimson Soul looked at himself, starting with his hands and then to the rest of his body. The sight of his gauntlets instead of the black sleeves of his human self's Trench Coat both baffled and relieved him, among other emotions. Emotions that his DPU side suppressed mostly, but he could still feel them. Even more baffling was the power that flowed through him like an overflowing flood, power he had long since forgotten about.

It felt like his demonic energy reserves back in human form, however this time it felt much more powerful. It still kept it's orangish red colours, however when he experimented by producing a ball of Hellfire, it appeared with black and red colouring, just like with the Defiler. In his mind, Crimson Soul realised something, the battle with the Defiler might be the last time he'd used this power and got to fight with it. Wow… the author made him so OP in human form that his DPU Form got neglected, huh?

Wait, what?

Anyways, back to observing himself.

One thing he noticed though, was Soul Edge. It apparently had changed back to it's sword form when he transformed, but not the same form he remembered using in his human form. No, this form… it was EXACTLY like the one that his Berserker Mode wielded, no, it WAS that form it took back then. The size, shape, teeth, everything. Not only that, but the way that it floated before him, it's hilt reaching his chest level, made him feel slightly cautious of the blade. Especially with how much power it radiated, which practically looked like this hazy fog, or a veil concealing it from view... while also keeping those unworthy away from it by warning them with it's presence alone. It was like it was saying 'you get near me and you'll suffer for it, bitch.' Just looking at the blade made Crimson Soul feel like he was beings tared at by a thousand hungry Wolves, all ready to pounce on him at any moment of opportunity.

Nevertheless, not once did he feel threatened by the sword, not when he was it's rightful master. He knew this, it knew this, which was why when he reached for the sword's hilt, Soul Edge's aura peeled away like a set of curtains prepping way for a play in a theatre. The man's gauntlet clad hand grasped at the hilt, the hand's digits wrapping around it to send a wave of nostalgia through him. Crimson Soul's weapon may look different, but it's core feel hadn't changed one bit. No words could describe the joy that filled his being, enough for Crimson Soul to let out a wry smirk on his lips. It felt REAL GOOD to grasp this blade the way it was right now, he didn't really understand why but it just did. It felt like he was reuniting with a long-lost friend who had been reportedly killed in a previous battle. The fact that he could feel the joyous emotions through Soul Edge via their soul link only added on to these feelings.

Once he grasped the blade's grip, Crimson Soul held it in a horizontal position before raising it to the ceiling… and bringing it down. The resulting slash created a massive energy trail composed of pure demonic power, running through the wall in a clean cut. After the energy dispersed seconds later, there was nothing left of where it had touched, like it had all but disintegrated into nothingness. There was now a gap in the platform shaped like a Gash, but one that reached the walls on the other side. Hell, Crimson Soul even noted how, though temporarily, the magma below looked like it had been split apart by the swing alone.

'Hmmm… it appears Soul Edge's true form has significantly more power than what initially expected… despite its other form in my human state having enough power to use the majority of it's abilities, the difference in power scaling is obvious.' The DPU thought while looking over to the Blade he wielded. He could feel Soul Edge cackling like a demented psychopath inside their link, the blade's form shaking slightly in his hand. That was just a normal swing of Soul Edge in it's true form, and it had blown through the building like warm tofu. If THAT was what happened with a normal swing, what would happen if he were to, well… amped up the power a bit?

Honestly, Crimson Soul's warrior instincts were screaming at him to try testing it out.

The sounds of boots meeting metal reached his ears, making Crimson Soul look to the source to see IF walking up to him. The male arched a brow at this development, but nonetheless relaxed in her presence. His human self's fondness towards her had been enough to carry over to his DPU side, a great indicator of how much he valued her company and as a person. "Greetings, IF." Crimson Soul greeted curtly, nodding towards her while lifting Soul Edge's true form and holding it at his side while he turned to face her. "It is relieving to see that you are unharmed."

The Butcher, which had gotten up from its former position on the ground, didn't use many of its few brain cells to notice the danger that was present in that male, and thus tried to attack him by throwing it's Hook in his Direction. However, it didn't seem like the DPU saw this as much of a threat, judging by the lack of tension in his shoulders Instead, Soul Edge instantly transformed itself, melting into it's formless mass state and reforming all in a matter of a nanosecond, into a new form Crimson Soul could use.

A form that he used to deflect the Hook away from him.

It looked to be shaped like a traditional Longbow, but with demonic flesh for the base, a string shaped like that of a human's entrails, and multiple eyes along the base, each one glancing about in random directions before they focused upon the Butcher. The older version of Nico swiftly pulled the string backwards, the Bow forming a crimson, wicked looking demonic Harpoon-like Arrow as he did so. In the next moment, the arrow was coated in black and red Hellfire, before being launched with the speed and force of a Tank main gun shell.

The bow's Arrow flew true, hitting the Butcher before it could do anything. Or rather, it just stood there intending to take it, thinking that the arrow would just bounce harmlessly off it's hide like any other attack that had landed on it ever since this fight first began. The arrow hit dead centre, and the creature curved it's lips upwards as best it could to mimic a mocking smirk, thinking the attack failed… only to soon realise in a particularly PAINFUL manner that it had been oh so wrong, for when it struck the arrow made the creature bend forwards more than what it's body should allow, gasps that released a mix of saliva and blood leaving it's maw as it got sent flying into the closed gate behind it. The Butcher fell to the ground, and Crimson Soul shot more arrows to destroy the walls above it, burying the monster in pile of debris.

Turning back to IF, whose face now had that comical look of shock to it now that he had dispersed the enemy which they had spent so long fighting for a while, Crimson Soul tilted his head to the side, a look of confusion on what could be seen of his face thanks to his helmet. Though, like a certain Nurse-In-Training, a question marked popped up beside his head repeatedly, giving him the look of a demonic yet innocent child who didn't understand why people were looking at him funny. "What? Why do you look so surprised?"

"Uhhhhh, geez, I don't know." IF retorted with a snarky undertone, a hand on her hip as she pointed behind him to where the Butcher lay. "Maybe because you just practically one-shot something me and the others have been busting our asses off to beat?" She suggested, though to Crimson Soul, it sounded more like a statement than anything else. He also detected a mix of incredulity, exasperation, annoyance and a slight tad of amusement deep down, though he didn't know what would be so amusing about this situation, especially with how she was looking at him right now.

This caused the transformed teen to raise a brow with a hum in his throat. Was that the reason why she seemed so annoyed? Wait, no, that wasn't right. Now that he looked more closely, Crimson Soul noted that the level of annoyance he could see wasn't as bad as he first expected, still big but not as bad as he thought. Glancing over to the downed Butcher for a moment, the DPU turned his head back to her and eyed her with his crimson eyes. If he had actual irises instead of power button symbols, then they would have carried the curious/confused gleam in them much better. "It is not down yet, I may have caught it by surprise, but it is not dead yet." he told her.

IF merely blinked, her ire with how he'd taken her kill (ire not anger, considering he just gave her a whole load of satisfaction seeing the look on it's face when it's defences wouldn't hold), fading away faster than N# M#a S#y's player base. She'd thought he'd killed it just then, so why was he saying that it was still alive? Before she could question it however, her ears twitched as her enhanced hearing picked something up within the debris. A weakened, yet still stable thumping sound… a heartbeat. Her eyes hardened, it looked like the Butcher still lived. "Now that you say that, I can hear it's heartbeat. That thing Just won't give up." She remarked while morphing her arms into dual claws, her armour glimmering menacingly while she replaced her Tendrils for her Wings.

"I have a plan of attack that we can use." Crimson Soul stated, getting her attention. He then gestured to MAGES. and Stefan whom had walked up to join them, seeing as how the new arrival was actually talking to them and not trying to cleave them apart with that blade of his. "Ma-no, MAGES. In your arsenal of spells, there should be a teleportation Spell for emergency travel, am I correct?"

The blue haired Mage nodded, her eyes narrowing in suspicion as she wondered what he was thinking. However, that wasn't the only thing on her mind at the moment, as her eyes ran over Crimson Soul's form. "You… I recognize you from somewhere. Your energy feels familiar to me…" she muttered, frowning. Her eyes then widened in surprise when she figured it out by looking at the blade Crimson Soul wielded, or to be more specific the facial features that it possessed which reminded her of the sword a certain someone used before. "By any chance, would you be the Spec Ops Agent DEATHSTROKE?"

Stefan became bug eyed at the Mad Magician, his jaw unhinged thanks to her words while Crimson Soul nodded his head at her. "Indeed, although in this form I go by Crimson Soul. The time for explanations will come later, do you or do you not have an ability like the one I theorized?" he asked her once more. In hindsight, Crimson Soul should have expected this from her, by his reckoning this would be the first time that she had seen him in this state, since he'd never transformed in front of her before. Tekken probably wouldn't have known about it since he transformed back when they last met after she got knocked out, and Stefan would be a 'no brainer' as kids would call it. Still. Though, they would have to wait for the answers, since they were still in the middle of enemy territory.

It seemed that MAGES. and Stefan also realised this, for they too shut their mouths and adopted serious looks once more, the mad magician nodding in response. "I do. However, it takes time to prepare, and the maximum distance isn't all that great."

"Will it take us out of this Dungeon?"

"It should, but I will be exhausted afterwards."

"That is fine. We'll buy you some time, you focus on the Spell."

With those orders given, Mages jumped to the edge of the Platform and began chanting the runic language while holding her Staff horizontally in front of her. A Series of magic circles appeared before and around her, signalling the beginning of the Spell. Looking to the rest of them, Crimson Soul raised his weapon and pointed to the debris. "Once the enemy is back on it's feet, it will do all it can to end us, we must not let that happen. Fight as if you were fighting for your life, and you will survive." He told them, getting firm nods from IF and Stefan, although the latter still held some form of unease around him. Crimson Soul ignored this for the moment, however, focusing more on their survival than anything else.

"Say, what do we do about the platform? It randomly combusts, you know."

"It will do that no longer, I smashed it with demonic power that destroyed the Wards responsible for that annoyance with my landing. We will be fine without it. In the meantime, focus, the enemy is coming."

It turned out Crimson Soul had been right, for right after he said those words, the Butcher roared in fury as it burst out the debris, looking absolutely livid as it yelled out through the top of it's lungs: "WILL! DEVOUR! MEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTT!" it's roar shook the entire chamber with how loud it was, and IF barely shut down her hearing in time so that her eardrums wouldn't shatter from the sheer volume. Only when it stopped, and she figured this out from how it's mouth closed, did she re-activate her eardrums. Manipulation of Biology could be so helpful at times.

Wordlessly however, Crimson Soul struck first, reshaping his wings into several long arms that lunged forwards, intent on grabbing the Butcher. However, the DPU narrowed his eyes when he noticed that the leg bone around it's leg seemed to shine brighter than normal for a brief moment, and instantly afterwards felt his energy leave his body. 'Ugh…! What the…?!'

'Looks like that bone functions as some form of leech, giving the energy it absorbs from it's wielder's opponents to empower the wielder from what I can see. I am unable to ascertain the nature of that bone however, but I can say that it is indeed nor normal.'

Biko explained this while IF ran past him, yelling while looking behind at him. "No good dude, that bone seems to absorb our powers and add it to this bastard's own!" after yelling that, she and Stefan closed in from multiple sides, the former bearing her claws out for all to see before she dashed forth like a blur, cutting into the creature's hide with multiple claw swings and using her wings to block it's Axe from cleaving her in two. She pushed upwards, and the Butcher was forced back.

This allowed Stefan to jog up to it and unleash a CRUSADER STRIKE on it's exposed belly. The man dashed forth and stopped behind it, the Butcher stumbling backwards while it's wound sizzled from the holy energy imbued into the strike. Stefan refused to let up though, as he twisted on his feet and ran back towards it, dodging the Hook it threw at him by ducking and sliding into a TEMPLAR'S VERDICT, landing repeated slashes on his opponent before ending in a reverse spinning slash.

His actions enraged the Butcher, the holy energy filling it with a searing pain that it refused to let go unpunished. Turning towards him, the creature snarled like a wild animal on a blind rage. It raised it's Axe and tried to smash him, only for Stefan to use a HAMMER OF JUSTICE Skill attack on it's head, knocking it into a dazed state long enough for him to get away. That time frame however, lasted only a few seconds before it regained it's bearings, but that would be enough for Crimson Soul to resume his offensive.

"INFERNITY EDGE!"

Crimson Soul's sword became engulfed in Hellfire as he slashed across the Butcher's arm, making it explode right after. The creature roared in pain, clutching it's burning arm in intense agony while it stumbled about, but the DPU wasn't finished yet. He spun around, having the Hellfire enlarge Soul Edge's size before he brought it down, intent on cleaving the Butcher in two.

However, the creature barely reacted in time, and managed to roll off to the side, getting back onto it's feet after a few roles. The Butcher growled and glared hatefully at him, it's arm erupting into it's own Hellfire. To Crimson Soul's surprise, both flames cancelled each other out, resulting in their vanishing to reveal It's horribly singed right arm. Looked like it would take some time to recover, he theorized, but soon after he found that theory to became wrong when it pushed past the pain and gripped it's Axe, throwing it's Hook in his direction. Crimson Soul had his Wings form a Shell in front of him, blocking the Hook from hitting him as he flicked his Tail in it's direction, launching shrapnel shaped segments from it's body into the Butcher's flesh.

Unlike before with Soul Edge's Bow and Arrow however, the segments merely bounced off it's damaged hide. Still hurt since some of them flew true and dug into its wounds, but the others had no such luck. To him, it reminded the DPU of a tiger still having some juice left after fighting a vicious foe. 'It looks like it's hide still has some quality in it's armour. I will have to expose those chinks more if I wish to bring this beast down.' He thought, switching Soul Edge into an Axe form all it's own.

The Axe form of Soul Edge manifested as a two-handed Axe with two blades on its end, each blade sporting double ends. The blunt sides of the blades were fleshy like the other transformations this blade had, with metallic edges and 1 eye each at the base of the blades. The shaft was crimson red and chitinous.

He could sense that there were additional forms that his weapon could take, which begged the question: just how versatile could this sword be?

No matter, they had a battle to win, and the more options they had, the better.

Holding Soul Edge in Axe form, Crimson Soul dashed forwards and swung at it's head, hoping to cleave it from it's shoulders. He expected it to try and dodge it, so he could twist around into an overhead strike, but what he did NOT expect was for it to shoulder rush him, knocking him to the ground. Crimson Soul refused to stay lying down however, morphing his Wings into 20 Tendrils that whacked the creature away from him along with his prehensile Tail, while making makeshift supports to push him back onto his feet. They morphed back to normal afterwards, though.

'It seems that some debuffing is in order. Normally I wouldn't resort to something like that, however it will serve to buy us more time for MAGES. to ready her spell.' Crimson Soul thought, raising Soul Edge and holding it in a Japanese sword stance. The Blade released a single pulse-like sound from within it's mass, the teeth almost shifting as if they were alive. "SCORCHING AURA!"

Immediately, changes could be seen and felt throughout the battlefield. Soul Edge brandished a fierce crimson glow around itself as a show of intimidation where its power radiated from it like a thick miasma of disease. This sight did it's work, drawing the Butcher's gaze to its form like a magnet and forcing the image of its eye on it in to The Butcher's mind. The effects became visible quickly, with how it's energy seemed to lower in intensity, as did it's bloodlust and tense muscles.

This was one of Soul Edge's debuff-based powers. According to what it told him, this ability apparently lowered it's target's attack power and mobility, thanks to it's form intimidating them enough to make them second guess themselves. Obviously, this wouldn't have worked on beings with powerful wills, the stronger the target's willpower the lesser the impact the effects had.

Not something Crimson Soul liked to use, however he would do so if it would buy time for his comrades.

Once again, the DPU morphed his Soul Edge into another one of it's forms: that being a freaking Beyblade. The Beyblade form manifested as a purely metallic 8-bladed Beyblade, with the blunt sides being a demonic red with the edges being silver. They form in layers of 2, and rotate in different directions for better cutting power. All the while, IF had charged in and distracted the Butcher with a series of strikes from her claws, mixing in some Skill attacks like DEMON FLAMES and LA DELPHINUS. In all honesty, Crimson Soul had almost forgotten about those abilities, it had been a while since their last use after all. Guess she saw that flames and light attacks were more effective than physical ones.

"IF, get back!"

His cry made her eyes widen as she quickly followed his instructions, jumping back from the Butcher when I swing it's Hook to try and cleave her in two. Just as it did though, Crimson Soul tossed the Beyblade form of Soul Edge towards his foe. As it flew true towards it's target, Crimson Soul's eyes became glued to the weapon, especially when he noticed the atmosphere around it… bend, for lack of a better word. Like, it was rotating so fast that it was bending the space around it.

In the next instance, the Beyblade met with the creature's demonic Axe, swung with it's horribly charred limb. The two weapons collided with each other, sending rippling shockwaves through the air while blowing away the Magma below into the walls. They briefly competed for dominance, with the Axe and Beyblade pushing against each other in their battle for dominance. Because of the creature's earlier wound however, the Axe fell short, and the Beyblade finally broke through it's defences, shattering the Axe while it severed the creature's arm at the stump quickly after.

"Grooooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

The Butcher let out a shrill shriek while clutching it's stump as best it could, nearly falling onto it's ass with how unbalance it became. It only barely stopped itself, though blood constantly poured free from it's socket like a waterfall, despite the hand clutching over it with a Hook in it's grip.

Crimson Soul frowned while making a hand gesture, the Beyblade form of Soul Edge coming back around in a circular arch for another pass at the Butcher. With it's lack of an arm, the creature's threat level had decreased drastically, but it would not be defeated so easily. He'd be a fool to think otherwise as he made a twisting gesture with his wrist. The moment he did so, the Beyblade suddenly split apart, becoming 4 single separate Beyblades that struck it from both it's left and right flanks. He noticed that they weren't bending space like they were before, so the cost of this must be rotating power.

Good to know.

Broken.

That was the sole thought the brunette and Ostermark Leader had on the sword's abilities as they watched it's wielder recall the small Beyblades and reform them back into it's true form.

"… Alright, I must admit, that Sword is OP." Stefan muttered from his spot on the platform. He'd been waiting for his opportunity to strike, close by to MAGES., while casting LIGHT FLASH on himself as well as the Mad Magician to raise their energy reserves. Though, that opportunity so far never really came thanks to Soul Edge practically wrecking that thing's shit. 'Though, if I were honest, I'd rather it be me and IF curb stomping this thing, but we can't argue with results, now can we?'

IF rolled her eyes as she reared her right arm back, transforming it into her Tentacles. "Welcome to our world, pal. It sucks doesn't it?" she remarked smartly, before throwing her Tentacles forwards. They lunged through the air like flying serpents, impaling the Butcher through the wounds on it's hide with no regard for subtlety, tearing through flesh and bone with their built-up thrusting power.

The Bone on it's leg once again shined however, and this time IF, Stefan, and Crimson Soul felt their energy leaving their bodies into the Bone. The bone then transferred that energy to the Butcher, which gave a loud outcry as it's wounds healed over, growing a new arm as well as restoring it's Axe to it's full power. The Butcher growled viciously at them afterwards, its small eyes gleaming with bloodlust as it threw it's Hook at them. The Hook once again split into multiple, intending to drag them into the Butcher's grasp. However, Crimson Soul recovered faster, and made a horizontal slash with Soul Edge, releasing a wave of Hellfire in it's direction. The creature had to jump high into the air to dodge the wave, before it came back down for a body slam on top of the DPU.

Said DPU scowled as he reared Soul Edge back and swung it like a golf club, smacking the creature away from him and sending it tumbling across the platform. The sight of a grown ass man, swinging his sword to strike something well beyond his size and weight… didn't really do logic any favours, but hey, since when did this world follow conventional logic?

Still though…

"That bone is extremely irritating…" Crimson Soul muttered under his breath, glaring at the leg bone with distaste with his crimson eyes. That thing had taken a lot out of his comrades, about 60% of their total reserves. It wouldn't be too surprising if they start to feel the effects soon, however on his side it had only taken 20% of his total energy reserves, so he could afford to keep going. It seemed to not only take energy from them though, but also apply it to the user and enhance their regeneration capabilities. That was the only reason he could think of to how the Butcher could heal itself so quickly. Its demonic powers seemed to focus more on the manipulation of Hellfire than anything, too, so it's capacity to heal if taking the Spirit Bone out of the equation, would be sub-par compared to other Demonic deities.

This healing must also extend to the weapons it wielded, considering how the energy reformed it's broken Axe. That was something he hadn't expected to see, as according to IF, the demons she fought only healed their own injuries with their energies, not their weapons. If they were indeed damaged in a fight, Crimson Soul felt like they would use the torment of the Souls trapped within their demonic weapons to repair them.

Even so, they still had a plan to achieve.

Though… he wouldn't be part of it.

Looking over to MAGES., the DPU shouted over to her when he noticed how brightly the magic Circles were glowing. According to his limited knowledge on Wards supplied by Biko, that meant that the spells had been supplied with plenty of sufficient Mana for it to operate. "Is the spell ready yet?"

"Indeed! Just waiting on you guys!" she replied, twirling er Staff and getting into a stance. She held a hand over her face like a chuni would, before nodding over to Crimson Soul to state that she was indeed ready to activate the Spell.

Taking that as a sign as it was intended, the DPU nodded before he raised Sul Edge and flung a Hellfire Fireball towards the Butcher, which quickly rolled to the side to dodge it. However, that only served to distract it long enough for him to activate one of Soul Edge's powers: the power of telekinesis. Before, Crimson Soul could only manipulate Soul Edge with his mind, making it attack by itself while he focused on other abilities. Now though, he just KNEW there was something else to this power, something that got proven right when he commanded Soul Edge to do his will.

The sword obeyed, before emitting a strange red aura, unlike that of which it formed before.

Instantly, IF and Stefan got surrounded by this red aura, an aura which lifted them off the ground (inciting some surprised sounds from the two) before moving them towards MAGES. position at high speeds. "Hey, what the?!" he heard the brunette exclaim, but he didn't give her an answer. The owner of the sword quickly glanced to MAGES., and the Mad Magician took that as a sign to do what must be done.

"Hey, what are you-?!"

IF tried to say something again when her feet touched the ground, however the Mad Magician's Spell kicked in as they all vanished out of existence, like a faint blip on a radar.

Leaving the two demonic entities alone in the Chamber of Suffering.

Like a switch had been flipped, Soul Edge suddenly began releasing an extraordinary amount of power from deep within, while it's wielder turned back towards the Butcher with a look of murder shining in his eyes. His comrades were gone, and more importantly, out of harms way. He'd fulfilled his pledge to them on his honor as DEATHSTROKE, now to finish this fucker off.

"Alright, it is time, foolish foe… time to meet your maker."