Ed and Revel continued to fight.
They were distracted by a sound.
"Haha, hahahahah! Fear not, for the hero has finally arrived!"
"What?" Ed asked, before the man jumped off the roof he was standing atop.
"You don't seem to be one of us. Therefore, you must be an enemy. Enemies are all evil for me to exterminate. So hurry up and fall before the legendary hero, Gale!"
"This… is definitely weird, right?" Ed asked Revel, who nodded. "Who even makes entrances from high up places like that? Just walk in normally, weirdo."
Revel continued to nod.
Gale unsheathed his sword and swung at them. They were briefly confused as he swung from so far away he couldn't possibly reach them, before a beam of light tore through the ground, forcing them to dodge.
"Hahahahah, hahaha! Now you understand my power! The bane of all evil, the hero's light!"
Ed didn't have time to get into character in response. More beams of light followed, barely targeting him and Revel but having such a wide area of effect that it didn't matter.
A completely overpowering and unbalanced destructive force was their opponent.
More attacks followed, barely missing them.
Revel flew upwards, Ed on his back. More beams of light followed them, before he dived down. A beam of light hit his wing causing him to fall from the air, but not before throwing Ed off, towards Gale.
Ed landed, rolling.
"At this distance, there's no way for either of us to miss. Meaning I've only got this one attack."
He stabbed with all his force. It went through Gale's stomach.
A cry of pain, but that was all. Ed looked up, seeing the hero's face regain focus and shift to a disgusted expression. For the first time since he had begun fighting, the man's voice lowered.
"How dare you actually wound me? You truly are the worst of villains. You and your demonic companion shall receive a fitting punishment."
Gale knocked him back with a quick beam of light, piercing his shoulder. Ed landed where Revel had landed. They both watched as the hero raised his sword over his shoulders. He prepared an attack that looked like like it would easily destroy part of the entire castle and, without a doubt, the two of them alongside it.
"To you, who is unfit to live. To you, who should've never existed to begin with. I shall grant you the disappearance you've earned."
"Aren't you just full of yourself?" Ed thought, trying to work out what to do.
His thoughts went back, for some reason.
"It's not like you're wrong though. I'd even say I agree. I shouldn't have existed from the start."
That was all they wanted. For him to disappear. From the very start, he wasn't something others wanted to exist.
"...But. I don't care about that. I wouldn't be a demon lord if I cared about what others wanted. I'm going to keep living for my own selfish reasons."
He looked to Revel.
"And for that, I need you, you know?"
Revel squawked. Ed had no idea if that was affirming or denying what he asked, but Revel appeared ready to go.
They pulled each other up and started running again.
"So you can still stand!?" Gale asked, still building the attack.
"We've only got a few seconds before he attacks. I don't think we've got the time and space to dodge. I know I thought this last time, but this time all I've really got is this one attack!"
The space had to be closed in less than a handful of a seconds. Revel was unable to make it in time, his legs had been injured earlier. Ed looked back. A plan was thought of in an instant.
There were only a few metres between them and the target. Ed raised his blade. Revel breathed fire, coating the weapon with flame.
Ed stepped forwards.
"I am hope! On that battlefield, that was what was we lacked the most! I am what humanity requires! Why do you continue to oppose me!?"
Gale brought his blade down. Ed ducked, but it still burnt his shoulders. In less than a second, it looked like it would swallow him and Revel up.
"I don't need hope!"
He swung at the same target he did before.
"All I need is hellfire!"
The demon lord slashed across the hero's chest with the blade coated in flame. Gale was knocked back, passing out instantly. The light that threatened to destroy them vanished.
Ed tried to return his breathing to normal, but just collapsed backwards instead.
Revel stumbled over to him.
"Looks like… evil won this time, huh?"
Another squawk.
Revel pulled him up and the two slowly advanced further into the ruins, with no one to rely on but each other.
TO BE CONTINUED