It was like being complete again, after going so long without realizing something was missing.

How had she forgotten this? Why had she settled for such an inferior substitute as a mere saber, when she had been aching for this all along?

She had her dear old friend in her hand and a beast before her. Not an undeserving target, not people who were simply different and living their lives quietly, a beast who had hurt her mother for petty, selfish reasons. She knew what to do.

With no distractions from ogres, both hands free, she attacked, the twinbladed weapon in her hands twirling unceasingly into a spinning wheel of blades as she hacked at its legs and cut upwards at its belly, staying beneath it to keep from being targeted. Occasionally it would stomp at her, but that just left its sole ground-bound leg vulnerable, and it would inevitable stagger as it couldn't support itself on a leg she was relentlessly cutting apart. Blood fly, covering her with a new layer of wetness.

It would try to leap, whether to gain distance or to come strike at her with all the power of its descending weight, but every time it did, Maria sent a beam of watery, blood-like darkness lancing upward at it, staggering it in midair and sending it crashing painfully into the ground, to be met with Maria's own plunging leap as she showed it how things should be done.

The Dark Magic wielder had tried to blind her again once. Maria had swept a beam of watery, blood-like darkness towards her location, and the obstruction had vanished. She had seen their back as they'd run away, their paper bag of jam rolls forgotten, but Maria had been unable to pursue. She still had a beast to kill.

She was the aggressor now, charging at the beast with all her fury as it roared its anger and rage at her. It tried to throw and swing trees at her, but she slid and rolled around and under them, always coming closer, her blades seeking its end. It had tried to grab her, its thin, elongated arm with long, curved claws sweeping and swatting at her as if she were an insect. She disabused it of that notion as she sheered its claw at the wrist in a shower of fire and blood. As it staggered, she leapt, coming down to tear at its torso, leaving a rent in its dark flesh that had it howling.

It roared in pain, and charged her, throwing its whole body at her, left arm upraised as like a hammer.

Maria quickened to the left and tore at the thing's mutilated right arm, almost dancing with smooth, arcing movements. The thing screamed as what was left of its right arm fell, cleaved through at the shoulder. It clutched at the stump rolling in agony on the ground, and for the first since all this began, Maria heard a frantic note enter its rage.

It was music to a hunter's ears.

Its stomach convulsed and it retched. Liquid fire, like burning stomach acid, was spat at her, wood and stone hissing as heat and unnatural corrosion did their work, but Maria avoided it, letting the burning trees that had been shattered and spread by their fight take the brunt. It kept retching, it's flabby torso jiggling with every heave as Maria tore at its right leg.

The retch became a brief, gurgling cry, and it started coughing, as if momentarily choking on its own ejecta, even as it twisted to bat at her. Maria merely kept tearing at it, as it had no right arm to strike her with.

Stumbling sideways, it tried to kick at her with its leg despite its burning wounds, but Maria merely rolled under them and closed in, slicing at its belly and pelvis, the pure black twinblade with its faint corona of white whirling in her hands, light as air.

It roared once more as it flailed, trying to roll away from her, it's remaining arm grabbing burt burning tree trunks, ogre corpses, anything it could throw at her as it tried to scramble away, tried to gain space. Maria let a small, dark smile grace her lips.

Finally, its roar was filled with fear.

Finally, it tried to run.

With nowhere to go, it charge downslope, slamming into trees, falling and stumbling as it tried to get away, falling towards the lake. Maria pursued it relentlessly, running and leaping to keep up, not needing to be slowed down by trees it she had to plow through.

Finally, with a crash and a splash, it reached the lake. Immediately, the water boiled and steam hissed as its body heat met the cold water. All around it, the trees that it had destroyed and slid and fell, some tumbling into the water. Giant crabs, small and large basilisks, and even a few ogres that had not been touch by dark magic. They converged on the beast, too stupid to realize it was too big for them to fight, and were either boiled or smashed by its panicked throes as Maria climbed cautiously down the slow, in case there was anything the beast hadn't drawn.

The beast, panicked at the water, flailed and lost its footing, its crimson eyes darting about frantically through the steam that rose from its body. It saw Maria and grabbed one of the trees, but between it's uncertain footing, the resistance of the water and not having adapted to having lost it's right arm, it threw poorly.

Off to the side, Maria could see the town of Hinderstap some distance away, could faintly hear the town's bell ringing, as if mournfully calling the town's heroes from their untended graves to rise up in defense.

Raising her twinblade before her, Maria pulled its halves apart. She grasped the weapons, linked by the faintest, immaterial wisp of dark smoke, and charged at the beast.

Roaring, anger, fear, pain and panic mixing into desperation, the beast grabbed one of the logs floating next to it, heaving the it out of the embrace of the water awkwardly.

That move cost it precious time, for Maria was already upon it, stepping on the floating timbers, launching herself into the air with a spin and descending to slam both blades into the beast's face. She felt an infinitesimal drain on her Dark Magic as the impact exploded with burning dark fire and cutting clouds of black droplets. The blade in her right tore through the hinge of the jaw, and it's cries took on a strange wable with new notes of pain as its mouth flopped, detached on one side. The blade in her left hand plunged into an eye, putting out the crimson gaze, and she expertly hooked her grip, the point of the blade scraping the beast's skull to give her leverage to leap off gracefully a moment before the remaining arm slammed into the face, clawing at it, as if that would make the pain go away, and only screaming louder as it ripped its own jaw off.

Maria landed on another log, rolling to bleed off the force of her fall before leaping off again to keep from falling as the beast's throes made the footing unstable. Snapping the blades back together, she once more raised the weapon next to her head. Darkness swirled around it like a miasma, the Dark Magic rising, as she let the power build.

With a cry, she let loose, a stream of black, watery energy and dark fire erupting from her blade. It slammed into the right leg, already injured, causing it to stagger and collapse.

Maria lunged.

She seemed to fly over all the obstructions in her path, her blade elongating as it slammed into the beast's head, erupting out the other side only to slam into its body again and into its ribcage. Ripping off the short blade, Maria slashed backhanded, ripping through the exposed throat and tearing off the head completely.

For a moment, the beast wavered. Then…

A tree at night…

A woman, digging a hole, covered in blood…

A man lying face-down, his back covered in blood and stab wounds…

"You're mine now… mine forever… that whore won't have you ever again…. At last… we're together… my love…"

A woman, laughing madly as she low on a mound of fresh-turned earth under a tree a night…

Maria blinked, feeling strangely invigorated as the beast fell, slamming into the water as she leapt high, spinning and landing with great force in the shallows. An immature basilisk stared at her, then wisely ran as quick as a crystal lizard.

Behind her, the beast's flames finally die, smothered by the deep, dark water.

Estella Almera, The Covetous Demon of Hatred
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Lady Maria Campbell, Wielder of Light and Darkness
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PREY SLAUGHTERED

DARK MAGIC RESTORED

+2100 Souls

Achievement Unlocked: A Beast Slayer Once More
Defeated The Covetous Demon of Hatred

Dark Soul of the Covetous Demon of Hatred
Soul of the Covetous Demon of Hatred, who longed for who it did not have and grew hateful as a result, consumed by wrath, bloodlust and envy.

There was once a woman whose deep obsession was unrequited, and so she stole what she wanted, trying to claim victory in death and a secret grave. She transformed into the Covetous Demon of Hatred, only to be put down like the beast she had become.

Yet all this was borne of an act of kindness to an injured girl traveling alone.