The dozen jagged spears of solid void hurtled toward me.
Before I could even target them with a system edit, a blinding crescent of silver-black mana tore through the freezing air.
"Not on my watch!"
The abyssal spears shattered into harmless, evaporating shadows. I spun around, and saw him.
Edric was standing a few yards away. He was breathing heavily, his tattered armor soaked in his own blood, and he was clutching his injured shoulder.
But his pitch-black sclera and glowing silver irises were burning with absolute, unyielding defiance.
"You should be resting," I called out over the crackle of my lightning.
Edric spat a wad of blood onto the ice.
"And let a kid handle this? Not a chance."
The demon slowly lowered its multi-jointed arm, its faceless obsidian mask tilting toward the swordsman.
"Ah," the entity vibrated, a dark, scraping chuckle echoing in our skulls.
"The little broken sword decided to wake up."
