Sally screamed and charged toward the demon.
Karen had removed her hand from Vicente's chest and leaped into the air. She opened two long wings that emerged from her back, and black lightning began to rain down through them.
Sally used both of her ribbons to protect herself. She ran toward a tree and, using it as support, kicked against its rough trunk and launched herself toward the demon hovering in the air.
Vick had jumped and, without any momentum, swung her spear toward the creature. It quickly turned toward Vick and grabbed the tip of the spear with one of its hands, mutilating it, but even so, Vick refused to let go.
The creature swung Vick through the air several times and threw her toward the right side, but Sally appeared above it and created two drills with her ribbons, striking the demon's wings, which it used to protect its body.
"They're harder than stone."
Sally pulled her ribbons back and began moving them around, trying to find an opening in the demon's defenses, but it moved its wings, blocking every attack.
Sally could no longer remain in the air, and when Karen moved toward her with her hand, intending to deliver the same blow she had used against Vicente, Vick placed her spear in front of her and began an aerial clash against the demon.
Vick swung her spear, which was blocked by the woman's mutilated hand and her wings, which began to become "torn," as if they were made of some kind of cloth.
Before hitting the ground, Sally propelled herself upward using the silk ribbons and went after the demon again. She retracted one of the ribbons, making it extremely thin, and threw it toward the demon's back.
Vick delivered a precise kick to the woman's chin, causing her to lose her defense.
Sally's ribbon pierced through the woman's back, creating a hole the size of a melon. But the demon let out an angry growl and spread its wings even farther, charging upward.
"She can go higher than that. This won't work."
Vick landed on the ground, creating a hole with her impact. She gripped the spear with both hands and began striking toward the sky, trying to hit Karen.
Sally charged upward again, using her ribbon to move as if she were walking through the sky.
She retracted the blue ribbon and imbued it with mana, throwing it toward Karen like a fishing line.
Karen had disappeared from the two women's sight, and when Sally realized it, the demon was already behind her. Karen used her mouth and bit Sally's right forearm. Sally screamed, turned around, and kicked the demon in the waist, sending her flying to the side.
Vick ran forward and unleashed a precise burst of energy toward the creature. It used its left wing to block the attack, but in exchange, the wing was torn to pieces.
Sally turned her ribbons into two swords and began delivering slashing attacks toward the demon, which defended itself with its remaining wing while losing altitude and falling as it spun through the air.
Vick jumped once more, and this time she managed to cut off one of the woman's arms in midair. The woman screamed, and a black lightning bolt emerged from beneath her wing, striking Vick in the chest. Vick released her spear and fell to the ground like a meteor.
"VICK!"
Sally screamed, and her eyes turned silver.
"I won't let anyone else die!"
Sally used one of her ribbons as a flying sword and, standing on top of it, used the other ribbon to unleash several heavy attacks that exploded through the air toward Karen.
"How can she withstand so many attacks?"
The two of them fell to the ground, and the demon began firing attacks from her mouth.
A blast of orange mana came out of her torn mouth, and Sally gracefully leaped through the air, dodging the attacks.
She used one of her ribbons to "catch" one of the blasts and, moving with precision, redirected it toward the demon. Karen used her other wing to block it, and that wing was torn apart as well.
Vick appeared from behind, bleeding, and locked her arm around the demon's neck. The creature struggled and began scratching Vick's arm, trying to break free.
"Finish her now, Sally!"
Sally grabbed one of the ribbons and shaped it into a spear.
She concentrated and aimed at the creature's chest.
Vick broke free by punching Karen in the back of the neck and dodged the attack, which struck Karen directly in the center of her chest. She staggered backward as the sandy ground became stained with purplish-red blood.
"GRRRRRRRRR!"
An even louder growl came from the creature, and despite the enormous hole in her chest, she refused to fall.
The creature suddenly exploded forward with incredible speed and reached Sally, striking her with both arms, which were already broken and completely damaged, moving like a zombie.
Sally took the blows without being able to defend herself, but Vick appeared and struck the creature's back with her spear, creating a huge gash that sent blood spraying upward.
"Die, devil!"
Vick unleashed several cutting strikes with her spear using both hands, but the creature took the attacks, its body being mutilated, and continued advancing toward her.
It jumped despite having half of its right shoulder missing and one arm gone, then bit and tried to bite Vick, who defended herself with the shaft of her spear before falling to the ground.
"How can it still have so much strength?"
Vick tried to kick her, but the creature's strength seemed to increase.
"Get away!"
Sally wrapped one of her ribbons around the monster's waist and, with the other shaped like a blade, tore apart the woman's body. Even with her flesh and bones exposed, the creature continued pressing Vick against the ground.
She opened her mouth, and a blast struck Vick's shoulder, tearing away part of her flesh.
The woman screamed and used all her mana to throw the creature backward.
Sally pulled her ribbon back and shaped it into a hammer, striking the demon and sending it flying away.
But the creature quickly propelled itself back up and began running toward Sally, moving its claws, which had now become sharp and extended nearly thirty centimeters from her fingernails. Her arm movements caused beams of red energy to shoot toward the woman.
Sally retracted her ribbons and formed a shield to protect herself, but by the time she realized it, the demon was already standing right in front of her.
Karen's appearance had become even more deformed. Her eyes were completely red and wide open. Her mouth had widened and was filled with sharp yellow teeth. Her ears had become pointed, and her skin had turned a grayish-green color, with small protrusions and bulging veins. The smell was that of burnt sulfur.
As she stopped in front of the woman, the demon roared, causing Sally's ears to bleed.
The woman instinctively retracted her ribbons and fell to her knees, placing her hands over her ears.
Taking advantage of the opening, the creature prepared to slash her with its claws, but when it moved its hands, it seemed as though it had merely cut through the air.
The demon became confused and tried to strike Sally again, but even though she was right in front of it, it could not hurt her.
It was as if it were striking something invisible.
"You were smarter in your human form, and prettier too."
Vicente's voice was heard by the creature, which leaped backward, moving its claws and digging into the ground around it as the gray smoke from its previous attacks began to dissipate.
"I'm not good at fighting, but I'm good at a few tricks. You know, you make do with what you have."
Vicente spoke again, and the creature found itself trapped against the ground, unable to move.
It tried to move one of its legs, but it felt as though it weighed five hundred kilograms.
"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRUUHHHHH!"
The creature's growl was loud enough to make cracks appear in the ground.
But at that moment, Vick appeared and pierced the creature's chest with her spear.
"So you could still use your tricks. Why did you wait so long?"
Vick looked to the side and saw Vicente bleeding as he activated an ability through his gloves.
Vicente was capable of manipulating reality as long as his opponent had come into contact with his blood.
This time, the ability was slower to take effect because he had very little mana left due to his injuries. But after recovering with a regeneration pill, he managed to activate one of his abilities.
It caused the affected opponent to perceive everything in reverse. No matter how much the creature thought it was attacking Sally, it was actually aiming in another direction.
When it thought about moving, it remained still, yet at the same time, it was moving.
The creature tried to move away, but the effect lasted for about three minutes, enough time for Vick to use her spear and pierce all of its organs. But before she could kill it, Vicente stopped Vick.
"What is it?"
Vick looked at the young man, who grabbed her arm.
"She still has that damn curse, and I…"
Vicente was worried that if she died, he might be affected.
"And what do you expect us to do? Are you going to 'freeze' her again? I don't think it would hold her."
Vick was about to pierce the demon's heart, which was barely moving anymore.
"I think there's a chance it won't affect me, considering she transformed. The curse was directed at her as a human. I think that, at this point, she's another creature… But I'm still scared as hell."
Taking a deep breath, Vicente opened his eyes and, using his dagger, cut the demon's neck without hesitation.
"If I'm going to die, it'll be by my own hands."
He watched the head roll and waited with his eyes closed.
"Come on, damn it. If I'm going to die, just kill me already."
Vicente waited, but nothing happened.
"Looks like it's not your time yet."
Sally appeared, panting and covered in dirt.
"You were worried about me, weren't you, babe?"
"As if! You're the one who caused this situation! If you hadn't… slept with her, none of this would have happened."
Sally kicked Vicente in the shin, causing him to fall to the ground and start bleeding again.
"What the hell! I'm dying here and you do this!"
Vicente began rolling around on the ground, making a dramatic scene.
The situation apparently had been resolved, but there was still the question of how Karen had suddenly been transformed into a demon.
"Get up. You just want her to feel sorry for you."
Vick looked at Vicente indifferently, and he made a disappointed face.
"But I almost died, man! I had my chest pierced. If I hadn't dodged at the last second, it would have hit one of my organs."
"You got lucky. Don't give me that bullshit about dodging deliberately."
Sally said this as she extended her hand to help the young man stand, while turning her face slightly away, blushing.
"Haha, you say that, but you know what I'm capable of, Lady Sally."
Vicente took the woman's hand and stood up, looking at Karen's body on the ground.
"She really was a hottie… What a waste…"
"But what do you think happened? Did she make some kind of contract?"
Vick pointed out.
"I don't think that's the case. She really wanted to get out of here. If she had sold her soul to a demon, it wouldn't make any sense. It was probably something related to the curse, or maybe… it was that guy."
Vicente looked at Vick and Sally, and they remembered Omar.
He had been thrown into a portal with Omar, and they barely knew where either of them had ended up—or even whether Omar was still alive.
"But at least, we learned something from this…"
Vicente paused and pulled a flask of wine from his coat. After taking a sip, he looked toward the horizon, where the crystal of that floor could be seen.
"The Central wants to fuck us over."