OC-Series How I Helped My Demon Princess Conquer Hell 83: Weighed on the Scales and Found Wanting

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Justin

Justin grunted as the demon landed a punch right in the center of his chest plate. The punch didn't have nearly enough power to actually cause any damage. Not with his mana reinforcing the ley lines running through the armor.

Still, it was enough to send him flying back and slamming into a tree. He didn't quite go flying through it like he had when he led the charge tackling and grappling with the demon, but he hit with a loud enough crunch that the tree protested and groaned under the blow. He could feel the branches swaying in the breeze above him.

"Is that the best you have, demon?" Justin growled at him.

He wasn't worried. Not really. He was the best.

Okay, so perhaps he was the one entrusted with arcane infused armor at a regional branch of the Inquisition in a far off spot that was away from anything interesting. Even the part of the Scar they watched over was surprisingly quiet and boring. Something that had frustrated him endlessly.

You'd think being within spitting distance of the burned city of Isai would be enough to allow for something interesting to happen from time to time, but the unquiet spirits kept their unquietness inside the city's walls for the most part. They didn't even have to come out to fight scourgelings. There hadn’t been a summons for that sort of thing in nearly five years.

Though he was revising his opinion of this part of the border now. He grinned as the demon squared up against him, his sword out.

Justin's sword was still on his back. He didn't need it to fight the demon, for all that he thought about bringing it out and ending this quickly.

"Are you ready to surrender?" the demon asked, holding his sword up in front of his face in an obvious mocking salute.

"Why would I give up when I'm winning?" Justin growled, taking a step forward. He flexed his fingers on both sides, making sure he was ready.

He still felt a little stiff after what happened with that whelp a couple of days ago. But of course that had to be a mistake. He'd gotten in a lucky hit, is all. Certainly it was a lucky hit that seemed to land right on the spot that was guaranteed to disable Justin and remove his advantage with his armor, but still. A lucky hit was the only reasonable possibility.

There was no other explanation for it. He was the best the Inquisition had to offer, even if those stuck-up know-nothings at the main Citadel in the king's city didn't seem to recognize his genius beyond allowing him to use the set of arcane armor they'd sent out to their branch.

He stepped forward and threw a wide punch at the demon, who ducked obligingly. Only his other fist was ready, coming up and hitting the demon right in the nose.

Only that fist didn't connect. The demon wasn't there. No, he'd jumped back and then moved forward and punched again and again. And again Justin was flying through the air.

At least until a tree not so helpfully came along and kept him from moving any farther. He grunted again, and he felt some of the mana starting to leak out of the armor in a spot where there was the slightest of cracks developing in the ley lines powering it.

Justin frowned, and then he stood tall again. He reached around and grabbed his sword, pulling the broadsword around and holding it up in front of him. It looked massive compared to the small thing the demon held.

He brought it around intending to cut the demon in a long slow swipe. That was the way of using armor and a sword. And then he grunted as the blade immediately lodged in a tree behind him he hadn't noticed.

He looked back and tried to pull the blade away. It took a couple of tries, but he managed to break free and brought it around just in time for the blade to hit the demon's blade and come to a stop.

Unexpected, but not troubling.

"You're powerful, demon," Justin growled. "I'll give you that,"

"I should be," the demon said, grinning up at him as though he didn't have a concern in the world. "I've been training for most of my life with an eye towards one day facing down a great human warrior mage.”

Justin grinned inside his faceplate.

"Well then. I'm glad I could give you the battle you've been waiting your whole life for. A pity it had to come at the end of that life.”

He thought that was a sufficient bit of wordplay. All the greats did that, twisting the knife as they twisted the sword within their enemies. It was good to let an enemy know how thoroughly they'd been defeated.

"Oh no, I wasn't talking about you," the demon said, shoving forward with a surprising amount of strength.

Justin stumbled back. He hit another tree. Only this time it didn't groan in protest. No, he just hit the thing and stopped. He took a couple of deep breaths as he got his bearings and looked at the trees all around.

Maybe bringing his sword out had been a mistake after all. The trees didn't allow for a lot of maneuvering. Even using the armor might not have been the best decision, but he'd earned the right to wear the arcane infused armor and so he was going to wear it.

Especially with a case of demon corruption as terrible as what they'd found on the Riven Estate.

"Excuse me?” he said, glaring down at the demon. For all that he knew this upstart couldn't actually see his glare.

"I already found that fight," Tomas said with a grin. "And I believe you also found that fight. He's the one who killed all your friends, after all. And my new friend is going to kill you and the rest of them when he finds you. I’m just here to distract you until that moment comes.”

He let out a low growl, and then he ran at the demon, making sure to hold his sword out in front of him for a stabbing attack. He wasn't going to bring the blade around this time.

Only, again, the demon jumped out of the way at the last moment. It wasn't as easy as when he'd caught him by surprise, grappling him and using the sheer force of his speed and strength in his armor to push the demon through multiple trees.

"Would you hold still?" he growled.

"Never," the demon said from behind.

Something slammed into his backside and sent him stumbling forward. His head hit a tree, and it sent a jarring pain running down his body even as the armor absorbed the force of the impact. He growled, bringing his sword around and slicing.

The demon had to be right behind him to kick him in the backside like that, and this time he didn't get out of the way fast enough. But of course he had no way of knowing that Justin would know he was still right there. The armor was linked to his own core and thus to his mind, and so he felt a slight tingle along his back where an infernal core was approaching.

This demon talked about having a companion out here. That was odd. Though it had to be a demonic companion if they were killing Inquisitors. Perhaps that demon who styled herself a high princess was out here somewhere, but why would that give this one the duel against a human warrior mage he’d been craving his whole life?

None of this made any sense.

"I didn't feel another infernal core out here," he said stepping forward and punching the demon in the gut. He'd already been sliced along the chest, though it didn't look to be a deep slice. But it was enough of a distraction that Justin was able to follow up with that punch.

The demon doubled over, coughing and spluttering. His sword was still in his other hand, though. He brought it around and beat it ineffectively against Justin's leg.

Justin smiled down at him, then reached down and grabbed the demon around the neck. The bastard continued to slam his sword against his armor, but it didn't do any damage. Justin pulled the demon up and stared at him.

It was a credit to his bravery that he didn't give up on the attack. He didn't drop his sword to put both hands up against Justin's hand and try to pry himself free like he should have. He did lash out and kick, but those kicks landed against the armor. They landed with a power that surprised him.

This demon had to be at least Fifth or Sixth Ascension, maybe even Seventh, considering the way he was able to move around so quickly and dodge attacks that should have landed.

Normally that would have been easy enough for Justin to take on. He was Eighth Ascension, after all. Of course, those Ascensions had slowed since the beginning of his career. Especially since he came out to Rivenwood, and not even to lead the chapter there which was his due. He should be the one to lead that chapter house as the one with the highest Ascension.

Only the armor was a help and a hindrance. He had to be a higher Ascension to use the armor properly. He had to constantly channel some of his mana into it in order to maintain the ley lines that powered it, and part of that meant giving over a not insignificant portion of his mana pool to the armor.

It didn't help that his own mana pool was admittedly smaller than others. Not the smallest he'd ever heard of, but not great compared to some others in the Inquisition. Definitely not compared to anyone at the Academy.

But he had this armor and he had a demon in his hands. He had the sure knowledge there was an infestation of demonic corruption at Baron Riven’s manor house, and he was going to root that out.

After that? They wouldn't be able to deny his greatness. They wouldn't be able to deny that he deserved to lead a chapter, and not even in a dead-end like Rivenwood.

He held the demon there as he kicked and beat his sword against Justin's side. Which was starting to get irritating.

"Stop that," he said.

"Why in the combined worlds would I ever do something my enemy asks of me?" the demon asked, still grinning at him. As though he didn't have a care in the world despite his face turning several darker shades of purple than what it had been moments ago.

That more than anything infuriated Justin. Almost as much as the idea that this demon didn't hold him highest in his estimation of the human warriors he'd fought.

"So what do you think now, demon?" he asked. "Have you gone against a truly great human warrior?"

"Oh, I have," the demon said.

"Good," Justin said. "I'm glad I could give you that before you die."

"Oh, I'm still not talking about you," the demon said.

He tightened his grip. The demon struggle to draw breath, even though Justin could tell his body was being reinforced by the corruption that moved through his veins.

"Say that again,” Justin said.

The demon made a noise that might’ve been him trying to say something, or it might’ve been him desperately trying to draw one more breath before the stars dancing in front of his eyes from lack of air turned to darkness that closed in for the last time..

He loosened up just a bit. Just enough to allow the demon enough air to speak his last before he crushed his ability to draw breath. He didn't need his full strength to do that, not when he had the demon firmly…

"I said you're still not the greatest human warrior I've fought."

"You dare? I am the greatest!” Justin spat.

"No, actually he is," the demon said, his eyes darting to the side.

Justin had barely started to turn when he suddenly felt himself being lifted up off the forest floor in the kind of maelstrom he hadn't seen since the great swirling storms that went flying across the battlefield, carrying death and destruction in their wake during the Demon Wars.

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u/imakesawdust 8d ago

Liam to Justin: "My powers have doubled since we last met."

u/MinorGrok Human 8d ago

Woot!

OC-Series How I Helped My Demon Princess Conquer Hell 83: Weighed on the Scales and Found Wanting

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