Well, Malik had the answer.

Without pause, he pushed off from the tree and charged straight at the ring of Demons.

He knew that his best option was to go all out in one single direction, hoping to break through before those near reached him.

His target raised its arm to strike, but Malik was already sliding under the blow, using a small burst of fire to boost himself forward.

It made a strong hit to his Rukh reserves, but that was a sacrifice he was more than willing to make.

Reaching the other side, he quickly snapped up with another burst.

The Demon, perhaps expecting such a move, attacked before he could reach it.

Deflecting its bladed appendage, he used the force of it to push himself away, repeating what he once did against the White Bear’s squad leader.

Just like that, he had gotten out of the Demons’ circle.

Yet it was far from over.

Malik kept running, weaving between their towering bodies, killing them when he could.

But before he could fall into rhythm, a Demon suddenly stepped into his path, its blade sweeping down.

’They’re adapting this fast?!’

Barely parrying in time, he used the momentum to spin around the creature’s side.

Once in its blind spot, he kicked off its hip and launched himself toward the largest of them.

It was the Demon that had transformed, likely the one issuing instructions to the rest, so Malik intended to terminate it first.

The Demon clearly saw him coming.

It raised both arms, crossing them in front of its chest.

’Is it defending itself?’

No, it wasn’t.

Thump!

A pulse of Corruption burst outward from it, reaching Malik in a moment.

Simply unable to react in time, he faced the attack directly.

His sword couldn’t defend him from it.

"Grrrh!"

Hit hard, Malik was sent backwards. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Crashing into the snow, he rolled to dampen the force and came up in a wobbly stance.

His age seemed to have regressed further, and his face paled, but other than that, the attack didn’t hurt him too badly.

’This is ridiculous.’

The other Demons closed in.

Malik ran again, and no, not towards the larger Demon but simply away, putting distance between himself and the pack.

He could not take on their leader, nor could he take them all at once; he had to pick them off, one by one, using the terrain to split them up.

The Demons weren’t going to allow that, quickly chasing after him.

Before he could get far, a Demon came from the left, stabbing at him.

Or so it tried.

Malik’s attack interrupted it, his blade cutting its eye.

Another came from the right, and he slashed its throat.

A third tried to crush him, but he stepped back, letting it crash into the snow, then finished it while it was down.

None lived when they reached him.

But each kill cost him greatly.

His Rukh was almost gone.

And to make things worse, he hadn’t gotten away from his family much.

The Demons cared not for their lives, all but throwing themselves at him to push him back and corner him.

They knew that it was how they were going to win, and they weren’t going to stop.

Forced back further, Malik barely ducked under a horizontal sweep from a Demon’s bladed arm, just escaping decapitation, and dodged another coming from the side.

But he was a millisecond too slow.

The tip of the blade grazed his shoulder, slicing through cloth and flesh.

He didn’t feel much pain, mostly a numbing sensation as the Corruption tried to seep into the wound.

Malik would have preferred the pain.

His left arm had gone numb from the shoulder down.

His right wasn’t doing much better; the sword suddenly heavier.

Caring not for it, he spun on his heel, driving his sword up through the chin of his attacker with all his strength.

The blade pierced through the Demon’s head, and the creature dissolved into black mist.

He was running on pure Will now.

Surrounded and weakening by the second, his Rukh reserves empty.

Malik pulled up his system one more time, his eyes scanning the interface while his body swayed.

—

[Fear Points: 15.9]

—

’Just a little more.’

A Demon lunged at him from the front.

He sidestepped and slashed across its chest, but the cut was shallow.

The creature did not fall.

It swung again, and Malik parried, the impact sending a shockwave up his numb arm.

’Just look at me and feel a sliver of dread, you—’

He saw movement in his peripheral vision.

A Demon had broken away from the pack and was heading straight towards the Tree of Life where Huda and Safira lay unconscious.

Malik’s eyes widened.

Never once did these Demons threaten his family’s life!

He thought the two were safe; hence, he let himself be distant from them.

Was the Demons’ intellect increasing that rapidly?

Why did they wait until now?... Did they...

’...did they wait until the right moment?’

It couldn’t be.

A shudder ran through his body.

"DAMMIT!"

Immediately, he abandoned his current engagement.

Ignoring all the Demons around him, he called upon his Ember’s Touch.

What fraction remained of his Rukh was instantly exhausted; much of his life force was as well.

At the same moment, golden fire burst from his outstretched hands, shooting him forth.

His body moved faster than his mind could follow, crossing the distance in two desperate strides.

"No, you won’t!"

Malik interposed himself between the Demon and the women, blocking the strike just in time.

Their blades clashed, a much heavier weight from above, but he held.

"Guh..."

Unfortunately, it didn’t matter in the end.

That desperate maneuver left him completely exposed.

A sword was driven through his back and out of his chest.

It belonged to their leader.

Indeed, they had baited him.

Malik knew it and expected it, but there was nothing else he could have done about it.

He had to rush into that trap willingly. Otherwise, he was sure the one with the pierced body would have been them by now.

The pain was immediate and absolute.

A white-hot explosion of agony stole his breath and his vision.

Malik looked down and saw the tip of the blade protruding from his chest, black ichor mixing with his own red blood.

"Hhhhh-sschhlurrkk-gghllk-gghllk-KKKRRR-p’thhh-clllk-pt."

The Demon that had impaled him lifted him into the air, raising him high like a trophy.

It was celebrating.

Blood coughed from Malik’s lips and splattered across the snow below.

Both the cold and the fatigue were gone.

There was only the burning pain of the blade inside him and the distant sound of his own heartbeat slowing in his ears.

His head tilted to the side, and his golden eyes fluttered.

’No...’

The sounds of the Demons faded to a dull roar.

’I won’t...’

The world grew dim, its edges closing.

’No.’

Slowly, his eyes closed.

’...’

’...’

’...’

’...I will not fall.’

Then, just as slowly, they opened back up.

They were burning bright gold, brighter than the two Suns themselves.

The pain vanished, replaced by a clear certainty.

"But you all will."