Bang!

The captain retaliated with a knee to Damien’s abdomen.

Damien vomited blood on impact but the demon didn’t stop.

It hammered him with another punch.

Then another.

Then another.

Each blow heavier than the last.

Damien tried to counter however, he ended up being too slow every time.

A backhand caught him across the temple and sent him spinning.

He hit the ground hard.

The world flickered.

He tried to rise but body didn’t respond properly. He’d suffered too much internal damage.

The captain approached slowly.

Measured steps.

Its damaged leg dragged slightly, but its upper body remained terrifyingly steady.

"You destabilize our mission."

It stood over him.

"You slaughtered my command."

It raised its hand.

"You will not rise again."

Damien forced his head up.

Vision blurred as blood dripped into his eye.

His body screamed at him to stop.

To lie still.

To end it.

The captain’s fist descended but he rolled at the last possible second.

The impact detonated the ground beside him.

He forced himself up on one knee.

The demon didn’t hesitate.

A kick smashed into his side and sent him tumbling again.

He landed on his back.

The sky above swayed.

The canopy spinning.

The captain stepped forward and placed its foot on his chest. The pressure was crushing him.

Cracked ribs grinding inward.

Damien felt something puncture deeper inside.

His breathing hitched.

The demon leaned down slightly.

"You are strong," it said. "But strength without inevitability is nothing."

It began increasing pressure.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

Ribs creaked.

Damien’s hands gripped the demon’s ankle weakly.

He tried to push.

Nothing.

He tried to twist.

Nothing.

His vision darkened at the edges.

The captain raised its fist one final time.

This blow would end it.

Clean.

Efficient.

Damien’s heart hammered once.

Twice.

His thoughts slowed.

He could feel death pressing in.

Cold.

Patient. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

He had pushed too far.

Alone.

He could not overpower a peak Grade Two commander in this state. In fact, he could not do it even in his peak state alone.

The fist began to descend

And Damien smiled.

Weak.

Blood-stained.

"You’re right," he whispered.

The captain paused a fraction.

"What?"

Damien’s hand dropped from its ankle.

Not in defeat.

In decision.

His voice came out barely audible.

"Summon Luton."

The world shifted.

The captain’s eyes widened slightly but it was not from the word. There was a surge.

A presence exploded outward from Damien’s body like a collapsing star reversing direction. "Devour him." Damien ordered.

The air distorted violently.

The pressure changed.

Instantly.

A mass of shimmering, dark red slime erupted outward from beneath Damien and swallowed his torso in a protective surge.

The captain’s descending fist smashed into Luton instead of Damien’s skull.

The impact vanished into the slime. Absorbed and distributed.

The captain’s eyes widened, his attack had been neutralized.

The captain stepped back instinctively.

Luton expanded.

Not slowly.

Not subtly.

It unfolded like something no longer pretending to be small.

Its body thickened.

Dense.

Heavy.

Mana fluctuations distorted around it.

The remaining soldier demons at the edge of the battlefield froze.

For the first time, the demon showed fear.

True fear.

The captain’s gaze sharpened.

"That presence..."

Damien coughed violently as Luton restructured beneath him, lifting him slightly and easing the pressure on his chest.

He forced himself upright with Luton’s support.

His body screamed in agony.

But he was alive.

"You should’ve finished it faster," Damien muttered.

The captain lunged immediately.

No hesitation.

It understood the shift.

It drove both fists forward, compressing demonic essence into a single catastrophic strike.

Luton surged to intercept.

The blow landed.

The forest shook.

But instead of shattering through, the captain’s fists sank halfway into the slime.

And stopped.

Luton tightened.

The surface hardened like gel turning to stone.

The captain tried to retract its arms but it was too late.

The slime engulfed both forearms instantly.

The demon roared and unleashed a burst of concentrated demonic energy from its core.

The explosion tore a crater around them.

Trees disintegrated.

Stone turned to dust.

But Luton did not release.

It absorbed.

Condensed.

Adapted.

Damien staggered to his feet behind it, using the slime as a living shield.

His breathing was ragged.

His vision unstable.

But his eyes were clear again.

"You wanted inevitability?" he rasped.

Luton surged forward.

The captain roared and tore one arm free at the cost of layers of armored flesh.

Black blood sprayed violently.

It tried to leap backward and Luton extended like a tidal wave and wrapped around its torso.

The demon’s aura flared desperately.

It drove its elbow into the slime repeatedly.

The impacts did nothing.

Luton compressed tighter.

The captain’s damaged leg snapped under the pressure.

It roared and tried to gather energy for self-destruction which Damien saw instantly.

"No."

He stepped forward, ignoring the agony tearing through his body, and drove his hand into the already shattered rib cavity again.

This time, he reached the core.

The captain convulsed.

Its energy destabilized.

Luton reacted immediately.

The slime surged over the demon’s upper body entirely, sealing its mouth, sealing its core region, suffocating the energy buildup before detonation could complete.

The captain’s movements became frantic.

Violent.

Then slower.

Then desperate.

Its crimson eyes locked onto Damien one last time. "You are the anomaly..."

Damien squeezed. "I guess so."

The core cracked inside his grip.

Luton tightened.

There was a sickening compression sound.

Then silence.

The captain’s body collapsed inward as Luton devoured it completely.

No explosion.

No remains.

Just absorption.

The battlefield fell quiet.

The remaining soldier demons didn’t hesitate.

They ran.

Into the forest.

Fleeing.

Damien didn’t pursue.

He couldn’t. Instead, he summoned Skylar, Fenrir, and Cerbe and had them chase after the escaping demons, hunting them all down.

He dropped to one knee as Luton retracted and condensed again, though it was visibly larger now. However, it started to shrink back to its normal size.

He pressed a hand to his chest and winced.

Multiple ribs shattered.

Internal bleeding.

Shoulder torn.

Concussion.

He was closer to death than he had allowed himself to admit.

Luton shifted beside him protectively.

Its surface rippled once — almost concerned.

Damien exhaled slowly.

"You saved me."

The slime pulsed faintly.

The eastern stronghold was gone.

Captain dead.

Damien let himself fall back against a broken stone fragment.

Just for a moment.

Just long enough to breathe.

He had won.

But barely.

And next time, he would not walk into a captain-level battle alone again.

Not when death had just brushed his throat.

Luton shifted closer, standing guard over him as the ruined forest settled into uneasy silence.

The war inside Twin Disasters had escalated.

And Damien had just announced himself properly.