Chrysalis

With a mighty bellow Sarah burst around the corner with myself and Tiny right on her four heels. The demons responded quickly, the two closest, both of the slaughter demons, turned towards us in a flash, transforming themselves into a spinning whirlwind of death before I could blink. I should clarify that I mean very fast there, some human idioms will take longer than others to go away.

Behind them the more spell oriented of their group get to work, the grudge and envy demon putting their minds to work with a level of force I can feel even from here. Not that Sarah minds. Armour or not, she barrels forward with the unstoppable momentum of a freight train, her paws thudding into the ground so hard it shakes. A product of the first stratum she might be, but she is still an absolute unit and I think the demons are just as susceptible to being flattened by a ten ton bear as anything else I've ever fought. It's clear from the outset that our opponents have been warned about us. Sarah might come as a surprise, but a giant ant, a couple of demons and a big ol' monkey aren't exactly difficult to spot.

With how close we managed to get to our targets the mad charge is over in seconds and Sarah crashes into the demon's ranks like a tsunami of furry muscle. The slaughter demons are nimble and lithe, nothing like the chubby or bulky sort of demon I've seen a lot of. From looking at them one could be forgiven for making the assumption that ninety percent of their bodies is some sort of blade, but that would be nonsense, the true percentage comes closer to sixty percent, or so I'm told.

They slide around Sarah's charge, attempting to dig into her flank as she barrels past them but Tiny and I don't let them, rushing to meet them head on. Agile as a fish they change tack halfway through their strikes and divert them towards us. I rely on my foresight and heightened reflexes to catch the blade on the perfect angle of my carapace, deflecting much of the force of the blow before I bring my mandibles to bear, already having infused them with force magic.

Despite my flawless defence, the red-stained blades of the slaughter demon are unbelievably sharp and still manage to remove a small chunk of my diamond carapace. These guys are proper deadly. My force empowered mandibles snap forward with devastating force crunching together with a piercing sound that rings through the tunnel but unfortunately they close on empty air, the demon having danced backwards out of my reach.

Tiny's approach is a little different than mine and I can't really say if he does better or worse. Carrying all his momentum forward he leaps, unfurling his wings and beating them down in one great thrust to give himself as much speed as possible he hurls through the air like a furry bullet. Rather than fend off the demon's strike, he simply sticks an arm out and allows his opponent to cut halfway through it, the slaughter demon displaying consummate skill by avoiding the forearm guards and penetrating deep into the flesh. Except that Tiny cares little for the wound, a wild grin spreads on his face as the blade of his foe becomes stuck on his impossibly tough bones. Light flashes across my eyes as Tiny unleashes his coiled right arm, delivering a devastating punch straight to the chops of the demon, sending the creature flying backwards.

land a punch? Yes. Is his

snapping and front claws slashing at anything that gets close enough. Already I can feel the rage building in her as a number of minor wounds are inflicted, her anger is like a physical presence with its own rhythmic heartbeat, one that can be heard thundering through the air as she fights. Behind us Al and Invidia put their minds to the test, pitting their force

a wall in the form of the blood demon, a horrific looking entity who appears to be half red liquid and half roiling demon-flesh. The creature

bend at impossible angles as it flings out blades like whips. I push forward, relying on my foresight and reflexes to protect me as I pepper it with spells. Force magic isn't strong enough to do the job that I need it to, the hard skin and condensed muscles of the third stratum monsters is way too tough for the pure bolts of kinetic energy to do much, but I have plenty of other tricks up my sleeve. What's interesting about the slaughter

whilst peppering the monster with a series of ice spears. It slices through them with ease but the distraction buys enough time to fully charge my jaws as I lock

YOINK!

DOOM CHOMP!

slaughter demon reacts with alacrity, forcing its claws into the walls and digging in with its blades to prevent it falling into my mandibles, but so long as it can't dodge backwards, there's no escape. With a shattering crunch the dark mandibles of energy slam shut on

COMBO!

in my grip I refuse to let it go, my jaws pump open and shut at

"HARRRRRR!"