Tylvannis the butcher? Regardless of how deep i dove into Aeron's memory, no such name cropped up. To be fair, you can't really think of much whilst hovering above the ground with your life at the mercy of a brute.
"Let...me...go!" I struggled to let out as my hands instinctively scrambled to loosen his grip.
"Silence, filth." He calmly barked out before tightening his grip slightly, "...you're not even meant to be alive, I'm doing us all a favor."
"I...don't understand...what you mean!" The words left me involuntarily as the rest of my body squirmed around in an attempt to get even a breath of air in.
Whatever he was going to say afterwards would obviously be lost in time for me, the world around me was already growing darker--it was only a matter of time before I'd be called to meet the Architects again or somehow end up in hell without judgement.
Wait...the world was growing darker? That was normal but something about how dark it was getting felt odd...very odd.
From afar, an inhuman roar crept into my deafening ears before the grip that was once firmly tightening around my neck suddenly vanished; leaving my body crashing back down to the ground.
"DIE, DAMN IT!" A familiar voice shouted out as multiple enchanted arrows flew right at Baldwin.
Those that hit his armor easily ricocheted off of it whilst those that managed to find his exposed spots dug clean through like a bullet punching a thin piece of paper.
Following up, a pillar of flames flew right above me with a draconic roar following it. I was a fair distance below the pillar itself yet the heat it produced was utterly unbearable. I was lucky I hadn't fully registered what was going on, otherwise everything would have hurt a lot more than I thought it did.
Swiftly after the shower of flames was done, the pillar dispersed for a mere second before Assa herself flew above me--grabbing me with her claws as she charged straight into Baldwin himself who was still enjoying the last bits of Assa's fiery breath.
No recovery was allowed--a clean bite to his shoulder was planted before his body was sent flying some distances away. The scene felt like I was watching a dog maul its play toy before tossing it aside; only this time, the dog had scales, wings, spat out fire and was big enough to make you soil your pants if you saw it.
"Are you alright, Aeron?" Leilatha let out, her golden hair flying with the wind as she stretched an arm out.
I sure as hell wasn't but somehow that felt like it was about to change...and for me to confirm this, Leilatha was quite literally the perfect person to show up.
"Leilatha, your bow!" I shouted out, struggling to get onto Assa's back with her help.
"No can do son, never let anyone touch my weapons before."
"There's a first time for everything." I quickly responded, grabbing it out of her hands when she was busy speaking.
Immediately after, I ran towards the edges of Assa's body in search for Baldwin himself; my eyes lighting up once I caught him in my view. The bastard was staring right back with bloodlust just seeping out of him.
Sorry pal, I'd love to hear about this 'Tylvannis the butcher' but I happen to love living more--and something told me I knew exactly how to do this.
"Attacking him is futile, master." Mes was quick to protest, probably scratching her head on what I intended on doing, "...you know this as well."
"I beg to differ, malady." I let out, grabbing one of Leilatha's arrows--carefully dodging her attempts at grabbing her bow back.
With a sharp inhalation, I cocked the bow into a full moon, the arrow reflecting the rays of the sun as Assa flew around the area.
"Go ahead and charge this arrow with light magic, Mes." I continued, my concentration focused on the being below us with my breath being steady, "...this time, trust me."
After a short moment of silence, the air around me quickened in pace; then it shifted, hints of azure glows flowing around me with the wind before circulating at the arrow's tip. It then suddenly ignited into a flame--a light enchanted bow. A simple enchantment that I was willing to bet my life on.
To think the first weapon Aeron would end up enchanting would be an arrow, he'd probably be annoyed with me wherever he was--furiously keeping his thoughts to himself as I played around with a weapon he often disliked. Forgive me pal, the sword is Aeron's but the bow? Leave that to Ren.
Noticing what happened, Leilatha halted her constant attempts at grabbing my bow; the blinding light from her own arrow causing her to shield her eyes as she took some steps back.
"Now..." I blurted out, taking calm and steady breaths, "...make your move, piece of shit."
A second passed...
two...
three...
He lost his patience; his opponent was ready to strike him but was clearly not doing so--the most logical thing to do at that point would be to come right for me instead.
I'd considered he'd do that, but damn he moved fast. My predictions were accurate though and where he was...was exactly where I was aiming the whole time. Before he could deliver a usual villainous one liner to conclude our battle, my fingers let go of the string with a steamy exhalation.
The arrow took a moment, its image nearly standstill despite the string clearly snapping back to its place; then a sound erupted, almost like a scream of sorts as it tore through the air before it--its target being no more than a yard away from it, jackpot!
Expecting it to simply poke his skin or ricochet off his impenetrable armor, he continued his forced flight--allowing the arrow to fly right into his helmet's eye hole.
The reaction was almost immediate; a bright light erupted from the area it hit before the arrow accelerated even more, its scream becoming clearer to hear as it pushed Baldwin back towards the ground.
The landing was far from soft, and I expected it to be hard but that sure was an effective hit. Not only did it send him back down, but also created a crater at the point of impact, his armored body being the meteorite that created it.
"Bullseye..." I let out, giving Leilatha her bow back, "...some few more like those and this son of a bitch should be nothing more than empty armor."
Leilatha stared at me for a second before shaking her head; stopping herself from questioning anything as she loaded another arrow in, pulling the string to its very limits.
"I'll look past the fact that you stole my bow, so start explaining."
"That's not Baldwin." I quickly let out, crossing my arms as I watched the man I just struck get back up.
"Did your brain go with the arrow you just shot?" Leilatha retorted, her eyes still glued to Baldwin, "...or do you simply think we don't know who Baldwin is."
"Don't get me wrong..." I continued before pointing at the man himself who was now being bombarded by attacks from Alexander who wasted no time at all, "...that is the Baldwin you guys know, but that isn't 'Baldwin' at all."
"He's lost his mind, sister Leilatha." Assa finally worded out, her disembodied words allowing Leilatha to release a chuckle, "...glad I wasn't the only one who thought the same."
Laugh all you will ladies; you'll realize what I meant sooner than you'd expect.
I was now 100% certain about my theory, what we were dealing with wasn't Baldwin. Heck--that thing wasn't human to begin with.
Constantly emitting magic to keep fighting, his overly offensive breath, the red glow in his eyes and his inhuman capabilities...that right there was nothing more than a demon with a name and a rank. Had this been night-time, we'd all probably be dead in the blink of an eye.
He did well concealing his identity up to this point...and I could tell what he was doing.
As much as it seemed like he was incredibly powerful, he was yet to take any of our lives. That was because he simply couldn't--well, the case was different for me as a single blow was enough but for the rest...an A ranked demon was far beyond anyone's paygrade. Even Alexander himself would find his head chopped into small pieces in a fraction of a second--so why was he still alive?
Simple, a demon in the day was considerably weaker than a demon in the night.
How weak?
Enough to have his damn grade lowered by three units--this guy was strong enough to be hailed a B ranking monstrosity. His only way of ensuring a battle against an equally ranked holy knight would be to fight it out till night time approaches or flee before using up all the magic he has as his life support.
Dusk was approaching...but make no mistake, night wasn't meeting us with a damned demon as our opponent--I wasn't letting that happen.
"Grat, focus on stunning the son of a bitch!" I yelled out almost automatically, "Alexander and Lance, hit him with every light spell you can!"
"That right there is a demon!"
My words echoed across the entire area for a second before Alexander's eyes finally widened in surprise.
"A demon..." He blurted out, examining the figure before him, "...by the gods--to think such an obvious matter slipped past me."
"That bastard..." Lance growled out, blood dripping from his nose as he gripped his pained abdomen, "...you should have said that earlier!"
Within the next moment, Lance flashed behind Baldwin--his blade covered by an azure light that left a scarring mark on the man's armor. Twisting to retaliate, Baldwin was met by Grat who quickly struck his neck with a lethal amount of force that sent him back onto the ground where Alexander could then send in his usual flurry of attacks; this time, a blanket of light covering his enormous blade as well.
The damage it caused was brutal, each strike causing the armor to either crack or chip parts off of its once indestructible surface. Some of his strikes leaving slices big enough to expose parts of his shadowy body.
"Well, I'll be damned..." Leilatha let out, a light enchanted arrow screaming as she turreted it towards Baldwin--making a clean hole through his armor and effectively stopping him from getting up for a while, "...the damned bastard really was a demon."
Her momentary look of excitement quickly turned when she realized what that meant--her head turning to view the sun.
Taking a glance at it, I couldn't help but tighten my jaw as I smacked my lips together. Our timing for making this attack didn't add a demon into its calculations; and the sun didn't seem like it was going to be interested in the battle for long.
"Mes, you hear me?"
"Loud and clear," She quickly responded, shifting her tone again, "I'm surprised you were able to discern Baldwin's identity--not even I noticed it until you mentioned it."
"Well, that's one thing I can brag about at least." I responded, shifting my gaze to Leilatha's ammunition, "...mind if I take another shot?"
My words came out loud accidentally, but Leilatha didn't seem to mind. Her hand stretched towards my direction with her bow in her grip.
"Not at all." Both Mes and Leilatha responded, myself not wasting anytime taking the weapon again.
After a deep and lengthy inhalation, I cocked the arrow and pulled the string close to its limits--my aim adjusting slightly as I mentally calculated where my next shot would land. Once my math was satisfactory, I pulled the string back again--making the bow resemble another full moon.
"I'm going to need some magic, Mes."
"I'll lift the cap I just made for this single occasion," Mes quickly responded, her golden subtitles shifting in front of me, "...any suicidal spells and I'm locking it for good."
"I don't need any spells, enchant my arrow again."
"How much magic do you need for this enchantment?"
Silence took over briefly--my eyes locked on Baldwin, air crackling as I steeled myself.
"All of it."