“So, what is this?” Warumasa said.

  “It’s a magic slate.” Apherward said.

  Ren was in her room at the inn. She had purchased a stone slate and then spent some time carving runes into it.

  “Now I can make magic items.” Apherward said.

  “You mean, the girl can make magic items. Your ass isn’t doing any work with magic.”

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  Ren has effectively been forced to take a break on account of the fact that her right arm had been dislocated again. She was going to try to spend some time at the Iron Church gymnasium that she heard about, but it seems that today is not the day.

  “And what exactly brought all this on?” Warmasa said.

  “So you know how imps came out of the holy idols yesterday?”

  “Yes, and?”

  “Those were magic items. Weaved with some magics of infernal origin. Then a thought dawned on me. I can make my own magic items!”

  “You can?” Warumasa said in a low demonic voice.

  “Yes. For I am a supreme intellect. I may not be abundant in coin-”

  “You mean, Ren isn’t abundant in money. You’re talking like either of us can spend it.”

  “Alright. Ren isn’t abundant in coin. Anyway, why not have her make magic items and sell them off here?”

  “This is a town. One where no one has hundreds or thousands of gold just lying around for a magic item.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that no one is carrying enough money to pay anyone the hundreds of gold for the simplest of magic items. This is a town. The amount of people who just have that kind of money lying around are wealthy merchants. And what, there’s maybe a dozen or so here. You’ll never sell anything unless it’s too cheap to actually make a profit.”

  “What? Why didn’t you tell me before I paid a stone mason for this thing?” Apherward shouted.

  “Because you wouldn’t tell me what you were doing.” Warumasa shouted back.

  “Now what do I do with this thing?”

  “I don’t know! What do I know about magic?!?!”

  “Ugh! Okay, maybe think of something.” Apherward spoke in it’s usual male old wizen wizard voice, but the tone had as much sas as a teenage girl.

  “Fine. Let’s back up a moment. What can this slate do?”

  “It can be used to lay enchantments onto items. Examine existing enchantments. Store a variety of magic.”

  “Okay, how about we look at that ring Ren has.”

  “Sure. Just a moment.”

  Ren takes the ring or minor protection she was awarded off her finger and places it onto the tablet. Within Ren’s mind a lot of strange magical symbols that Warumasa couldn’t possibly understand. Apherward, on the other hand, understood the complex mess perfectly.

  “What is all this?” Apherward said.

  “I don’t know. You’re the ‘Supreme Intellect’ that somehow let a girl faint twice.”

  “This is a ring of protection? Even if it’s minor, this thing is trash. Who enchanted this blasted thing?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Screw this! The magic is still good, but I’m going to pull the enchantment off and make this better.”

  “Alright. We have a plan for the day.”

  “You’re not going to help?” Apherward scoffs.

  “Do you want me to help?” Warumasa scoffs back.

  “Fine. Fine.”

  Ren spends most of the day messing with the ring of minor protection.

  “Ren is hungry. Put it down and get something to eat.” Warumasa said.

  “Later. I’m just going to need a few more hours to finish this.”

  “FUCKING EAT!!!” Warmuasa shouts in Ren’s head.

  Ren violently rockets toward a wall and crashes.

  “Fine! I’ll go eat!” Apherward said.

  Ren eats without issue or any outstanding event.

  “Are you done yet?” Apherward asks.

  “Are you really trying to rush the girl as she eats?” Warumasa snaps.

  “Look, I just don't want idle hands.”

  “They're not your hands!”

  “What would you have me do?”

  “Give the girl an actual fucking break!”

  “So what?”

  “Let her walk after a meal. Take some time for the food to digest.”

  “So you wouldn't want her to leap in the air and go slashing at unarmed people throughout town?”

  “Yes! She just ate! I don't want her to vomit with a full stomach as she's slashing through town. What if she vomits right on me?!?!”

  “Wait, what?”

  “What’s so hard to understand?”

  “You need to give time for food to digest. If you don’t you risk upsetting the stomach.”

  “Is that really such a problem?”

  “I don’t want to hear it from some guy who never ate and just sat on his hide and ate by letting his fancy ass magic tower spew food magic into his gob.” Warumasa snapped.

  “Alright. Alright. Fine. I need to get the girl a mage tower one of these days.”

  “You are not keeping the girl locked in a mage tower. Nevermind any tower of your make.”

  “What do you think I am? An evil dragon?” Apherward grumbled.

  “Worse. A wizard who can’t take care of himself, let alone a girl.”

  Ren took a simple walk around Blue Pine town. As she does, what appears to be a merchant shouts to Ren.

  “Oh! Well if it isn’t Blue Pine’s Favorite Adventurer!” A merchant man shouts. Might I interest you, in a potion? Please take a look!”

  Within Ren’s head, another bout of bickering unfolds.

  “Ugh, with these performance enhancing magics.” Warumasa groaned.

  “I’m sorry, are you talking about buffs?” Apherward asked.

  “They’re performance enhancers. Shortcuts to higher power that vanish soon after.”

  “Wha-they’re buffs! How do you have a problem with buffs?”

  “They are but a fleeting moment of grand power that someone didn’t work for. The user gains great power for nothing.”

  “Great power for nothing? If it was a spell, someone worked for that spell. If it were a potion, it’s because you worked hard to get or make it.”

  “They are alien powers that have no place in a true warrior’s heart.”

  “Have you tried them at all”

  “No! And I never will!”

  “So you're denouncing it before trying?”

  “Yes? What of it?”

  “Why don't you try my haste spell?”

  “Oh! What? Are you trying to sell me on your performance enhancing spells?”

  “Fucking, I can’t-just try it. It’s not the bane of existence or whatever you think it is. It’s a buff spell. It’s a simple buff spell.”

  “I shall never partake in your vile magics.”

  As the two voices bicker, Ren speaks to the merchant.

  “Maybe. Can I see what options you have?” Ren said.

  “Of course! Of course! Please, take a gander.” the merchant said. “Everything I have is top quality. Was going to take this to Halward city, but I think I can make a stop for you while I’m still in town.”

  Ren takes a look around. Or at least she looks like she looks around. Before she would have had a chance to focus her eyes on anything, the merchant speaks up again.

  “If I might suggest, take a look at this one!” he hurriedly speaks.

  He presents Ren with a strange potion of swirling red and yellow liquid. It’s not that they are two separate liquids that don’t mix. It seems to be a single liquid that swirls as two colors spin within the bottle.

  “This is an Elixir of Eternal Divinity!” the merchant said. “It brings you to perfect health so that you can never fall ill or be poisoned. It makes you quick witted and brilliant beyond belief! A quick tongue and steel trap of a mind right at your fingertips. It also makes you inherently magical. You don’t just cast spells! You will have absolute magical powers! This will also let you change your fate. Drink this, and the next lottery you partake in will award you with the jackpot! Now, did I mention that this potion gives you immortality? And don’t forget the godhood that it grants the imbiber!”

  As the merchant spits such drivel, Ren slowly cranes her head towards the merchant man. He does not stop the sales pitch as she does.

  “You’re not actually listening to this, right?” Warumasa said.

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  “No… no I am not.” Apherward gave a groan of embarrassment.

  “He’s promising immortality in a bottle.”

  “Yes he is.” Apherward gives a depressed sigh.

  “This is what you’re spouting.”

  “I know.”

  The merchant has not stopped spouting nonsense since the beginning of his sales pitch and he has been speaking for quite a while.

  “Can we just slip away unnoticed?” Apherward asked.

  “I could cut him down here and now.”

  “In the middle of a street?”

  “Especially in the middle of a street. It’s a practice called Tsujigiri.” the demon spoke proudly. “A samurai would test their blade on some peasant to test their metal.”

  “Alright, that’s what I would expect from a demon.”

  “Oh, no. It was something mortal samurai did somewhat regularly.” the demon said matter-of-factly.

  “Wait! What?!?!” the tome said in the voice of an old man.

  “Yeah! It was all the rage. Especially when there was a war and newly sworn in samurai were getting new weapons.”

  “Why didn’t anyone stop them?” Apherward was yelling in Ren’s head now.

  “Why would anyone stop them? Who was going to stop them? The peasants and their pitchforks?”

  “Holy shit. Tyranny is something fierce.”

  “I know, right?” the demon said cheerfully. “Man, what I wouldn’t give to be a tyrant.”

  “I’m just going to deny the man’s sale’s pitch.”

  Ren looks the bottle of strange liquid over.

  “No, thank you.” Ren said flatly.

  “Now, hold on. The potion also brings back the dead. And you can grow wings on your back and fly through the air.” the merchant continued.

  “No, thank you.” Ren said as flatly as the first time.

  “Oh, but don’t go yet! It can change your fate! Don’t you want to free yourself from the clutches of Vaesiliya.” the merchant kept pressing his sales pitch.

  “Sir, I’m not interested in whatever you’re selling.” Ren said.

  “I insist that you try your hand at this magnificent potion.” he said as he leaned over towards Ren.

  “Tsujigiri! Tsujigiri!” the demon blade was chanting inside Ren’s head.

  “Gods, why am I considering this right now?” Apherward gave a hesitant sigh.

  “Tsujigiri! Tsujigiri! Tsujigiri!”

  “Now that I’m thinking about it, you might be just making all of this up just to stab a man.”

  “I am most certainly not! Tsujigiri is a master art in cruelty and oppression, true. But I would never simply make all of this up just to stab one man.”

  “Somehow I don’t believe you.”

  “And how do you intend to leave this man without cutting him down?”

  “I can just walk away.” Apherward says.

  “No, thank you.” Ren said like a magical recording on repeat.

  Ren turns to leave, but the merchant rushes to stand in her path.

  “Oh! But I wouldn’t want Blue Pine’s Favorite Adventurer to miss out on a deal like this!” the merchant said. “Why, by drinking this potion you can become your best self. It cures depression! Removes the need to eat and sleep! It makes you eternally happy!”

  There is a long pause that turns into an awkward silence.

  “Really?” Apherward asked in Ren’s head.

  “Tsujigiri! Tsujigiri! Tsujigiri!” Warumasa continued to chant.

  “We are not going to just cut him open in the street like this.” Apherward thinks for a moment. “Alright, new plan.”

  “Mister merchant, how can I be certain of the efficacy of this potion?” Ren asked.

  “It comes with my guarantee, little miss!” the merchant said.

  “Can I see it’s effects for myself?” Ren asked.

  “Certainly! Just watch!”

  The merchant uncorks the bottle and takes a swig of the potion. He smacks his lips and gives a sigh as he downs the mouthful.

  “Ahh! It’s incredible and now I-wait, I wasn’t supposed to drink that.” the merchant said. “The boss told me not to drink it. He explicitly told me not to drink it and to have you drink it.”

  Another pause and awkward silence passes between the two during this day that slowly turns from noon to the afternoon. Suddenly, a light erupts from his mouth and eyes as he screams while looking into the air. He grows and his muscles bulge to the point that they tear his clothes. His neck extends until it is nearly 10 feet long. His cheeks turned into what look like lizard frills. His skin begins to shift into a dull yellow color as scales begin to cover his body. His now muscular form stands over Ren as he screams.

  “All shall fall before the awe inspiring might of demonkind!” the once former merchant shouts.

  The people of Blue Pine town who are out and about on this once lovely afternoon see a man erupt into a horrid monster and speak of demons. This is sufficient to cause a panic. Screams ring out from the street from both the townsfolk and the demon lizard man.

  “Yes! Scream and flee from a supreme demon! Destroyer of worlds! Soiler of waters! Devourer of souls!!!” the demon screams.

  “Oh? He turned into a demon.” Apherward said. “What he's saying can't all be true, right?”

  “Of course not.” Warumasa said. “Demons manifesting like him tend to talk himself up like that. To embellish details and cause a bit of fear, a bit of misinformation and generally stroke their own egos.”

  “So, what? Is he like a really minor demon?”

  “No. Not like that. He's not like the imps from yesterday. Those imps were made from rocks or whatever those idols of the gods were made of. This demon in particular has manifested using a human. So he is made of finer stuff than the imps.”

  “Right then.” Apherward said. “Good to know.”

  The demonic lizard figure looks down at Ren. Or rather at the katana at her hip.

  ‘Warumasa! How dare you show yourself before me!” the demon spoke. “You think so little of us for a pointy stick that was coerced to join our pact.”

  “What is he talking about?” Apherward asked.

  “Oh! Yeah.” Warumasa said. “So, I was taken from my last wielder as a component to a pact. It was sin based and I was available enough and filled the envy portion of the pact nicely.”

  “Woah! Woah! Woah! So there's a whole lot with demons and stuff?” Apherward asked.

  “Yeah! That and vampires.”

  “Why didn't you tell me earlier?”

  “I tried, but then you went off about some ancient magic this or hidden lore that. Then I just forgot about it.”

  “Oh for the gods’ sake. Okay, so what is this all about?”

  “Alright. So to make a long story short, or to make a short story even shorter, that Mackamer guy wants to take over the town using his vampirism and a demon pact. As part of that pact, he contacted a demon by the name of Trashan. Trashan gathered seven demons with appropriate associations with each sin. We partook in a ritual and got power and magics to do some stuff, I wasn't paying too much attention to that part of the plan. Anyway, there are a lot of demons that can be manifested for the plan. I'm guessing this is one of them.”

  “I-I have so many questions.” Apherward said. “But I do want to back peddle for a moment. His name is trash can?”

  “No. It’s Trashan. It’s a very unfortunate name for a demon.”

  “I’ll say. How did he even get a name that stupid?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t ask. I told him about how I changed my name twice already. He still has that name.”

  “You can just change your name? Demons can just do that?”

  “Yes. I told you this. I was Zoge, then Zoge Netami and now I’m Warumasa. It’s something to do when we evolve as demons, dark spirits or whatever. That or we can just do so when we feel like it.”

  “So… so did he choose the name trash can?”

  “Eh, maybe. I only met the guy last month. I didn’t ask about his name. I was just there as he went on yapping about what he was getting out of his deal with the vampire guy.”

  “You couldn’t just leave?”

  “I could not. Despite my intentions, my last wielder was killed.”

  “Ah! So you couldn’t leave because you didn’t have legs to just walk away.”

  “Yeah! That’s basically it- Wait! No! I am a mighty demon who spits on anyone who would bind me to their service!”

  “Yeah, keep telling yourself that, you loon.”

  The reptilian demon that had suddenly manifested right in front of Ren stared blankly at her. Or more accurate to say, stared at the sword at her hip.

  “Uhh… You there? Hello! Warumasa?” the demon said.

  Within Ren’s head, Warumasa spoke in a low demonic voice.

  “Fool! You would demand such answers from me!” Warumasa said in Ren’s head. “You are not worthy of the moniker of demon! But perhaps you may prove useful. Bend the knee to me and perhaps I might give you the means to pursue a more glorious purpose.”

  “Hello?” the reptilian demon said questioningly. “You are Warumasa, right?”

  “He-Hello? Can you hear me?” Warmasa spoke within Ren’s head.

  “Can he not hear you?” Apherward said. “Try talking through Ren.”

  “I mean, sure. I’ll give it a shot.” Warumasa said.

  As the reptilian demon looked down on Ren, she spoke up.

  “Warumasa isn’t here right now. Can you leave a message?” Ren said.

  “Oh. Well, yes I suppose.” the reptilian demon said. “Please inform him that I called him a coward and an idiot for smashing his own legs and arms off because he was jealous of some divine hunk of metal.”

  “And may I have your name to leave with the message?” Ren asked.

  “Yes. Tell him it’s from Pengrime. The greed portion of the pact he joined.”

  “I see. I believe Warumasa had a message for you too. His words were as follows.” Ren said. “Fool! You are not worthy of the moniker of demon! Bend your knee to his supreme power and you may drink from the succor of his strength.”

  “Ah! I see. Can I send an attachment with my message?” the demon called Pengrime asked.

  “I think so.” Ren responded flatly.

  “Great, I just want to send him your head in a bag, girl.”

  “I’m afraid I cannot allow that for two reasons. The first is that I cannot assure you that perishable goods will arrive in time. The second is that you could never beat me and I’ll kick your green pasty butt for suggesting it.”

  “Well, I’d like to prove otherwise.”

  At those words, Pengrime spits from his head’s high perch from the neck that easily doubles his height from feet to shoulders. A rain of purple caustic liquid pours out in an arc towards Ren. She dodges back and to one side to avoid the splash of poison. She prepares to draw Warumasa before the voices in her head argue again.

  “What are you doing?” Apherward asked.

  “I am initiating battle with a demon! Surely you don’t have a problem with this.” Warumasa said.

  “Are you going to dislocate her shoulder again?”

  “We’ll just have to find out.”

  “Stop! For the love of the gods or whatever you demons swear to, do not do one of your fancy sword moves that strain the girl.”

  “Fine! Fine! I’ll just fight normally.”

  “What do you mean fight normally?”

  “I’ll just use normal attacks instead of my techniques.”

  “Oh, please. Using normal attacks on a demon of this calibur can’t be enough to win the day.”

  “Just watch me. There is nothing I can’t cut. Prepare for the girl to receive a snake skin purse, or whatever girls are into these days.”

  Ren draws her katana normally instead of trying to use a quickdraw strike. Pengrime rushed in with a fist and all the musculature associated with it. He goes in for a hook, but Ren puts her blade between her and his fist. Despite the blade meeting his hand, the sword fails to cut him.

  “Nothing you can’t cut, huh.” Apherward said.

  “Shut up!” Warumasa snapped.

  Pengrime pulls back from the exchange. He takes a fighting stance that emphasizes his bulging muscles and his apparent sword resistant snake skin. He also begins to coil his snake-like head around his neck and shoulders. With explosive speed, he lances his head out at Ren. Venomous fangs snap at Ren, but she sidesteps it and prepares to swing. As she does, the frills on his head open outward. It obscures a lot of Ren’s vision, but when presented with the head of an enemy, what else is a girl with a sword to do but swing at it. She goes to swing at Pengrime. Before the blow connects, a fist emerges from the lizard frills and slams into Ren’s cheek. She is sent reeling back, but she manages to remain standing. Even then, Pengrime moved to throw another punch. As Ren’s head was turned away as she reeled back, her arm swung out at Pengrime. Without looking she swung a sword at him and he is forced to halt his next attack or be cut by the sword. He stops and prepares to launch a new offensive instead of pressing this one forward.

  Status: Injured

  Head Bruise Severity 2

  “You’re fucking it up. You took a bad hit.” Apherward spoke in Ren’s mind. “This is what happens when I let you take charge of the girl.”

  “A few injuries does a growing girl good.” Warumasa said.

  “Good my hide! You’re getting your ass beat, and you’re saying that getting beaten is good. Only a complete fucking idiot calls being beaten good.”

  “Shut it! I have him.”

  “Fucking, just give me one of her hands for a second.”

  As Pengrime coils his head again before he lunges out to bite at Ren again. Ren responds by taking one of her hands off the katana and she begins to wave it in the air.

  “Haste.”

  Ren is enveloped by magic that hastens her speed. In an explosion of movement and velocity, she rushes past Pengrime’s head and finds herself at his neck. At the point between his head and shoulders. Pengrime tries to rush his body forward as he draws his neck back, but it isn’t fast enough. Ren had slashed at his neck. To the chagrin of the voices in her head, the blade still fails to cut the snake skin. The katana is still not able to cut the demon’s snake skin.

  “Woah! What is this?!?!” Warumasa shouted in Ren’s head.

  “It’s my haste spell. Or I guess, it’s Ren’s haste spell.” Apherward said.

  “Woah! Woah! Woah!” Warumasa said.

  Ren could barely stop herself with her newfound speed. She rushes past Pengrime’s body as he desperately tries to return into a fighting stance after his attack had failed. Ren was still trying to stop herself as the momentum carried her a fair distance away. They both regain their bearings and prepare for another clash.

  “What is this stuff?” Warumasa shouted.

  “It’s great, right?” Apherward said.

  “This is amazing! What sorcery is this?”

  “It’s haste. Great, isn’t it?”

  “It’s like nothing I could have ever imagined! I could get addicted to this!”

  “And to think, not even an hour ago you said that you would never receive a buff.”

  Ren dashes forward with the speed of an arrow loosed from it’s bow. Pengrime lances his head out to try and bite at Ren again. Ren is seemingly prepared for the attack. Pengrime unfurls his frills and blocks Ren’s vision. However, Ren doesn’t need to see anything. Rather, Apherward and Warumasa see what he has planned. While his face block’s Ren’s view, her equipment see that Pengrime’s lower body rushes in and winds up a left hook. Ren slashes at his eye, but the blade bounces off as if it had struck stone. The blade bounced off the eyeball like she had swung at a rock. But even this isn’t enough to break Ren’s blank and emotionless expression. She then ducks past his head to try and slash upwards towards his snake neck. The blade bounces off even that.

  “What in the world? Why can’t I cut his head?!?!” Warumasa complained.

  “I don’t know. Try slashing at him a bunch and see if you can’t find a weak point.”

  “I got it! I have just the technique. Netami Style: Form 7 Barrage!”

  “You are not about to use one of your crazy moves with the girl’s arm still in shambles!”

  “Ugh. Again with these concerns of self preservation. What are you, her mother?”

  “Screw this! Just give me one of her hands!”

  “For what?”

  “I’m going to see if he has an elemental weakness with magic!”

  Ren pointed up at Pengrime’s neck and arced her arm as she slung spells at him.

  “Fireball. Ice Bolt. Water Arrow. Chain Lightning.”

  A ball of fire erupts around Pengrime’s head. He did not even look visibly harmed by the fire. Next, a bolt of ice strikes him in the neck. While the magical ice didn’t penetrate his neck, the scales began to ice over. It had no immediate effect, but it seems to have done some amount of damage and it is lasting on the surface of Pengrime’s scales. Shortly after, an arrow made of water strikes the mid-section of his neck. Like the fire, there is no notable damage. Last is arcing lightning as it springs out to zap at Pengrime’s lower neck. While the damage is apparent, it wasn’t as impactful as either of the minds within Ren had hoped for.

  “Well shit.” Apherward cussed within Ren’s head. “Our best bet might be to hit him with ice spells, but at level 8 she can’t use the best spells I have to offer.”

  “If you’re done, then give me back the hand!” Warumasa shouted.

  Ren took up her sword in both hands and slashed at Pengrime’s neck. Pengrime began to coil around and surround Ren. Seeing this coming, Ren was made to jump up as the snake neck coiled around her. Pengrime barely missed and Ren had landed some distance away. Pengrime didn’t even wait to reacquire a fighting stance. He just lashed out at Ren all over again head first. Ren sidestepped his bite again and tried to drag her katana across his face and neck. The blade didn’t cut as she ran it along his neck. In a fit of frustration that wasn’t her own, she ran all the way to the base of Pengrime’s neck, where this neck met his shoulders. She then vented someone else’s rage by swinging down at Pengrime’s shoulder. It was then that the blade finally drew blood.

  “Mmm. Finally! Blood.” Warumasa then paused for a moment. “Wait, I cut him finally.”

  Warumasa took a closer look at it’s surroundings.

  The head and neck were very resistant to his sharp edge. Somehow his torso was more vulnerable.

  “Wait. Is he using his face and neck as a shield?” Warumasa shouted in Ren’s head.

  With this revelation, Ren rushed to plant a blade in Pengrime’s heart. She was emboldened by the haste spell and moved with a speed that Pengrime could barely keep up with. Pengrime managed to put his hands up and all Warumasa met was his forearms. His blade once again bounced off of Pengrime’s scales.

  “His arms too. Damn this demon.” Warumasa grumbled in frustration at Pengrime’s defenses.

  Ren tried to cut at him again and again, but Pengrime used his forearms and shins as shields against Warumasa.

  “Raagghh!!!” Warumasa screamed and only Apherward could hear it.

  “This is getting hard to watch.” Apherward said.

  “I just need to land one impactful blow.” Warumasa growled. “Wait! You! Wizard!”

  “What now?” Apherward said.

  “Can you drive my blade deeper into his chest?”

  “Uh, probably.”

  “Then drive me right in when I stab him next.”

  Ren ducked and jumped as Pengrime tried to counter attack. With her enhanced speed, it was a simple matter to dodge and put some distance between her and Pengrime. After gaining some distance, Ren holds Warumasa in a backhand grip and positions the blade over her shoulder. Almost like a javelin throw she throws the katana at Pengrime. The reptilian demon had no way of expecting this maneuver and let the blade slip past his head, neck and arms. The blade pierced his skin, but it wasn’t deep enough to be anything notable.

  “Idiot! You threw your weapon.” Pengrime said.

  “Ice Bolt.”

  A bolt of ice shot out and darted towards the demon. But not Pengrime. When the bolt of ice struck, it stuck Warumasa at the pommel. The force was enough to drive the blade deeper into the other demon’s chest. Warumasa is driven so deep that it’s handguard presses up against his chest.

  “Fucking got ‘em!” Warumasa said in his low demonic voice.

  “Alright! It was a decent plan. I’ll be the first to admit it. Just be glad that I actually hit you.” Apherward congratulated the demon in his old man wizard voice.

  Pengrime doubled over clutching his chest. Then Ren approaches him, kicks Warumasa to put pressure on the wound before she reaches down and violently pulls the blade from Pengrime’s chest. As the blade is pulled, a gout of blood spews out like a knife slashed a waterskin or a barrel of ale.

  “Augh! Oof! Raaahh!!!” Pengrime only groaned in pain. “So I see you won this time. Not a bad pick, Warumasa. Now as I’m bleeding, I wish she was the one who drank the demon potion. And that I manifest using her body.”

  “Don’t talk about the girl like that.” Ren said flatly. “It’s creepy and weird.”

  “Hahaha! How is that weird?” Pengrime laughed.

  “You can die now.” Ren said. “Will you be manifesting in my way again?”

  “Who can say?” Pengrime said.

  Ren slashed upwards with her sword. Blood arced upward and fell to the ground like a painter flicked his brush at his canvas. The reptilian body began to vanish as the body of the merchant took it’s place. Except with a stab and slash wound. As the fighting quieted down, townsfolk began to peer out from around various corners. She stood before them with a bruised cheek and vanquished demon.

  “Ren the adventure has done it again! She slew another demon!”

  “She’s done it again!”

  “Wait, does that mean we’re still not safe in town?”

  “We can worry about that later.”

  The townsfolk who bore witness to most of this fight cheered for Ren.

  “Gods, I can already feel the girl’s face swelling. Let’s get out of here.” Warumasa said.

  “Wait, you can feel her pain?” Apherward asked.