Strike!

You lunge forwards, though upon contact with the ground where he once stood, you look to see him activate a familiar spell. Black tendrils wind up from the grass and attempt to grapple your appendages. However, you act swiftly, and spin with your blade to hack them apart before they're able to find purchase. This opens you enough for a boot to the chest, sending you tumbling back, though you manage to remain on your feet regardless. He knows all the spells I do, and probably more. And I don't want to think about how much mana he might have if this new body of his he considers to be his magnum opus.

"Flare Bolt!" You shout as you attack once again, this time sending out a projectile.

Though he easily dodges it, the second after, you thrust forward the palm of which wields a magic ring, sending Elok's very own bolt of fire back at him. This catches him off guard, scorching the fabric of his suit around his chest as he stumbles backwards.

"Get off me!" Breiah screeches nearby.

The ALICE from before grabs her arms and makes kissy faces in a futile attempt to garner her affection. Meanwhile, Snow appears. She must have been perched somewhere high to land such a stealthy blow earlier, and it also seems that even Elok's ALICE androids are affected by the magic arrows given to her by Mistress Dajy. She stands with her short blade out and ready.

This also distracts Elok. You crouch and leap, Bunny Hopping once again, but this time not past him. You instead thrust your elbow directly into his solar plexus, **** every last bit of air from his lungs with all the momentum of the immediate jump warped straight in front of him. With your foot slammed down into the dirt, you pivot and slice with your sword--glowing with both the same pink energy as before but also the Flare Blade still active, creating a colourful fire of almost blinding radiance. It singes through his sleeve and causes a splatter of blood from his upper arm as the strike lands deep.

He grabs his arm and stares daggers back at you. Then he grins wickedly. "What do you think the people of Tivera will think of me after this?"

"That you're a crazy murderer? And I don't see why Thadius would even agree to this. Doesn't it make him look like an idiot?"

"Feel free to look away from me and drop your guard if you want proof, but the King's elite guards are more capable than you think. You can bask in the arrogant joy of feeling like a saviour all you want, but it's them who are out there saving them from the Demon Kings, especially the mightiest of them all. You can't even begin to understand the depth of my goals if you don't even understand what I'm doing here."

"I know that you have a tunnel under the Empire. I assume Thadius was promised all sorts of wicked things in return for hyping you up like this. What kind of Demon King needs a bunch of conspiracies just to make people call them a Demon King?"

"After this, I don't think it'll be much of a debate. I don't really care. A true demon prays on desires. They manipulate and destroy. If you don't like how I do things, then try and stop me, Kyle Warren." Then he pulls back his hand, showing no signs of a wound other than the break in his suit. There isn't even any burning around his torso where the fire struck. He looks as good as new.

"Your base. It's where the Demon King that created the Insectrin species once was, right?" you ask, pushing forwards to thrust quickly three times. After they're dodged, easily parry his counterattack, though can't find an immediate opening to spring one of your own.

"Creating an entire race. Now that's power," he replies as he leaps back. "Flare Bolt!" he calls out with a swing of his weapon, sending out a projectile of roaring fire.

"You're making a lot of enemies!" With a tumble, you maneuver beneath the bolt, and with one quick swipe diagonally upwards, the fire from your blade fizzles out into a smoke as you clip his sleeve. The bright pink glow still persists.

Instead of using his weapon, he thrusts his palm into your chest. "That's fine with me!"

It's like being hit by a horse. You launch backwards, but once again land on your feet. "How many Demon Kings do you want coming after you, as well as heroes?"

"I think you overestimate how much Vex and Cresswell trust you or each other. And I believe you are trusting them far too much, especially the latter. I know that William is yet another from Earth, and you may desire to be his friend, or at least his ally, but I know far more about him than you do. In fact, he was the first to discover the weakness you two share, even if he didn't fully understand it. The weakness that turned into your greatest strength."

Sa'dis' soul. That must be how he's trying to overcome his custom class' nature cap, forcefully absorbing things from others. Does that work that way? It must, especially if he still wears the ring that allows it. But I'm not doing that.