I already know that I can''t channel the mana to Ruby, and if I try to hold it in me, I will die for sure. I can only think of one other option and, without time to think twice, I immediately start channeling all the mana to Blitz and ck Razor.


    I quickly realize that I''m only channeling the archmage''s mana, but I can''t pay attention to trying to figure out what happened to the demon''s mana. I feel quite a bit of pain, but I ignore it as best I can and keep drawing mana from me as fast as I can.


    Everything goes ck for a second and when I open my eyes, I find myself leaning against the far wall of the cave. I can hear sounds of struggle, Ruby needs me! I stand up and discover that my left hip hurts. I look down and discover that my flesh is burned and torn and ck Razor is not there. A quick look around shows no sign of him, I guess he couldn''t handle the mana and exploded.


    That must be how I ended up unconscious and against the cave wall. I push those thoughts out of my head and look for Ruby. I see her dodging the demon''s attacks, but she''s being pushed back and is about to run out of room. I lunge toward the demon, ignoring the pain in my hip. I pull Blitz out, happy to see that it''s intact, I don''t even have time to wonder why the lightning is ck now.


    I run at full speed towards the demon, barely making a sound, but somehow the demon senses me and begins to turn towards me. I hit the demon at full speed and bury Blitz to the hilt in the side of its wolf body. I bounce backwards and rip Blitz off and lunge backwards. I see the demon''s handing towards me, I''m almost out of its reach as it passes by my face.


    Only one w lightly hits the left side of my face, suddenly my vision is half lost, my left eye stops working. I fall backwards to the ground and roll backwards to my feet. I can see that the demon is bleeding where I hit it with Blitz, at least I can hurt it. It has some other superficial wounds that bleed a little, they must be from Ruby.


    Suddenly, the demon is right in front of me and throws a right-handed w at me. I dodge to the right to avoid it, but it was a feint! I fall into the trap and don''t realize it until his left fist hits me in the chest.


    - You''ve suffered an impact attack! 372 HP damage!


    HP: 883/1255


    I hear a loud crack and go flying backwards until I crash into the cave wall. I feel like I''ve been run over by a truck. My chest armor is in a heap of tiny pieces between me and the demon and, from the pain I feel when I manage to breathe, I think I have some broken ribs. I look up and see the demoning towards me. I still have Blitz in my hand, so I struggle to my feet.


    If I''m going to die, I''ll die fighting. Suddenly, the demon is engulfed in blue mes and, with a roar, turns around to face Ruby. I can''t let her face him alone, I force myself to straighten up and start walking towards the demon. I really need to hit him and move out of his reach before he hits me again.


    ''Stall!''


    "Insufficient mana!"


    ''What!!! How can that be, mana!


    MP: 0/0


    ''What?! How can that be? What have I done to myself?''


    There is no time! I have to concentrate. I start moving faster towards the demon, it will feel me and start turning again. Last time it turned to the right, so I lean to the left as I gain speed.


    As I expected, when I get close enough, it starts to turn right. I run at full speed and pass by its hind legs. As I pass, I throw Blitz and sh the back of both hind legs. He lets out a roar and jumps away from me. Ie to a screeching halt next to Ruby.


    "Hello!"


    Ruby says, "Don''t ''hi'' me, you lunatic! Where have you been?"


    "Sorry, I took an unexpected nap, are you okay?"


    Ruby says, "She''s not dead, but she''s not very well either. look out, she''sing back!"


    I look up and see the demon moving toward me. It seems to be moving slower, which is good. I start moving to my right as Ruby moves in the opposite direction. The demon stays focused on me. I guess I pissed it off.


    I stop moving, crouch down and let ite at me. Just as it''s in range to attack me, I see a sh of blue pass behind it as Ruby swipes at its already injured legs. He roars, gets up and starts turning to chase Ruby. Seeing an opening, I lunge as hard as I can straight at the thing. I sh at its chest with Blitz just before crashing into it with my shoulder, it goes backwards with me on top of it.


    I jump to get away as it crashes into the ground and I hit the ground somersaulting to make sure I''m far enough away as I get to my feet. The demon is getting to his feet as I stand up and turn to face him. I can''t see Ruby, but I don''t want to look away from the demon to look for her. I see the demon take a deep breath and, as I see the glow forming in its open mouth, I dive to my left.


    I feel the intense heat behind me as the demon exhales a cone of hellfire where it was a second ago, I hear a female scream as I get to my feet and immediately attack the demon.


    "Ruby?"


    Ruby says, "I''m fine, I''ve just never been burned before, I was surprised."


    Hearing Ruby''s response, I am relieved as I charge at the demon who continues to spit hellfire. I notice it has its eyes closed to protect them from the re of the mes. This is my best chance. I run down and slide underneath its wolf body. I cut into his stomach as I slide to the other side and roll backwards to stand up. I run a few steps before turning to see where the demon is.


    big mistake!


    It''s right behind me and I''m about to be trampled. Luckily, with its injured paws, I''m a little faster and manage to stay out of its reach. The problem now is that I''m running into a wall and don''t have much room to maneuver; if I try to turn, he''ll be able to hit me. The cave is mostly round, so the walls are curved. I guess I''ll try something stupid.


    I hit the wall at full speed and run straight up, I do well until the whole wall shakes when the demon hits it, I manage to push off enough to fall to the ground behind the demon.