Shinsou’s lips curved up at the corner slightly as the dark lance impacted Nosdyn’s body with a sickening thwack.

That was quick…

The Telgradian was about to turn tail and walk back to the portal; a job well done. But, after a moment passed, the slight smile turned to a frown. Nosdyn was still alive. The lance protruded from him, but this dark entity stood without hesitation or fear. Underneath that strange mask, Shinsou could almost imagine a look of total nonchalance and defiance etched on whatever passed for this demon’s face.

What the?

Shinsou had met few people who had ever taken the force of one of his dark lances so brazenly, but standing around gawping was hardly going to help his cause. He had already intuited from his failed first effort that a simple frontal attack would be a spectacularly bad idea, so he decided to make the village that Nosdyn had chosen his fortress. The buildings were all similar in design; large gothic windows dotted all sides of the grey stone walls, sad eyes letting in the natural light. For now, he’d need a little space and time. Luckily, the mazy village that Nosdyn had chosen provided ample opportunities to find some.

He moved with a purpose and swiftness he hadn’t felt in years. The packed dirt road beneath him popped up, dusty puffs and little explosions with each footstep, as Shinsou ran not towards Nosdyn but instead westward down a smaller road, beyond the demon’s sight. The people about him, bustling to find shelter, were merely slowly moving obstacles, ones he sidestepped or outran. The chatter and hollers clearing the way before him began to turn as a singular stone building flashed into view. The commotion lead many townfolk-idiots to surround the building in a loose, safe thirty foot perimeter. Even for imaginary constructs, they were curious, but not stupid.

Let’s hope that he can’t sense me, or this will be a massive waste of time.

Shinsou didn’t need to examine behind the building in front of him to know Nosdyn was still roughly where he left him; his own ability to sense life forms saw to that.

You took one lance when you could see it coming. Let’s see how you deal with a few when you can’t.

Without thinking, Shinsou popped a hand up in the air from behind the stone building, catching the eyes of only three or four citizens who were otherwise concerned with the ruckus before him. In five long seconds, Enpera Kurohitsugi was invoked and five lances of pure dark matter wove and threaded into existence from a circular expanse of black void in front of him. The air itself momentarily shimmered as the dark silo of purple and black magic, where the lances sat waiting, chewed through the foliage and stonework of the nearby house.

A cursory check of his senses told him Nosdyn was still around there, with the stone house firmly between him and Shinsou. With a single wave of the Telgradian’s hand, the five lances burst forth obediently. The windows of the house exploded inwards and left a rough, slippery footing of broken glass and splinters, piercing through the stone house as if its walls were made of paper. This was accompanied by a few gasps and whispers from the “villagers”.

Shinsou had been sure Nosdyn was here to see what he could do, but now the Telgradian found himself doing the opposite.