The black knight was launched backward, his body spinning through the air as he barely caught the Demon Knight's strike on his shadow greatsword. The impact still sent him flying. He twisted mid-flip and drove shadow magic outward, tendrils snapping into existence and latching onto the ground below. They went taut, halting his momentum and yanking him back down before he could tumble any farther.
Lennix was already moving. He surged in with a clawed right hand and a bone-knuckled left fist, striking in rapid succession. Each swipe came in at lightning speed, aimed for the Demon Knight's head and torso. The Demon Knight avoided them with minimal movement, tilting his head aside, shifting his shoulders just enough for the blows to pass inches from him. When Lennix overcommitted on the last swing, the Demon Knight countered instantly, dragging his blade across the vampire's torso in a brutal horizontal slash that nearly split him in half.
"Uncle Lennix!" Mari cried out.
"Do not look, Mari," Clarissa said in her usual flat tone, pulling the eight-year-old close and covering her eyes without hesitation.
Darek, still hovering above the battlefield, clicked his tongue. He dropped like a stone and slammed into the ground, releasing a shockwave that rippled outward toward the Demon Knight. The earth beneath the Demon Knight softened and liquefied, swallowing his legs before hardening again and locking him in place. Darek raised his hand and fired a volley of ice shards, each one screaming through the air toward the trapped figure.
The Demon Knight responded by detonating upward in a burst of compressed wind. The ground exploded beneath him as he tore free, howling gusts shredding the incoming ice shards before they could reach him. But Darek had anticipated that. As the shards shattered, they erupted into bursts of blue flame, cold fire blooming outward and engulfing the Demon Knight midair.
"Don't bow out now!" Darek called to Lennix as he brought his hands together, weaving ice and water magic into a single spell before casting it upward. A cold mist spread across the battlefield, clinging to wounds and flesh alike as it flowed over Lennix and the black knight, knitting damage closed once again.
"Did that get him?" Lennix asked, already regenerating, the spell pushing his recovery into near instant.
"Don't say that," the black knight replied with a tired breath. "It's never over when someone says that."
The blue flames thinned and dispersed. The Demon Knight stood revealed, his armor blackened and warped, sections of it slagged and partially melted. He looked down at himself for a moment.
"Sorry, old friend," he murmured quietly. "Your death will not be in vain."
He reached behind his back and drew out a kite shield, raising it as he lifted his sword to rest against his helmet. Both began to glow as wind magic surged through them. With a sudden roar of air, four wing-like streams of compressed wind burst from his back. The ground cratered beneath his feet as he launched himself straight at the three of them.
The three of them met his charge head-on. The black knight intercepted the first strike, catching a brutal downward swing on his shadow greatsword. The force would have driven him straight into the ground, but he flooded the blade with shadow, solidifying it at the last moment and holding the Demon Knight's weight back with a grinding clash.
Lennix used the opening. He lunged in and latched onto the Demon Knight's torso, driving his claws into one of the melted, weakened sections of armor. The strike bit deep, but the counter came instantly. Violent wind blades erupted around the Demon Knight's body, shredding Lennix's form and ripping him free. Lennix was thrown back through the air, tumbling as his body began already knitting itself back together.
Darek was already moving. Thunder and earth magic wrapped around his fists as he stepped in close. He ducked under a sword slash, slipped past a snapping kick, then leapt backward as the Demon Knight smashed his foot into the ground where Darek had stood a heartbeat earlier. The moment the strike landed, Darek surged forward again, unleashing a rapid series of punches.
Two blows were avoided entirely. One wide swing was narrowly evaded. Then the Demon Knight raised his shield.
Darek stopped short. He drew in, planting his feet, and released a single one-inch punch directly into the shield. The initial impact cracked it. A split second later, a concussive sonic burst detonated through the metal, shattering it completely and hurling the Demon Knight backward.
Before the momentum could carry him away, a shadow tendril snapped around his leg. The black knight yanked hard, dragging him back down while stepping forward, lifting his shadow greatsword overhead. He put his full weight behind the strike and brought it down in a crushing arc, slamming the Demon Knight into the ground.
The Demon Knight barely had time to react. Lennix was already airborne. He crashed down onto the Demon Knight's sword arm, twisting it violently and snapping it beyond any hope of recovery.
"Stay down," Darek warned, standing over him with his palm extended toward the Demon Knight's head, the threat unmistakable.
The Demon Knight let out several heavy, exhausted breaths. Then he stopped struggling and remained still.
All three of them exhaled at once. The battle was finally won.