The enemy before them was an enticing figure of a woman. She was fair skinned and thin. A beauty standard for women in many region.
Anyone that took a look at her would think that she worked as a celebrity or something. But still, Aldred wasn't sure if this beautiful woman was a demon or a person. She looked like a human, but her eyes seem as deep as an abyss.
"That's not a human," Salamander said. "Well, long story short, that's a former human."
"Is she possessed or something?"
"No. She simply sold her body and soul to a dark god. In return, they granted her power and perhaps beauty. Demons always manage to entice the human race with shiny and beautiful things. Power, wealth, beauty, and immortality. All of these things are very seductive to us. It is very hard to not bend and accept this offer."
Suddenly, loud footsteps came and a group of human appeared.
The two group looked at each other.
"You guys are going to the engine room as well?"
Salamander nodded. "But we have a problem."
They all turned their gaze towards the center of the room. Standing in front of the Altar, the beautiful woman was watching them in silent.
"This is not good," the man said.
"I said the same thing," Salamander replied.
The man sighed. "Well, there's nothing else we can do. It's an all-out battle. Are you coming?"
"We got no choice either. It's the only way to stop this machine."
The man grinned. "Well, don't die too soon. Attack!"
The new group that came lifted their heavy weapons and bombarded the demonic woman with explosive shells. The altar was covered in smoke and flames.
"Everyone, get back!" Salamander said.
They all stepped back a bunch of times.
A growling sound came from the smoke, then suddenly, the giant wolf lunged out and pounced on the man. The wolf then bit on his neck then ripped off his head.
"Fuck! Kill that thing!"
His allies went full auto with their heavy machine gun. The blood of the wolf splattered everywhere, but it did nothing to stop its next attack. With a swipe of its claws, the arms of its attackers were shredded into pieces.
The giant wolf was about to attack again until Salamander leaped and punched it right in the jaw. "Die, you piece of shit!"
The giant wolf staggered on its legs until Cleome slammed her lightning bolt towards it from above. The impact was like a huge hammer slamming upon the wolf.
The wolf's head fell to the ground before Shinari appeared near its big eyes and stabbed one of it with her blade.
The wolf roared in pain as blood spilled out from its left eyes.
A woman with a rocket launcher then aimed at it's head and then blasted it with a powerful explosion.
Half of the wolf's head was destroyed, and then it fell with a thud.
"We did it," the woman said.
"No. It's not over yet. Look over there." Salamander pointed.
The demonic woman was still watching them in silence. She apparently had been watching them fighting the wolf and did nothing but watch.
Something about her inaction made Aldred feel weird and wary.
Aldred also noticed that there weren't a single scratch or damage on her clothes after the attack earlier.
Salamander activated his energy-blasters and fired.
The demonic woman lifted one of her finger and blocked the attack, scattering the energy in the air.
The woman suddenly flashed forward. Her movement was instant, and even Aldred could barely react when she appeared in front of Salamander with a blade in her hand.
She swung.
Blood splashed on the wall.
Salamander screamed as his right hand was cut off.
"Fuck!" Aldred charged forward and struck.
The demonic woman blocked his attack with the blade, and the impact created a sonic boom in the room.
"You're powerful," the demonic woman said.
"Thank you for the praise but I am not forgiving you for cutting my friend's hand." Aldred struck again and again as he engaged in a battle with the demonic woman.
Meanwhile, Cleome and Shinari pulled Salamander to safety.
"Fuck! I got my right arm cut off again," Salamander said. "Shinari, can you grab that arm for me?"
Shinari nodded and quickly grabbed the mechanical arm and brought it to him.
Salamander leaned on the wall as he grabbed the mechanical arm and stick it. Then, a laser heat the steel and re-attached it.
The fingers on the mechanical arm moved. "It's not as good, but its still working. Let's help Aldred fight that woman."
They all nodded before coming to Aldred's aid.
Shinari quickly used her shadow technique to appear behind the demonic woman. Her blade instantly made a sharp trajectory to her neck.
The woman, without even looking back, raised both of her elbows, forcing Shinari's blade to rise and missed their mark.
Cleome sent a bolt of lightning towards her, but the demonic woman easily cleave the bolt and dispersed it.
While the three of them were ganging up on the demonic woman in close range, Salamander stayed farther away and provided fire-support from a distance.
Whenever there was an opportunity, he would sent a couple of precision bullets at her way.
As the battle progressed, Aldred felt some sort of heat in his chest that worsened every second. At first, it was a subtle discomfort, but it quickly escalated into a searing pain that made it hard for him to breathe. Despite the pain, Aldred fought on.
His allies depended on him. If he made a mistake, he might break the rhythm of their coordination.
However, The demonic woman seemed to be toying with them, effortlessly evading their every attacks.
When Aldred stabbed forward, she simply tilted her head slightly to the side. And even though Cleome and Shinari attack right after, she incredible moved in such a way thought not to be possible to evade the attacks.
After a few minutes, the demonic woman seemed to have learned a pattern and then counter-attacked.
She kicked the air to her right, of which, Shinari appeared and got hit right on her stomach. The blow threw her off into a wall.
The demonic woman then appeared in front of Cleome and slashed at her ribs. Cleome reacted quickly, and blocked the attack with her force field.
Still, the impact caused her ribs cage to crack before she was flung away.
Aldred quickly rushed towards the enemy before she could do any more harm. He threw punches after punches to keep her occupied.
Then she suddenly leaped back and then threw her sword at him.
Aldred dodged, but then realized that the sword wasn't meant for him.
Salamander widened his eyes as he raised both arms as the sword struck him in the chest.
The force knocked Salamander into a wall. Blood trickled from his lips. "I am fine! Don't worry about me."
The demonic woman struck with her fist. Her movement was so fast that Aldred barely able to block it.
"What's your name?" the woman asked.
"As if I will tell you."
"My name is Kenosa. Join me. Your place is not with them. I can smell it. You have a demon's blood in you."
Aldred smiled. "I have more than a demon's blood in me."
Fire ignited in Aldred's hand and then he slapped Kenosa's face.
Her whole body then ignited into flame and she screamed in pain.
"You dare harm me!?" With a swing of her hand, the flame vanished.
Two giant wolves suddenly appeared behind her and menacingly growled and stared at Aldred.
Aldred gritted his teeth as a searing pain came in his heart. It was like molten glass was burning his insides, and he felt like he could burp out smoke.
"What is going on with me?"
The wolves barked and rushed towards him.
Aldred was in incredible pain, so when he saw the wolves came at him, he was angered and roared at them.
Suddenly, swirling torrents of superheated ash and liquid fire came out from his mouth and surrounded the wolves.
The superheated ash and liquid fire he expelled engulfed the giant wolves, incinerating them almost instantly. Their howls of agony echoed through the chamber, reverberating off the walls until they were silenced, leaving behind nothing but smoldering ashes.
Aldred's eyes was bloodshot and his whole body turned glowing red. Not just any red, but the red that one would see on a heated metal.
Steam came out of his orifices and Aldred was incredibly in pain.
Kenosa, momentarily taken aback by this unexpected turn of events, regained her composure. Her eyes, once indifferent, now blazed with a mix of fear and curiosity. "You… who are you?"
"There's too much power inside me. I have to let it all out!"
With a roar, Aldred released a powerful vortex of liquid fire.
Kenosa froze in place with widened eyes as the flame struck her and turned her into ashes in an instant.
Still, the fire did not stop there. It burned through the altar, burst through the wall, into the engine room, and kept going until it penetrated the hull of the spaceship.
From outside point of view, the demon's Destroyer-Class battleship suddenly got a big fire burst out of its rear hull.
The flame was so powerful that nearby spacecraft slowed down immediately for overheating.
But the flame only last for a few seconds before it disappeared.
Inside the spaceship, Aldred weakly fell on his back. He gasped for air, his chest heaving in desperate attempt to fill his lungs. Panic gripped him as he fought in to draw a breath, the fear of suffocation filled his mind.
Salamander limped his way towards him and saw the massive hole on the rear hull of the ship.
"You have that kind of power all these time?"
