The Archdemon gasped in pain as he seized up sharply, a thin streak of blood running down the corner of his mouth as his body spasmed, before his right side got peppered by Luxuria's blasts and the barrage of icicles slammed onto his chest and head, the frozen projectiles shattering upon impact, drawing out trickles of blood as they nicked his skin.

He let out a furious snarl, and for the first time, got out of his seat, lunging at me as I sprang back, his left arm shooting out with his claws poised to strike the top of my head.

Right before his claws could reach me, Aria charged in and leapt forward with her Flame Lance Skill swirling around her right arm, driving it forward and striking the side of his forearm, diverting the thrust of his arm just enough.

The tip of his claws nicked the middle of my forehead and dragged across painfully, ripping my skin to ribbons, before I whipped my arm up and swung Desecrator at his elbow, severing his arm as I sliced right through.

As his forearm fell off and hit the ground with a thud, a scorched, shallow indent across the spot Aria had struck, I grimaced as he regenerated and grew a new arm instantly, a dark look in his eyes before he quickly turned his gaze up as Luxuria zipped up above him and unleashed a flurry of Negative Energy blasts.

Aria and I backed away as fast as we could as he fired off a burst of Negative Energy to blow Luxuria's attacks away, the two of us getting some distance away from him.

Despite the Mana Pulses I hit him with, his Negative Energy still seems relatively stable...I'm going to have to land a few more of those if I want to inflict a significant effect.

Kelsey had regrouped with the others while we were fighting, looks like she's been healed up. She stepped forward as Aria and I moved back, the Healer approaching us and raising her arms in our direction.

"[High Heal]!"

I let out a quiet sigh as the jagged cut across my forehead closed up, before glancing as a thud echoed out beside me, as Luxuria flew back and landed, missing her left arm and having sustained a lot of damage all over.

"<If possible, you should re-summon me, Master>," She remarked, as she nodded at her missing arm.

A 100 MP is a lot, but I don't have much choice. I swiftly chanted to bring her back into me, before summoning her again, fully intact.

"Well, that was embarrassing, to think you lowly humans could make me lose my composure," Laughed the Archdemon sheepishly, adding as he sat back down on his throne, "Go on, take some time to plan our your next strategy, I'll wait."

Damn it, I hit him with two full-powered Mana Pulses, and he seems barely affected by it.

Demons are supposed to be especially susceptible to Mana Pulse since they have a higher concentration of Mana than most other Monsters, but maybe due to his high Vitality, the attack isn't strong enough to seriously affect him.

And if that wasn't enough, since he's got Status Effect Immunity, my debuffs are useless against him, same goes for Damien as well.

"He's way too powerful. And we have no way to escape," Remarked Kelsey grimly, as she glanced at the mound on the ground, where the Detector had been crushed to death under.

"Our attacks barely scratch him even when they do land, even my best attack didn't do much damage," Frowned Aria, a frustrated look on her face.

"Not quite, Kai managed to cut his arm off, and his Mana Pulse attack seemed to hurt the Demon at least a little bit," Chimed in the Ice Mage, a glimmer of hope in her eyes as she looked at me.

"Ahem, pardon the interruption, insects...you, the one with the Personalis Arma. How the hell do you have one of those weapons? Humans should not be capable of wielding them, this should not be possible," Remarked the Archdemon, narrowing his gaze at my blade.

"Well, as we humans say, seeing is believing, so take a good look until you manage to wrap your head around it," I responded with a shrug.

"Careful, don't provoke him," Muttered Kelsey tensely.

"Impressive, to be so bold as to taunt in the face of death. Well, no matter. Once I kill you, that weapon will be mine," Shrugged the Demon, before leaning back in his seat and relaxing.

Damn it, is this really where it ends?

This party is seriously high level, but we're pretty much helpless against this lone Monster. Well, if I'm going down, it won't be without a fight.

"So, anyone got any ideas? I can maintain my current state for, maybe, two more minutes at most," Remarked Aria with a grimace.

"Luxuria, don't suppose Archdemons have any particular weaknesses we can exploit?" I asked her.

"<No, their only weakness is their Cores. You could smash his head or destroy his heart, and he will simply regenerate in an instant. The only chance of victory is to create an opening to strike his Core with enough force to damage it. Anything more than a scratch to his Core will be fatal>."

Damn it...if only I'd tried stabbing through his solar plexus with Desecrator instead of using Mana Pulse. But in the position I was in, I couldn't have reached him with my blade in time, he would've had enough of a window to react.

"That's nothing we didn't already know. But I suppose it's our only option," Sighed Kelsey, before staring at the handle of her warhammer, all that was left of her weapon.

"Hey, does he have any other abilities that he hasn't used yet?" Aria asked me.

Oh, right...we ended up here so suddenly that I didn't even think to tell them.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure what it does...it's a Demonic Art called Rupture. Any idea, Luxuria?"

"<I'm afraid not, most Demonic Arts are unique to each individual>," She shook her head.

"Oh, and he's also immune to debuffs and highly resistant to elemental attacks."

"That explains why you didn't use any of your debuffs on him when you got close," Responded Aria with a frown.

"We have no choice but to keep attacking...Attack Mages, fire at him with everything you've got. Kai, Ariella, we'll charge in and attack at close range again, and I'd like her to join us as well," Remarked Kelsey, as she glanced at Luxuria.

"Sure, I-...," I began.

"Don't do this! How are you supposed to fight without your weapon?!" Pointed out Keira worriedly.

"It'll be fine, I can use the handle like a staff...and if I lose it too, I'll just use my fists. We're dead if we don't fight, so no matter how low the odds, we have no choice but to fight," Responded Kelsey, before giving me a nod.

"Luxuria, rush in and fire out as many of those Negative Energy blasts as you can. Get as close as possible, and then fly up before you get within his reach. After that, back us up with your blasts from a distance," I instructed her.

"<Understood, I won't let you down, Master>."

"Alright, I know I said that you could take your time, but this is taking far too long! Hurry up and get on with it!" Called out the Archdemon impatiently.

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