Daemonis struck first, her scimitar clashing against my Excalibur, forcing me backwards with the force of her attack.

"Weak," she muttered, darting forward with another strike. "Weak is all you've been. All you'll ever be..."

I ducked and rolled sideways, a rush of air above my head telling me I had almost been beheaded. Daemonis snarled and raised the scimitar again, hoping to catch me while I was down. But I dodged again in a flap of a hummingbird's wings, spinning away from the attack.

The Suit had given me powers, but the Disc was no less. This fight was evenly matched and depended solely on the skill of the combatants and how they used the artefacts with them.

But evidently Daemonis had spent more time in exploring the limits and powers of the Disc. She almost caught me multiple times, and it was with sheer luck I avoided her glowing scimitar. 

"Why did you do this?" I called out, raising my sword. "What did you hope to gain?"

"War," growled Daemonis and sprinted towards me, swinging her scimitar with brute force. I used Excalibur to block the attack, but the force was too great. The scimitar slid down the blade end of Excalibur, and slit my right wrist. Blood spurted out, dark and thick.

"War?" I groaned, heaving myself away from a second attack. "With whom?"

"The human world," scowled Daemonis hurrying towards me. "Earth has many rich things to offer, things not easily bought here. But mankind stands in our way, and it must first be destroyed in order to conquer Earth."

She lurched forward with the scimitar, but I was ready and spun away, slicing her in the stomach as she rolled forward.

"So, the child has learned to use a sword," she muttered, the dark aura growing stronger around her.

"Never been one to run," I said, breathing hard. "Especially from you."

Muttering curses, she got up and sprinted towards me, yelling a loud cry. I tried to parry her thrusts, but the scimitar was too heavy, and I felt it slice my hip, sending me reeling to the ground.

I got up again, not taking my eyes off of Daemonis for a second. She swept the scimitar left, catching my left shoulder as I helplessly tried to roll away.

Fighting pain and fatigue, I got up, feeling my heart pulsating wildly. Daemonis was too powerful, even without the Disc. There was little I could do to parry her brute, relentless thrusts and jabs, and slowly, I felt the world fall away from me, leaving me panicked and unsure. I couldn't breathe properly and felt drained of everything. I couldn't-

Then, a momentary lull. Why?

Because I had seen Andrew. Through the metal bars.

He was trying to speak something to me, but I couldn't hear him. I didn't need to; his face said it all. 

Andrew believed in me.

Then, the trance ended. The smells, sights, the feel of the battlefield hit me suddenly, snapping me out of the reverie.

Daemonis came hurtling through the shadows, her scimitar raised high, ready to end me for good. But before she could strike, I bolted forward, swinging my Excalibur around her arms. 

Blood spurted out and she screamed, the scimitar vanishing in a pool of black dust. Another sword materialised in her arms, but she had no time to take the offensive. I began to relentlessly thrust her with hits.

She tried to use the brute force of the Disc to hurl me away, but I was dancing now, deflecting each blow like I was swatting flies. I had little idea where I had gotten this sudden burst of energy from, but it was helping me win. She sliced forward and I swerved to the left, hitting her knees with the brazen hilt of Excalibur. She bent forward and I knocked her to the ground with my blade. 

I could swear I saw the Lady smiling at me through the shiny silver blade. But was it a trick of the light? She vanished as soon as I set eyes on her, but the thought of her filled me with renewed vigour.

The expression on Daemonis's face turned from anger to outright blind hope, and she tried to attack once more, but the attack was weak and more ragged.

"The time for games has ended!" she yelled as if that would make it come true.

"It ended long ago," I murmured, feeling calm, hearing nothing but the sound of steel against steel.

She pushed forward, but I fended the attack off easily. She was desperate now and I could see it in dance in her eyes. The dance of failure.

She tried one last time to get me, but she was lifting her sword painfully slow, and my opportunity came. With a strangled cry, I pushed Excalibur through her chainmail, where it tore a gash and stained her armour red. 

All remained silent, as Daemonis opened her mouth wide, staring with disbelief at the wound in her stomach. The sword she had turned to wisps of sand, which then transformed into the Disc of Phaistos, which rolled over to the ground, forgotten. 

The Vinculus broke, and Daemoni separated himself from Daemonis, slumping to the ground like a bag of wheat. Daemonis however, was smitten to live.

It was time to end this.

***