The second blade stabbed through the collapsing defense and caught Seraphelle’s shoulder, corruption energy burning into flesh.

Seraphelle screamed as demonic magic seared her shoulder, disrupting her divine power.

Her healing magic flickered and failed.

"NO!" Gattychan tried to reach her, tried to help— 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

But with his re-broken arm and seventeen wounds, he could barely stand, much less sprint across the battlefield.

Seraphina kicked Seraphelle in the chest—broken ribs grinding, the healer flying backward to crash into rubble again.

"Your healer is down," Seraphina announced coldly. "Let’s see how long you survive without her."

She turned back to Gattychan, both corruption blades ready.

Without Seraphelle’s healing, Gattychan’s seventeen wounds were actively killing him. Blood loss alone would render him unconscious in minutes.

"You’re dying," Seraphina said, advancing slowly, savoring this. "Your arm is broken twice. Your lung is punctured. You have seventeen bleeding wounds. Your healer is incapacitated. And I’m going to kill you slowly."

Gattychan raised his functional right arm defensively, knowing it was hopeless, knowing he couldn’t fight a demon lord unarmed and this badly wounded—

Rindelle’s amplified arrow detonated between them—tenth shot—forcing Seraphina back.

Mikazelle teleported Gattychan away from immediate danger—twenty-second teleport, eight remaining.

But both were temporary measures. Buying seconds, not victory.

Seraphelle tried to rise, tried to channel healing magic despite her broken ribs and corrupted shoulder—

Her divine power flickered weakly, barely manifesting. The corruption in her shoulder was interfering with her connection to holy magic.

She could maybe heal one critical wound. Maybe. But that was all her compromised power could manage.

"Gattychan..." she gasped, reaching out with failing magic toward his punctured lung—the most immediately fatal injury.

Golden light flowed weakly from her hands toward him—

Seraphina appeared in front of her with supernatural speed.

"No."

The demon lord’s corruption blade slashed across Seraphelle’s outstretched arms.

Both forearms were cut deeply—not severed, but wounded badly enough that Seraphelle’s hands spasmed involuntarily, her healing spell disrupting mid-cast.

"You don’t get to heal him," Seraphina said coldly. "You don’t get to save him. You watch him die, just like I watched my specialists die."

Seraphelle looked at her bleeding forearms, at her hands that could no longer channel healing magic properly, at Gattychan dying from seventeen wounds and a punctured lung thirty feet away.

"Please..." she whispered, not begging for her own life but for Gattychan’s. "Please let me heal him. He’s dying. I can save him if you just—"

"No."

Seraphina kicked Seraphelle in the face, her head snapping back, consciousness wavering.

The healer fell, her healing magic gone, her consciousness fading.

Four Minutes Into Battle:

The tactical situation was catastrophic:

Gattychan: Seventeen wounds, re-broken arm (broken twice now), punctured lung, approximately 3-4 minutes until blood loss causes unconsciousness, no healing supportSeraphelle: Broken ribs, corrupted shoulder, both forearms cut deeply, barely conscious, healing magic disruptedMikazelle: Eight teleports remaining, exhausted, broken ribs still not healedRindelle: Two arrows fired from ten total available, broken left arm, fighting one-handed

Against Seraphina who, despite being at one-tenth power from Villain’s Bane, was winning decisively.

"You’re finished," Seraphina said, looking at the four wounded heroes with satisfaction. "Your healer is down. Your champion is dying. Your spatial mage is nearly empty. Your archer has a broken arm."

She began walking toward Gattychan, both corruption blades ready.

"I’m going to kill you slowly. Cut you apart piece by piece. Make you suffer the way my specialists suffered."

Gattychan tried to stand, tried to raise his functional arm defensively—

His punctured lung betrayed him. Blood was filling his chest cavity, his breathing was labored, consciousness was fading from blood loss and oxygen deprivation.

He fell to his knees, no longer able to stand.

"Perfect," Seraphina said, standing over him. "Die on your knees. Helpless. Afraid."

She raised one corruption blade for execution

—--------

The Fallen Heroes Arrive:

The sound came first.

Running footsteps. Dozens of them. Moving with supernatural speed across the scorched battlefield.

Seraphina paused, her demon lord senses detecting new presences approaching rapidly.

Not normal soldiers. Something else.

She turned, her glowing eyes scanning the darkening evening landscape.

Twenty figures were sprinting toward the battle site, moving faster than any human should be able to run.

Corpse-white skin. Glowing yellow-white eyes. Blessed chains removed. Moving with failed hero power.

Twenty abominations created from humanity’s desperate attempt to manufacture heroes, now released by Commander Elric specifically to support the Four Heroes against demon lord assault.

Seraphina recognized what they were immediately—she’d heard of the Church’s failed experiments, had intelligence reports on the abominations created when hero cell implantation went wrong.

Twenty of them. Each one possessing fragments of hero power—supernatural strength, speed, durability beyond normal humans.

Not as powerful as true heroes. But twenty of them together...

The first Fallen Hero reached the battle and attacked Seraphina without hesitation, without tactical thought, driven purely by base instinct to destroy supernatural threats.

It swung a fist at her head with strength that could shatter stone.

Seraphina blocked with one corruption blade—the impact sent shockwaves through her arm even at demon lord strength.

Strong, she thought. Even at one-tenth power from Gattychan’s suppression, that creature has serious physical strength.

The second Fallen Hero attacked from her blind side, grabbing at her with corpse-white hands.

She spun, her other corruption blade slashing across its chest, cutting deep.

The Fallen Hero didn’t scream, didn’t react to pain—just kept attacking, its glowing eyes fixed on her with mindless aggression.

The third, fourth, and fifth Fallen Heroes reached her simultaneously, all attacking from different angles.

Seraphina was forced to abandon her execution of Gattychan and defend herself against five simultaneous attackers.

Her corruption blades moved with demon lord speed and skill, cutting down the Fallen Heroes with precise strikes—throat, heart, head—killing blows that dropped normal opponents instantly.

But the Fallen Heroes didn’t die easily.

One took a corruption blade through the heart and kept fighting for seven more seconds before collapsing.

Another had its throat cut and continued attacking until blood loss finally stopped it.

They felt no pain. Had no self-preservation instinct. Just mindless aggression toward supernatural threats.