It was with some small reluctance that Juliana looked up at the screen.
Her mother was still alive if her laborious breathing was any indication. Her chest heaved up and down as Eva knelt over her with her face twisted in concentration.
Watching Arachne look bored off to one side renewed Juliana’s anger.
A sinking sensation of disgust welled up in Juliana realized that a good portion of that anger was more towards herself than the spider-demon.
Shaking her head, Juliana focused back on Willie. He made a suitable target for her anger.
Juliana walked up next to the demon and stood for just a moment. He made no motion to acknowledge her presence or even indicate that she had returned. That set off more than a few alarm bells in her head. But as she watched him, she got the feeling that it was more a simple case of him caring more about the others than her.
And if she waited too long, he might sit down again, ridding her of the opportunity to strike at his back.
Taking in a quiet breath, Juliana performed one last self check. Her dagger was about as sharp as it could get. She hadn’t been able to scrape together enough metal for a decent armor set, but if she kept a small patch flowing, intercepting some attacks might be possible.
Juliana struck.
Deciding to go for the strings first, she swept her arm in a wide swipe designed to cut as many as possible as fast as she could.
There was a momentary tension in each string her blade passed through. One lashed back as it snapped, drawing a thin line of blood from her wrist.
The strings pulled, leading off towards the stage. Willie followed an instant later. His legs kicked against the tops of the lower rows of seats as he ‘flew’ across the room.
Juliana wasted no time in chasing after him. She had to end this fast or he would tie her up in the same wires and strings that had trapped the others.
“What is this?” he proclaimed as Juliana ran up the steps to the stage. “Betrayal? Treachery? After I took the time to feed and clothe you.”
Juliana had nothing to say in return. No time for banter. She crossed the stage in hasty silence.
Willie’s arm hung limp at his side. Her blade had severed all the strings attached to his fingers and up his right arm to his shoulder. The strings dangled a few inches, hanging off of him like he walked through a bunch of cobwebs.
Keeping the lessons drilled into her by her mother in mind, Juliana aimed for all soft targets. She would have to find out the hard way whether or not they worked on demons.
Juliana’s dagger swiped through nothing but air. Her target–his groin–just wasn’t where her dagger was.
The strings on his backside and legs pulled back and up, dragging along her target. The rest of him did not move.
So Juliana followed through. She pushed her dagger upwards towards his chest and, more importantly, his neck.
Willie did not stay idle. The upper strings snapped back, leaving a small cracking noise in their wake.
Juliana’s eyes widened as she saw the feet swinging back in her direction.
She parried his kick with her knife arm, using the small patch of metal coating the outside of her arm to tank the hit.
It felt like a jackhammer on full throttle. Never-mind that she hadn’t ever been hit with a jackhammer, it still rattled her arm up her shoulder and into her chest. The only reason she retained a hold on her dagger was that the metal was shaped in such a way as to make it extremely difficult to drop, if not impossible.
Willie pressed his advantage. His still strung arm swung forwards.
No time to move out of the way or attempt to block.
Juliana took the blow to her chest.
Considering he was essentially floating in the air, his punch did not want for strength.
With a grunt, Juliana was forced to backpedal several steps. Only because her mother had trained her reflexes did she keep from falling flat on her back.
Those same trained reflexes screamed at her to follow up his opening with an attack.
The jitters in her arm kept her wary just long enough to see his next strike.
He never stopped his punch. He spun in a full circle. His other arm was kept horizontal to the ground thanks to the centrifugal force. It probably wouldn’t have been as powerful of a blow without the strings driving it, but it wasn’t anything she wanted to get hit by.
As it was, Juliana had to take another step backwards to avoid the severed strings.
And he didn’t stop there. He continued to spin like a top. The strings above his head wound around a single point.
Juliana waited. There might have been openings between the arms as there was a good space between each fist, but he was speeding up. Juliana wasn’t about to take the chance at getting knocked on the head.
Especially because he was lifting up and going lower every few rotations.
The spinning came to an abrupt stop with his back facing Juliana. His unstrung arm immediately fell to his side.
Juliana saw her chance and took it. She jumped in, swiping at another set of strings that were all running past his back. The ones attached to the backs of his legs and feet.
She jumped back just in the nick of time. The tension in his strings forced him in a backwards spin. Without the strings keeping his legs steady, they also flayed out at the force.
All in all, his attack, if it could be called such, was rather impotent. Perhaps if he used those strings to move about the room rather than remain in place, it would actually be somewhat threatening. All it really did was keep her at bay.
Which, Juliana thought as she slashed down at a wire that had appeared just in front of her, might be the point. Time is not on my side. She was uncomfortably aware of the happenings on the screen above her.
Standing there, waiting for him to unwind enough to attack while keeping an eye out for wires attempting to trap her, Juliana desperately wished that she had spent her time doing anything besides summoning demons. Learning how to conjure earth would have been extremely useful. Launched earth would at least be an attack in some form. Something she could do aside from standing around ineffectively.
That she likely wouldn’t be here in the first place had she not dipped her fingers into diablery did not escape her.
As before, his rotation stopped far too suddenly to be natural. The strings were entirely untangled. No extra rotations that she would have expected from inertia.
Juliana rushed in, slicing at another wire that had appeared between them as she moved.
Her knife thrust was a feint. She turned her motions into a heavy hit with her elbow along his cheekbone.
There was a crack. His head lolled off to one side. The lump of a displaced bone stuck out of his neck.
Juliana clamped down on the queasy feeling in her stomach. He wasn’t hurt. He was a demon. Even if he was hurt, good. That’s what she was aiming for.
Her momentary distraction at the sight of Willie’s broken neck gave him the opening to deliver a punch straight to her chest. Right in the pit of her stomach.
Juliana staggered backwards, clutching at her chest. She crouched down, collapsing at the shock.
Air wouldn’t go into her lungs. Each gasp was more like a choke. The pain in her stomach burned.
She tried to calm herself. It was just the wind getting knocked out of her. She knew that.
Knowing did not help the suffocating sensation go away.
Something hard met the side of her face.
Juliana’s vision went dark for a mere second.
The hard wood of the stage floor was there to greet her as she recovered. Her breathing came slightly easier. She pushed herself up onto her hands and knees.
Only for something to kick her in the side.
Juliana went back down. Her face pressed against the wood.
The wood fell away.
A hole opened in the floor, dropping Juliana down.
Painful groans escaped her mouth as she hit a cement floor hard. An unpleasant noise cracked out of one of her arms.