[Trial starts in 5 seconds]

In the distance, the battlefield began to change, and a horde of violet skinned Demons formed, with one massive four-armed leader standing among them.

[I wonder if they taste good.] Hawk wondered. [The small ones are kind of skinny, I might be able to eat them in one piece.] Remi agreed.

They were only a metre and a half tall, half her length, so in theory it might be possible, but even then, that would be a huge object for a snake her size to try to get in their mouth.

The demons were already in motion, and they were insanely fast, nearly twice as fast as the [Haste] enhanced Spider Golems.

Karl quietly cursed and wondered why he had picked the Epic difficulty. That trial announcement wasn't kidding. If he defeated this group, it was going to be Epic, and it was only stage one.

Karl was about to issue orders when suddenly the largest Demon appeared in front of him, all four arms swinging blades at him. He brought up [Earth Shield] as a wall of stone and jumped backwards as the blades cut deep into the obstacle.

A kick from the Demon shattered the damaged barrier, and it came after him again.

[Rae, send the Golems to assist me while the rest of you take care of the little things.] Karl instructed.

Remi climbed up on Thor's back to take Tessa's usual spot and began to hurl [Chain Lightning] into the crowd.

The small demons scorched black with the damage, and when Hawk sent his fireballs after the Lightning, multiple Demons died, stumbling and falling face down as their momentum carried them forward.

[We've got this.] Thor declared, confident that they could keep the large numbers away from the leader.

[Yeah Boss. We will fry the purple food, while you argue with the guy who thinks he can be as Stabby as Rae.] Remi agreed.

Karl spun his blade, parrying a round of attacks as the Spider Golems attacked.

One landed a solid hit on a shoulder, but the other took a blade across a leg for minor damage.

Then, pain seared through Karl's arm, and Hawk screeched in annoyance.

[The damage spreads. If it hits one of us, it hits everyone.] The bird complained.

That was the most brutally overpowered skill that Karl had ever heard of. Area attacks were bad enough, but they usually spread their damage across a large area, doing a little to many targets.

This skill appeared to deal full damage from a sword strike to everything nearby.

The big demon smiled as it realized that Karl understood the effect of its skill, then launched a flurry of attacks at him, just aiming to do a little damage with every blade, not to land a single hit kill.

It didn't have to. If it wounded him a little bit every time, it would wear the whole team down. The Demon was double-jointed, and it could attack behind its back nearly as well as towards its front, leaving it with a minimal blind spot and no real defenseless side for the Golems to take advantage of.

But [Refreshing Lightning] helped Karl's team heal, and the damage was already fading.

Four more strikes made their way past Karl's defence in the next two seconds, and he realized that [Refreshing Lightning] wouldn't be enough for long.

[Skill Points] 11

That was enough to get something, Karl hoped. There were attack skills, but that wouldn't help much in the race to defeat this insane Demon, and they might be too expensive.

{Defensive Skills}

{10 Points} [Barrier] Erects a barrier over the caster or targeted beast

{10 Points} [Bestial Regeneration] Increases the target's healing rate to the level of a Tier 1 regenerating beast.

{10 Points} [Refresh] constantly restores stamina

That was better than nothing.

{10 Points Spent} [Bestial Regeneration] acquired

Karl quickly cast the spell on every member of his team as he retreated, and the Spider Golems did their best not to take additional damage.

{Tier 3 Defensive Skill Available: Trollish Regeneration} 20 Points

[Tier 3 skills activate on Beast Master and all active Beasts]

If only he had the points available for that right now.

Karl missed another parry and a blade cut through both barriers to sink into his side, but the wound closed within seconds, and the pain vanished.

That was much better, but Tessa was going to murder him when she saw his armour after this fight.

The Spider Golems attacked low, aiming for the leg joints, and the Demonic Boss stumbled. That was Karl's opportunity. He let his blade vanish into his mind, and leapt forward to pin the Demon's upper arms under his own as he wrapped his legs around its chest.

The creature's face showed pure shock, and then something that was almost rage, but with a heavy dose of admiration as Spider Golems hammered deep holes into his back.

It spat up purple blood, then tossed Karl across the battlefield with its lower arms before dropping its blades and turning on the Golems.

It was faster with its claws than it had been with the blades, and even if the scratches mostly weren't getting through the [Earth Shield] on the golems' limbs, it was still doing fairly steady amounts of damage.

But it was also bleeding heavily from its back, and [Lacerate] was preventing it from healing normally.

Karl used every bit of his enhanced strength as he launched himself back into battle with his Maul in his hands. It might be impossible to land a proper hit with the oversized weapon, but he didn't need to. Any contact would activate the layered skills, so he just needed the Demon to catch the head of the weapon.

Karl made his first swing, which the Demon easily dodged, then he kicked the haft of the maul, changing its direction and sending it toward the target.

The Demon laughed as it caught the slow-moving weapon with a black barrier over its hand.

The barrier shattered as flames spread out from the maul, burning the arm to a charred husk, burned nearly down to the bone.

It howled in rage as it retreated, arm hanging limp, but slowly regenerating.

The Demon was slowing down, but Karl didn't trust that. It had intelligence in its eyes, it could be placing a trap, looking for a sudden reversal.

The Golems circled behind it again, forcing the target to watch three directions at once, then they all attacked in unison.

This time, it took three of its blades out so it didn't have to block Karl's weapon with its hands, but Karl stopped the strike short and hit it in the face with a cast [Chain Lightning] instead.

The change startled the monster so much that it turned its head away, causing its block to miss a round of attacks from the Golems. That distraction cost it another arm, plus a deep slice across its throat.

It was now pouring blood from both new wounds, and the Demon stumbled a little as it turned to fend off the Golems.

That put its back to Karl, who pounded the maul into its spine, leaving a deeply burnt crater in its back and causing the Demon to collapse into a pile of motionless limbs.

As Rae had trained them, the Golems relieved the Demon of its head, which immediately vanished as the scenario ended, leaving Karl standing in an empty field again.