There was no doubt to the sound of the sort of panic that was erupting among the gathering of townsfolk and guardsmen; most were ill prepared for the shock and horror they witnessed, just as they were when the demonic forces struck initially. It was the sort of chaos that evil thrived on, that where terror and panic were the only emotions the majority welled with - not even anger or spite.
The swarms of shadowy bats swooping wildly individually or even in clusters set their teeth upon whatever was in reach.
"If I've earned even an ounce of your trust, of your confidence, please stand with me in defense of this world. I will need a small group with me to fend off this monster and aid any injured. The rest of you, hurry now! Get up that mountain and retrieve that stone!""The Red" looked to Genevieve, as ever distrustful of her as she undoubtedly withheld information he believed of value. Hesitating no further than this, the savage turned to at last take in the breadth of scope of the situation with all of its lingering madness; he knew well that his prey was here, and all that he needed was to land but one
essentia enchanted strike to tear at the demon's flesh and spirit violently at once.
Before he could so much as seek out his best approach to the enemy, the man with the rifle - Ioannes - fired a cracking shot, causing the air to cloud with dusky smoke from the exploding powder. Without warning, so too did he unsheathe his blade and charge headlong into battle, other flintlock in hand; firing once more into the bats, it led to any number of results as the projectile over-penetrated their small form and would certainly continue on past them. Ioannes cried out his intentions to strike at the heart of the problem - the demon itself, by himself. Noble as the attack was, it undoubtedly was suicidal alone.
It was now the primalist honed in upon but a single man standing before the Lord Marshal's corpse, who took no sense of danger among the chaos of the bats; he loomed over the fallen man, smiling with a sadistic pleasure.
"Send no more with us - this demon has already made his final error." The savage proved to crouch and spring forward with palms outstretched, instantaneously changing forms and landing upon four leviathan paws with running start; the cobblestone emitting a dense thud from having the weight of such an enormous beast upon it.
Its fearsome green eyes shone with the same wrath "The Red" carried with him as a man and its natural weapons - both claw and fang - bristled with supernatural endowment drawn from within. This bestial form of the wildman, shrugging aside fleeing commoners in its charge and bowling them over as they ran blindly into its enormous form without slowing, it likewise turned aside the bats that erratically launched their attacks; their jaws unable to do more than leave negligible injury upon his dense pelt.
At last the guardsmen, having rallied under Ionathan's command in the wake of the loss of their leader, quickly drew the ire of the shadowborne demonic minions, having banded together around him and begun clashing shields and spears together. The swarm in large broke off, assaulting them as haphazardly as any other while the man-turned-beast rushed by them both in a blur of fur and fury.
Each thundering paw drawing him closer, fanged maw wide in menace and drawing in air, he soon overcame Ioannes, turning at an angle and driving toward the demon from another approach; two attackers upon him at once, one a young man with sword bore true in its arc, another a gargantuan tiger with mystic claws set to rend body and soul.
@Jon Y@Letter Bee@IcePezz@ArenaSnow
