closed starter for @smutbydaylight
Ash felt the snap of the circle's bindings around them give way. The demon charged through the crumbling golden runes and slammed into him with a fist that could've pulverized brick. The forest exploded into a shower of splinters. Ash landed with an undignified grunt on the other side of the clearing, back first, bouncing once off a mossy log. His teeth rattled. The Oni closed in fast. He scrambled up and immediately slipped in a patch of mud. He twisted in mid-air, landing in a heap with a painful smack.
Shit, shit, shit, this is why he hated fighting in the woods!
He rolled to the side, and a razor-edged claw raked a line through the ground where he'd been. He flipped onto hands and knees and leaped to the side again. Another swipe. Ash ducked as a tree was sliced cleanly in half with an echoing groan. He had to keep the demon busy, make it waste its attacks on things that were replaceable, and give himself some room to maneuver. It was huge, so its strength was definitely in close quarters, which meant that the worst place for Ash to be was within its reach.
And yeah, he could've used that information about two minutes ago, genius.
Ash skidded around another trunk and pushed himself up straight with a burst of adrenaline. He shot the demon a look over the stump. It was pacing back and forth across the clearing with its shoulders raised and head down, nostrils snorting hot puffs of steam. The golden markings he had managed to place around the Oni's body with his magic pulsed. Ash had managed to trap the damned monster in a weakened state, thankfully. It was big, about ten feet tall at least, with a barrel chest and massive shoulders that tapered to leaner thighs. It was wearing samurai armor so ancient that the metal had tarnished and the lacquer on the plates had chipped off. There were weapons too: a katana on its hip and a wicked-looking glaive in one massive clawed hand.
Its eyes, however, were what he was paying attention to. The golden irises were ringed with blood red, the pupils black and bottomless as they stared at Ash with focused hatred.
Ash was frozen, one hand braced on the trunk of the tree as the Oni leaned over him, baring a mouthful of pointed teeth. A drop of saliva dripped down and hit Ash's shirt. He grimaced at the burn mark that sizzled.
"Gross, dude," he said.
"I am going to enjoy tearing your throat out," the Oni promised with a guttural snarl, its foul-smelling saliva hitting Ash's face with every syllable. It raised one massive claw, and as it came down, four massive fox tails whipped up out of Ash's back and blocked the blow with a meaty slap. The Oni let out a surprised yell and jerked its hand back. Ash scrambled away on hands and feet, panting as the tails vanished.
He braced for the next attack, expecting it to be angrier this round. Instead, he heard the crunch of boots approaching him. He whipped around, ready for the new enemy.
