Maiden of the Red Moon

High speed regeneration and superhuman healing, without a doubt this man would not be an easy opponent. There's no way he would be able to win this fight. "What in the Nine Paths are you?" whispered Ray, if only his arms would move!

"I am...the Death of All and the Destruction of Everything." said the Masked Man his voice calm and casual as he continued to test the mobility of his reattached arm. His movements were...unnatural as if he was in a trance. The Masked Man lifted his sword from the ground, "but tonight, I am the One Who Will Claim Your Life." Whispered the Masked Man as he slowly began to walk towards Ray.

"Ray, I'm pretty sure you're screwed." Whispered Garuban.

"Yeah, we're going to need to make a run for it." Muttered Ray, his sides hurt and his ears were still ringing from the explosions. If it wasn't for the enchantments placed on his jacket, he probably wouldn't have survived that blast from earlier. His sight hadn't fully returned either and he was still seeing white dots in his vision. That combined with the Masked Man's high level of swordsmanship, his magic and his regenerative abilities, there's no way he could win this fight. Best to retreat, slay the demon separately and kill the Masked Man after he had had enough time to sufficiently prepare. "Can you break the spell?"

He felt Garuban nod against his wrist.

"Decades of planning and years of preparation all wasted because of your interference." Said the Masked Man as he absentmindedly ran his hands down the blackened length of his sword. "My anger is beyond measure.

"Ray, keep him ranting and watch for my signal." muttered Garuban softly.

"Got it." Replied Ray quietly, his eyes quickly scanned the altar room for an exit. There was one about twenty feet away from him. "Did you really think that the Hunters would allow you to have your way? Did you think the Council would allow you to continue on without sending us to take care of you?" Ray said with a sneer.

The masked Man chucked, running his hand across the blade of his sword as if he were testing the sharpness of its edge. "I suppose you are correct. It has been over two centuries. Plenty of time for them to rebuild and regroup, even after the slaughter in Asia. I could have sworn I had slaughtered the lot of you."

Two centuries? Just how old was this man? His physique and appearance seemed to be that of a man who was in his late twenties to early thirties. Not a over two hundred. Was he some sort of immortal? Or were they enchantments that he had placed on himself.

"We've been watching you. This assault was inevitable. Even if you cut me down, there will be others" lied Ray as he subtly tried to lift his finger. It moved a little. Good Garuban had already figured out how to undo the Binding Spell on him. He needed a few more minutes of distraction for him to fully unravel the spell. "This attack was inevitable. There will be others."

"Insolent Hunters, always with your interferences." smirked the Masked Man running his hands down the length of his sword. The black blade seemed to shiver with anticipation. "I will truly enjoy slaughtering you all when I have competed all of my plans and ascended to godhood. I will start with the forests where the younglings are trained, before moving to the towns and cities. No one will be spared from my wrath."

"We'll stop you." Ray said quietly. "We always do."

The Masked Man smiled. "You are more than welcome to try. I welcome the challenge."

"We live to please." Replied Garuban, before he opened his mouth wide and shot out a bright beam of light into the skylight that Ray had fallen through and out into the open night sky. "NOW RAY!"

Ray moved like lightning and slashed at the Masked Man's chest opening up a massive wound. Blood burst out like a geyser and the Masked Man howled in pain. It was futile. Ray could already see the wound healing. Smoking red vapor emerging from the wound as it rapidly closed in on itself. He kicked him hard, sending him flying into the ruined altar. The Masked Man recovered quickly and growled angrily as he started towards Ray. That was when dozens of paper birds constructed out of Ray's Paper Charms suddenly descended from the skylight and attacked the Masked Man surrounding him like a swarm of bees. Striking him from all sides.

It was a good thing that Ray had listened to Garuban's advice and created several of them and left them flying around outside the warehouse in case of he needed to use them to make a quick getaway. The Masked Man roared angrily swinging blindly with his sword as the bird talismans attacked him from all directions, nipping at him as if they were real birds.

"RUN RAY RUN!" screamed Garuban laughing manically.

Ray took off into the night cutting at anything that stood in his way. This was supposed to be a routine stopping of a demon summoning. But that man and the demon were anything but ordinary. A lesser demon guard screamed as Ray slashed it across the face as he continued his escape route. He ran through darkened halls and well lit carpeted rooms, slaying everything that blocked his retreat. Ignoring the angry screams of fury from behind him. Thoughts raced through his head as he continued to flee, not bothering to look back. It was clear to him that this warehouse had been constructed for the sole purpose of summoning that demon. Summoning a demon of that caliber took years of planning and months of preparation, a task that was beyond the ability of a simple fanatic. This was the work of someone with a great deal of knowledge of Magical Theory and Demonology. People with that kind of knowledge don't tend to be simple minded fanatics, especially individuals with the conviction and determination to follow through with such a task. They tended to be ambitious. They tended to plan.

And they most certainly did not tend to be subservient.

Something much more sinister was at hand here

The members of the Council were going to want to hear about this.