"What the hell do you want!?" Cedric yelled, holding off his dagger against a psychopathic looking human wielding a crimson blade.

Unsettling miasma emits from him with a broad eerie grin on his face. His bloodshot eyes made him looked even devilish. "I only come for that unnatural blue-furred cat or whatever he is." He said, throwing Cedric away with an energy pulse.

The figure appeared before him with a grin in mid-air, readied to slash him vertically but only for him to escape into the shadow.

"Cyrus, what is going on!?" Stella yelled in her thoughts, unable to move as well as Gumball and Jason.

"We're trapped…"

"Can you reverse the effect?" she asked without a second doubt as she knew Cedric is in trouble.

"I can cast a barrier around you but escaping it will detriment your bo—"

"Enhance me. I'll force my way out," Stella insisted.

"Your limits are still there and if I do that, you'll die!" Cyrus warned.

"Cedric will die! Please, I beg you…"

"She's right… but…" Cyrus thought, conflicting to her decision but gave in. "Ready?"

Her fingers twitched with the barrier casted on her as the pressure of the static zone held her in place. She clenched her fists, causing a surge of pain across her body. Whenever she tried to move towards the edge, the pain increased immensely. She struggled, losing her breath on every small movement she made. Cyrus worried, realizing Stella is going to push herself over her limit which will detriments her both physically and mentally, though was left in awe when she finally managed to leave the zone.

Her arms were scorched, covered with dark lines where her veins are while panting heavily, much to Cyrus amazement, Stella surpassed her expectation. Cedric and the figure flashed before her, only for her to witness the figure pierced the elf's abdomen before throwing him away with an energy wave. Stella immediately darted to catch him, gently resting him on the grass further away from the figure.

"How did she…" said the figure, surprised as no one should be able to leave the zone by any means. "I should kill her as well…" he added with a grin, preparing to lunge forward.

Selena arrived and intercepted him with ice magic whilst airborne before jumping down beside the two.

"Am I going to die…?" Cedric uttered faintly in Stella's brace on her knee and assured he will live with tears streaming down her face.

"Ignis, cover us!" the staff immediately dove down, plunging into the ground as flames begin to amass around the pole. The staff took form into an entity housed by its master — a bipedal creature with its face covered with plate left-alone where its eyes are, multiple small holes that glows in green. It stood tall with its enormous body structure supporting itself with two of its fists.

Selena immediately went to tend Cedric's wound while Ignis confronting the figure in the background. "Blood poison…" biting her lips as she muttered.

"Is he going to be okay?"

"Icarus," she called out, ignoring the blackbuck's question. It took the form of an amber color orb, manifesting out of thin air before merging with Cedric.

"Icarus will keep his aura from weakening for the meantime… as for the poison, I can't use purification spell without Ignis, that creature over there."

"I'll handle that guy." Stella uttered angrily, clenching her fists as she stood up.

"He's on a different level. If you'll waste yourself fighting him," Selena warned and before she could finish her sentence, Stella reassured that she will live no matter what.

"Rather than letting him die? I'll stall him as long as Cedric is healed up," moving towards the figure whilst ignoring Selena's advice.

Cyrus felt a different kind of power beside hers developing in Stella's body; one that she could not comprehend after enhancing her partner's body. Selena was hesitant even though knowing she could not convince Stella, reluctantly called Ignis in the midst of battle back to her as she begins performing blood purification on Cedric.

"I'll be borrowing this," said Stella. A pair of black metal gauntlets, sabatons and greaves manifested onto her specific body parts, clenching her fists and preparing to dart towards him.

"I'm quite surprise how you got o—" the figure remarked.

Before he could finish, Stella appeared right before him and held the blade with her left hand, pulling him closer towards her followed with her right fist connected to his abdomen that sent him flying backward, losing the grip of his blade.

The figure balanced himself in mid-air and landed with the force still pushing him slightly further as his feet digging through the ground. "Flash step huh…" the figure uttered, spitting out small amount of blood. He lifted his hand to call his blade back to him but Stella held it so firmly that it did not break from her grasp. With no effort, she snapped the blade into half, releasing the aura embedded into it then dissipated into the air.

Cyrus was shocked. She could not bring herself to believe Stella managed to destroy an Exera embedded weapon so easily. "Is it really my physical boost…? She questioned herself shortly before realizing there is another rune beside hers appeared on Stella's back only a while ago.

"Damn you!" the figure yelled in respond, flinched before laughing manically.

The atmosphere shifted to a demonic tone. Selena immediately stopped as she bolted to Stella, leaving the staff still channelling the spell on the ground. "You better step back," she advised with a stern look.

Crimson red miasma formed around the figure with a demonic tendril-like wing on his left; his rune is glowing vigorously in a darker tone, scar-like marks are trailing around his limbs. Yet, Stella still insisted on fighting the figure even though it is going to become tougher.

"Do you want to get yourself killed?" Selena uttered with a serious look, firmly holding Stella's shoulder.

"Not until Cedric is cured." She replied, shrugging the feline's paw off as she darted towards the figure.

She sighed, wrapping the dual to dimensional space similar to what Max used in the fight between the twins in order to purify Cedric's blood without being interrupted. Abruptly, she noticed the spreading of the poison is accelerated when the figure transformed. "That guy… Ildres was it… I'll make sure to send him into purgatory if he's alive after this…"

Stella went head-on with the figure, Ildres, who had triggered his demonic physiology and transformed into his half-demonic Exelria form. They were on toe-to-toe for a moment until Ildres make use of his tendril-like wing to shoot out volleys of spike, forcing her to back away.

After what seems like an endless wave of projectile with Stella dodging all of them with her enhanced reflexes, preparing to strike the blood demon only to be held immobile on the ground as the missed spikes turned into a pool of blood and hold her feet and solidified. Ildres appeared right before her and chanted, "Dil Ick Taldri!", throwing a fist at the blackbuck direction which emits a crimson purplish ray of energy.

The energy pushed Stella farther away in the endless dimensional space while she is blocking it with both arms covering front. Stella withstood the blow but in turn, cracking the gauntlets slightly which prompted Cyrus sudden loss of power. The enhancement she put on her companion weakened.

"Be careful, the enhancement is weakened. If the gauntlet breaks, it will only leave you with nothing but your aura shield standing between your life and him."

Ildres continued, immediately bolts towards her after the spell. He grabbed her by the neck and toss her into the air. Without stopping, he leaped and follow, appearing slightly above her while preparing another blow. Stella managed to avoid it at the skin of her teeth by projecting an energy pulse horizontally to push her in the other direction. However, the blood demon continued, making a sharp manoeuvre with the wing as he aims directly at the blackbuck who is descending rapidly to the ground, casting the same magic as earlier.

Stella startled and shouted, "Barrier!"

The barrier only managed to cut off the damage as the impact sent her pummelled into the ground, forcing her to her knee as she spat out blood. The armours on her sustained started to crack to an extent she could felt that her enhancement reduced drastically, further weakening the enhancement placed on her in the process.

"Are you going to run forever?" Ildres taunted, floating in mid-air above her.

"God that hurts…" Stella cried, though still stood strong.

"One more hit from that and that's it! Even with the greave and sabaton intact, you'll still be in disadvantage against him. Back off or you'll die!" Cyrus warned while her partner recovering to her feet.

"Guess I'll have to fight without them….!" she replied, abruptly causing the armours to fade.

"What are you doing!?" shouted Cyrus, shocked by her partner's action.

"I'll be fine," she assured as she took a deep breath, looking at the blood demon dead in the eyes.

Ildres attempted to punch Stella but was countered as she did the same; the ground caved in even further by the force. Ildres thought his strength outranks hers but Stella barely flinch from the blow with a mocking grin with their fist still connected.

"Impossible!"

Cyrus was awed.

"Burst."

Stella pushed her fist towards Ildres, sending out a massive wave of energy that threw the blood demon out of the chasm. She followed with her new profound strength, readied to confront the blood demon once more. "Alright bastard, let's do this fair and square. Shall we?" she jested, enraging Ildres further more despite he should has the upper hand with centuries worth of fighting experience. He launched furiously at the teenager with his wings shifted into bladelike appendages.

"Unseal," Stella muttered before the blades reach her. The rune behind her back glowed as well as the burned marks on her arms and legs, extinguishing the appendages with ease but it only causes Ildres to become more aggressive.

"Do you think I'll be beaten up by some kid?!" he snarled, aiming his fist at her face only to be blocked followed with a clean uppercut to his abdomen.

The amount of strength Stella put in sent the blood demon into the sky. She gave chase towards the him, leaping into the sky a few inches above him before delivering a precise kick that sends him slamming into the ground.

Cyrus was awed. "How did you…"

"You would've noticed it if you look into my past, that I'm far beyond normal. But thanks for respecting my past," Stella answered, shortly before they were warped back to reality.

"Where is he?!" said a worried white feline with the staff in her hand, rushing to the blackbuck's side. Cedric is still lying on the grass out cold as she had completely purified his blood.

"How is he?" the blackbuck asked instantly, unconcern about her wellbeing.

"He's stable for the meantime, still require treatment to recover," Selena replied, but more surprised when she noticed blood demon beaten.

Ildres got up with a menacing laugh, turning back to his normal self as he started chanting an incantation; putting the whole field under a magic circle to only which Selena recognized how terrible the spell is.

She quickly pulled Stella and reached out towards Cedric with her other hand. "Ignis!" she shouted. Without any order, Ignis took on its creature form and darted directly at Gumball and Jason, grabbing them before giving in to the stasis.

"Goodbye." Ildres bided before everyone is engulfed an intense light.

P.S Sorry for any mistakes that I may have overlooked. I'm spending more time writing a novel about the world I have created.