In the midst of battle, the Goddess moved with swift and decisive force. With her arrows, she cut down the demon’s bow and shattered his towering banner, striking his limbs and breaking his weapon. Stripped of his bow, chariot, horses, and charioteer, the demon, now left to fight on foot, seized a sword and shield and charged fiercely toward the Goddess. In his fury, he struck the lion on the head with his sharp-edged sword and then attacked the Goddess, landing a blow on her left arm. Yet, as her arm received the sword, it shattered instantly upon impact. Enraged, his eyes burning red, the demon snatched up his spear. He hurled this blazing, radiant spear at Bhadrakali, its brilliance likened to the sun’s disk in the sky. But seeing the spear rush toward her, the Goddess released her own spear, shattering his weapon into a hundred pieces and destroying the demon. With the fall of this mighty and valiant commander of Mahisha’s army, Camara, the terror of the gods, arrived next, riding upon a great elephant. He too hurled his spear at the Goddess, but Ambika, with a loud humkāra, struck it down to the ground, rendering it powerless. Seeing his weapon destroyed, Camara, filled with rage, flung his trident, only for the Goddess to cut it apart with her arrows. The lion leapt up, standing between the elephant’s temples, engaging Camara in fierce hand-to-hand combat. Both fell from the elephant to the earth, inflamed with fury, striking each other with terrible blows. Then, with a sudden leap into the sky and a swift descent, the lion severed Camara’s head with a powerful blow of his paw. Elsewhere on the battlefield, Udagra was struck down by the Goddess with rocks, trees, and similar weapons. Karala fell to blows from her teeth, fists, and palms. Enraged, she crushed Uddhata with her mace, shattered Vaskala with her club, and struck down Tamra and Andhaka with her arrows. The Supreme Lady continued her onslaught, felling Ugrāsya, Ugravīrya, and Mahāhanu, and with her trident, the three-eyed one slew Trinetra. She severed Bidāla’s head with her sword, and sent Durdhara and Durmukha to Yama’s abode with her arrows. Kālarātri struck down Kāla with the staff of death. She struck Agradarśana with fierce sword blows, and cut down Asilomā in the festival of battle, while her hosts and lion rejoiced in victory. Witnessing his army’s destruction, Mahiṣāsura, in his buffalo form, began to terrify the Goddess’s hosts. He struck some with his beak, others with his hooves, battered still others with his tail, and tore apart many with his horns. With his speed, he knocked down some; others he felled with his roar and whirling motion; and yet others he cast to the ground with the force of his breath. After scattering the hosts of Pramathas, the demon rushed forward to kill the lion of Mahadevi, provoking Ambika’s wrath. In his fury, he trampled the earth with his hooves, hurled mountains high with his horns, and let out a thunderous roar. The earth itself was shattered by his furious spinning and speed, and the ocean overflowed in all directions, struck by his tail. Clouds split apart by his swinging horns scattered in fragments, and hundreds of mountains fell from the sky, swept down by the force of his breath. Seeing this great demon, swollen with rage and charging to attack, Caṇḍikā became angry, intent on his destruction. She cast her noose upon him, binding the demon in the midst of battle. Even as he was bound, he abandoned his buffalo form. In an instant, he became a lion, but as Ambikā struck off his head, a man wielding a sword appeared in his place. The Goddess immediately cut down this man with her arrows, but he transformed again, this time into a great elephant. With his trunk, he seized the lion and roared, but as he dragged, the Goddess severed his trunk with her sword. The demon then assumed the form of a buffalo once more, shaking the three worlds with all their moving and unmoving beings. Enraged, Chandika, Mother of the Universe, drank excellent liquor again and again, laughing with eyes reddened. The demon roared, intoxicated by his strength, and hurled mountains at Chandika with his horns. She shattered these mountains with volleys of arrows and addressed him, her words colored by intoxication: “Roar, roar for a moment, fool, while I drink my liquor; when I slay you here, the gods will soon roar instead.” Having spoken thus, she leapt upon the demon, mounted him, pressed his neck with her foot, and struck him with her spear. As she pressed him, he began to emerge from his own mouth, but was restrained by the power of the Goddess. While he was still half-emerged, fighting fiercely, the Goddess struck off his head with her mighty sword and cast him down. Thus, Mahisha by name, together with his army and circle of friends, who had bewildered the three worlds, was destroyed by the Goddess. When Mahisha was slain, all beings present in the three worlds—gods, demons, and humans—cried out, “Victory!” Thereafter, the entire demon army was overcome with lamentation and perished, while all the hosts of gods attained supreme joy.