I was surprised by how tough these two characters were to get past. I did beat them but I think I might have done it the hard way. ( I had to grind down their energy by hitting and running, and then recovering. )

With Josephine as soon as you attacked you got hit by hell spikes and two attacks would pretty much finish you off.

And with Iona she had an ability to regenerate her life force if her vitality was drained too much in one attack.

Did anyone else have trouble with these characters or find a better way to beat them ?

PS finished the game, finally!!