For you question about the attack, 2 commen design I see the the stamina meter and/or the light & heavy attack. Maybe the light stuns, and the heavy uses to bush he demons away. It could give the player some options for strategy.
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I like the idea of different attacks for different purposes, e.g. a type of motion that gets them out the trees and then an attack to sweep them into the portal. I can see how that would give the player some more strategic options.
A stamina bar also is a good idea, I didn't think of that. Maybe it could go above the hearts! But then we'd need some other meter above the coins to balance it out.