For Toma and Arlen, it felt like the end had come.

  The demon’s grip tightened around them, crushing their ribs, choking the breath from their lungs. They couldn’t move. They couldn’t even scream.

  Then—salvation.

  A flash tore through the air, slicing the tentacles apart.

  The pressure vanished, and the boys collapsed to the ground, gasping.

  Between them and the monster stood Inspector Carter, elemental weapons in hand—two swords shaped like jagged lightning bolts, crackling with raw energy.

  “What the hell took you so long!?” Toma’s voice was sharp with anger and relief.

  Carter gave him a sheepish grin. “Sorry, Toma. And… thanks for holding out until now.”

  “Of course we did! Who do you think we are?!”

  “Yikes, my bad!” Carter chuckled nervously.

  Arlen interjected. “What’s the plan?”

  “You two attack from the air,” Carter said, tightening his grip on the blades. “I’ll take the ground.”

  “Got it!”

  He charged forward, each step faster than the last. Tentacles sprouted like a storm of black whips, lashing toward him—but Carter’s blades were faster. Lightning flashed, severing them before they could reach him.

  While he shredded the oncoming limbs, Arlen and Toma descended from above, aiming for the demon’s head.

  The creature twisted on instinct, and their blades only tore into its back.

  The wound sealed instantly.

  Carter moved in to finish the job, aiming for its skull—but the demon’s clawed hand caught one of his swords in an iron grip. It swung, hurling him across the street and into the side of a building.

  Before he could recover, a blast of Xeron tore from the demon’s palm, detonating the structure. The building collapsed in a roar of dust and stone, burying the supervisor beneath it.

  “Arlen, let’s attack from the air again!” Toma shouted.

  “Okay!”

  They dove repeatedly, striking from shifting angles so the demon couldn’t track them. Wounds began to open across its body, each strike drawing more blood.

  But the monster adapted.

  With a sickening rip, black wings erupted from its back, propelling it into the sky until it met them at eye level.

  “No way—it can fly too?! What’s next?!” Arlen blurted.

  Toma smirked despite the danger. “Relax. This might actually work in our favor.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “In the air, it can’t use its tentacles as easily. The wings have to keep it up—get too heavy, and it’ll drop.”

  “Right! Demons can’t just float in the air without aima!”

  “Exactly.”

  They dove in again. The demon now wielded a shield in one hand and a spiked mace in the other.

  Up here, it was slower than them—and they used that advantage.

  Arlen struck first, katana flashing. The shield caught his blade, shoving him away.

  Toma’s turn. The mace came for his head, but he slipped past and, with a burst of speed, sliced clean through the demon’s hand.

  Arlen came from behind. The shield turned to block—but it was a feint.

  Toma’s kick slammed into the demon’s stomach. Arlen vaulted onto the shield and, in one motion, cut the demon in half at the waist.

  It plummeted toward the ground.

  They followed to finish it—only for black tentacles to whip out and snare them mid-air. Flesh reknit, the demon’s body whole again, new tentacles sprouting from its arms.

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  One lash hurled Toma into a nearby building. Another wrapped around Arlen, squeezing the air from his lungs, bones creaking under the pressure.

  He couldn’t breathe. Pain lanced through his body—one arm hung uselessly, broken. Darkness crowded his vision.

  A bolt of lightning split the chaos.

  The tentacle holding Arlen burst apart, dropping him to the ground. He lay still, unconscious.

  From the rubble, Carter strode forward, blades crackling. “You bastard—catch me first if you can!”

  Far above, Kiron and Amon lounged on a rooftop, watching the battle.

  Kiron reclined in a chair, binoculars in one hand, a bag of chips in the other.

  “What do you think, Kiron?”

  “So far, so good,” Kiron said, munching on a bite of crisps. “But that lightning guy should’ve been dead a long time ago.”

  “You might be right, Kiron.”

  “Pass me the cola. I’m getting thirsty.”

  “Right away, Kiron!”

  Below, the battle pressed on.

  The demon shed its wings and reverted to its original form—bare fists raised.

  Toma rejoined Carter, and together they met its charge. Carter’s twin swords danced in arcs of lightning. Toma’s katana cut in sharp bursts. They moved in perfect sync, pressing the demon back.

  But its hardened skin turned aside Toma’s blade. He could only land kicks when Carter drew its attention.

  A growl rumbled from the demon’s chest.

  Muscles bulged, bones cracked—and two more arms tore free from its sides.

  Now, it could meet their speed blow for blow.

  “Toma, use the Blue Nova! I’ll distract him!” Carter’s voice cut through the chaos.

  “Got it!”

  Carter slid his blades back into their sheaths. Electricity flared at his palms—then bolts of lightning exploded toward the demon.

  The monster roared as the shock ripped through him, muscles twitching under the surge. But the pain only seemed to fuel his rage.

  With a guttural snarl, he hurled a blast of Xeron. Carter met it head-on, his lightning colliding with the black energy in a crackling storm.

  The demon didn’t notice the shadow rushing in from behind.

  Blue Nova flared around Toma’s blade. He closed the distance in a heartbeat, slicing clean through the demon’s legs.

  The monster crashed to the ground.

  Carter’s swords were in his hands again, twin arcs of lightning aimed straight for the demon’s chest. But the creature’s reflexes were faster than expected—it caught both blades in its claws.

  In the blink of an eye, its legs regenerated. Then it was on Carter, hammering his head and ribs with bone-crunching blows.

  Toma moved in for another Blue Nova strike. The blade hissed through the air—

  —but the demon twisted aside at the last second.

  Now it was just the two of them.

  Toma’s eyes locked on his foe. “Alright… looks like it’s just the two of us left. Come on, bring it!”

  The demon’s answer was a massive Xeron blast, big enough to tear apart the street. Buildings crumbled, the ground split open, and a crater swallowed everything around them.

  At its center, Toma still stood—shirt gone, skin singed, but Blue Nova glowing bright around him.

  He was breathing hard. “Inspector Carter is injured… I don’t even know if Arlen’s still alive. I have to finish this. I have to help them.”

  He launched forward, katana flashing, striking again and again. But the demon’s hands twisted into razor-sharp claws, catching and parrying every blow.

  At first, Toma kept up. But the demon fought with both arms—while Toma only had one weapon.

  Claws locked onto his blade, holding it in place. The other hand slashed across his abdomen.

  Toma didn’t even flinch. His foot drove into the demon’s gut, and he backflipped away, putting space between them.

  The demon lunged. Toma sidestepped, angling for the head—

  —but the monster caught his katana mid-swing and hurled it away.

  It came at him bare-handed, fists like battering rams. Toma crossed his arms to block, the impact rattling his bones, then used the recoil to flip back, gathering momentum before launching himself forward again.

  From that moment, they fought without weapons.

  Their strikes blurred to the point of invisibility.

  Every punch met another in mid-air, shockwaves cracking through the street.

  Toma’s hands didn’t break under the force—his aima surged through his body, reinforcing every bone and muscle.

  Now everything the Inspector taught me is paying off, he thought. If I hadn’t improved, I’d already be dead. But I can see him. I can read his moves. I can keep pace.

  He just hits hard… so I’ll hit harder. A little more spin. A little more push. I can feel the flow the Inspector always talked about. I’m breaking through my limits—right now.

  Toma’s foot slammed into the demon’s stomach. He spun in the air, heel connecting with the monster’s head.

  The demon staggered—

  —and Toma unleashed a storm of Blue Nova strikes, each one tearing a new hole through its body.

  But the monster refused to fall. Flesh rippled, sealing every wound. Its frame swelled with fresh muscle.

  Then it charged.

  Toma tried to brace, but the impact was unstoppable. The demon’s fist crushed into him, pinning him against the wall of a building. A follow-up blow slammed into his side, the weight of the added muscle driving the air from his lungs.

  Toma went still. Blood spilled from his lips.

  “Arlen… Inspector Carter… I’m sorry. I couldn’t make it.”

  Pain racked through Toma’s body, each breath stabbing his ribs.

  “This hurts like hell… I’m pretty sure a few are broken. I can’t even move.”

  His fists clenched.

  “Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! It’s coming toward me… Rot in hell, you bastard!”

  The demon loomed over him, arm raised high. The shadow of its claw fell across his face.

  It swung—

  —but before the blow could land, a flash of lightning split the air.

  A charged blade tore through the monster’s arm in one clean stroke. Sparks danced off the severed limb as the sword flew back, pulled magnetically to its owner’s grip.

  Inspector Carter stood there, electricity crackling along his twin blades.

  Beside him was Arlen, his left arm wrapped tight in a makeshift bandage.

  “Nice work, Toma,” Carter said with a grin. “But don’t worry—we’re here now. Let’s take down this big piece of crap in the most spectacular way possible.”

  “Arlen… Inspector… holy crap, you’re actually alive?!”

  “Relax,” Carter replied, eyes never leaving the demon. “I just got a bit dizzy, that’s all. Pulled Arlen out from the rubble and splinted his arm with a broom handle and some cloth—he broke it. That’s why we were late.”

  Then, with a sharp nod, “But keep your eyes on the demon.”

  The monster roared and lunged again, claws aimed straight for Toma.

  This time, he pushed himself to his feet. His body screamed in protest, but the sight of his comrades lit a fresh fire inside him.

  “Toma,” Carter called out, tossing something through the air, “this is yours!”

  The katana spun once before Toma’s hand closed around it.

  “Thanks.”