The buried airport stretched before them like a graveyard of steel and silence. Collapsed terminals and shattered planes jutted out from the earth like bones of a forgotten age. Every corridor reeked of smoke and rust; the air was heavy with dust, and each step sent faint echoes through the hollow ruins.
Yuto led the way, his katana gleaming faintly under the fractured ceiling light. "Stay sharp," he said quietly, voice steady but weighted with urgency. "We find survivors before the whole place comes down."
The memory of his sister—her final smile before the flames took everything—flashed unbidden. Not this time, he thought. No one dies today.
Sousuke followed close, his Thunder Bolt weapon pulsing with faint arcs of electricity that hissed in the damp air. "We move fast," he muttered, scanning the shadows. "If anyone's alive, we reach them before the fire or the darkness does." Lightning flickered across his eyes, betraying the storm brewing inside him.
Behind them, Tatsusuke spun his twin katanas lightly in his hands. The faint hum of air gathered around him, swirling with wisps of fog that leaked from the broken vents. "The structure's unstable," he warned, tone cold but calm. "One wrong step and this whole place folds on us."
He drew in a breath, merging his elements. "Fog + Wind: Phantom Gale." The mist thickened, coiling protectively around them.
Akari knelt near a fractured pipe where water trickled down into a shallow puddle. Her silver-blue spear glowed, ripples forming where it touched the surface. "Follow the water," she murmured. "It flows toward the trapped." She raised her weapon, summoning her first technique. "Water Power: Tidal Strike." Luminescent currents coiled up the walls, illuminating the path ahead with a ghostly light.
---
They found the first survivor buried beneath a fallen beam—a child, barely breathing. Yuto's heart tightened.
"Not again," he whispered, gripping his sword. His Sun Power ignited, golden heat flaring across his blade.
"Sun Breathing, First Technique: Solar Flare Strike!"
The steel hissed as the beam melted under his strike, molten sparks scattering across the floor. He pulled the child free, holding them gently against his chest. "You're safe now," he said softly, though his gaze already searched the dark for more.
Akari extended her hand, water swirling to form a shimmering cushion under falling debris—Ocean Spiral. Tatsusuke's winds cut through the rubble, Gale Mirage creating illusions of shifting movement to draw attention away from the civilians.
Sousuke stepped forward as the ceiling cracked, swinging his Thunder Bolt weapon upward.
"Thunder Power: Sky Shatter!"
A surge of lightning burst outward, vaporizing falling steel before it hit the ground.
They moved as one. Every motion was instinct. Every technique flowed seamlessly into the next. Piece by piece, the survivors were pulled from the wreckage. Yuto's burning sword lit the corridors like sunrise cutting through smoke.
Then the air shifted.
A low vibration rolled through the metal floor—deep, guttural. The dust began to spiral upward, and a sound like cracking stone echoed through the hollow terminal. The survivors froze.
From the far darkness, something stirred.
It emerged—a towering monstrosity of fused bone and decayed flesh, its limbs dragging shadows that oozed like liquid. Crimson light burned in its skull-like eyes.
Sousuke's face darkened. "Prime 10 Devil," he said under his breath.
Akari's grip tightened on her spear. "Akuma Ikari sent it…"
Yuto's expression hardened, the weight of memory pressing on him like iron. Not here. Not again.
---
The Devil roared—a sound that ripped through the air like an explosion. Dust and ash surged outward, knocking debris loose from the rafters.
Sousuke planted his weapon, lightning coiling up his arms. "We protect the survivors first!"
His voice cracked with determination. This wasn't just a fight; it was redemption.
Tatsusuke's mist thickened into a swirling vortex, Phantom Gale wrapping the civilians in a barrier of distorted wind. "Move them out!" he barked, slicing through falling debris.
Akari raised her weapon, unleashing Tidal Barrage—a cascade of spiraling water that slammed into the Devil's claws, deflecting its strike. "Yuto, now!"
Yuto's katana flared gold. "Solar Flare Strike!"
He cut through the oncoming shadows, a searing arc of sunlight piercing the gloom. The explosion lit the terminal like dawn breaking through night. The civilians ran through the corridor of firelight, safe behind the heroes' line.
The Devil howled, tendrils snapping and reforming, black smoke spilling from its wounds.
Sousuke stepped forward, lightning crawling over his shoulders. "Time to end this storm."
He spun his Thunder Bolt weapon, summoning the storm itself.
"Thunder Power, Seventh Technique—Divine Storm Vortex!"
Lightning converged into a swirling tempest, dragging the Devil toward its core. Bolts tore through its limbs, arcs splitting bone and shadow. Every flash illuminated the rage on Sousuke's face—part fury, part pain. He'd failed too many before. Not this time.
Tatsusuke leapt into the chaos, twin katanas slicing in perfect rhythm. "Phantom Cyclone!" Wind howled around him, blades cutting through the Devil's flanks faster than the eye could follow.
Akari raised her spear again. "Ocean's Requiem!" Water surged from shattered pipes, wrapping the Devil's legs and crashing upward in a tidal wave of silver light.
Yuto's flames ignited above them all. He leapt high, sword blazing brighter than ever.
"Radiant Burst!"
He plunged down like a falling sun, cleaving through the Devil's torso. The impact shook the entire terminal.
---
The creature screamed, black blood spraying like ash. But it wasn't done. With a roar that shattered the remaining glass, it unleashed Shadow Surge—a blast of dark energy that tore through the floor.
Sousuke slammed his weapon down. "Lightning Cage!" Electric walls snapped into existence, trapping the attack's fragments mid-air.
Tatsusuke countered, channeling the wind through his fog barrier. "Gale Mirage! Redirect!" The shadows bent away, tearing through empty space instead of their allies.
Akari followed, summoning Ocean Spiral to sweep the last of the civilians through a broken exit, her eyes fierce with purpose.
When the dust finally settled, only the four remained standing between the Devil and the open world beyond.
Yuto's eyes met theirs—Sun, Thunder, Wind, and Water—united by the same fire.
"We protect the innocents first," he said quietly, lifting his sword. "Then we finish this."
Sousuke smirked, wiping blood from his lip. "About time."
Tatsusuke spun his blades, wind whispering through the silence.
Akari raised her spear, water circling like a halo. "Let's end it."
The Devil roared, its massive frame pulsing with dark energy. But the four were already moving—lightning, wind, flame, and water converging into a single storm of color and force. Every strike burned, every movement sang.
This was no longer just a rescue.
It was war.
And none of them would fail again.