The buried airport groaned like a dying beast. Steel bent and screamed overhead, dust falling in slow, choking veils. Somewhere deeper inside, something roared — a sound too heavy, too full of hate to belong to anything human.
The last civilians had been led away. Silence followed, thick and tense, until a deep rumble rolled through the wreckage.
The Prime 10 Devil emerged from the dark. Its body was a cathedral of flesh and metal, its eyes burning with a red that ate through the dust. Shadows crawled across its surface, alive and twitching like worms trying to escape the light.
Yuto stepped forward, boots scraping over fractured tile. The sunlight clung to him — not warm, but sharp and merciless. He raised his katana, golden light crawling up its edge.
"Here," he said quietly, voice steady despite the weight in his chest. "It ends here."
He swung once.
Sun Power: Radiant Burst.
The cut tore through the air, releasing a wave of blinding light that split the gloom like a sunrise forced through stone. Debris turned molten under its heat. For a heartbeat, the Devil's form was fully revealed — vast, skeletal, and bleeding shadow from every seam.
Sousuke was already moving. Sparks crackled across his arms as he slammed his Thunder Bolt weapon into the fractured floor.
Thunder Power: Divine Storm Vortex.
The ground convulsed. A cyclone of lightning rose around the Devil, arcs snapping like chains. The air stank of ozone and burning flesh. Each bolt hit with the weight of thunder, drawing screams from the creature's twisting body. Sousuke gritted his teeth, sweat cutting a line through the grime on his face. "Stay in it, you bastard," he hissed, forcing the storm tighter.
Tatsusuke charged in, twin blades flashing. The wind around him howled to life, cutting through falling steel.
Wind Power: Razor Gale.
Every swing sliced through the Devil's shadow tendrils, scattering them into black mist. Then his other hand moved — fog spilled out, dense and pale, cloaking everything in shifting grey.
Fog Power: Phantom Veil.
The Devil's claws crashed into nothing. Each strike met only smoke, the echoes swallowed by Tatsusuke's veil. Then wind slashed again, carving deep lines across the Devil's legs.
Akari's voice cut through the chaos. "Keep it distracted!"
She raised her spear, blue light dancing along its length. Water gathered, swirling into a liquid blade.
Water Power: Ocean's Requiem.
The floor rippled as she struck. Jets of water spiraled forward, slicing through the Devil's reaching arms. Steam hissed where blood met water. "No one else dies here," she whispered — and for a moment, the storm seemed to obey her.
The Devil howled. The walls shook. Spires of shadow erupted from the ground — Shadow Pillars, tall enough to pierce the ceiling.
Sousuke's weapon flared. Lightning spread in a wide circle —
Thunder Power: Lightning Cage.
The cage absorbed the first wave of pillars, each impact exploding in white sparks.
Tatsusuke cut through the next, his wind shrieking in narrow arcs. His fog thickened again, turning the world into a ghostly maze.
Yuto moved through that haze like a burning arrow.
Sun Power: Dawn's Edge.
His downward slash sent a beam of pure light through the Devil's torso. The creature screamed, its skin peeling away in black ribbons. But it wasn't enough.
Sousuke forced the Divine Storm to swell again, lightning striking from every angle. The Devil's body spasmed, pinned between arcs of energy.
"You're not walking out of this!" he roared.
Tatsusuke appeared behind it — a whisper of fog and steel — and slashed both blades in an X across its spine. The Devil lurched forward.
Akari struck from the front, water coiling like serpents around her spear.
Water Power: Tidal Barrage.
The blast hit the Devil's legs, knocking it to one knee.
Yuto's blade glowed hotter, sunlight crawling up his arm. "Solar Flare Strike!"
He plunged down, the katana carving through the creature's chest with a flash that blinded even his allies.
The Devil's roar ripped through the corridors, rattling the bones of the ruined terminal. It flailed, its shadow tendrils spearing the air in a last, desperate frenzy.
Sousuke redirected the vortex — bolts clashing midair, guiding the electricity like a storm-tamer.
Tatsusuke darted through fog and flame, slashing tendrils to pieces.
Akari spun, her spear forming water shields that shattered every spike reaching for the civilians beyond.
Then — silence.
The storm eased. Steam hung heavy in the air, glowing faintly under the broken skylights. The Prime 10 Devil fell to one knee, its chest charred, its shadows retreating into cracks along its body. It wasn't dead. But it wasn't standing either.
The four heroes stood in the wreckage, every breath ragged. The air still trembled with heat and static.
Yuto lowered his sword, golden light dimming to embers. "Civilians are clear," he said quietly. "We hold this ground. But it's not over."
Sousuke rested the Thunder Bolt on his shoulder, arcs fading into smoke. "Next time," he muttered, "we finish it."
Tatsusuke wiped blood from his lip, the fog thinning around him. "We've seen what it can do. Next time, we strike smarter."
Akari turned her gaze toward the shadows ahead. Her voice was steady, soft. "Together. Always."
The Devil's eyes flared once more in the darkness — two burning coals staring back at them.
The war for the buried airport had only begun.