The buried airport smelled of blood and burning metal. Smoke curled through twisted beams, carrying the acrid tang of scorched concrete. Nothing moved but the faint crackle of smoldering fires and the occasional collapse of weakened steel. Amid the ruin, four figures stood in tense formation — Yuto, Sousuke, Akari, and Tatsusuke. Their breaths were shallow, labored, but controlled. Every heartbeat seemed to echo against the cavernous expanse.
Before them, the Prime 10 Devil loomed like a nightmare sculpted from human fear. His face, once human, was a grotesque mask of torment. Four hearts pulsed within his chest, each glowing with a rhythmic, malevolent beat. The sound rolled across the fractured runway like distant drums of war.
Yuto's katana gleamed faintly, golden light flickering across the steel blade. Blood streaked his lips, yet his grip was steady. "Even one heart left… and he comes back," he muttered, jaw tight.
Sousuke's arm sparked faintly as he clenched the Thunderbolt weapon. "Then we hit them all together. No mistakes."
Akari's hand tightened around her spear. "One shot. That's all we get." Her eyes scanned the ruined terminal, every shadow a potential trap.
Tatsusuke's dual katanas gleamed in the dim light. "I'll cover us with fog. When we vanish, we strike in perfect sync."
The Devil's grin split his face, sharp and unnatural. "Four lights against the darkness of eternity? You'll learn… despair endures longer than hope."
Yuto's eyes narrowed. "We don't need eternity. We only need a single, perfect moment."
---
The Calm Before the Storm
Tatsusuke exhaled, fog curling from his boots as he stepped forward. The mist coiled around his body like liquid smoke, thickening with every heartbeat. The Devil's eyes darted nervously, scanning through the white haze. With a sweep of his scythes, the air trembled. Dark energy erupted in a shockwave, blowing part of the fog away, but it surged back around the hunters like an ocean.
"Your darkness won't see the dawn," Yuto whispered, his voice low and steady, more promise than threat.
---
First Strike
Yuto lunged, blade igniting as fire licked across the edge. He moved like a predator, precise and unflinching. Flames arced toward the Devil's chest, searing corrupted flesh and blackened muscle. The first heartbeat of the creature echoed violently through the terminal, a sick drum that vibrated in the hunters' bones.
From the opposite flank, Akari spun her spear, water whipping in deadly arcs. She slammed it into the Devil's exposed side, twisting currents cutting deep. Blood mixed with water, steam rising in a foul haze. The Devil roared, swinging his scythes, yet his armor was scorched and bleeding from Yuto's flames.
---
Second Strike
Sousuke slammed the Thunderbolt into the cracked floor. Lightning shot upward like living serpents, wrapping the Devil in arcs of pure energy. The creature's limbs twitched involuntarily as electricity seared into muscle and bone. Sparks showered the ruined terminal, igniting smoke and debris.
Tatsusuke moved silently, the fog hiding him and the civilians from prying eyes. He reappeared behind the Devil, blades slicing tendrils of shadow with surgical precision. Wind followed him, cutting air like knives, sending shards of rubble spinning into the Devil's face. Every breath he took was sharp, every strike deliberate.
---
The Combined Assault
The four hunters converged. Fire, lightning, water, and wind collided in a synchronized storm. Each heartbeat of the Devil pulsed violently as if trying to resist the onslaught, yet their combined assault forced him back, staggering.
Time slowed for a moment. Yuto's fire met Sousuke's lightning, arcs of energy dancing together. Akari's water wrapped around the Devil's torso, twisting and crushing. Tatsusuke's wind sliced through shadows and stone alike, tearing open exposed flesh. The four hearts pulsed once… then all at once erupted into molten, crimson explosions.
The terminal shook violently. Concrete split. Steel groaned and twisted. Dust and blood filled the air. The Devil screeched, a sound that ripped at eardrums and rattled ribs. His chest opened, smoking and shredded. All four hearts were gone, yet his body did not collapse.
---
The Devil's Core
The creature's head lifted, eyes momentarily calm, almost human. "So… this is what it feels like… to lose everything," he whispered. But the serenity was fleeting. Shadows spread from his body, creeping across the ground like living ink. The floor cracked, deep fissures snaking outward, sucking at the hunters' feet.
"He's… merging with something!" Sousuke shouted, lightning flaring defensively.
Tatsusuke's fog swirled violently, but even it was being consumed by the encroaching darkness. The Devil's voice rumbled through the terminal, a guttural echo from the depths of the earth. "Four hearts gone… but the core… remains. Find me… if you can… in the abyss."
The hunters recoiled as blackness surged, swallowing the Devil entirely. Dust and debris fell from the ceiling. Silence followed — absolute and heavy.
---
Aftermath
The air was thick with the smell of ozone, blood, and charred concrete. The fog dissipated. The buried airport lay in ruin, silent except for the faint crackle of fires and the distant groan of steel. The hunters staggered to their feet, battered and bleeding.
Yuto rested a hand on his sword. "We… hit him all at once. Every ounce of strength."
Sousuke wiped blood from his face, arm hanging from a shallow wound. "And he still… isn't gone."
Akari's spear shook in her hands, her leg bruised and bleeding. "The hearts… they weren't the source."
Tatsusuke sheathed his swords, chest heaving. "He spoke of a core… deeper than the hearts. That's what we destroy next."
Yuto's gaze fell to the dark cracks in the ground where the Devil had vanished. "Then we prepare. And when the time comes… we finish it together."
The hunters rose, battered but unbroken. Each glance at the others carried unspoken agreement — next time would be the end.
Deep beneath the earth, in the cold, silent dark, a heartbeat pulsed steadily. Slow. Relentless. Eternal.
The Prime 10's voice, faint and distant, whispered into the emptiness:
"Four hearts lost… but the core… still beats…"