The shattered museum loomed like a graveyard of forgotten gods. Broken glass glittered among marble statues, and moonlight spilled through holes in the ceiling, washing everything in a pale silver glow. Rain dripped from fractured stone, every drop echoing in the stillness.
Yuto, Sousuke, Tatsusuke, Akari, and the Water Legend moved quietly through the rubble. Their new Devil Hunter gear gleamed faintly — black battle coats reinforced with gold plates across chest and shoulders, metallic masks ready to lock into place, belts loaded with blades, first-aid shots, and compact explosives. The special boots pulsed with faint light, responding to their steps, amplifying speed and stability.
The silence was heavy, the kind that makes breathing feel too loud.
The Water Legend paused, fingers brushing a mural half-buried in dust. The painting showed angels fighting devils. He whispered, "Every place has ghosts. This one… feels like it remembers them."
Yuto tightened his grip on his katana. "Then we'll make sure they rest."
The projector on his wrist flickered, mapping the layout of the ruined museum. A red mark pulsed deep underground — a signal that didn't belong to any human frequency.
Sousuke's eyes narrowed. "There. Beneath us."
A rumble answered him, deep and alive. Cracks spider-webbed across the marble floor. Dust fell like rain.
Then — a sound like a heartbeat.
Thud.
Thud.
The temperature dropped. The rain outside stopped, as if the world itself was holding its breath.
From the darkness below, two figures rose through the shattered ground — Prime 8 and Prime 9, the twin horrors of Akuma Ikari's legion.
Prime 8 emerged first: a towering figure plated in molten obsidian armor, every breath releasing sparks. In his hand, he held a weapon forged from bone and lightning — a spear that hummed with chaotic energy. His eyes glowed crimson, but behind the fury lay something ancient, almost sorrowful.
Prime 9 followed — thinner, shrouded in tendrils of black smoke, a massive scythe dragging behind him. His body flickered between solid and shadow, as if he was trapped between life and death. His voice was a low rasp, like thunder through a grave.
"You killed our brothers. The cycle of pain continues."
The Water Legend stepped forward, spear dripping with liquid light. "If your brothers burned this world, then their deaths were mercy."
Prime 9's expression twisted — not in rage, but grief. "Mercy…? You don't know what we were before the curse."
His words carried an echo of something human — a tone that made Yuto's chest tighten.
Sousuke whispered, "They talk like they remember who they were."
Tatsusuke's fog began to spread, filling the museum's ruins. "Then let's see if they still bleed like humans."
Prime 8 slammed his spear into the floor. Lightning erupted upward, splitting the ground. The team scattered — Yuto diving left, Akari forming a water barrier, Sousuke channeling thunder through his boots to vault above the blast.
The first clash shattered the silence.
Yuto met Prime 8 mid-air, blade colliding with the obsidian spear. Sparks and molten light exploded outward. Each strike sent shockwaves through the air, shattering glass, toppling statues. Yuto's golden aura flared brighter with every impact, his Sun Power burning against the Devil's corrupted lightning.
Meanwhile, the Water Legend faced Prime 9. Their spears clashed, water and shadow colliding like opposing tides. Every impact tore holes through the floor, waves crashing against tendrils of black smoke.
Prime 9 spoke between strikes. "We were protectors once… until your masters turned the light into fire."
The Water Legend's voice was steady, but his eyes reflected pain. "Then you let the darkness win."
"Darkness was all we had left."
Their weapons locked — the museum trembled. The Water Legend's spear pulsed with living water, veins of blue running up his arms. Prime 9's scythe flared with dying souls' whispers. They pushed until both broke apart, the clash sending them flying in opposite directions.
Akari summoned a surge of water, wrapping around Yuto's shoulders to cool his burns. "Don't lose focus — they're not ordinary devils."
Yuto nodded. "I know. They were warriors once."
Sousuke leapt into the fight beside him, thunder exploding beneath his feet. "Then let's remind them what real warriors fight for."
The four attacked in perfect sync.
Sousuke unleashed Sky Shatter, lightning bolts spearing through the roof and striking Prime 8 from above.
Tatsusuke weaved Phantom Cyclone, fog twisting into slicing winds that cut through the debris, forcing Prime 8 back.
Akari followed with Ocean Spiral, summoning a whirlpool of rainwater that trapped Prime 9's shadow tendrils.
Yuto charged forward with Radiant Burst, katana blazing like a miniature sun, cutting through the darkness that shielded the devils.
The combined assault lit up the ruins like a second dawn.
But the devils endured. Prime 8 roared, his molten armor cracking to reveal veins of glowing magma. Prime 9's form dispersed into mist, reappearing behind the team, his scythe slicing through stone like silk.
Sousuke barely blocked the blow, lightning scattering across the museum. "They're adapting!"
Prime 8 raised his spear high, chanting words in a dead language. The ground erupted — thousands of molten spikes shot upward. Yuto grabbed Akari and dove aside as the spikes tore through the floor, carving open a chasm.
The Water Legend appeared above the chaos, standing on a floating disk of spinning water. "Get them away from the civilians! The underground sector's still occupied!"
He swung his spear, summoning Water Power: Leviathan Flow. A dragon-shaped torrent erupted from the cracked pipes, engulfing Prime 9. Steam hissed as water met shadow — the museum became a maelstrom of boiling mist and flashing light.
In the haze, Prime 9's voice echoed faintly — soft, broken. "We fought for humans once… but they forgot us."
His shadow form lunged forward, scythe aimed at the Water Legend's chest — but the older warrior twisted midair, blocking the strike. Sparks and water collided in an explosion of blinding light.
Sousuke yelled, "Yuto! We need to split them!"
Yuto nodded, breathing hard. "Tatsusuke, Akari — take Prime 9. Sousuke, you're with me."
The air shifted — the battlefield split in two. Water and fog swirled on one side; thunder and sunlight on the other.
Each hero faced their devil.
Each devil carried the ghost of who they once were.
The museum groaned, ready to collapse under the storm of power. Dust, water, and lightning filled the air until it was impossible to tell sky from earth, heaven from hell.
And in that chaos, Yuto saw it — the faint shimmer of tears in Prime 8's crimson eyes before the next strike came.