The museum stood in silence.
Glass shards hung from the ceiling like frozen rain. Cracks split across the marble floor, glowing faintly with red light leaking from below — like the ground itself remembered the devils it once tried to bury.
The air trembled.
Prime 8 and Prime 9 stood side by side amid the wreckage — twin monsters, yet different in presence.
Prime 8 was tall and armored, his body carved like stone, his eyes burning a deep, steady crimson. Prime 9 was leaner, wrapped in strips of shifting black matter that rippled like liquid shadows. They didn't speak, but the weight of their power filled the hall.
Yuto felt it first — the same suffocating aura he remembered from Prime 10.
He tightened his grip on his katana. The blade pulsed faintly with golden light, answering his heartbeat.
"They're not here to test us," he said, voice low. "They're here to erase us."
Water Legend stepped forward, calm but sharp-eyed. The silver armor across his chest reflected the broken moonlight spilling through the holes in the roof. "Then let them try," he said softly. "But no one leaves this place broken — except them."
Akari raised her spear, water spiraling around it like a living current. Sousuke spun his Thunder Bolt weapon, lightning crawling over the floor like wild veins. Tatsusuke crossed his dual blades, mist forming at his feet.
The museum shuddered.
---
Prime 8 stepped forward.
Every footfall echoed like a hammer striking iron. "You destroyed Prime 10," he said, his voice resonant and cold. "Impressive. But the difference between us…" He lifted his arm — black metal growing across his skin, forming a jagged weapon fused to his hand. "…is purpose."
Prime 9's voice was quieter, smoother — almost human. "We do not fight for Akuma Ikari's command alone," he said. "We fight to prove that your hope is nothing."
Sousuke smirked, sparks dancing around his shoulders. "Hope's tougher than you think."
---
Then the air split.
Prime 8 slammed his weapon into the ground. The floor erupted upward, sending a shockwave through the hall. Sousuke vanished in a flash of thunder, reappearing midair, countering with Thunder Breathing: Storm Pulse — a burst of lightning that crashed down in a radiant spiral.
The explosion lit the entire hall.
Statues shattered. Displays crumbled. The light met Prime 8's defense — a wall of obsidian energy — and for a moment, the two forces clashed, light and darkness grinding against each other in a roar of pressure.
Akari moved next. She launched forward, her spear trailing water that twisted like ribbons. Water Power: Tidal Rush.
The flow turned into a sweeping arc, cutting across Prime 9's shadows — but the devil melted away, reforming behind her.
Prime 9's whisper brushed her ear. "You move like rain. But rain cannot pierce the night."
He extended his arm, shadows flaring into tendrils — but Akari spun, redirecting with a circular slash that became a whirlpool, trapping the darkness for a second before it burst apart. The recoil threw her back across the hall.
"Stay sharp!" Tatsusuke called out. His fog expanded, blanketing half the museum. "I'll cover your blind spots."
He activated Fog + Wind: Phantom Gale, blending air and mist into slicing currents that danced invisibly around the battlefield. Shards of marble floated, suspended by the pressure.
Prime 9 smiled through the haze. "You think fog will hide you?"
But Tatsusuke's voice echoed from every direction. "No. It hides you from yourself."
---
Meanwhile, Yuto and Water Legend faced Prime 8 together.
Yuto dashed in, blade glowing with Sun Power: Radiant Edge, the light cutting through Prime 8's armor. But the devil didn't flinch — his counter came with terrifying precision, metal limbs moving faster than sight. Sparks scattered across Yuto's mask as he blocked, sliding backward, boots grinding into the cracked floor.
Water Legend raised his hands — the air shimmered.
The sprinklers shattered from the ceiling, and streams of water spiraled toward him. The liquid formed a barrier, reflecting light like a thousand mirrors.
Ocean Form: Celestial Stream.
Prime 8 swung, and his blade met the flowing shield. Water and energy exploded outward, flooding the room with steam and light.
Yuto's voice cut through the chaos. "He's reading our attacks! Hit from above!"
Water Legend nodded once — then launched himself upward on a column of pressurized water, soaring like a wave come to life. His trident split into two spears midair, glimmering with blue runes.
"Tsunami Split – Third Tide!"
He hurled both spears down. The moment they hit, the floor cracked in a spiderweb of glowing blue lines, bursting upward into towering arcs of water that crashed down on Prime 8. The devil staggered for the first time, his armor sizzling with steam.
Sousuke appeared beside him in a blink.
"Your turn."
"Thunder Breathing: Heaven's Rift!"
He slammed his Thunder Bolt into the devil's chest — lightning tore through the air, turning the water into a flash of light. The museum's walls buckled under the shockwave.
For a heartbeat, it seemed like they had broken through.
---
But Prime 9's voice echoed through the steam.
"You think you've seen our limits?"
The shadowed devil extended both hands, and a web of black veins spread across the ceiling. Every broken artifact, every piece of rubble began to float, drawn by invisible strings. The entire hall warped.
Yuto's eyes widened. "He's bending gravity."
Prime 8 rose beside his brother, armor reforming. Their power synchronized — light warped, sound distorted.
And for the first time, the four hunters saw the markings glowing faintly on both devils' necks:
8 and 9, burning like scars that refused to fade.
Akari's breath caught. "They're not just fighting us. They're… connected."
---
The devils moved as one.
Prime 8 struck with earth-shattering force, his weapon cleaving through the air like a falling mountain. Prime 9 followed instantly, his shadow slicing through the floor, aiming from below. The combination was seamless — strength and speed, body and darkness, overwhelming precision.
Yuto's team countered in unison.
Sousuke unleashed Storm Rift, bolts spiraling outward like living serpents. Tatsusuke's Phantom Cyclone split the air into slashing gusts. Akari's Tidal Spiral swirled around them, merging with Water Legend's barrier. Yuto brought down Solar Flare Strike, his blade igniting the space between the devils.
The collision was thunder.
For a few seconds, nothing existed but light, sound, and motion — power meeting power, resolve against rage.
Then — silence.
---
The dust slowly settled.
The museum was gone. Only the skeletal remains of its walls stood, moonlight falling through the wreckage. The hunters stood in formation, weapons raised, breathing hard. Opposite them, Prime 8 and Prime 9 were still standing, their bodies cracked and smoking — but not defeated.
Prime 9 tilted his head, almost smiling.
"You've grown strong… Devil Hunters. I wonder… if you even know what you're fighting for."
Prime 8's hand gripped his weapon tighter.
"Next time, your light will break first."
And with that, both devils stepped backward — their bodies fading into the swirling mist left behind by Tatsusuke's fog. The pressure vanished. The silence returned.
Only the shattered hall and the sound of dripping water remained.
Yuto lowered his blade, the golden light fading from its edge. "They're not retreating," he said quietly. "They're planning something."
Water Legend stared into the mist where the devils vanished. His voice was low, almost distant.
"They weren't fighting to win. They were fighting to learn."
He looked at his comrades — all of them exhausted, bruised, but alive.
"This was only the first wave."
---
As dawn broke through the ruins, the team stood among the wreckage, the rising sun painting the shattered glass gold.
Their reflection looked like ghosts — warriors who had seen too much but couldn't stop now.
The Water Legend turned toward the horizon, eyes half-shadowed.
"Next time," he murmured, "we'll face the truth of what they are… and what we've become."
The wind carried the words away — into silence.
To be continued…