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Esprit stands across from Haru, her eyes narrowed, the air around her humming with dense magical pressure. Haru rolls his shoulders once, relaxed, almost excited. The ground beneath them begins to crack from the combined power rising off both Demons.
Esprit scoffs.
"You really think you can handle me at full power? You're delusional."
Haru smiles lightly. "Well, I'm curious to see how far I can actually push myself."
Esprit clicks her tongue in annoyance, then her wings flare open behind her as she raises both hands. Magic swirls violently, forming dense spheres of destruction.
"Perish," she says simply, and launches a barrage of explosive magic.
Haru instantly spreads a Multi-Functional Barrier, the golden film locking around him. The blasts hammer against the barrier and explode outward, tearing up the landscape and creating a crater around him. As the smoke fades, Haru pushes through without hesitation.
Esprit narrows her eyes. He moved through my barrage? At that speed?
Haru appears before her in the blink of an eye. She reacts instantly, throwing up a Universal Barrier, but Haru's fist, coated in demonic energy, shatters it like glass. The impact sends Esprit skidding back across the ground.
"Tchā¦" she mutters before rushing forward again.
They clash mid-air, fists, elbows, and knees colliding at speeds that warp the space around them. Haru is smiling through every exchange, enjoying himself more and more as the fight escalates.
Esprit looks irritated. "Why are you smiling? You think this is fun?"
Haru weaves under a magic blast and answers, "Well yes. Diablo is way too strong so I can gauge my own strength when fighting him, but you are different."
Esprit grits her teeth and snaps her fingers. A massive pillar of destructive magic erupts beneath Haru, engulfing him. She smirks, until Haru bursts out of it unharmed, using his barrier to shrug it off.
Then he swings. A dismantle slash whistles through the air, Esprit dodges, but the edge of it grazes her arm. The cut mends instantly, but she frowns.
"So annoying."
Haru tilts his head. "Come on, don't say that. This one is different."
Esprit's magic flares to the maximum as she thrusts both palms toward him. "I really don't like you!"
A colossal wave of destructive energy surges forward, tearing through the ground like a tidal wave. Haru reinforces his barrier again, bracing himself, but instead of blocking all of it, he charges through the attack. Diablo's voice echoes in his mind:
"Never rely on the barrier alone. Dispel the nature of the magic at its core as you advance."
Haru layers demonic energy around his arm, dispelling the magic as he forces his way forward.
Esprit's eyes widen. "Whatā?!"
Haru closes the distance with frightening speed and launches a downward kick. Esprit throws up another Universal Barrier, but Haru's heel slams into it and shatters it cleanly, the shockwave forcing her into the sky.
Haru follows instantly.
Esprit turns sharply mid-air and fires a string of destructive beams, each one powerful enough to pulverize a mountain. Haru dodges effortlessly, weaving between them, sometimes using a barrier to bounce off the magical blasts and redirect himself.
Esprit becomes agitated. "Stop toying with me!"
"Why? This is fun," Haru says as he appears behind her.
Esprit tries to twist away, but Haru's fist connects with her abdomen. The impact sends a ripple through her core, something she wasn't expecting. She freezes for a split second, shocked.
Thatā¦ felt likeā¦
No. That's not possible.
Haru's fist has damaged her soul, not her body.
Esprit's eyes tremble with rage. "You filthy little Greater Demonā¦ what did you do?"
Haru looks confused. "Huh? I just punched you."
Esprit backs away, eyes sharp and analytical now. His physical strikesā¦ they're harming my soul directly? How? That shouldn't be possible. I even reinforced my soul. Even Archdemons struggle with that level of precision!
Her heart, though she cannot feel pain tightens with instinctive fear.
"Stay away from me," she hisses, firing another massive blast.
Haru slices through it with another dismantle slash. The slash continues, clipping Esprit's shoulder, she regenerates instantly again, but this time her expression twitches. That moment of regeneration drains her soul slightly.
His slashesā¦ they're no longer just annoying. They're hurting me.
"Oh? It seems you've realized. I told you they are different now," Haru says with a bright smile as he closes the distance again.
Esprit becomes furious. "Stop smiling! I will not let some weakling Greater Demon make a fool out of me!"
She unleashes everything. Pure destructive magic fills the sky like a storm, detonating in every direction. The ground below disintegrates, turning into nothing but dust. Haru protects himself with a barrier, then bursts through the storm, appearing right in front of her.
Esprit tries to fly back, wings beating hard, but Haru flies as well, chasing her. She fires off another spell but Haru grabs her wrist mid-cast and twists punching her in the chest.
Another soul shock hits her.
Esprit growls. "N-Noā¦ no, this is wrong. You're not normal. You're not normal at all!"
Haru responds, cheerful: "Don't say that, it will make me sad."
Esprit's face tightens. Noirā¦ that damn monsterā¦ why would you take this monster and make it even more of a monstor.
Haru drives forward with a barrage of strikes, each strike infused with that strange energy. Esprit blocks some, dodges others, but every contact forces her soul to quiver. She becomes slower from weakened soul integrity.
Each dismantle slash cuts deeper now, not physically, but spiritually. Her regeneration slows and her barriers crack faster.
Haru grins even larger. "This is getting exciting!"
Esprit snarls back, "Shut up!" and launches a spatial rupture spell. The space around them tears open, ripping toward Haru but he dispels the unstable magic, remembering Diablo's lessons, then tackles her mid-air.
They crash into the ground, kicking up a tremendous shockwave. Esprit rolls, then jumps to her feet instantly, hand shaking slightly as she summons another barrier.
Haru punches it, and it shatters instantly.
Esprit's eyes shake. He broke that without effortā¦ Iā
A dismantle slash cuts across her abdomen, enough to stagger her. She regenerates, but this regeneration feels sluggish and incomplete.
Esprit backs away. "Stay back! Stay away from me!"
Haru steps forward with excitement in his eyes. "Why? You're still standing. Let's continue."
Esprit wipes her mouth even though she isn't bleeding, simply out of instinctive irritation. "I miscalculatedā¦ I thought you were merely annoying. But you. You're a monster disguised as a Greater Demon!"
Haru tilts his head. "Eh? Is that supposed to be a compliment?"
Esprit tries to fly away again, desperate for distance, but Haru grabs her ankle mid-flight and swings her toward the ground. She twists mid-air and lands, skidding back, barely upright.
Every part of her soul vibrates with instability.
Esprit glares at him. "You should not exist, if you evolve one more time, you could rival the Primordials, that shouldn't be possible ā¦"
Haru laughs. "Is that so, then I should evolve faster shouldn't I?"
Esprit's magic explodes outward, the largest output she has shown yet turning the landscape into a destructive wasteland. She unleashes hundreds of beams, bursts, and explosive spheres simultaneously.
Haru charges directly into the storm.
Every attack that grazes him is blocked by expertly placed barriers. Every attack he launches lands exactly where Esprit doesn't want it to. She's breaking down her soul is screaming despite being pain-immune.
Finally, Haru lands a direct blow to her chest with enough force to warp the air.
Esprit collapses to one knee, growling. "Youā¦ damnā¦ bratā¦ I'll kill youā¦"
Haru raises his hand, black flames swirling intensely and prepares Noir Flame.
Esprit's eyes widen. No. If that touches my weakened soul, Iā¦
She cannot dodge in time.
Haru says quietly, "Well, this was funā"
But then A hand grabs Esprit's shoulder and she disappears in an instant flash.
Haru's eyes widen slightly. "Huh?"
A calm female voice drifts through the clearing.
"Enough, Demon. You are enjoying yourself a little to much beating up my best friend."
Carrera stands where Esprit had been, arms folded, watching Haru with a mixture of amusement and irritation.
Esprit is gone, snatched away from the brink of death.