The frog lunged forward, its massive tongue whipping toward Naoto and Shark. Both of them dodged the strike just in time.
Shark didn't say a word. He shot forward with brutal speed, landing right on the creature's tongue. He sliced it into dozens of pieces, chunks splattering across the floor, then launched himself back into the air.
"Transfer Energy." His katana darkened, coated in a black surge of power. He dashed straight for the frog's head.
He drove the blade in. Ripped it out. Dropped back to the ground.
The frog exploded behind him. Shark turned, sliding his katana back into its sheath.
Naoto kept his composure. He pointed his finger at the demon and whispered, "He's still alive…" He activated his ability: Pajoha—Opposite Pain.
Shark didn't respond. He drew his katana again, staring at the frog. He aimed toward the demon and muttered [SE].
Suddenly, a black snake with bright blue eyes dropped from the sky. It swallowed the frog whole. It hit the ground with a heavy thud.
Then the snake began to swell—fast. And it exploded.
Hundreds of tiny frogs burst out of the blast, swarming toward Naoto and Shark
Naoto knew it was a trap. Shark said, "One of these… will be Naoto. Step aside so we can see which one."
Shark burst forward, sprinting with full speed, and punched the air. Lighter Flash. A wave of energy blasted toward the frogs, detonating them.
Suddenly Shark lunged at Naoto—not to strike him, but to kill a frog that had lit up on Naoto's shoulder. Naoto muttered, "Thanks."
They both stepped back. Naoto continued, "He's not an easy target. What we thought… it's not one trap. It's many traps."
The two buildings in front of them exploded. A violent gust swept across the area.
Devil Fog grew massive again. His enormous tongue lashed toward them, but both dodged. The tongue dragged across the ground behind them.
Naoto jumped onto a car, but the tongue smashed it and sent it flying into him. He leapt into the air, but the tongue rose again, chasing him.
"Damn…" he said, seeing it coming.
Shark shouted: [SE]. The devil‑serpent appeared with brutal speed and swallowed Devil Fog's tongue whole.
The Devil Snake vanished again. Both of them froze.
Seconds later, Devil Fog regenerated his tongue. He opened his entire mouth and spat out small frogs that sprinted and exploded.
Naoto and Shark ran, the frogs chasing and detonating around them.
Naoto yelled, "He threw kamikaze frogs at us!"
The frogs formed a massive tsunami and rushed toward Naoto. They exploded one after another—until Shark appeared again.
[SE] The serpent burst out, swallowed the entire wave, and vanished.
Shark stayed behind Naoto, calm as ever. Suddenly he shouted:
"Naoto! Devil Fog is targeting you because you're the weak one! Move, now!"
Naoto turned—and saw Devil Fog's tongue dragging him toward its mouth. He struggled, but the tongue wrapped around his legs.
"Where's my adrenaline, damn it!" he shouted.
The tongue hurled him into the sky, caught him again, and pulled him down. Meanwhile, the tiny frogs chased Shark, but he slaughtered them all and sprinted toward Naoto.
Devil Fog tried to swallow Naoto whole. Inside his mind, Naoto screamed:
"Come on… damn it! What did my father teach me? How do I raise my nature energy? Why isn't it working? Damn my luck!"
Suddenly his entire body ignited with nature‑energy flames. He burned through Devil Fog's tongue.
[Resonance Pulse]
Naoto crashed to the ground. Nature energy covered his whole body.
In a split second, Shark sliced the two buildings in half. He whispered:
"Chaos ends."
From the sky, at impossible speed, Devil Snake appeared. It swallowed Devil Fog and detonated on impact. The explosion lit up the entire area. Smoke rose high, forming a massive bubble of fire.
Shark sheathed his katana and stared at Naoto, who trembled—almost dancing—with energy blazing across his body.
Shark shouted:
"Do you even know what you activated? Or did your father leave you with a power he never explained?"
Naoto answered, "I have no idea… but I love it!" Look at me, man—I love it! I feel my energy burning so much… so damn much! Hahahaha! All I know is that my energy rises when I'm in real danger, when I feel I might die, when I need to survive… whether I'm pushed physically or mentally."
Shark looked at him. "Think you got a little carried away. Calm down. You don't need that much output. Hold your energy—don't burn it like that. Everything has a cost."
Naoto stopped the Resonance Pulse. He turned toward Shark.
"After all this chaos… we can finally start searching for Devil Savage."
Shark stared at him, expression flat. "Your father told you: never chase revenge."
Naoto snapped, anger flaring. "That devil killed my father. You get that, right?"
Shark shook his head. "He didn't kill him. Your father died because he gave too much. He broke the contract with the devil… and the devil took his heart. The cost killed him. In this world, power isn't free. Nothing is free, kid."
Naoto started laughing after hearing that. "You're joking. You have Devil Snake. A slave—not a helper. No contract. You beat him. You told him, "Either I kill you or you become mine with no payment. "Where's the 'nothing is free' in that? Me? I don't have any devil. I never even reached twenty percent natural energy. I need time. I need years. Forget it. I'll get an ability. My goal is to kill Devil Savage."
Shark didn't answer. He just watched him.
Naoto kept talking, "Ever since Agility Infinity appeared, the whole world has been forced to evolve. Humans, devils—everyone. For example, devils either hid, or had to improve, or merged with humans, or just died. And—"Before he could finish—Devil Fog swallowed both of them whole.
Both of them saw themselves falling into another world—sinking into boiling water, trapped inside the stomach of Devil Fog.
Shark stayed perfectly calm, while Naoto struggled to ignite his energy. He grabbed Shark's leg and whispered,
"Now…"
With terrifying speed, Devil Snake burst out and sliced Devil Fog clean in half. The two of them saw the sky again.
Shark tightened his grip on his katana. He looked upward—at Devil Fog's heart, thrown out into the open.
His entire blade absorbed every drop of oxygen around them, loading itself with energy. With a single, devastating slash, he cut the massive heart in half.
The slash shot forward like a laser, splitting the torso cleanly. Energy erupted everywhere, lighting up the entire area in dark purple. Clouds formed from the shockwave, and the heart disintegrated—turning into ash.
Naoto screamed from the pain.
"Eeeeeee—it hurts! I didn't expect falling from forty‑four meters to hurt this much!"
Shark looked at him. "Done. Mission complete. Let's leave."
He stared at Naoto, who was writhing in pain—with a cold, empty, deathlike expression. No fear. No anger. Just absolute certainty.
"We're leaving."
Naoto groaned. "My back… my head… it hurts… ahhhhhhh… please, man, come lift me… it hurts everywhere…"
Shark looked down at him. "That's not pain. What you felt is nothing compared to what real pain is. Get up."
Naoto snapped. "What you lived through, huh?! I watched my father die in front of me! I lived two years on the streets until you showed up! You don't know how much shit I went through in those two years! You know nothing—nothing!"
Shark stared at him and turned to walk away—and suddenly a voice echoed from the right.
Shark froze. His mind snapped. He plunged straight into his past.
He saw himself—chained, mouth open in shock. Someone was torturing him. They shoved a burning rod onto his tongue, pulled it out, and shoved it back in. He screamed.
"I only want obedience, you hear me? Your family owes us a lot! Your father failed to deliver the drugs—so you'll pay for it! We'll torture you until you break!"
They pulled his ears with rough ropes, tearing skin—suddenly, Naoto slapped him across the face. "Hey! What the hell happened?! What are you seeing?!"
Shark, with a calm voice: "Nothing. Forget it. Let's go." He grabbed Naoto by the shoulders. They left the area.
On the way, Naoto—injured and out of breath—turned to Shark.
"Oyo, oyo… can you hear me? You never told me what your actual target is. Or do you just kill devils without any real goal? I've got a lot of questions, you know. We've been together for four years, but still… still I'm scared. I'm scared of how calm you are. I'm scared of people who never talk or barely speak. But you… you don't just stay silent. Even when you talk, your mouth barely moves. How do you even do that?"
Shark stared at him, cold and unreadable. Naoto flinches.
"Sorry for asking so much… sorry. But I've got one more question: where are we going now?"
Shark mutters, "Station." Naoto's thoughts start spinning:
"Why did my father know this guy? Is it true he was tortured as badly as they say? But my father told me never to believe rumors. I have to confirm it myself."
The beach on Tokyo's far edge was quiet—until Oz's scream ripped through it.
"Bliss! BLISS!"
He staggered forward, blood dripping down his arms, soaking the sand. Bliss Noir lay a few meters away, chest torn open like someone had punched a hole straight through his lungs.
Oz's voice cracked. "What… what did you do? Why—why do I hate you so much…? "
The Ocean Devil didn't flinch. Didn't blink. Just stared at Oz like he was already dead.
Oz dropped to his knees. "This… this isn't how he should die. Bliss, get up. Please. Don't—don't leave me like this…"
A faint hum started building around the Ocean Devil. Water twisted around his arm, tightening into a razor‑thin beam.
"Oz," he said, almost dead.
The beam fired.
It punched through Oz's chest with a wet snap. He collapsed instantly, sand sticking to the blood pouring from the hole in his heart. His body fell beside Bliss, the two of them lying there like broken dolls washed up by the tide.
The waves kept rolling in. Like nothing had happened.