Zack POV
July 28 2018,
Aoyama Ward, Kitamachi Residential District
We arrived at the place that Mahito was hiding.
We are right above him according to the compass.
Remembering the explanation given by Kasimir once arriving at the general location of the target, the arrow will retract into the center and the base of the compass will glow one of 3 colors.
Green if you have found your target, red if it is above you, and yellow if you are above it.
It's yellow.
"You guys ready?" I ask.
Miu just smirks, giving me a thumbs up.
Nobara has her straw doll already summoned.
I nod, and flare my cursed energy, and dump my Battle Ki into it.
Miu does the same.
I raise my leg high above my head, and once my foot is at its highest possible point-
I bring it down upon the asphalt road.
The road collapses into the sewer system.
We land in front of a terrified looking Mahito.
He immediately realized he can't run, but his determination to fight to the last would be admirable, if only he wasn't surrounded by the soul-mutilated corpses of a large number of people.
I grit my teeth and follow the plan.
I activate my domain.
"Domain expansion, Escalation of 10000 Kata's"
Mahito immediately activates his simple-domain to disable my ability to hit him with my sure-hit phantom fists and palms.
That's fine.
I dodge his two hand swipes, and his hidden third.
His simple domain might nullify my sure-hit attacks, but it couldn't touch my speed or raw power. I weaved through his attacks like a phantom, my body a blur of motion as I slipped past his outstretched claws and transfigured limbs.
Each step was a calculated maneuver, a dance of evasion that left him grasping at thin air.
My counter-offense was swift and brutal, a flurry of punches and kicks that landed with the force of a battering ram, each strike infused with Ki and cursed energy.
He recoiled from a spinning back kick that connected squarely with his jaw, his head snapping back with a sickening crack.
Before he could recover, I followed up with a lightning-fast jab to his solar plexus, driving the air from his lungs in a pained gasp.
Miu joined the fray, her movements a whirlwind of controlled fury.
She ducked under a wild swing of his elongated arm, her fist slamming into his exposed ribs with a resounding thud that echoed through the sewer.
He stumbled back, his body contorting unnaturally as he tried to regain his balance just as he launched both of his arms towards each of us as they split into 2 arms for each elbow joint.
Miu evaded then pressed her attack, her legs a blur as she unleashed a series of devastating kicks, each one targeting vital points with pinpoint accuracy.
His flesh rippled and distorted under the onslaught, his Idle Transfiguration struggling to keep up with the speed and precision of her strikes.
He attempted to counter with a swipe of his transfigured claws, from the two arms I had dodged but Miu anticipated his move, twisting her body away at the last moment and delivering a punishing elbow strike to his spine.
A spike erupted from his back targeting miu, only for her elbow to shove it right back into his body as he caught up purple blood.
He crumpled to his knees, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he fought to withstand the relentless assault.
Nobara, positioned further back, launched a barrage of cursed energy nails, each one imbued with the power of her Resonance technique.
The air crackled with energy as the projectiles hurtled towards Mahito, their tips shimmering with a variety of effects, some sparking with electricity, others glowing with an ominous heat.
Mahito stood up and swatted them away with his Idle Transfiguration enhanced legs and arms which were transformed into angular bone shields.
His body kept morphing and shifting to deflect the attacks from all of us. His flesh rippled and contorted, transforming into a shield of grotesque, ever-changing forms that absorbed the impact of the nails or deflected them outright.
The nails that were deflected suddenly changed forms into straw dolls and exploded into multiple elemental attacks.
But even amidst the chaos of battle, his keen eyes noticed Nobara's position, her reliance on ranged attacks and support, her relative vulnerability compared to Miu and me, who were engaged in close-quarters combat.
"Did we get him?!" Nobara shouted, not able to see through the smoke.
A cruel smile twisted his lips as he targeted her exclusively, his Idle Transfiguration allowing him to bypass our defenses and strike at her directly.
He lunged forward, his body stretching and contorting into a grotesque parody of human form as he launched himself from the smokescreen and closed the distance between them.
Nobara reacted quickly, firing another volley of nails, but Mahito's transfigured flesh absorbed the impact.
His hand then reached out to grasp her throat.
The amulet around her neck pulsed with a protective light, momentarily repelling his touch. But the force of the blow sent her staggering backward, her eyes widening in surprise and fear.
Mahito pressed his attack, his hand striking again despite the surprising display of light.
His hand approached again and my world froze, I felt rage and despair in equal measure.
I WOULD NOT LET THAT THIRD BLOW CONNECT!
The back of my suit tore itself to shreds as my strength soared.
I let out a primal roar of fury, and suddenly I was in front of Nobara, In Between her and a palm of certain death.
Nobara's eyes widened as she saw the devilish shape of the contours of my activated devil back.
The muscles in the shape of the face of the devil.
To Mahito, my fist was slow.
I could see his existence pass through his mind as death approached.
Less than a millisecond later, Mahito was nothing but a mist of blood as my fist connected and turned his entire body into mist.
Nobara, with her eyes wide in panic, threw her straw doll into the puddle of purple blood.
It was set alight in blue fire a moment later.
It burned until the purple blood evaporated into nothingness.
Nobara was hyperventilating.
I embraced her as her panic began to subside.
Miu joined in the hug.
We stood there hugging, for a good minute.
"I need a shower," Nobara said.
We all nodded in relief.
We decided to head to a fancy hotel and rest for a while.
"So- Devil back? where does a version of Miu Furinji come in with a child of yuujirou hanma? I guess your world was a crossover?"
"Can we talk about this later?" / "Can we talk about this later?"