The world was unrecognizable as it was right now.
The desert that once stretched endlessly was nothing but a wasteland of molten glass, its smooth surface cracked with jagged fissures that hissed steam.
The air still shimmered, carrying the aftertaste of obliteration like breathing ash and lightning at once. Black voids yawned across the horizon where stars had been shredded, chunks of sky simply missing.
The explosion hadn't just destroyed matter. It had killed space itself.
Above them, reality stitched itself back together in jagged seams. A thousand shards of broken sky floated like mirror fragments, knitting slowly into place with eerie, whispering cracks.
But the land beneath would never heal. Towns, towers, lives gone. Glass plains stretched for miles, shimmering faintly under the violet glow still clinging to the heavens.
The silence was worse than the destruction. Not even the scream of the dying.
In that very nothing, laughter.
Low at first. Then it grew sharper.
Johan stood in front, blood streaking his temple, his chest heaving but he laughed. Something that made Tom's stomach knot.
"Ha… ha… ha!" Johan tilted his head back, letting the cracked sky reflect in his eyes. "So this is your limit? I expected more."
Ghira's bracelets dimmed for a flicker. Her rainbow hair glowed less brightly, halo flaring like a candle on the verge of snuffing. She narrowed her eyes.
"You.…" her voice trembled, just once. "You should be dead."
Tom was afraid a bit. His ears rang, his skin still blistering from the heat. He turned, staring behind Johan. There had been a quantum barrier with a fractured dome covered by blue flames, brittle like cracked glass, hovering around them. It was gone now.
Arlong staggered, his bow still glowing faintly. His lips moved, whispering a prayer.
Johan didn't turn to them. He just kept walking forward.
"You wonder why?" Johan asked Ghira. His voice was calm. "Why three insects are standing here after you tried to burn existence itself?"
Ghira wondered why as the bracelets orbited him.
"I'll tell you," Johan said. "I took it. Every ounce of your flame. Every shred of your little explosion. I drank it, the taste wasn't bad though, just a bit sour."
Tom's jaw dropped. "You—what? That's impossible!"
Arlong's hand tightened on his bow. He didn't speak, just analysing the situation with widen eyes.
Ghira's bracelets spun wildly, her smirk faltering. "You.… absorbed.… my gama flame?"
Johan touched his temple, smearing blood down his cheek. "The fire, yes. The radiation.…" His grin widened, broken and sharp. ".... that part cooked my brain a little. Now I hear everything cleaner than before."
Tom took a step back. "He is laughing about brain damage?"
Ghira's chest tightened. Her thoughts spiraled even as her lips curled into a mocking smile. This isn't possible. A Heat Level 4 flame mage cannot consume my gamma burst. Not without turning into dust!"
Her bracelets ran faster, but her mind raced darker, It's him. The one they whisper about in pits and cathedrals alike. The famous Devil Hunter, The nightmare that devils use to scare their children.
Johan tilted his head, eyes glowing faintly with blue light.
"If I had known earlier," he said, voice dripping venom, "that you were just another devil dressed as a queen, I would've ended you before the first word left your lips."
Ghira flinched inside though her face didn't show it. She smiled, always smiled. But inside, her heart raced around like a trapped bird. The Devil Therapist…. here? The man who lured out over a centillion devils across the cosmos? Who made them confess before cutting them down?
She wanted to laugh. She wanted to sneer. She wanted to say she wasn't afraid.
Her halo brightened desperately. "So you're that one. The lunatic who courts before he kills."
Johan chuckled, tapping his blade against his shoulder. "Listening makes the killing easier. Besides, hearing what makes devils squirm is half the fun."
He took a step closer, lowering his voice with mock sweetness. "Tell me, Queen of Darga.… what keeps you awake at night? That your husband chose light over you? That the stars don't call your name anymore? Or that when you strip away the seduction, you're just another scared little parasite?"
Her bracelets flared, rattling like chains. Her lips curled. "Careful, manslut. You flirt with the Mother of Seduction."
Johan smirked, eyes glittering. "Mother, huh? Then what are you waiting for? Seduce me, mommy." He leaned forward, his grin wicked. "Or are you afraid I'll talk you out of your own skin?"
Tom froze. His heart pounded. What.… what the hell is this exchange? Why does it feel like he's not fighting her, but unraveling her?
Arlong's voice was barely above a whisper. "….he's baiting her soul."
Ghira's halo blazed brighter, hiding her unease. "You're arrogant, therapist. Flames or not, I am still a queen. I am still chaos that crumbles beneath the heaven!"
Johan's grin widened, fearless. "Yeah, I am still listening."
He spun his sword, the blue flames dancing higher. The cracked desert reflected his light like shattered mirrors.
Then, without looking back, he barked, "Tom, Arlong, assist me."
Tom blinked, breath catching. "Assist? You mean—you can't—"
"No," Johan cut him off, raising his sword. "I mean I want to enjoy this. Three blades cut faster than one."
Arlong raised his bow, his face unreadable but his aura sharp as broken glass, carrying it an excitement. "As you command."
Ghira's halo pulsed, but her smile returned. She tilted her head, mocking. "Three blades against a queen? You'll need a million."
Johan chuckled darkly, stepping forward into the shimmering wasteland.
"Three will do."
Then Johan cracked his knuckles, blue fire wrapped up around his fists like molten boxing gloves. His grin spread wide.
"Enough foreplay."
The ground split under his dash, glass plains exploding into shards. His fist swung forward like a comet of blue flame. Ghira raised her bracelets, and the impact rattled across the desert like thunder.
Waves of heat shattered into spirals, exploding upward and erasing clouds from the sky.
Ghira hissed, countering with a violet surge. Johan ducked, slipped inside her guard, and boxed her ribs, each blow ringing like a war drum.
"Boxing lesson!" Johan barked, slamming three hooks into her side. "First rule: don't get distracted by shiny jewelry!"
Ghira snarled, her halo bursting into violet flame. A sphere of condensed fire roared from her hand. Johan smirked, extended his palm, and fired a beam of pure blue flame to meet it.
The beams clashed.
Blue against Violet.
Tearing reality apart in the middle. The desert floor sank inward, forming a crater. Shockwaves scattered the broken glass landscape into glittering storms.
Tom and Arlong staggered back, covering their faces. The heat was immense and unbearable.
"Move!" Johan barked, his voice still laced with laughter. "This dance is mine!"
Ghira's bracelets spun faster, purple stars forming in the air. She flung them forward—each one a miniature sun.
Tom gritted his teeth, rotating the space around himself and Arlong, to resist the first star away just before it exploded.
Arlong's bow flashed, an arrow of invisible force knocking another star off its path.
Johan never flinched. He walked through the third star, his flames devouring it mid-explosion.
"You call that fire?" He roared with laughter. "I've farted hotter than this!"
Ghira was turning aggressive the more fight goes on.
Every time her flame sword came down, Johan's blue blade met it, the collision shattering sound barriers.
Each strike cracked the glass desert beneath their feet, sending shockwaves that carved trenches for miles. Tom and Arlong ducked aside, shielding themselves as the two titans collided over and over again.
"Boxing lesson number two!" Johan laughed, feinting left then smashing his forehead into hers. "Always expect the unexpected!"
Ghira staggered, her smile gone now, her bracelets flaring wildly. Rage flickered in her eyes but something else too.
"Fear"
She darted behind him in a blur, sword stabbing deep into his back. Her flame roared, violet light pouring out, about to incinerate his body. She leaned close, whispering venom, "I'll reap your heart and burn it into ash."
Johan's body slumped, he was gone. His heart was impaled, glowing on the end of her blade. It crumbled into black ash before her eyes.
Then a voice came at her ear from the behind.
"Keep it. It has rotten enough to beat."
Her eyes widened. Johan was behind her. Whole alive, walking and healthy. His grin wicked. His boot collided with her stomach, and she went flying kilometres across the glass plains, smashing on the floor in a great speed.
Tom's mouth dropped open as he discovered how strong Johan actually is.
"Trade secret!" Johan shouted, still laughing.
The fight didn't stop. Ghira clawed herself up, half her face torn, bracelets orbiting faster than bullets. She screamed and charged again.
Arlong was already nocking an arrow, his bow glowing eerily. His hands shook then steadied. He whispered a prayer, released, and the arrow curved through space itself, bending physics. It struck Ghira in the side, tearing a chunk of her shoulder away.
Her scream split the sky. She whipped back, eyes blazing. Her flame lashed out, a violet whip of pure heat. It snapped across Arlong's body, he screamed as it carved through his left arm, severing it in one strike.
"Arlong!" Tom shouted, panic flashing in his eyes.
Arlong grit his teeth and still raised his bow with one hand. "Not…. done yet.…"
Ghira searched for Johan again. Sword met sword, fire against fire. Every clash shattered glass mountains. Johan roared with laughter, even as blood poured from his wounds.
"You're slipping, Queenie!" he mocked, slamming her blade aside. "Getting tired of my jokes?"
Ghira snarled. Her smile was gone now, replaced with wild fury. "I will peel you apart and scatter your soul to the abyss!"
"Promises, promises," Johan smirked. He shoved his blade forward, slicing down her halo, and in that split second Tom took his part.
His Face appeared beside him, silent, glowing faintly. Tom twisted with all his focus, rotating neitherr space or anything but her neuron cells itself. The force snapped inside her skull, and her head ruptured in a wet explosion.
Ghira collapsed, her bracelets clattering to the ground, her head split in two.
The silence was deafening.
Arlong sank to his knees, clutching his bloody shoulder. Tom panted, trembling, staring at the corpse. Johan lowered his sword, blue flames dripping away like dying embers.
".…is it…. over?" Tom whispered.
He crouched, pressing two fingers against her throat. Her head was mangled, brain matter scattered all around the floor.
"…she's still breathing."
Tom's eyes widened. "That's impossible. I destroyed her brain!"
Johan's grin faded into something darker. He stepped closer, studying her body.
"Unfortunately...." His voice dropped, chilling. "Something else is keeping her breathing. Someone wants her not to die."
Arlong winced, lifting his bow weakly. "Does it means there are reinforcements?"
Johan smirked again, but his eyes were sharp as knives.
"It means.…" He looked down at her broken form, firelight dancing in his gaze. "….we didn't kill a queen. We just put a devil to sleep."
Tom's stomach turned cold. "So she's.… in coma?"
Ghira's corpse's head slowly began to heal itself, the thing was she wasn't doing it.
"Yeah," Johan whispered, leaning close to her lifeless face. "But don't fool yourselves. A devil in a coma still dreams.… and dreams are dangerous."
The desert groaned around them, glass still cooling, space still stitching itself back together.
Arlong, pale and sweating, let out a shaky laugh. "All this…. for a coma?"
Johan chuckled, kicking Ghira's body aside. "Trust me, one day you'll be thankful she's not awake."
The Wasteland, was saved.... for now