The poisonous haze still lingered in the air from Abel's last attack. His chest swelled again, his jaw unhinging as that same venomous glow began to burn in his throat.
"Poison Devil's—"
The mages on both sides braced, panic flashing in their eyes—until a black blur ripped forward.
Astro's figure appeared right in front of Abel, palm pressed firmly over the crime boss's face.
"Too slow."
With a violent surge of purple winds, Astro slammed Abel downward, dragging him through his own men like a meteor. Bodies were flung aside, trees snapped like twigs, and the two crashed all the way down to the foot of the mountain.
The shockwave rumbled up the slopes. Dust and debris scattered across the clearing.
For a beat, silence.
Then Abel's rest of the men snapped out of their daze. Their boss had been taken out of sight in a single move.
"D-Don't interfere!!" one stammered. "That's a Devil Slayer's fight! We'll die if we get in the middle!"
Another man gritted his teeth, pointing his blade at the nearest group of mages.
"Then deal with these pests instead! Take out these light guild scums!"
The clearing exploded into chaos as Abel's underlings charged.
The light mages scrambled into position, some still muttering under their breath.
"Why… why do I always get dragged into this stuff…?" one groaned.
"Shut it and fight!" another barked, forming a circle of glowing sigils around his arms.
"Agh– why can't the guild master give me tasks related to finding a hot lady…"
"I will send you to heaven instead. You can find a hot angel there!"
The battlefield split in two—up above, a chaotic clash of spells, swords, and swearing. But below the mountain, the fight between devils had only just begun.
Abel dragged himself out of the crater Astro had smashed him into, purple fumes leaking from his mouth in a cruel grin.
"You really are a reckless brat… touching a poison devil slayer barehanded? That was your first mistake."
Astro glanced down. His right hand—the one that had grabbed Abel's face—was already crawling with sickly veins, the skin darkening as poison ate its way up his arm.
He looked at it but didn't even flinch. He just flexed his fingers.
"Mm. Annoying."
A soft gale stirred around him, shimmering like a thousand glowing feathers. The corruption hissed, then faded as wind wrapped his arm in a cleansing glow. His skin returned to normal, flawless once again.
Abel's mocking grin froze. His eyes widened. "…Impossible."
Astro tilted his head, eyes glinting purple.
"I am a Sky Devil Slayer who can use healing magic. Unfortunately for you… you just met your perfect nemesis."
Without another word, he lunged. A long blade of purple wind condensed in his hand, sharp enough to hum as it cut through the air.
"Tempest Blade!"
The strike came down in an arc too fast to follow. Abel barely ducked, the edge slicing a clean line through the mountain wall behind him. Rocks sheared apart like paper.
Abel's rage boiled over. "Don't get cocky, brat!"
His right arm surged, shrouded in writhing poison.
"Toxic Spiral Gale!"
A purple tornado of poison burst from his palm, screaming toward Astro at point-blank range.
Astro quickly slammed his feet to the earth, dust flying up around him. For a heartbeat, it looked like he'd be swallowed whole.
Then his figure blurred.
In an instant, he appeared behind Abel, sword already descending downwards.
"—What?!" Abel twisted, rolling across the dirt sideways as the blade carved a crater where he'd stood.
He hit the ground hard, fumbling to rise—only for a shadow to flash in front of him.
Astro's heel rocketed upward, catching Abel's chin with bone-crunching force. Abel's head snapped back, his body lifted clean off the ground.
His vision swam. His feet left the earth.
Astro's chest swelled, winds howling around him. His voice carried like a storm breaking:
"Sky Devil's Rage!"
A colossal torrent of purple winds and devil-tinged magic exploded, swallowing Abel midair. The shockwave ripped trees from their roots, carved a massive clearing into the mountainside, and howled across the sky like a living storm.
When the dust finally settled, silence fell.
Far in the distance, Abel's body was pinned against a jagged rock. His clothes were shredded, blood dripping from countless cuts. His arms hung limp. His face was slack, eyes half-rolled back.
The feared crime lord… seemed broken.
But Astro's instincts screamed otherwise.
Astro strode across the torn battlefield, his eyes fixed on Abel's limp frame. He was ready to end it—
But then—
A sudden chill crawled down his spine. His skin prickled with goosebumps.
"…What the hell?" Astro muttered.
At first it was faint—inky lines crawling across Abel's skin. Then, before Astro's eyes, the markings spread like wildfire, black tendrils searing across his flesh, until Abel's entire left side was engulfed in shadow.
Astro froze. The man before him didn't feel human anymore.
Abel straightened, peeling himself free of the stone with ease. His gaze locked on Astro—but there was no anger, no fury, no hatred.
Just emptiness.
A hollow shell, as though every shred of emotion had been consumed.
And then Abel moved.
In the blink of an eye, his left arm drove forward like a spear.
Astro barely managed to cross his arms across his chest—
SHRRK!
His eyes widened. Abel's hand had twisted mid-strike, fingers elongating into razor claws that tore straight through Astro's guard, piercing into his chest.
Astro gasped, blood spattering the ground. But even as pain ripped through him, he kicked backward, forcing distance. Wind flared around his wound, flesh knitting itself together at frightening speed.
"Fast… too fast…" he hissed.
But Abel gave him no time. All the fingers of right hand warped into claws as well, and his slashes came in a storm of blinding arcs, each leaving venomous trails in the air.
Astro flared his palm.
"Tempest Barrier!"
A gale shield roared into existence, sparks of purple wind and purple poison colliding with shrieks like tortured steel.
Astro growled, trying to push back. He countered, thrusting his palm forward—wind magic crackling along his strike—
But Abel leapt, landing on a jagged rocky platform above. His blank eyes weren't on Astro anymore.
They were on the city far behind him.
For the first time since transforming, Abel spoke in that low, chilling, inhuman voice:
"I never thought I would need to use this form…"
His hollow gaze returned to Astro.
"…But even like this, I can't beat you in a fair fight."
Astro's frown deepened. He didn't relax for even a second.
"Poison Devil's Secret art"
Poisonous mana surged violently in Abel's hands, condensing into two enormous purple poison domes.
"Plague Spheres: Twin Calamity!"
He tried to slam them together.
BOOM!
The ground detonated. But inside the blast, Astro's both arms were outstretched in two sides.
"Wailing Tempest Wall!"
Twin shields of roaring wind clashed against the poison domes, holding them back with sheer force. Sweat ran down Astro's brow.
Then his instincts screamed again.
He looked up.
Abel was no longer in front of him—he was in the sky, purple aura swirling in his throat.
"Poison Devil's Rage!"
A torrent of corrosive poison erupted —not at Astro, but at the distant city.
Astro's blood ran cold.
If even a fraction of that spreads… the city—everyone—!
For a split second, the battlefield vanished from Astro's eyes..
He saw Kael's confident and also helpless smile..
He saw Elara laughing with a cup in her hand, her face flushed from drink.
He saw Akiko trying to act mature, but still letting her inner childishness show when playing hide and seek..
He saw the children at the church—dirty, loud, mischievous—pulling at his cloak and giggling as if they had no cares in the world.
He saw the neighbors in the district, waving at him as though he had always belonged there.
Faces. Voices. Laughter.
Astro's chest tightened. A tremor ran down his spine as he realized what Abel's attack meant—what would happen if even a shred of that poison touched the city.
"…No…"
The word slipped from his lips before he even knew he'd spoken. His eyes sharpened, a storm gathering behind them.
"I can't let this happen."
He launched upward, his body a blur. He intercepted the cascade—
—and inhaled.
The poisonous maelstrom slammed into him, devoured into his lungs and magic core. His body convulsed, pain tearing through every vein—
Then silence.
Astro plummeted, crashing into the earth like a fallen star.
Abel descended slowly, still as emotionless as before,.
"…. A Sky Devil Slayer, eating poison? And you really swallowed it all. Even you won't heal from that so easily…"
But then Astro stirred.
Despite his battered state, his glowing eyes opened, a smirk tugging at his lips.
"That was, unsurprisingly, the most disgusting thing I've ever eaten…" He chuckled weakly. "But… as you said. I am a Sky Devil Slayer."
"What?"
The air rushed into his mouth, devoured in endless torrents. The winds themselves bent toward him, feeding his core.
For the first time since transforming, Abel showed an expression, an expression of fear..
Astro slammed both palms to the ground, his body glowing with purple energy.
"Sky Devil's Secret Art"
A colossal magic circle carved itself into the sky. A titanic tornado of purple devil wind descended, grinding everything inside into nothing. It was as though the sky itself had passed judgment.
"Abyssal Tornado!" , A whisper echoed in the battlefield.
Abel's face twisted. He tried to retreat—but his body barely moved a step.
Too late.
SHRRK!
The blades of wind tornado carved through him, severing both arms in an instant.
Blood sprayed across the battlefield. Abel collapsed, twitching, his black markings fading into nothing.
Astro stood over him, chest heaving, the last echoes of his secret art howling into silence.