Nata screamed the command, and the garage exploded into motion. The giant snake lunged, its massive coils creating a hurricane of debris, while Nata surged forward like a bullet, aiming for Akos's throat.
Akos didn't panic. He just scoffed. "Two against one? That's not even fair."
He raised his hand, forming the gesture of a finger pistol. A tiny, black spherical energy orb—small as a coin—manifested at his fingertip.
[ABSOLUTE Technique: Deadly]
He fired. The black orb travelled with terrifying speed, hitting the floor inches from Nata's feet. The resulting explosion tore the concrete apart, launching the ground upward and sending Nata flying backward through the air.
Akos didn't waste a second. He turned, sprinting across the roof of a parked car to dodge the snake's snapping jaws. He tightened his grip on his katana, intending to slice through the beast, but Nata was already there. She slammed a fist into his gut, forcing him back, then launched a flurry of strikes. Akos dodged and weaved, trying to counter, but she was a blur of precision. She swept his legs, and as he hit the floor, she was on him, her hands clamping around his neck.
"Die, you piece of scum," she hissed, her grip tightening. "You think I'd let a creature like you live? You don't deserve the air you breathe."
Akos's struggling slowed. His arms dropped. His eyes glazed over as his head hit the floor.
Nata stood up, panting. She slapped him hard across the face to check for a pulse. Nothing. She sighed, wiping dust from her uniform. "Great. Now I have to come up with a lie for the news report regarding all this civilian chaos. Expensive cleanup, too."
She tapped her earpiece. "Nake, fade out." The giant serpent dissolved into mounds of dirt and shadow.
Nata turned to survey the damage, but a strange shiver raced down her spine. She turned back around, and her blood ran cold.
Akos was staring right at her. His hands were already formed into the finger pistol gesture—one on each hand.
"In True Power," Akos whispered, his voice dangerously calm, "your kind just becomes narcissistic."
Nata gasped. "Eh—
He was fired. Two distinct spheres shot forward. In the air, the black and red spheres collided. They didn't explode—they merged. The colours bled into one another, swirling violently until they transformed into a single, blinding electric blue orb of pure, condensed energy.
[ABSOLUTE Technique: Energetic
The blue orb hummed with terrifying intensity. Nata's eyes widened, reflecting the electric glow. The projectile struck her square in the chest, dragging her backward across the concrete floor. She slammed into the support wall of the building, and the blue orb detonated.
A shockwave of blue energy ripped through the building, vaporising cars and shattering the pavement. The ground caved in, the energy so dense that the earth seemed to be swallowing itself to escape the pressure.
Akos stood in the centre of the dust, brushing off his jacket. He watched the building collapse.
"KABOOM
Akos chuckled, a dark, strange amusement vibrating in his chest. "I don't know why I find this so fun," he whispered. It felt like the Akos from his "past life" in the real world was rising to the surface, hungry for the carnage.
Dust and debris clouded the air, choking the garage. CIA members rushed inside, desperate to reach Nata. She emerged from the wreckage, a broken marionette of a woman. She was bleeding profusely, her body a canvas of crimson, yet her will refused to let her collapse. She leaned heavily against the wall, coughing up blood that spattered the concrete.
"Are you alright, Ma'am?" an agent shouted, rushing toward her.
Nata didn't even look at him. "Get out," she rasped.
"But your condition—"
"GET OUT!" Her scream was a jagged blade of authority. She glared at them, eyes burning with a terrifying mix of pain and iron resolve. "Listen to my orders! Evacuate the sorcerer prisoners from the area. Now!"
The agent hesitated, but one look into her cold, dead gaze froze his heart. "Yes... yes, Ma'am," he stammered, pulling the others back as they fled in fear.
Akos stood in the ruins, watching her. "How was that hit? Can you explain it to me?"
Nata ignored him. She pressed her hands together, fingers twisting into unnatural, arcane symbols. She began to chant.
"What on earth are you doing?" Akos asked, tilting his head.
"Naker," she whispered, her voice chilling the air. "Release your power."
The ground beneath her feet began to churn like a whirlpool. Soil and gravel spiralled upward, twisting into a violent, black tornado that formed a massive silhouette behind her.
Akos's grin faltered. "This doesn't look good."
The dust cleared, revealing the monstrosity. It stood ten metres tall. Its skin was as white as polished marble, crisscrossed with fissures that glowed with a hellish, volcanic red light. It had the muscular, humanoid frame of a titan, but its head was a nightmare of reptilian scales, jagged teeth, and burning coal-like eyes. From its back and shoulders, dozens of independent snake heads hissed and snapped, and its lower half was a massive, thick tail that anchored the beast to the earth.
DEVIL SNAKE: FULL POWER FORM.
Akos muttered, "Holy fuck."
Nata's eyes rolled back, and she collapsed, losing consciousness.
Naker didn't wait. In a blur of motion, it lashed out, grabbing Akos by the throat. It slammed him into the floor, crushing the parked cars beneath him, then launched him high into the air.
Akos was still reeling, trying to comprehend the sheer size of the ten-metre behemoth. Naker leaped after him. The impact as the beast left the ground cracked the foundation of the building. Mid-air, Naker delivered a punch so heavy it sent Akos flying straight toward the city bridge.
Akos watched the ground rushing toward him. He didn't panic. With a frantic, desperate focus, he drove his katana into the asphalt of the bridge.
The steel screamed as it acted as an anchor, creating a trail of sparks that lit up the afternoon sky. Cars swerved in terror as the human missile carved a furrow through the road, forcing traffic into absolute chaos.
Akos ripped the sword free, landing on his feet, his muscles coiled and ready. He didn't know what this thing was, but he knew one thing: he had to win.
Suddenly, a massive shockwave of air slammed into him. Naker had landed on the bridge, the weight of the beast causing the entire structure to tremor and groan.
Akos wiped a smudge of dirt from his face and flashed a wild, manic grin. "Ask and you shall receive... something strong came my way. Hope you're funny in battle!"
Akos made a choice. He jammed his katana deep into the bridge's asphalt, letting it stand like a tombstone. His hands were shaking—not with fear, but with anticipation.
"Hand to hand," he muttered, the steel humming in the ground. "My fists are thirsty for blood, and they tend to get cranky when they don't get a proper workout."
He cracked his neck, the sound echoing like a gunshot in the tense silence. He took his stance, lowering his centre of gravity. He began to draw upon the environment, pulling energy from the air itself. Red, raw energy—Nature Energy—surged up his arms, crackling like lightning and wrapping his hands in a crimson aura.
He looked at the towering, snake-like monstrosity before him with a confident, almost arrogant smirk. "I myself always believe in victory."
Meanwhile, miles away inside their mobile command centre, chaos was the only constant.
Vanessa was spiralling. She slammed her hands against the console, screaming at Yuzana. "How could you lose the signal?! You call yourself a professional hacker? They told me you were the best!"
Yuzana's fingers flew across the keyboard, sweat beading on his forehead. "I'm trying! But the CIA's firewall is military-grade encryption. It's like trying to break into a bank vault with a toothpick!"
"Forget the CIA for a second!" Vanessa shrieked, pacing the small van. She was tearing her hair out, watching the tracking map go dark. "They've pulled Ruka out of the facility. If we lose them now, we lose everything! Think, dammit, think!"
Suddenly, she stopped. A manic light ignited in her eyes. "Stop what you're doing."
Yuzana looked up, blinking. "What do you mean?"
"Hack the traffic cameras!" she barked. "All of them. Every single street, intersection, and bridge in Tokyo. Do it now!"
Yuzana didn't argue. He dove back into his terminal, his eyes narrowing as he bypassed system after system. It took time, but eventually, the screens flickered to life, showing live feeds from every corner of the city. Vanessa scrolled through the windows frantically, her eyes scanning for a glimpse of the black van.
Then, she froze. "What the hell is...?"
She maximised one of the windows. It was a live feed from the bridge. The sight stopped her cold. Akos stood there, glowing with a demonic red light, facing off against Naker—the nightmare-inducing Devil Snake in its full, terrifying power.
"You have got to be kidding me," Vanessa whispered, the colour draining from her face. "Damn it all to hell! This is the last thing we need."
Yuzana leaned closer to the screen, his voice trembling. "What is that... thing Akos is channelling?"
Vanessa didn't answer. She was glued to the screen, her mind racing. Then, she spotted it in the background of the shot. A black van fleeing the scene. "There! Look!" She pointed a trembling finger. "That's the van! Follow it!"
Back on the bridge, the air was heavy with death.
Naker stared at Akos. It didn't speak. It didn't growl. It was a creature of pure, ancient instinct. It took a single step forward, its movement so fast it blurred the light around it, preparing for a strike that would turn the bridge into rubble.