The warehouse was full of ghosts now.
None of them were dead — not yet — but the air was heavy with breath held too long, intentions left unspoken. The kind of tension that only breaks with violence.
Ketsu was the first to move.
The lightning Demi-Human struck without warning, raising a hand crackling with unnatural charge. A bolt of white-blue thunder screamed across the warehouse — but Ketsu had already vanished.
He reappeared low, sliding along the floor. Sparks shattered against concrete behind him.
"He's fast," Kouji thought from across the battlefield. "Really fast".
But not fast enough to avoid what came next.
The ice Demi-Human appeared to his left, hurling a shard of jagged crystal. Ketsu turned just in time to block it with his forearm.
The ice tore clean through the flesh — severing his arm mid-motion.
Yuusuke shouted, but Ketsu didn't blink. As blood sprayed from the wound, it didn't hit the ground.
Instead, it gathered mid-air, swirling unnaturally — and within a second, it had shaped itself into a long, barbed spear of hardened blood.
With one motion, Ketsu spun and impaled the Ice Demi-Human through the shoulder.
But the wound immediately froze, sealing off the damage. The Ice user backed away, panting, aura flaring again.
Ketsu turned his head slightly. His expression hadn't changed.
Then, slowly — deliberately — he scratched his own arm open, blood running down his skin like ink.
The Demi-Humans hesitated.
Out of the wound, four blood-made knives floated into the air. Two hovered left. Two to the right.
Ketsu whispered, "Next."
And threw.
On the far end of the room, Hanzo raised his custom pistol, eyes locked on Yuusuke.
Three shots echoed — Yuusuke ducked the first two, but the third struck his foot, making him drop to a knee.
"Cheating bastard," Yuusuke hissed.
He reached into his coat and flicked out a target-card, slapping it to his chest.
His aura swirled.
Small metallic objects, nails and broken bolts from the floor, floated up behind him.
He snapped his fingers. The objects shot toward Hanzo, curving mid-air — the target effect active.
[Note: Yuusuke's "Replaying-Blessing", allows him to also set Targets and imbue Objects with aura, which fly at set targets. To set a target, he has to touch the aura of the target once]
Hanzo deflected one. Another grazed his shoulder. He flinched — clearly surprised by the sudden speed shift.
Yuusuke stood up slowly, grimacing. "Let's dance, old man."
While chaos unfolded around them, Kouji and Akechi stood still — like statues waiting for permission to shatter.
"You've grown quickly," Akechi said, forming the first spike beneath Kouji's feet.
Kouji leapt away, flipping once mid-air, reconstructing the floor fragment beneath him into a midair platform to land on.
"I learned fast," Kouji answered. "You made sure of it."
Another dozen spikes shot up. Kouji countered, weaving between them, hands glowing as he rebuilt the terrain faster than Akechi could rip it apart.
It became a game of chess — Akechi deforming, Kouji reconstructing. Steps, traps, walls. Rebuilt. Undone. Rebuilt again.
Kouji narrowed his eyes.
Then he had an idea.
He began forming a single object in his hands — a large, two-handed hammer made of condensed aura.
Akechi smiled, noticing it.
"Trying to anchor your will into one thing? You're desperate."
Kouji didn't answer. He swung.
Akechi raised a barrier — but Kouji's hammer shattered it.
He swung again — and again — every time Akechi tried to deform it, Kouji forced it back into the same shape, over and over.
The hammer landed a blow, catching Akechi in the ribs and sending him flying backward across the floor.
For the first time in the fight, Akechi looked surprised.
But then his aura flared — black and sharp — and he caught himself mid-air using a Devil-enhanced jump, landing silently.
He raised his head.
And smiled.
"…Clever," he muttered, brushing his coat.
Kouji's breathing was ragged, but he stood tall. "It's not over yet."
"True," Akechi replied calmly. "Then I shall raise the difficulty."
He raised one hand, and his aura trembled like a taut string. The atmosphere shifted—sharper now. Denser.
In a blink, Akechi dashed forward. Kouji countered instinctively, reconstructing a barrier from broken debris—but it shattered on impact. Akechi's fist, enhanced by Devil amplification, grazed Kouji's ribs, knocking the air from his lungs.
[Note: A Devil-User can use his Devil in two ways. Amplification or Channeling. When amping a Bodypart, this bodypart can not use the Curse's ability]
Then he vanished again—curse-use. The floor twisted into jagged blades, but Kouji reconstructed it mid-rise.
Akechi appeared again from the other side—Devil-enhanced legs this time. Kouji barely ducked the sweeping kick.
He was alternating his modes rapidly now. Amp. Curse. Amp. Curse. The transitions were seamless—fluid like a dance. Kouji parried, reconstructed, blocked, dodged—
But Akechi was always one step ahead.
"This is your limit," Akechi said, his voice carrying over the hum of energy. "You can keep up for now. But adapting... isn't winning."
Kouji gritted his teeth, sweat running down his brow. He could feel his rhythm crumbling again.
"I wonder," Akechi continued, raising a hand, "how useful your little construction trick is when the past itself isn't in your favor."
He snapped his fingers.
Kouji went to summon his hammer—his reliable weapon, forged dozens of times—
But nothing came.
He stared.
His hand was empty.