The chamber was shaking as their two auras clashed, almost as if it couldn't contain the two of them anymore.
Walls shredded like paper by the devil's cuts, the floor carved into fragments by invisible blades. The Devil of Laceration stood unwavering, its presence suffocating, its curse almost slicing reality itself.
Ketsu stumbled forward, his legs already reforming from the last hit. Steam hissed from his body as torn flesh knitted itself back together.
Every time the devil sliced off his limbs the last hours, they regenerated faster and faster.
"Too strong," he thought, spitting blood. "Every swing cuts deeper than the last…"
The Devil raised its arm. A line of red streaked across the arena. Ketsu's left leg split clean off, tumbling across the ground.
He didn't scream. He slammed a hand on the wound, forcing blood to erupt outward before pulling it back inside. Flesh bubbled, and his leg reformed in milliseconds.
"I won't… let you win that easily."
He moved, forcing himself into the fight again. Blood hardened around his arms into crude armor. When the Devil's curse sliced at him again, sparks cracked instead of flesh — but only for an instant. The armor split, and his torso opened in a long gash.
Ketsu bit down on his tongue, forced the blood rushing out and threw it around the devil.
Chains made of blood coming out of the pools, holding the devil in place.
For the first time in the fight, the monster halted, bound for a single heartbeat.
Ketsu lunged, swinging a blade of hardened blood.
The Devil sliced through both chain and weapon in one motion.
Outside, in the real world, millions sat glued to their screens. Streamers screamed in disbelief, moderators debated whether the broadcast was still safe to air. And in a small association room, Sora stood frozen, her eyes wide and shimmering.
"Ketsu…" she whispered, her hand trembling against the TV glass. Each cut he took felt like it tore through her too.
On screen, the Devil's curse carved through Ketsu's chest. His torso nearly split apart. He staggered, palms pressing into the wound, forcing regeneration even as his insides tried spilling out.
The Devil smirked, though the sheer fear of him kept Ketsu from looking at him directly.
Ketsu's vision blurred. His knees buckled. He thought of his clan — the endless cycles of torture, the limbs taken from him over and over. His blood boiled.
He thought of Kouji and Yuusuke. "If I stop here, they'll lose too."
He thought of Sora — her sad eyes, the quiet strength she hid under her shyness. "I can't… let her cry."
"I don't care anymore, the torture I've been through was far worse than this."
With a guttural roar, Ketsu shoved his arm through his own chest. Blood surged out violently, condensing into a massive bloody spear. He regenerated instantly, his chest sealing back together even as he gripped the weapon.
Then—
He steadied his posture, lifted his head and looked the devil directly in the face.
The devil, for the first time since this lifecycle, had learned something new.
Respect.
Ketsu narrowed his eyes and he lunged the spear at the devil.
The Devil's curse cut it to ribbons midair. But Ketsu was already moving.
The spear deformed mid-air into a pool of blood that spilled the devil whole.
Ketsu had formed more than one pool on the floor, all connecting to the pool beneath the devil and as the devil lifted his hand, throwing another cut at Ketsu, he parried it with ease.
He redirected the aura into the blood again covering it in flames.
Blood was covering the floor and Ketsu realised something.
He created another spear of blood and threw it at the devil.
He had to improvise, because of the Devil's sheer power.
The devil dodged, but Ketsu appeared right where the spear hit the ground, as the Ketsu on his previous position spilled into blood.
He grabs the handle of the spear, swings towards the devil in one movement and gives him a kick.
For the first time, the Devil staggered, but this wasn't the end.
He threw another Spear, the devil dodged again
Ketsu ran at the devil and as the spear deformed, the devil looked towards it, to block.
Nothing. A feint.
He punched the devil in the face directly, his knuckles enhanced by hardened blood.
Ketsu lifted his hands, forming a Katana, ready to swing, but—
The devil sliced his hands off in one motion.
They regenerated in an instant, because he had already gathered a lot of his aura around his hands, enhancing his regeneration, connecting itself back together, almost like he wasn't cut in the first place.
Ketsu lunged the Katana downwards into a clean cut, hitting the devil and slicing him open.
The devil jumped back a few steps, as his body reforms, to regenerate.
Ketsu covered the Katana in more blood, it was now spilling from the edge.
This idea developed throughout the fight, as it's inspired by the devils curse.
As he runs towards the devil, he slices the air, throwing cuts of blood, towards the devil.
They exchange slice over slice.
Cut, Regenerate, Cut, Regenerate, Cut, Regenerate, over and over again.
Over this cycle, Ketsu developed another technique.
A blood clone. They could only execute simple motions yet, but it was enough to keep the Devil at bay.
Ketsu throws another spear at the devil, his clones keeping him in motion.
The devil dodges and Ketsu appears right where the spear had landed.
The devil moved its head in an instant and threw a cut at Ketsu, this time not falling for a feint.
It hit him directly. His torso was cut in half.
"Shit," as his upper half collapsed onto the floor and—
Spills into blood.
The devil moved its head again, in the opposite direction, Ketsu's sword already directly at its head.
The devil knew instantly what he did.
It was another feint, he created a clone instead of moving to the spear himself.
He dodged Ketsu's sword closely, leaving only a huge cut on its chest.
The devil felt a new emotion, it was anger.
He threw cuts everywhere, every clone, every weapon destroyed, by the slices.
But Ketsu walked at it with calm, every cut missing by only centimeters or dodged in the last moment.
Ketsu saw his chance. His aura screamed, his body falling apart under the strain, but he forced the blood into a massive axe and dragged it across the floor.
Flames licked along its edge.
"This… ends here!"
He lunged. The Devil's curse slashed again, carving through his legs and side. His body tore open.
But he didn't stop.
The axe came down and the devil launched another cut.
Impact. A detonation of fire and raw force shook the entire dungeon, creating a giant cloud of smoke.
The broadcast cameras trembled, the image breaking for a second. Millions watching gasped.
"Did… did he actually win?" a commentator stammered, his voice cracking under the weight of what they'd just seen.
In the association room, Sora pressed both hands to her mouth, tears streaming down her cheeks. The screen was still filled with nothing but smoke.
"Ketsu… please don't die."
And as the smoke dissolved, Ketsu stood there, as the tension was increasing.
His right arm was cut off, his chest was open, the regeneration was slow.
"He lost." the commentator said in shock, "This is the end for human kind."
In her room Sora was about to burst into tears, when the rest of the smoke disappeared.
Ketsu looked down, his dead eyes watching the nothingness.
Because of his massive aura consumption during the battle, a small strand of hair turned into white.
And as the last remains of smoke leave, the devil is lying underneath his feet.
"Wait," the commentator screamed.
It dissolved into particles.
Ketsu wins.
"Am I dreaming," The commentator didn't stop talking.
"In the history of the Hunter's, there was not a single hunter who had ever defeated a devil in its original form."
"Let alone, by himself."
"This guy is not human"
"Listen closely everyone, the crimson hunter won."
"No, this guy can't be called a hunter anymore."
"This is… Humanities first Devil"
"Humanties devil has won!"