—Back in the Devil World—
Shijun lay there, broken and barely conscious. He tried—tried—to move, but his body refused to respond.
"GET UP, DUMBASS!"
Minus bellowed in his mind.
"I-I'm… trying…"Shijun muttered.
Deathdrago approached slowly, still dripping with that vile crimson energy. Its bloodshot eyes locked onto Shijun like prey.
The Lord watched from a distance, spinning his staff lazily.
"Honestly, I don't understand you, Minus. A thousand years ago, you were far more capable. And now? Look at you. Merging with some weak, trembling mortal. You've gone soft. Or maybe… that mortal can't even wield your power properly. Either way, your potential was wasted."
Shijun coughed and gritted his teeth.
"Minus… tell me your body's still got more hidden aces left in it… I could seriously use one right now."
"Yeah, well, if I had one, I'd have told you already, dumbass!"
By the time Shijun looked up—
Deathdrago was right in front of him, charging another red-hot death beam in its mouth.
"…Well, shit—NOT AGAIN!"
BOOOOOMMMMM!!
The blast collided, beaming Shijun straight into the hillside. The force buried him beneath tons of Devil World debris.
From above, The Lord smirked.
"That was a fast one,"
he muttered sarcastically, leaping down from the horn.
Deathdrago let out one last roar before calming, its corrupted energy finally dissipating.
—Within the Rubble—
Cough. Cough.
"God…damn it…"
Shijun groaned, his body crushed under rocks and alien soil.
He squirmed, inching his way out with whatever strength he had left—
until he spotted it.
A hollow pocket. A cave—hidden within the hill itself.
"…What the…"His voice echoed through the hollow space.
Shijun twisted his body and dragged himself into the dark space, grunting through every inch of pain.
"C'mon Shijun… just a little bit more…"
Eventually, he pulled himself into the open chamber.
"…Whoa. Sick."
(cough)
He scanned the walls desperately for anything—anything that might help. But nothing stood out.
Until—
SHINK!
A silver, crescent-shaped blade suddenly fell from above, stabbing itself into the ground before him.
CRASH!!
Dust erupted. Shijun raised his arm to shield his eyes.
"…What now?"
He stared at the weapon, puzzled. It didn't move. It just sat there—
anchored.
Shijun dropped to one knee, painfully reaching for the hilt.
"A dual sided,crescent blade…?"
"OUCH!"
Pain flared through his wrist the moment he tried to tug it. His body was still too damaged.
"Damn… it really ain't my lucky day, huh."
Then—
The blade glowed.
A pulse of ethereal blue light surged outward, blinding him.
"W-WOAH!"
Shijun shielded his face as the glow intensified.
Suddenly, the entire cave shook.
RUMBLE!
An earthquake erupted as glowing text appeared—
not in any Earth language… but shimmering alien glyphs.
Shijun tilted his head. "What the hell's it saying?"
Minus read aloud:
"Who are you?"
"…It's talking to us?"
Shijun blinked.
"It's sentient too?"
More text appeared on the handle.
"Wielder. Once you grab ahold of me—what would you do?"
Shijun's expression tensed.
That exact question echoed something Phantomblade had asked him not long ago:
"Until you discover your reason… don't consider yourself a true hero."
Shijun looked down.
"…I still don't have an answer to that…"
But he didn't back away.
Slowly, shakily, he gripped the blade with both hands.
"Listen… I don't know what I'll do if I wield you. I don't even know what the hell you are.But I don't care right now.
If I'm being honest… I was gonna say I'd use you to help me be a hero—but I don't even know what that means anymore.Everything right now is just too much and abrupt for me to think."
He tightened his grip.
"But I do know one thing…
I'm trapped in this freak-ass dimension, and I want to get back to my world!"
His voice echoed across the cave.
"So please, blade…
Help me escape this place.
And whatever I'll do with you in the future…
Let's figure that out together."
The blade pulsed again.
"The name's Uriel,"
glowing text read.
"I'll entertain you… for now. So make it worthwhile."
The moment the message ended—
SHINK!
The blade lifted itself from the ground.
A blinding blue aura enveloped Shijun—
and in mere seconds, his injuries were completely healed.
—Outside the Hill—
The Lord began turning away,letting out a small scoff.
Deathdrago started retreating into the ground—
"I AIN'T DONE YET!"
A voice erupted from the hill like a shockwave.
"Hm?"
The Lord turned back, brow raised.
"…Still alive?"
Deathdrago paused, blinking toward the hill.
Then—
KABOOOOOOM!!
A violet-and-blue explosion erupted as the hill split open.
Shijun rose from the smoke, walking forward—blade in hand.He held it up to his head.
"Uriel… come forth and lend me your strength."
The blade pulsed once more.
The Lord cracked his neck in annoyance.
"Deathdrago. Finish him."
The devil roared in frustration before charging again.
Shijun didn't even blink.
"Let's see what you can do, Uriel…"
He dashed forward—
—and to his surprise, his speed exploded.
With the blades buff,his strneght and speed and abilities were all amplified.
ZOOOOM!
He blitzed across the battlefield, slicing Deathdrago's entire arm off before the devil could even react.
"SHEEESH! Sharp-ass blade!"
From above, The Lord's eyebrow twitched.
Deathdrago howled in pain and dropped to its knees.
Shijun raised the blade—
SHINK SHINK SHINK SHINK SHINK!
Started to rapidly slashing into the Devil's body.
Then,
VIOLET FLASH!
He launched wave after wave of purple energy slashes, cutting the devil up midair even more.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Scars exploded across its body until it finally collapsed to the dirt,near motionless.
The Lord twitched.
His crimson and black aura pulsed violently—
an unstable pressure blanketing the Devil World's air like a thick fog.
"You just love being a pain in the ass, Minus!"
He roared, his voice thundering across the battlefield.
With a swipe of his hand, he released another wave of corrupt energy—
and sent it directly into Deathdrago.
"ARGHHHHHH!"
The devil shrieked, its body contorting from the overdose of devil energy.
Shijun blinked.
"…Again?"
Deathdrago's veins pulsed with black lightning as it rose again—crazier, wilder, more monstrous than before.
FWOOOSH!!
It unleashed a unstable collosal beam of energy from its mouth.
"Not this time."
Shijun raised Uriel.
SLICE!
He cut the beam clean in half—
and redirected it right back at Deathdrago.
BOOM!!
The devil was blasted backwards once again.
Shijun turned, eyes locked on The Lord. He raised his blade, ready to charge—
"DUMBASS, WAIT!"
Minus shouted.
"You—we are NOT ready to take him on yet. Our only goal now is to get out of here."
"S-sorry…"
Shijun hesitated and began flying upward, aiming for escape.
But—
FWIP!
The Lord was already standing in front of him.
"Where do you think you're going, Minus?"
"…Shit."
"Forget what I said, dumbass. We're fighting now!"
Minus snapped.
The Lord raised the Noctor Staff and slammed it downward—
CLANG!!
Shijun barely blocked it with Uriel.
"S-so fast…"
The staff dragged down Uriel's crescent edge, sparking with friction—
before The Lord twisted and slammed his staff into Shijun's chest.
COUGH! COUGH!
He reeled from the blow.
"Even with that fancy new blade,"
The Lord sneered,
"you're still nothing to me."
Just as Shijun prepared to counter—
GRAB!!
Deathdrago tackled him from behind, wrapping both arms around him and pinning his hands above his head.
"WHAT IN THE—SNEAKY BASTARD!!"
Shijun struggled, but the devil's grip was crushing.
The Lord chuckled darkly and raised his staff again.
But Uriel—
GLINT!
The blade shimmered with light.
CLANK!
It forcefully ripped itself from Shijun's grip and launched toward The Lord.
"HUH?!"
CLASH!!
Uriel SLAMMED into The Lord's side, landing a solid hit.
"TCH—CURSE YOU, STRANGE BLADE!"
He retaliated, swinging Noctor and launching a wave of corrupted energy.
But Uriel spun midair and fired a violet energy slash of its own—
BOOOOOM!!!
A massive explosion lit up the skies.
Now, the crimson clouds above the Devil World were lit with an epic clash:
A lavender-blue streak
versus
a red-black streak
Below—
Shijun saw Deathdrago distracted by the explosion and seized the moment.
"BASTARD—!"
WHAM!
He back-kicked Deathdrago square in the jaw, forcing it to release him.
Uriel zipped through the sky, clashing with The Lord's staff again and again—
while Shijun and Deathdrago re-engaged on the ground.
Blade vs Lord.
Shijun vs Devil.
Total chaos.
CLANG!!
High above, The Lord stomped on Uriel, sending it crashing to the ground.
Shijun, mid-clash, stumbled and caught the returning blade.
"GAH! Well that was abrupt—!"
The Lord floated down, landing beside Deathdrago like some demon general.
Then—he sat on the devil's back. Like a throne.
"SHIJUN!"
Minus's voice flared up again.
"We can't win this right now—not against him. We HAVE to leave! NOW!"
"But how the hell are we gonna—?!"
Before he could finish—
Uriel's blade began glowing again.
Symbols etched across its handle, writing themselves midair.
"I can slice through the dimensional wall."
Shijun's eyes went wide.
"WAIT—YOU COULD DO THAT THIS WHOLE TIME?!"
More text:
"Mhm. Now let's go."
Uriel jerked Shijun's arm upward and then—
SLICE! SLICE! SLICE!
Three clean slashes tore through the air.
Reality itself began to crack, forming a glowing rift.
"YO—HOHO—OKAY!!"
Shijun spun toward the rift and gave The Lord one final salute…
Middle finger raised.
"CYA, BITCH!"
WHOOSH!!
He dove through the rift.
"Deathdrago… give chase."
The Lord kicked the devil into the rift before sealing it off behind them.
Then, silence.
The Lord stood alone, grinning madly.
"You can run, Minus.
But not forever…"
His voice lowered into a whisper—twisted, ominous.
"I was merely toying with you… and that little blade of yours.
You made your choice.
And I won't kill you… yet."
He lifted his hand to his face, tilting his head like a madman.
"Because something inside you… intrigues me.
And I want to see what it is."
Then, he laughed.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
—Earth's Core – The Pit
"AHHHHH!"
Shijun dropped from the dimensional rift like a meteor, crashing down into the familiar endless pit he had fallen into earlier.
Luckily, he managed to land safely on one of the floating rocks.
"OKAY—okay! Steady!"
He wobbled slightly, arms out like a tightrope walker.
It was silent for a few seconds,then
Right in front of him—
Deathdrago materialized, landing with a heavy crash and a corrupted snarl.
Shijun sighed and cracked his neck.
"…So he followed us."
He got into a stance.
"Alright then… let's end this.
I'm tired as hell from dealing with all these damn interruptions!"
But just as he was about to charge—
"Huh?"
A voice echoed down from above.
Shijun looked up.
So did Deathdrago.
"…Wait, is that—Cupid?!"
Shijun was visibly confused.
BOOM!!
Cherl dropped down from the sky, stabilizing midair with her suit, pink light flaring around her.
She looked just as confused when she saw him.
"Beyond?! What are you doing down here?!"
She asked
"I don't know! I was gonna ask you that!"
Shijun replied.
"I came to rescue my friend! He fell into this pit when the ground split open!"
"…Your friend?"
Shijun looked down.
"But I was the only person that fell down.."
"HEY! FOCUS UP, DUMBASS!"
Minus yelled.
"CAN WE KILL THIS BASTARD FIRST?!"
"R-right, sorry."
Shijun turned back to Cherl.
"Let's talk after we destroy this thing!"
"Agreed!"
She dodged a massive energy blast from Deathdrago mid-sentence.
They both squared up, side by side.
"Alright! Let's finish this!"
Shijun crossed his arms, blade glowing in his grip.
Uriel pulsed again—but this time, not in blue.
Lavender-purple light shimmered from its core.
"Huh…?"
"It's trying to signal us, dumbass."
Minus said.
Shijun's eyes widened.
He nodded.
"…I get it."
The blade glowed in acknowledgment.
"WITNESS THE TRUE POWER OF THIS BLADE, DEVIL!!"
The air around Uriel exploded in light.
The energy extended outward—forming a colossal coral phantom version of the blade, easily four times its size.
A giant crescent, glowing and crackling with violet energy.
Shijun grinned.
"GINGA BREAKER!!"
He charged in with a boom—
and then:
SLICE!
A massive slash—clean through the devil's left shoulder.
DICE!
A second slice—blasting a crater into its torso.
And finally—
SHINK!!
A devastating cut, straight through its chest—slicing it in half.
the energy detonated inside Deathdrago.
BOOOOOOOM!!
BOOOM!!
The devil was blown apart, energy shards and black mist scattering across the pit.
Silence followed.
Dust slowly drifted down like snow.
Cherl floated down beside Shijun, eyes wide.
"…Whoa. When the hell did you learn to do that?!"
Shijun scratched his head, chuckling proudly.
"Well—"
"AHEM, DUMBASS?"
Minus interrupted.
"What did I tell you about blabbing about the Devil World?"
"…Right, right."
He turned to Cherl.
"Oh nah, it's just a new blade I made! Pretty cool, right?"
Cherl raised an eyebrow.
"Wait—you made that thing?!"
She poked the now-dormant blade.
FWIP!
The blade dissolved from his hand in a trail of blue sparks.
"Woah!Can it seriously just dissapear like that?"
"Genius move, Beyond. For real."
Shijun smiled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yeah… uh, thanks."
Then, he remembered something.
"…Wait—you mentioned your friend?The one who fell in. Didn't you say you were looking for them down here?"
Cherl nodded quickly, her voice suddenly anxious.
"Yeah! When the ground first split open, one of my friends dropped into the pit—I've been trying to get down here without destroying anything in the process. Since you're here, did you see anyone else down here?"She Spoke too quickly.
Shijun paused.
His suspicions were already spinning.
"…What's your friend's name?"
Cherl looked confused for a moment,but answered anyways.
"…Shijun."
COUGH! COUGH!!
Shijun nearly choked on his own breath.
"Wait—CHERL?!"
She blinked.
"…Huh?! How do you know my name?! I haven't even properly introduced myself yet—only as Cupid!"
Shijun's face dropped.
"Cherl is me!Im Shijun!"
"…I-I'm Beyond."
Cherl's jaw unhinged.
"WAIT—YOU'RE BEYOND?!"
"WAIT—YOU'RE CUPID?!"
They both shouted at the same time, pointing at each other in total disbelief.