The four teenagers were suddenly airborne, suspended over the vast wreckage of the city. Takashi and Kento, powered by the incredible energy of Phore, held Sami and Nitsuki while hovering. Ahead of them, two fresh Soul Reapers drifted, their massive, grotesque forms radiating lethal menace. The fight began instantly, with no time for strategy or deployment.
Kento, his voice ringing with the sheer exhilaration of his newly acquired Thunder Phore, shouted: "Come on, Takashi! Let's hunt them!" The immediate prospect of combat thrilled him; the chaos was his new playground.
Sami, grounded despite being sixty feet in the air, prioritized safety over heroics. "Drop me and Nitsuki at a safe place first!" she commanded, her voice cutting through the wind and noise.
But as they floated, the Soul Reapers attacked. The creature on the left fired a concentrated laser, a searing yellow line of energy. The second Reaper generated a fierce, roaring pressure wave of wind and hurled it toward the group.
Takashi reacted with the flawless reflexes of his Phore. He successfully dodged the attacks, moving himself and Sami into a trajectory that missed both the laser and the powerful wind blast. Kento, however, was still less precise. While attempting to maneuver with Nitsuki, he was unable to fully evade the laser; the beam grazed the outer edge of Nitsuki's hastily donned armor and left a small, painful scratch on the exposed skin of his right arm.
"Are you alright, Natsumi... Nitsumi, whatever?" Kento asked, slightly distracted by the chaotic flow of power.
"It's Nitsuki!" Nitsuki retorted sharply, wincing. "By the way, yeah. I am okay. It's just a little scratch."
With a final, rapid descent, Takashi and Kento placed the two unpowered teenagers beside a massive, fractured slab of concrete—the nearest feasible cover.
Takashi looked at them, his eyes serious. "Stay there and just watch how we defeat them. Do not move from this spot."
"Yeah, go ahead," Nitsuki replied, gripping his sword. He knew he was powerless to help in this fight, but he refused to be passive.
The two Soul.R Hunters launched their assault. Takashi initiated, charging his Phore to achieve maximal velocity. A vibrant yellow aura flared momentarily around him as he began running at an impossibly high speed, his body tracing a fluid, kinetic line through the ruined battlefield. Simultaneously, Kento prepared his own, more explosive entry. He balanced on one foot, released a small, contained thunder strike into the ground, and used the reactive force to propel himself into a high, powerful arc toward the monsters.
Takashi moved swiftly and silently through the labyrinth of massive, broken building pieces. In a split second that seemed to stretch into eternity for the observers, he appeared right beside the nearest Soul Reaper. The monster, focused on the electrically charged figure hurtling toward it, did not register the impossible speed of its true attacker. Without pausing his motion, Takashi delivered a powerful, concussive kick just below the Soul Reaper's neck, the force instantly sending the immense creature flying high into the air, stunned and completely disoriented.
At that exact, calculated moment, Kento arrived. He released several electric wire-like energy lines from the fingers of his left hand. The incandescent lines instantly sliced through the helpless, airborne Soul Reaper, dividing its massive body cleanly into six smoking, ruined pieces.
"Wohoo! I didn't know I could do such a thing like that!" Kento shouted, landing triumphantly, his face split by an excited, slightly manic grin. The feeling of absolute power was addictive.
"Well done, Kento," Takashi responded, landing near him with his usual controlled precision, a small smirk gracing his lips.
The battle was not quite over. Two of the six smoking, ruined pieces of the dead Soul Reaper continued their trajectory, plummeting directly toward Sami and Nitsuki's hiding spot.
"HEYYY, Protect yourself!!!" Sami screamed, instantly recognizing the renewed danger.
Nitsuki reacted instantly, driven by raw instinct and a protective urge. He grabbed Sami and lunged hard to the side, narrowly avoiding the impact of the first, largest piece. However, the second, still massive chunk of monster flesh was falling directly upon them. Nitsuki pulled out his handgun and emptied the remaining bullets into the piece, but the rounds barely scratched the creature's thick hide. As the chunk got closer, he abandoned the useless gun, drew his heavy sword, and with a desperate surge of adrenaline, brought the blade up and sliced the descending piece vertically in half. The two halves slammed harmlessly into the earth on either side of their makeshift cover.
Nitsuki stood over Sami, completely spent, his body trembling from the profound, unpowered exertion. "Don't worry," he gasped, forcing a tone of conviction. "The danger is gone for now."
"Ahhh, thanks," Sami replied, looking up at him with concern. "But you look very tired."
The adrenaline that had fuelled his defensive act evaporated. Nitsuki's vision started to blur, and a sudden, crushing exhaustion overwhelmed him. His legs gave way, and he began to collapse. Sami reacted instantly, catching him and gently laying his head on her lap.
"I see," Sami murmured, her hand comforting him. "You put so much effort into this, more than any human could sustain. You need rest."
The scene shifted back to the continuing battle. The second Soul Reaper, enraged and now cautious, unleashed a precise laser attack. Takashi easily dodged the beam, moving faster than the energy itself. He closed the distance with a calculated burst of speed and landed a massive, concussive punch on one of the creature's heads. The head split open and flew a short distance, slamming into a broken wall before falling lifelessly.
"Is Nitsuki alright?" Takashi called back, pausing his attack, his concern for his friends overriding his focus on the enemy.
"Yeah. He is tired just," Sami confirmed from the ground.
Takashi relaxed his stance and started charging his Phore to deliver the final, killing blow. But Kento, always eager for the decisive action, beat him to it. Kento dropped from the air, using his gravitational momentum and his Thunder Phore in conjunction. He landed directly onto the surviving Soul Reaper and delivered a devastating thunder punch, sending powerful electric waves throughout the entire monster's body, causing it to explode in a flash of light and debris.
Kento landed triumphantly amidst the smoking ruins. "Haaa!!! I hunt both of them!" he shouted.
"Oh. So you killed that Soul Reaper too," Takashi remarked, acknowledging the decisive victory with a small, wry smile.
The two Soul.R Hunters then walked back toward Sami and the resting Nitsuki.
Takashi leaned down and nudged him gently. "Oii Nitsuki. It's not napping time. Wake up!"
Sami gently shook him a little, and Nitsuki blinked his eyes open, confusion giving way to understanding.
"So you two defeated them," Nitsuki asked weakly.
"Yeahh, of course!" Kento declared, his boundless energy contagious.
Nitsuki pushed himself up from Sami's lap and stood on shaky legs, surveying the quiet, ruined battlefield. He looked up at the sky. Behind him, Sami sat, and Takashi and Kento stood slightly to his side, all gazing upward. Slowly, the thick, toxic clouds began to disperse, and the sun setting behind the ruins of the city appeared, painting the sky with an incredible, intense mix of deep purple, crimson, and vibrant orange. It was a beautiful, defiant act of nature amidst man-made destruction.
Nitsuki turned a little toward Sami, Takashi, and Kento. The fear was still present, but it was now dwarfed by an immense, burning sense of purpose.
"Let's go," he stated, his voice now strong and certain. "First, Sami and I will achieve the phore. Then, we will find out why all of this is happening and stop this apocalypse." A small, determined smile crossed his face, fueled by courage and the memory of his loss.
As he finished speaking, a final, fierce ray of light from the sunset a brilliant, defiant ray of hope shot out from behind him, illuminating him. Encouraged by his fierce resolve, Sami, Takashi, and Kento raised their right hands in a solemn, unified gesture.
Sami, Takashi, and Kento shouted, their voices echoing over the silent, ruined world:
"WE WILL STOP THIS!!!"