The giant demon let out a bone-chilling roar, lunging straight for Akidou and Omelet. Faced with such overwhelming size, the two had no choice but to scramble out of the way.
Akidou gritted his teeth, cursing under his breath.
"Damn it... my martial arts don't mean a thing against these mountains of meat!"
The demon slammed its massive fist into the earth. The ground fractured, sending a cloud of suffocating dust into the air. In that split second of confusion, Omelet lost her footing. The demon's hand swept down to snatch her up.
"Omelet!"
Without a second thought, Akidou shoved Omelet out of the way. The giant's hand clamped shut—but it was Akidou who was trapped in its grip. Omelet panicked, summoning every ounce of her strength to blast a vortex of wind at the creature, but the swirling air merely tickled its thick hide.
Nearby, Alba was in even worse shape. Though he had broken one of the other giant's legs, the sheer weight of the beast had pinned him to the ground. His armor sparked against the stones as he struggled to breathe, his strength fading fast.
Ragna watched from the treeline, his eyes turning cold. He stepped out from the shadows.
"Looks like things have gone south. Need a hand?"
Without waiting for an answer, Ragna charged. His metallic gauntlet erupted in a violent blaze. He kicked off the ground, soaring through the air, and drove a flaming fist straight into the face of the giant holding Akidou.
BOOM!
The impact forced the demon to loosen its grip, and Akidou tumbled to the dirt. The giant stumbled back, roaring in fury as it turned to face Ragna. Ragna pulled both arms back, the flames on his gauntlet turning a blinding white-hot.
"Heaven's End... Ragnarok!"
A blur of dozens of flaming punches exploded in a split second. Each strike carried the force of a detonating bomb. The giant went down, its head wreathed in fire, its massive body crashing into the earth with a deafening thud.
Seeing the giant fall, the swarm of lesser demons finally lost their fear and lunged at the survivors. Shinji and Lio immediately jumped into the fray.
"Lio, look out!" Shinji cried.
A demon swiped at Lio, but Shinji intercepted it with a sword thrust. The blade only grazed the monster's shoulder, failing to draw a deep wound. The demon snarled, shifting its focus to Shinji.
Over by Alba, the second giant was still crushing him. Ragna spun around and reached behind his back. He didn't pull a weapon; instead, he summoned a jagged, obsidian stone glowing with the heat of molten lava.
"Black Stone... Ragnarok!"
Ragna hurled the stone. It whistled through the air like a cannonball, punching a hole straight through the demon's torso and obliterating half of its skull. The giant collapsed instantly, pinned to the earth by its own weight.
Back with Shinji, a demon had managed to tackle him. Its yellow teeth were clamped onto his blade, forcing him down and pinning him to the dirt. Lio was desperately stabbing his dagger into the creature's back, but the demon barely seemed to notice. The sword slipped from Shinji's sweat-slicked palms.
Just as the demon prepared to bite, Akidou lunged. He grabbed the demon around the waist, arched his back, and slammed it backward in a brutal suplex.
CRACK!
The demon's neck snapped with a sickening pop. Its body went limp, sliding off Shinji. Akidou stayed on the ground for a moment, gasping for air and laughing weakly.
"We're okay... old friend. We're safe."
Ragna walked over, his expression stern.
"Don't get cocky. A demon only stays dead if you destroy the brain."
Akidou sat up, scratching the back of his head.
"Thanks for the save, armored guy!"
"Don't mention it. We were just passing through."
Omelet floated over, looking like she wanted to plant a grateful kiss on Ragna's cheek, but he immediately held her back with a flat palm.
"Shinji, Lio. Let's move."
Akidou watched them go, calling out frantically.
"Hey! Wait! Why the rush? We haven't even talked yet!"
"We've wasted enough time," Ragna replied impatiently.
Shinji and Lio shared a quick look before following their leader. As they pulled away, Shinji looked back over his shoulder.
"I'm Shinji! This is Lio and Ragna!"
"Awesome! I'm Akidou! That's Omelet and Alba!" Akidou shouted back, waving wildly.
After walking for a while, Ragna turned to Shinji, his voice carrying a hint of curiosity.
"Shinji, did you see that projectile I fired earlier?"
Shinji stopped, a look of pure confusion on his face. He turned to Lio, hoping for a clue. Lio tried his best, drawing a big circle in the air with his hands and making a "whoosh" sound. Shinji still didn't get it.
Ragna let out a short laugh.
"That was Essence. Once you master it, you can shape it into anything you can imagine."
Even though he didn't really understand a word of it, Shinji let out an impressed "Ohhh!" just to make Ragna feel better, nodding as if he'd just had a grand revelation. Ragna didn't push it; he just offered a knowing smirk.
Eventually, the trees thinned out, revealing a vast, open area. At the center lay a wide lake, its surface as still as glass, reflecting the strange artificial sky above. Exhausted from the trek and the battle, the group agreed without a word. They settled down by the water's edge to catch their breath and recover their strength for whatever lay ahead.