Shinji dragged his broken body toward Lio, centimeter by agonizing centimeter. Every movement was a wave of pure torture, tearing at his shattered ribs. His vision flickered, his breath coming in shallow, ragged gasps.
He reached out a trembling hand, desperate to do anything to save his friend.
But his strength gave out. As the world began to tilt into darkness, a calm, warm voice echoed from behind him.
"You did well. Rest now, kid."
Shinji froze.
"Who is that…? Reinforcements? Or another demon…?"
Before the thought could finish, his consciousness slipped away, and his body went limp.
Commander Argos caught the boy before he hit the dirt, gently laying him down. He surveyed the clearing, his expression darkening at the sight of the carnage. Even a veteran like Argos couldn't hide his disgust.
"Absolutely revolting."
His gaze locked onto the skinless titan looming over them. His eyes narrowed in sudden realization.
"What's this…? A High-ranking Demon? Brutal… one of the Demon King's direct subordinates, isn't it? For you to slip into this forest… we have a serious problem."
Argos placed his hand on the hilt of his blade. He drew it in one fluid motion, the cold steel singing as it caught the moonlight.
Brutal let out a guttural snarl, thumping its chest before charging like a freight train. Argos didn't flinch. He blurred past the monster.
SHINKS!
One of Brutal's horns hit the dirt, sliced clean off.
"You're supposed to be High-ranking. Show me what you've actually got."
The monster stopped, staring at its severed horn in stunned silence. Then, its eyes bled into a deep, murderous crimson. It threw its head back and shrieked in a mindless frenzy, its skinless jaw tearing further apart in its rage.
Argos glanced back at Lio.
"Grab the boy. We're retreating."
Lio didn't need to be told twice. He rushed to Shinji's side, hauling him up.
At that moment, Brutal slammed its massive fists into the ground.
The earth shattered. Boulders were launched into the sky like pebbles. Argos leaped into the air, jumping across the crumbling debris as a thick shroud of dust swallowed the clearing. A massive jagged rock whistled toward his head.
SPLASH!
Argos cleaved the boulder in two mid-air. Brutal followed up instantly, lunging forward with a punch that pulverized the very rock Argos had been standing on.
Argos landed back on the shifting soil, his brow furrowed.
"Ares… where the hell are you, you brat?!"
In a hidden room far from the chaos, Ares was hunched over a console, laughing as he toyed with a small remote.
"Hey, Tetsutaro, can anyone see us in here?"
"Not a chance. I'm the only one who knows this room exists."
Back in the forest, Argos's patience had run out. He pulled a small vial of blood from his belt and crushed it in his palm.
Brutal ripped a massive tree from the ground, sharpening the end into a crude spear with its bare hands. It hurled the trunk with the force of a ballista.
Argos didn't move. Instead of falling to the ground, the droplets of blood from the vial surged upward, absorbing directly into his skin.
Brutal thrown away the tree, the tree spear slammed into the ground where Argos stood, kicking up a massive pillar of dirt. Brutal stood tall on two legs, beating its chest in a roar of victory, certain its prey was crushed.
From within the settling dust, a chillingly calm voice drifted out.
"Don't get ahead of yourself."
The massive tree trunk was suddenly split down the middle. Argos appeared directly in front of Brutal, moving faster than the human eye could track. His body radiated a blinding aura, a golden light nearly identical to Ares's.
He raised his hand, pointing a single finger at the monster's face.
"Moon Pillar."
A vertical beam of pure, concentrated energy descended from the heavens, swallowing Brutal whole. The creature's flesh scorched and blackened as it let out a pathetic, agonized shriek before collapsing into a heap.
Argos landed, checking the silver watch on his wrist.
"1 minute and 52 seconds left…"
He tapped his earpiece urgently.
"Ares! Ares, where are you?"
Silence.
Argos gritted his teeth, his eyes darkening with fury. He turned to Lio, who hurried over to him. Argos pressed a hand to his own forehead, and a glowing yellow gemstone began to manifest, emitting a light so bright Lio had to shield his eyes.
He rise his hand, Lio quickly get there.
Suddenly, the ground groaned. Brutal lunged from the shadows, hurtling toward them like a mountain of meat.
It wasn't dead.
Its massive body was charred and smoking, but its eyes burned with a primal, undiluted rage. Argos reacted instantly, kicking Lio out of the monster's path.
Brutal roared, its muscles bulging as if it had just received a second wind. Argos raised his hand to unleash his next technique…
…But nothing happened.
No light. No vibration of Essence.
Argos's eyes widened as the realization hit him.
"I see… Ability Nullification."
Brutal's skinless mouth twisted into a sickening, distorted grin. It pounded its chest, its breath coming in hot, wet huffs as it realized it finally had the upper hand.
Then, it struck.
A massive arm swung through the air, aimed directly at Argos's head.
The ground exploded where he stood. Argos barely managed to roll away, the wind of the impact nearly knocking the breath from his lungs. His expression turned more serious than it had been in decades.