Tempestia stared at Megalodon through the drifting smoke. Her breathing caught for half a second before she forced it steady again.
"W-what…?" Her voice came out lower than before. "That's not good."
Dust rolled across the ruined avenue as Megalodon stepped forward through the remains of melted concrete and collapsed steel.
"Calling him a high-ranking demon is an insult at this point…"
Megalodon laughed quietly to himself. The sound carried across the shattered district with unsettling calmness. He rotated one shoulder slowly, cracks of dark energy spreading across his skin before fading again.
"Annoying fallen creature," he said. "Did you truly believe that weak purification spell would affect me?"
His mouth opened.
Dark energy compressed instantly into a dense black sphere. The surrounding air warped violently around it as nearby debris lifted off the ground and spiraled inward.
"Take this."
Tempestia reacted immediately. Her heel slammed into the street hard enough to fracture the pavement beneath her boots. Jagged spikes of earth erupted upward in rapid succession, layering themselves into multiple rotating walls of sharpened stone between her and the incoming attack.
At the same time, translucent barriers unfolded around her body one after another, each shield locking into place with glowing symbols rippling across their surfaces.
Her right arm pulled back. Energy gathered around her hand until the skin along her forearm glowed white-blue.
She cut downward.
The sphere split cleanly in half.
[BOOOOOOM.]
Both halves tore past her shoulders before detonating high above the city. Massive shockwaves rolled outward across the skyline. Already-damaged towers swayed violently. Loose glass exploded from broken windows while abandoned vehicles flipped across nearby intersections.
But Megalodon had already fired again.
The second sphere emerged directly behind the first.
Tempestia's eyes widened.
"Shit…!"
The barriers around her body shattered instantly on contact. Cracks raced across every shield before they burst apart into fragments of light.
The impact launched her backward through the remains of a collapsed office tower. Steel beams bent around her body as she crashed through multiple floors. Sparks burst around her while concrete chunks rained downward.
Her body bounced off a twisted support column before slamming into the ground hard enough to crater the street beneath her.
Blood sprayed from her mouth.
Her hand shot out blindly and caught a bent metal pipe jutting from the rubble. The pipe groaned loudly as it stopped her momentum.
Tempestia coughed hard and forced herself onto one knee. Blood dripped from her chin onto broken concrete while her fingers trembled around the pipe.
"Damn it… Damn it." she muttered through uneven breaths. "This sneaky asshole…"
She pushed herself upright slowly, one hand pressed against her ribs.
"He used a double-tap attack…"
Dust slid off her shoulders as she looked back toward Megalodon standing in the distance completely relaxed.
"This demon is way stronger than I thought." Her voice lowered. "He fired a disintegration sphere right after the first blast…"
Her fingers twitched once near her side.
"I cannot use that form against him. Even if I wanted to."
She wiped blood from the corner of her mouth with the back of her wrist.
"If I do… I will end up even weaker after this battle. I'm already nowhere near my prime." Her breathing slowed carefully. "The punishment would cost me too much."
Nearby, massive chunks of rubble shifted violently.
Moon-Light shoved a collapsed concrete slab off his chest with both hands before stumbling forward out of the debris cloud. His breathing came out rough and uneven.
His thoughts raced.
"We cannot keep fighting like this."
He wiped blood from beneath his nose before spitting onto the ground.
"My healing is nowhere near his level. If we keep eating attacks like that…"
His eyes lifted toward Megalodon.
"We will be dead in no time."
Moon-Light limped toward Tempestia, boots scraping broken asphalt with each step.
"We're not beating him with brute force," he said, still catching his breath. "It seems like physical attacks are doing nothing to him. Neither energy based attacks barely slow him down." He pointed toward the demon. "You got anything else hidden or are we officially fucked?"
Tempestia steadied herself and rolled one shoulder carefully.
"Maybe."
Moon-Light stared at her.
"That answer sucks, you literally said don't hold back but you do?"
She ignored him.
"I have one spell strong enough to seal him using my strongest element." Her expression hardened. "But I need time to activate it."
"How much time?"
Tempestia hesitated.
"At least one minute."
Moon-Light froze completely.
"…You're joking."
Tempestia stayed silent.
Moon-Light barked out a short laugh full of disbelief before dragging both hands down his face.
"Oh, come on!" He pointed wildly toward Megalodon. "One minute fighting THAT thing?" He shook his head hard. "Temps, one wrong move and I'm a fucking stain on the pavement!"
In the distance, Megalodon casually cracked his fingers one by one while watching them.
Moon-Light stared at him for another second before groaning loudly.
"God damn it…" He rubbed the side of his forehead. "He moves faster than I can even track half the time and he's STILL playing with us."
He looked back at Tempestia.
"If I do this, you owe me. Big time."
He pointed directly at her chest.
"And if I die, I swear I'll haunt your ass forever."
Tempestia smacked him hard across the backside of his head.
"Stop whining."
Moon-Light flinched.
"The hell was that for?!"
"If you die," she replied flatly, "I'll water your grave from time to time."
Moon-Light stared at her blankly.
"That is the most fucked-up encouragement I've ever heard."
Tempestia sighed once before stepping closer. She raised two fingers and pressed them against the center of his forehead.
"I'll keep you alive as long as I can."
Energy surged outward instantly.
Blue-white currents wrapped around Moon-Light's body while the cracked pavement beneath his boots trembled from the pressure spike. Wind exploded outward around them, pushing loose debris across the street.
Moon-Light's eyes widened slightly as power flooded through his muscles.
"Here you go," Tempestia said. "I amplified your physical abilities and energy output by two."
Moon-Light flexed one hand slowly while dark and silver energy crackled across his forearm.
"…Damn." He rolled his shoulder once. "Okay. Yeah. I definitely feel that."
Then his expression flattened again.
"But it's still one damn minute."
Across the battlefield, Megalodon slowly opened all four arms outward.
Clearly entertained.
"Aww…" he mocked softly. "Are the little heroes done making plans?"
A grin spread slowly across his face.
"How adorable."
The ground beneath him cracked apart as black pressure rolled outward across the district.
"Then let us end this."
He leaned forward slightly.
Still smiling.
Then he took one step forward.