As Diablo soared across the desolate wastelands, his thoughts wandered. A brief flashback crossed his mind—Alex, standing tall, wielding the perfected Ultimate Blade of Death with precision. Diablo couldn't help but smile to himself.
"That kid… he's really come a long way. I'm really happy for him."
Suddenly, without warning, a brilliant red beam of energy shot down from the sky toward him. Diablo shifted to the side with a casual motion, narrowly avoiding the beam. It struck the ground below, wiping out a chain of mountains in a blinding eruption.
Descending gently to the scorched terrain, Diablo looked up and spoke with a calm tone.
"You don't need to hide, Shinki. I sensed your energy two hours ago."
From above, Shinki emerged, floating midair and staring down at him with a passive gaze.
"You're the same as ever, Diablo. You dont seem to have changed since last three years."
Diablo narrowed his eyes.
"What do you want? And why show up in a place like this?"
Shinki's expression remained unreadable.
"Ukina sent me to defeat you."
Diablo chuckled softly.
"Defeat me? What a joke. Didn't you leave Dark Sign already? Why are you still following her orders?"
Shinki answered flatly.
"This is my final mission. I only joined Dark Sign to watch over Kazuki... and to destroy the city. Even after this, I might still help the dark sign if I so please too."
A smirk curled across Diablo's lips.
"I see, not a bad life choice. Not like you'll live long anyway, but no problem. I'll make you a deal then. If you can land a single scratch on me while I'm using only 10% of my power, I'll leave this place quietly. But if you can't… I'll tell Kazuki exactly where you are using telepathy."
Shinki's red dangerous eyes sharpened.
"That's fine with me. You might be strong, but if you think 10% is enough to beat me, you're a fool. A fool with a God complex."
"We'll see about that," Diablo replied, his smirk widening.
Meanwhile…
Kazuki was in the midst of an intense battle against Kirihai and Mirio. Arrows of crackling purple lightning rained down with overwhelming force, tearing through the battlefield and incinerating everything it landed on. Kirihai dashed and twisted gracefully, evading the onslaught of Kazuki's lightning arrows with inhuman reflexes. Meanwhile, Mirio soared through the air, his chains morphing into clawed weapons that shredded Kazuki's attacks mid-flight.
Kazuki, smirking, raised his sword wreathed in purple flames. He conjured spheres of searing purple flame with the help of his sword and hurled them at both opponents.
Kirihai, leaping and weaving all of Kazuki's attacks, activated her technique.
"Reflect!"
Mirrors burst from the ground around her, catching the flaming spheres and hurling them back at Kazuki with twice the speed and twenty times the power, Kazuki was stunned "What the fuck?!", he exclaimed as his own attacks flew right towards him. The impact caused a massive explosion, engulfing the battlefield in smoke.
As the smoke of the explosion had engulfed the place, Kirihai turned to Mirio.
"Check if he's still alive."
Mirio nodded "Right!" and soared upward into the smoke. He looked and searched for clues about Kazuki. As he had approached the center, a bolt of lightning erupted from below, blasting him out of the air with a powerful explosion.
"Mirio!" Kirihai screamed in panic.
From within the smoke, Kazuki emerged—calm, laughing, and surrounded by a glowing purple force field.
"Finally… I was getting bored. Its a good thing i used my forcefield at the righy time"
Kirihai's eyes widened in disbelief.
"I reflected your own attack back at you—twice the speed of light, twenty times stronger! How are you still standing?!"
Kazuki grinned.
"While I was hiding in the forest for weeks, being hunted by C-rank bounty hunters sent by the higher-ups, I focused on strengthening my force field. Normally, it would take something faster than light to pierce it…. You see, i cant keep my forcefield for long, especially while fighting, so i time how i use its defense properly and at the right time. If i continue to get stronger, it would come a point where it would take something with more speed and force to bypass my forcefield. The stronger I grow, the tougher it becomes."
As he spoke, the spirit mark behind Kazuki's wrist shifted—from a triangle with three dots to a diamond with four dots.
Raising his hand to the sky, he muttered with a smirk:
"This next attack… can wipe out an entire city under seconds. I've been working on it for a while, so enjoy it!"
"God's Devastation." He called.
A cataclysmic surge of lightning struck down from the sky, vaporizing the entire forest under seconds. Not just the forest, but countless mountains, and several long-abandoned towns and cities in an instant. The shockwave rippled across the landscape.
Far away, in a cozy restaurant, Serena paused mid-sip, her body shivering from a sudden chill. Sitting across from her, Sukuna noticed.
"You okay?". She asked.
Serena looked out the window.
"It's nothing. Just... a chill. I wonder what Kazuki's doing."
Back on the battlefield, smoke lingered like a storm cloud in the sky. As it began to fade, Kirihai spotted Mirio—standing, barely conscious, his body covered in burns.
She gasped, her eyes spoke disbelief.
Mirio had used his chains to form armor around himself, shielding both himself and Kirihai from the brunt of the attack.
Tears welled in her eyes as she ran toward him.
"Mirio! Are you okay?! Answer me!", Kirihai exclaimed.
Mirio collapsed, and she caught him. His voice was faint.
"Kazuki… he's easily B-rank now. Stronger than you... you have to run. He'll kill you."
Kazuki approached slowly, like a shadow of death from the smoke. Mirio looked into Kirihai's teary eyes.
"No one's ever shown me kindness like you have... thank you. Being with you… made me feel alive.". Kirihai looked at Mirio with disbelief and tears in her eyes.
With a final smile, he whispered:
"Tell Ukina... I'm grateful. It was fun… while it lasted."
Mirio's body went still in Kirihai's arms. Kirihai immediately screamed.
Her scream echoed through the air, raw and filled with pain. She stood slowly, tears falling freely.
Kazuki spoke coldly.
"If you'd just listened… he might still be alive. Sorry, but his death was both of your faults!"
Kirihai muttered under her breath.
"You'll pay for this…"
She roared violently releasing a torrent of dark energy from her body, eyes glowing with red. Gripping her sword, she launched a devastating slash that tore through Kazuki's force field and cut deep into his chest. The shockwave of the slash immediately cut through mountains and the wastelands outside the former forest.
Kazuki staggered back, stunned.
"What the..... HUH?!She… broke through my forcefield?! I could've died just now…"
Kirihai slashed again with a wild scream of anger, but this time, Kazuki countered with a lightning arrow. Their attacks collided in a cataclysmic explosion that turned the entire battlefield to a ruin of ashes.
When the smoke cleared… she was gone.
Kazuki stood still, trembling with his bleeding chest.
"She sliced through my force field? What the fuck! She was just C-rank not long ago—same as me! Now suddenly she upgrades? I'm lucky I still have my head... dammit!".
Elsewhere...
Tobi dashed from tree to tree, scouting the area. "The location of the enemy should be 10 miles ahead. If I pick up my speed, then I should get there in seconds.",he thought to himself. Suddenly he spotted something fast approaching.
As the figure passed him, their eyes met in slow motion—Kirihai, flying with Mirio's lifeless burnt body in her arms, tears streaming down her face.
Tobi froze mid-air, stunned.
"What the... It can't be. That's not possible. Was that... big sister?!"
END OF CHAPTER.