Even so, as if something was giving him one more chance—as if the world itself were telling him he still had to go to school on Monday and sit through boring classes...
BRRRMMM!
A metallic roar burst from the hangar entrance. A motorcycle sped through the threshold at full throttle. It hit a pile of rubble, soared through the air, and flew straight toward Desmon.
The rider had already leapt off. She rolled across the ground with grace, drew her weapon without wasting a second, aimed with surgical precision, and fired.
BANG!
The bullet hit the motorcycle's fuel tank.
BOOOOM!
The explosion was so sudden that the entire hangar shook. The blast staggered the demons, giving Desmon the split second he needed to break free.
He launched himself backward, rolled across the floor, and regrouped with the one who had just denied him eternal rest.
And with the demons being consumed by the blast, they now had only a few seconds before the creatures recovered.
"Were you trying to help me or kill me too?!" He snapped, laughing as he stretched and cracked his neck. "A little heads-up before blowing up a bike in my face would've been nice!"
Getting shot was one thing. Having something explode in your face was another.
"You're as hard to kill as a cockroach. I knew that wouldn't take you out." Came the voice of the newcomer.
"You give me too much credit..." Desmon scratched his head.
"That wasn't a compliment, dumbass!"
"Asako!" JB shouted, recognizing her.
The lively exchange between the two was cut short by JB.
"I hear you, JB. No need to yell." She said calmly, holstering her weapon.
"What the hell are you doing here?!"
JB couldn't believe it. Her impulsive friend had shown up unannounced… and just in time.
"I figured you'd need a hand. And I can't trust this guy with anything that actually matters." She said, pointing at Desmon.
"Flattering... you're gonna make me blush." Desmon replied, a faint blush coloring his cheeks.
"That wasn't a compliment, dumbass!" Both women snapped in unison.
Even in the midst of chaos, there was still room to act like fools.
"I'd love to keep up this adorable banter… but I'm tired, filthy, half-dead, and just want to sleep. So… can we finish this?"
There was no stretching things further. Desmon had hit his limit—and he sure as hell wasn't planning to die today.
Those words brought both women back to the dangerous, bizarre situation they were in.
"Asako, I need you to get to the control panel at the back of the hangar. I'll send the instructions to your phone. And Desmon..."
"Yeah, yeah… buy time. Got it." He sighed, resigned to being the bait again.
"You're good at it." Asako replied with a grin.
"That's not a compliment…"
Some compliments really aren't.
"If we manage to activate the system, we'll have just fifteen seconds. After that, the fans will overload… and I'll have to shut them down." JB warned in a serious tone.
The truth was, this was far more dangerous than they imagined.
"...I'm not gonna get blown away and turned into ground meat, am I?" Asako asked, half-joking, half-serious.
A valid concern. Nobody wants to end up in chunks.
"The control panel's in the safe zone. You'll be fine, Asako." JB assured her.
"One less thing to worry about…"
"And what about me?" Desmon interrupted.
He still hadn't tested if he could regenerate from being chopped into pieces—and he wasn't in the mood to find out.
"If there are no more stupid questions, we begin the plan!" JB ordered.
"...Don't ignore me!"
"You'll survive… probably."
"Your concern warms my heart." He said, pretending to wipe away invisible tears.
"I know you will." JB replied, her voice softer.
The words came through the loudspeakers, but Desmon felt like she'd whispered them right beside him. Sincere. Full of trust in him.
"Leave it to me! One last push before I head home." He said, renewed and ready.
"If you're gonna flirt, save it for later." Asako cut in with a raised eyebrow. "Even for you, JB, that's low. You could go to jail."
"Like I'd ever flirt with that brat?! Please, I'm not that desperate!"
"Don't worry, JB. I know someone just like you. Lives alone, reads romance manga while eating ice cream after app dates. Pays for everything… and the guys vanish like magic."
JB fell silent.
She wanted to respond—but wasn't sure if she should feel insulted or seen. Maybe both. Maybe… she and that woman would get along.
Though bonding over being perpetually single wasn't exactly something to brag about.
"Enough with that topic—get to work!" JB growled, now visibly irritated.
Without another word, the two moved to their positions.
Asako circled quickly around the debris left by Desmon's earlier fight, heading to the far end of the hangar, while Desmon walked straight toward the demons, who had already regained their form.
"So, what do you say? One last dance before you die? I'd rather be dancing with two gorgeous women, but I guess I'll settle for a pair of smoke blobs."
The demons, furious at being interrupted just as they were about to kill Desmon, roared and lunged at him.
The destruction of their armor had drained much of Kagenra's demonic energy, and splitting into two had doubled the cost—its rationality.
Had it retained its mind, the original Kagenra would've realized Desmon and Asako were planning something, and would've prioritized killing the human.
But without that superior mind, it was just another beast. Dangerous—but predictable.
Desmon dodged the first barrage of shadow spikes with a roll, then twisted his body to avoid claws that grazed his arm.
"You know... whenever I imagined a threesome, it was with a shy, clumsy, adorable blonde teacher... and a sexy, cunning brunette nurse." He remarked, slipping under one of the demons.
Spikes erupted from the ground, but Desmon vanished just before they impaled him, reappearing to the side.
"Or maybe a pink-haired sensei—strong, athletic, strict... but completely hopeless with housework. And a sweet, gentle blue-haired nurse with, let's say... an impressive presence, even if she lives in her own world."
Did he have a thing for teachers and nurses?
The real question was: who didn't?
The demons struck without mercy, as if their hatred fueled their movements. Desmon barely held them back. Each step slower. Each breath, rougher.
"Can't forget the classic... the dark-haired teacher with eyes that pierce your soul. Tough as steel, but when no one's watching, she turns clumsy—and just too adorable not to fall for. And of course, the dark-haired nurse, a bit motherly, serene, always calm... until you find out she's hiding more than you thought."
He might be a demon hunter, a mercenary used to death on a daily basis...
But he was still a teenager. Who didn't have fantasies?
Why bring them up now? Or better yet—why not?
Is there a rule that says you can't talk about your fantasies while staring death in the face?
Because even as he spoke, his body moved with precision.
Like those ridiculous fantasies were a way to clear his mind. Keeping him calm. Focused.
Sounds absurd? Maybe.
But more than one study backs up Desmon's behavior.
The human brain, after all, remains a strange and unpredictable place.
"GRRRRAAAAHHH!"
Both demons roared in fury as Desmon slipped away like a cockroach, dodging fatal blows by rolling or teleporting just in time.
Each second left him more wounded—his body marked by fresh cuts.
His regeneration, though effective, was no longer enough to keep up.
"How much longer is that damn thing gonna take? I'm getting tired here..."
Desmon rolled to the side to avoid both demons, then leapt and spun mid-air—barely escaping their claws.
-Definitely... the worst day ever.
Then, a metallic sound echoed across the place.
The sound of catastrophe approaching.
A massive gust of air burst from the hangar wall.
"Took you long enough!"
The wind quickly intensified, a powerful current growing stronger by the second. Small debris began flying.
But in the blink of an eye, that raging wind stopped—
And then came the mechanical groan.
CLANK-KRROOOOMMM.
That's when hell arrived.
"Hold on to something if you don't wanna die!" JB's voice blared through the speakers.
Hearing her voice, Desmon didn't hesitate—he dove to the side and grabbed one of the metal bars that had fallen from the ceiling, driving it into the floor with all his strength.
An impossible suction force took over.
The air wasn't pushing anymore—it was devouring everything.
Huge debris was sucked toward the giant turbines, reduced to dust before even reaching them.
The machinery's protection and immense pressure made it a colossal engine of destruction.
"Oi, oi! This is exactly what I was talking about!!!" Desmon held on with all his might, his body on the verge of being ripped away. "Let's see you survive this, you damn smoke blobs!"
The demons begin to get dragged in. Their bodies distort, break apart, lose cohesion. They twist and writhe in a desperate attempt to hold their shape, but the force tears them apart second by second. Spikes of shadow shoot out in all directions, only to be shattered mid-air, scattered like smoke... because that's all that remains of them.
-...I think this might be overkill...
Houses and massive debris were ripped from the ground—nothing could resist that overwhelming suction force.
Desmon had heard this place would generate the force of an EF-3 tornado, possibly more if the system was overloaded. But no one could have predicted that switching the polarity to absorb instead of repel would push the force far beyond even an EF-5 tornado.
With a smirk, Desmon watched as both demons were pulled into the tunnel toward the massive fans. This was his victory... or so he thought.
Because even all this... wasn't enough.
A final roar shakes the entire structure.
"GRRRRAAAAHHH!!!"
The two demons, on the verge of destruction, fuse together.
A compact mass of smoke, mutating constantly, riddled with dark tentacles and limbs sprouting from its body without any logic. Eight, ten, twelve massive arms emerge and latch onto the floor.
This is Kagenra's final form—a monstrous, grotesque creature that bellows with rage, struggling not to be destroyed.
"Can't you just fucking die already?!"
Desmon feels his arms about to give out.
The metal bar he clings to starts to bend. Five seconds. That's all that remains before the fans collapse from the overload. If Kagenra holds on even that long, everything they've done will be for nothing.
Desmon closes his eyes and takes a slow breath, as if tuning out the chaos around him.
''This is a stupid idea...'' He mutters with a resigned smile.
With a look of resolve, Desmon lets go of the bar, allowing the force to pull his body forward. He's launched straight toward Kagenra's deformed head.
New limbs burst from the demon, reaching out to stop him. But Desmon waits until the very last split second—then teleports right in front of the monster.
Ever since Kagenra appeared hours ago... it's been a pain in the ass.
And yet, because of that, Desmon has grown stronger.
"LET'S FINISH THIS!"
His fist pulls back—a punch that once would've been useless. But now... now it's different.
He's endured too much, and getting killed—if only for a few brief moments—by Kagenra was definitely not a pleasant experience.
The impact shakes the air.
His fist crashes into the demon's face with a deep, cracking boom—as if he'd hit something far tougher than flesh.
Even so... it doesn't give.
Neither of them does.
Time is on the demon's side—but Desmon won't let that happen.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!"
He screams with everything he's got, his eyes blazing with dark energy.
A wave of demonic pressure erupts from his body, warping the air around him.
All his strength, his rage, his will—focused into a single blow.
"GO TO HELL, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!"
With one final surge of power, Desmon breaks through
The massive limbs are torn from the ground by the force of the strike, launching Kagenra straight into the fans.
Before the monster can react, its enormous body is shredded by the blades, dissolving into millions of particles.
Recovery is virtually impossible now. Desmon has won.
A triumphant expression spreads across his fase…
…but his body, too, is pulled toward the fans.
There's nothing he can do now but accept it...
Except luck is on his side.
The fan blades screech to a halt, triggered by an emergency shutdown.
The 15 seconds have passed.
Still, physics doesn't just stop.
Desmon's body continues to soar with the wind pressure.
But now he can move more freely—twisting in midair, he manages to land on one of the fan blades, catching his balance.
"Phew... that was way too close."
Relieved he didn't find out what it's like to be sliced into a thousand pieces, he grins.
Unfortunately, he's not a spider, nor is he immune to gravity.
"Guess it's better than being torn apart." He mutters dryly…
…as gravity does its job.
A cloud of dust and debris erupts as he crashes to the ground.
"You still alive?"
Moments later, a woman with blue hair in a police uniform walks over.
"...Sorry to disappoint, but a fall like that won't kill me..." He replies, looking up at her from the ground.
Despite a drop that would've killed any normal person, Desmon lies there intact—or rather, the fall hurt less than fighting demons.
"If you died that easily, I wouldn't have anyone to arrest."
Asako extends a hand to him.
"I'm still debating whether to get out of here or just take a nap..."
Despite the sarcasm, he takes her hand and stands up.
"You earned a break. You really managed to destroy that thing."
"You give me too much credit. Without JB and your help, I wouldn't have pulled it off."
Desmon began stretching his body, as if trying to pop his bones back into place. He also brushed the dust off his clothes, which were torn and full of holes—but this time, he wasn't in as bad a shape as usual. At least most of his body was still covered, which was a major improvement.
This time, the help from those two was crucial. Without them, Desmon would probably still be stuck dealing with Kagenra, hoping for an idea to strike.
"You don't have to say it, but feel free to praise me more, haha." Asako said, puffing out her chest proudly.
It's not every day that, as a police officer, you come across a demon and manage to take it down. She might even deserve a medal and a raise—but no one would believe her. They'd just think she got drunk on the job.
"I'm skipping all that for now. I just want to sleep." Desmon yawned.
A few blissful hours of sleep? He's definitely earned it.
"I think I deserve a break too… I'm completely drained, physically and mentally. Trying to come to terms with things like that even existing—it's not exactly easy."
Now that there was no immediate danger, Asako finally let her mind relax. A flood of questions began to surface, though she'd probably wrestle with them later, alongside her favorite drink.
"So… who do I ask about my reward? The commissioner of the Japanese police?"
Nothing in life is free, and besides, that had been part of Desmon's motivation.
"You're pretty blunt, but I don't blame you. Just ask JB… And speaking of Miss Perfect." Asako said, pulling out her phone to answer a call. The signal had dropped earlier due to the overloaded fans. "We were just talking about you, JB..."
"GET OUT OF THERE NOW!!!"
There was no need to put her on speaker. JB's voice boomed through the phone, accompanied by a deep metallic rumble from the fans.
Overloading the entire system with more energy than it could possibly handle had been insanely dangerous. But once the fans were stopped, that energy had nowhere to go. It kept building… and building… until it reached a critical point.
You don't have to be a genius to guess what happens when all that energy is suddenly unleashed.
Desmon moved as fast as he could, slinging Asako over his shoulder and sprinting out of the area.
Screws and gears went flying, unable to hold back the pressure any longer—and in that moment…
A massive explosion erupted, visible from miles away, wiping out everything.
There wasn't even a trace of rubble left behind—everything had been completely wiped out, leaving only a scorched, lifeless land engulfed in flames, like a vision of hell itself. If someone claimed this place had been a massive scientific facility just minutes ago, no one would believe it.
Even the shockwave traveled far beyond the blast zone, destroying power towers and any electronic device in its path.
Every sign of life on the surface was eradicated, leaving no chance for survival.