On the other side.
"Phew, good thing I was fast. There were so many people queuing behind me earlier," said someone while carrying a plastic bag labeled "Hot Wings."
The person walked into an alley and approached the old house where Aruta, Sako, and Mono were carrying out their mission. Upon entering the front area of the house, they noticed a small child sitting curled up beside the door.
The person approached them.
"What are you doing here?" The person crouched in front of the child.
The child lifted their head and said, "I-I just came from inside. It's terrifying in there. Things were flying everywhere. The walls and floors were breaking on their own."
"Oh yeah? Why did you go inside this house?" the person asked.
"My ball got thrown into this house. I went in to get it, but instead of finding my ball, I saw something scary," the child answered. "But a big sister saved me. I also met some big brothers earlier. They told me to leave, but I'm worried about them. That's why I'm waiting here."
"Hehe, you're so sweet," the person said, patting the child's head.
"Mister, who are you?" the child asked.
"Am I really old enough to be called 'mister'?" the person muttered. "Ah, but don't worry, I know them."
"Are they your kids?" the child asked innocently.
"Nope," the person replied.
"Uhh oh! Are you their father-in-law?" the child asked, still with an innocent face.
"It's getting worse. But hey, who taught you that word?" the person asked.
"My big sister. She likes watching dramas, and they always say that in the shows," the child said.
"Well... you're not old enough to watch those kinds of shows yet, so maybe don't join her next time," the person said, standing up from their crouch.
He walked toward the door and gripped the handle.
"Mister! It's dangerous inside!" the child shouted.
"Don't worry, nothing's gonna happen to me."
***
Back to the three youngs.
The three of them fell close to each other, while the area around them was filled with dust from fallen debris.
Sako was the first to stand up. Aruta followed, helping Mono to his feet. As the thick dust still swirled around them, a massive shadow emerged from within it.
"I wanna go home!!" Sako screamed before suddenly darting straight toward the shadow.
"No, Sako!" Mono tried to chase after her, but he wasn't fully steady yet, causing him to stumble and fall again.
Sako summoned a lightning spear in her hand and lunged at the shadow, triggering a massive explosion accompanied by a flash of lightning. The blast sent the surrounding dust flying, clearing the air-but as the dust settled, it became clear that her spear had been completely blocked by a pristine white shield, left unscratched by her attack.
"Huh?!" Sako's eyes widened in shock.
Junoi, standing behind the shield, flicked it aside, revealing its full form-a knight-like armor clad in white, with four arms. Its lower right hand gripped a sword, its lower left held the shield, while its upper hands remained empty.
Without hesitation, Junoi swung its sword at Sako.
Sako swiftly dodged by tilting her body to the side, barely avoiding the slash-though the tip of her hair was severed. She immediately sprinted away, putting distance between herself and Junoi.
"Tch, this one's even more troublesome than the last!" Sako glanced back-only for her eyes to widen again as Junoi was already right behind her, closing in fast. She spun around, coating her arms in lightning, but she was too late.
Flames erupted from Junoi's upper right hand, engulfing its fist before it drove a brutal punch straight into Sako's stomach. The impact sent her flying backward, crashing violently into a stone wall hard enough to leave a web of cracks. Sako slumped against the wall, limp-her head bleeding heavily and a circular burn mark seared into her abdomen.
"Sako!" Aruta shouted.
"Aruta! Take Sako and get out of here. I'll hold off this Junoi," Mono ordered Aruta.
"Alone?" Aruta asked.
"Yes," Mono replied firmly.
"But I'm here. I can help-"
"I'm the leader of this mission. Just follow my orders!" Mono snapped, his voice sharp.
"NO!" Aruta shouted back.
Mono fell silent for a brief moment before clicking his tongue in frustration. "Tch, you're so stubborn. Fine. If you really want to help, take Sako to safety place first."
Aruta gave a quick nod before darting toward Sako, scooping her up, and carrying her away, leaving Mono alone to face the armored Junoi.
"At least we're still inside the magic field. The effects of this fight won't reach to the outside," Mono muttered to himself.
His eyes scanned the surroundings until they landed on a broken piece of wood nearby-long enough to serve as a weapon. He grabbed it, and in an instant, the wood transformed into a sleek, sharp sword.
Meanwhile, the knight-like junoi knelt on one knee, pressing its upper left palm against the floor. A faint blue glow pulsed between its hand and the ground-then, in a flash, the floor around it began to freeze.
The ice spread outward in a perfect circle with the Junoi at its center, pausing briefly before suddenly surging forward in a straight, rapid path toward Mono.
The frozen trail shot past Mono's feet. And in the next moment, the creeping frost crawled up his legs, encasing them in ice.
Mono flinched in surprise but acted fast.
"Transformation!"
The ice covering his legs instantly melted into water. Without hesitation, Mono leaped high into the air, narrowly avoiding the frozen ground.
But while still midair, a massive spire of jagged ice erupted from the frozen floor-spearing upward at terrifying speed, aiming straight for him. Mono twisted his body desperately, barely dodging the sharpest tip-but the blunt side of the icy pillar still slammed into him, sending him hurtling upward toward the ceiling.
Trapped in mid-motion, Mono could only watch as the ice carried him higher. Gritting his teeth, he plunged his sword into the ice pillar and pressed both palms against the ice beneath him.
"Transformation!"
In an instant, the ice beneath him turned to water.
As the massive ice pillar melted away, Mono swiftly retrieved his sword and slashed through the falling water, soaking it. Raising the blade high above his head, he shouted.
"Transformation: Magnifier!" The sword in Mono's grip instantly transformed into a gigantic blade, and since he was so close to the ceiling, the massive weapon pierced right through it.
Mono plummeted downward, driving the gargantuan blade toward the Junoi below. The knight-like junoi reacted instantly, stabbing its own sword into the ground beside it and raising its shield with all four arms to block Mono's strike. The moment blade met shield-
"Transformation!" the water coating Mono's sword erupted into a raging inferno.
BOOM!
A cataclysmic explosion rocked the battlefield. The force hurled Mono backward, slamming him into a massive boulder with enough impact to crack its surface. He crumpled to the ground, motionless.
"Cough… cough…" Mono struggled to push himself up on trembling arms, only to collapse again.
Through blurred vision, he glimpsed the aftermath-thick smoke billowing from the blast site. As it cleared, a smoldering crater came into view, with the Junoi standing unharmed at its center, lowering its shield and yanking its sword free from the ground.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Mono wheezed.
The upper right arm of the Junoi became wreathed in raging flames as it swung a fist toward Mono. A blazing fist-shaped fireball shot straight at him.
The fiery explosion detonated just meters away, sending Mono tumbling backward.
He rolled across the ground, struggling to regain his footing. As the Junoi closed in for another attack, Mono barely managed to rise-only for another explosive fire punch to blast the ground beneath him.
He was sent flying once more, but this time managed to regain his footing and narrowly evade the fiery punch that exploded harmlessly behind him. Mono tried to sprint away. But in a flash, the armored Junoi blurred forward with inhuman speed, launching itself skyward before crashing down toward Mono with another devastating fire-imbued strike.
The explosion at his back sent Mono hurtling forward again. Still airborne, he saw the Junoi reappear above him in an instant-its sword plunging straight toward his defenseless stomach.
Mono braced for death, squeezing his eyes shut
But suddenly, BAM!! like a bolt from the blue, Aruta came crashing in with a vicious kick to the Junoi's helmeted head!
"Gotcha! Haha!" Aruta cheered.
The Junoi didn't even flinch.
"What?!"
The Junoi instantly aborted its thrust toward Mono and swung its blade at Aruta instead.
Caught off guard, Aruta instinctively dodged with a backward leap. The moment his feet touched ground, he shot forward like an arrow-scooping up Mono in one fluid motion.
"Mono!"
"I'm… fine," Mono groaned.
"You're battered to hell and still saying 'fine'?!" Aruta yelled, adjusting his grip.
"Worry less about me and more about what's behind you!"
"Hah?" Aruta glanced back and the Junoi was already charging, sword raised.
"WAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"
The Junoi unleashed a flurry of sword slashes, each swing releasing crescent-shaped LYNK energy blades that screamed toward Aruta.
Aruta, while carrying Mono, kept trying to run around the room while dodging every slash from the Junoi.
"Damn it damn it damn it! I can't fly. How do we get out of here!" shouted Aruta.
"Where did you put Sako?" Mono asked.
"Behind those boulders," Aruta said, pointing with his head.
Mono looked in that direction and saw many boulders.
"I put Sako behind one of those boulders," continued Aruta.
But suddenly, the Junoi fired a flaming punch toward Aruta, making him scream again while trying to run. The flaming punch exploded behind Aruta, though not too close, still sending him flying.
As he was thrown, Mono also accidentally slipped from Aruta's grip. They fell. Aruta immediately tried to stand back up. He planned to run straight to Mono, but just as he got up, the Junoi was already right in front of him, ready to swing its sword.
But this time, Aruta wasn't startled. As the Junoi swung its sword, Aruta immediately charged forward and slid between its legs.
Aruta dashed toward Mono and picked him up again.
"Tch, we can't keep doing this," said Mono.
"But what else can we do? Where the hell is Mr. Kuroto!!!" Aruta yelled.
But suddenly Mono said, "Aruta, put me down."
"Huh?"
Mono then explained his plan, though Aruta still had to keep running from the pursuing Junoi.
"I think I've heard that plan from Sako before. But are you sure- WAAHHH!!"
Suddenly, a massive chunk of ice launched by the Junoi came hurtling toward them. But Aruta managed to dodge it.
"Can you even stand in your condition?" Aruta asked.
"Are you mocking me?" Mono asked.
"OF COURSE NOT!"
"Put me down then," said Mono.
Aruta paused briefly before setting Mono down.
Mono gave a small nod to Aruta, and Aruta immediately ran away, leaving Mono behind. Once again, Mono faced the Junoi.
"Seems like round two is about to begin," Mono grinned.
The Junoi paused briefly, observing Mono, before suddenly charging at him.
Mono retaliated by charging straight back.
The Junoi swung its sword at Mono, but he instantly leaped over the blade and aimed a punch at its head. Yet in a flash, the Junoi vanished-reappearing behind Mono. One of its arms became encased in ice, the tip sharpening into a spearhead.
The Junoi immediately struck it toward Mono, causing Mono to be impaled by that ice tip from behind.
After stabbing Mono, the Junoi observed Mono and began to look slightly relaxed. From the tip of its arm that was still piercing through Mono, there was a lot of water soaking it, even dripping downward. Realizing this, the Junoi started to feel puzzled, scratching its head. Why wasn't there any blood?
Then Mono snapped his head around, locking eyes with the Junoi.
"Transformation!"
The Junoi staggered back several steps in shock while Mono immediately freed himself. His stomach was visibly pierced, but moments later, the water on the Junoi's hand and what had fallen began gathering at Mono's abdomen, restoring it completely-even his clothing was repaired.
Mono panted heavily but managed a smirk.
Mono charged at the Junoi again, leaping and aiming his punch, and once more the Junoi swiftly moved behind Mono and swung its sword. But when Mono was slashed...
"Transformation!" The body that was slashed by the Junoi turned into water, and when the Junoi's sword had passed through it, Mono's body immediately returned as if nothing had happened.
Mono landed briefly before jumping again and directing his kick toward the Junoi. Too late, the Junoi immediately tried to block Mono's kick with its shield. But when Mono's foot touched that shield...
"Transformation!" The shield that should have been extremely hard instantly shattered into pieces upon contact with Mono. The Junoi was utterly shocked, and as Mono's foot nearly touched it, the Junoi immediately leaped backward.
Mono landed and picked up one of the broken shield fragments, transforming it into a sword. Without delay, he charged at the Junoi once more. Meanwhile, the Junoi also rushed back toward him.
While running, one of the Junoi's legs froze solid, and when it stepped down, suddenly the surrounding area froze. The frozen area spread rapidly in a straight line toward Mono at high speed. Mono immediately jumped just before the freezing reached his feet.
But suddenly, the Junoi fired its flaming punch again. Mono quickly tried to tilt his body, and the fiery punch passed right beside him.
Mono initially felt slightly relieved only to be immediately shocked seeing the Junoi right in front of him. The Junoi then swung its sword, and the blade's edge slashed across Mono's chest, leaving a diagonal red line on his chest that was his blood.
Much blood poured out from his chest. But Mono still struggled to grip his sword tightly and coated the blade with blood coming from his chest.
Upon landing, Mono leaped away. After putting enough distance between them, Mono stood still briefly, panting heavily. Sweat and blood had soaked his body.
"My LYNK energy is completely drained. I can only perform 'transformation' one more time now," Mono muttered.
Not long after, the Junoi was seen charging toward him.
"Hehe, whatever," Mono muttered. "Transformation!"
Instantly, the blood coating his sword transformed into flames. Mono immediately charged back at the Junoi.
While running, the Junoi threw its sword toward Mono. But Mono jumped over the Junoi's sword which ended up embedded. Mono kept running charging at the Junoi. Before finally leaping and directing his sword slash toward the Junoi's head.
On the other hand, the Junoi coated one of its hands with blazing flames and aimed it at Mono. As the two got closer, the Junoi's punch was nearer than Mono's sword
Mono will definitely lose here. But suddenly instead of slashing-Mono threw the sword past the Junoi.
The Junoi's punch landed squarely on Mono's stomach, sending him flying and crashing hard onto the floor.
But it wasn't over yet.
The Junoi looked toward where Mono had thrown his sword and saw Aruta there, gripping the sword with both hands. Aruta was already mid-leap, ready to plunge the sword into the Junoi.
Aruta summoned LYNK energy from both hands, and the flames coating the sword instantly flared even larger. As Aruta drove the sword down, it struck the Junoi's head-triggering a massive explosion on impact.
The force of his own attack sent Aruta flying backward. Thick smoke immediately filled the entire room.
Aruta stood up again but couldn't see anything due to the thick smoke.
"Is it over?" Aruta muttered while looking around.
The atmosphere was eerily quiet. Only the sound of Aruta's footsteps could be heard.
But suddenly, the Junoi's fist abruptly appeared, punching Aruta upward, causing him to cough violently and get sent flying upwards. As Aruta was sent flying, he was shocked to see the Junoi's face right beside him. There was only a small scratch on its head. The Junoi then immediately punched Aruta square in the chest, sending him crashing hard onto the floor.
Aruta felt excruciating pain coursing through his body. His entire form felt weak. Yet he still struggled to stand. But suddenly, the Junoi was already right in front of Aruta, positioning its fist directly toward Aruta's head.
Knowing he couldn't evade it, Aruta could only shut his eyes.
One second.
Two seconds.
Nothing happened.
"Am I... still alive?" Aruta murmured.
Aruta slowly opened his eyes and saw the Junoi's fist stopped right in front of his face.
When Aruta tried to look toward the Junoi, he saw the Junoi standing motionless with Mr. Kuroto holding its arm from the side.
"Mr. Kuroto?" Aruta said.
"Well well well, looks like there's an uninvited guest here," Kuroto said with a smile, casually holding his food plastic bag in his other hand.
The Junoi immediately swung its arm violently, sending Mr. Kuroto flying back, but he calmly put his hand in his pocket and landed perfectly without falling.
The Junoi instantly dashed toward Mr. Kuroto. Of its four arms, two were covered with fire while the other two were covered with ice.
The Junoi immediately began pummeling Mr. Kuroto brutally and rapidly. Mr. Kuroto took his hand out of his pocket and blocked all of the Junoi's attacks using just one hand.
"I can't stay here too long. My chicken will get cold," said Mr. Kuroto.
Whereas before Mr. Kuroto had merely been blocking the punches, now every time the Junoi's fist connected, Mr. Kuroto would instantly grab its hand and crush it to pieces. The complete destruction of the Junoi's hand took less than a second.
The next four punches from the Junoi instantly cost it all four of its arms.
And in that moment, Mr. Kuroto was already floating in front of the Junoi, placing a flick of his finger right on its face. A faint LYNK energy glowed from his middle fingertip-and with that single flick, the Junoi immediately shattered into tiny fragments. A card also appeared, instantly dissolving into red smoke.
"Mr. Kuroto!" Aruta called out, trying to stand but falling again.
"Yo!" Mr. Kuroto called back, landing in front of Aruta.
"You took forever, Mr. Kuroto!" Aruta said.
"Oh? My bad. Where are Mono and Sako?" Kuroto asked.
"Mono's collapsed over there," Aruta pointed at Mono.
"Sako's there," Aruta pointed toward the rock where he'd placed Sako.
"Yikes, you guys are a mess," Kuroto remarked casually.
"You're way too calm about this!" Aruta exclaimed.
"Hehe, take it easy," Kuroto said.
Kuroto walked over to Mono. As he approached, he noticed the Arabes Seal lying beside him. Kuroto crouched down and picked it up.
"Seems like it's time to go home. You all did well on the mission," said Kuroto.
Kuroto began lifting Mono, then carried Aruta on his back, and picked up Sako.
"Hold on tight," Kuroto instructed.
"Got it, Sir," replied Aruta.
With a single leap, Kuroto carried all three kids out through the large hole in the ceiling of the room. As they exited, the magic field surrounding inside the house instantly disappeared.
And, Kuroto had his hands full dealing with the panicked child from earlier, who was shocked to see the three battered youngs being carried by him.