Piers crashed to the ground and looked up at the devil, who laughed. "Even with all your efforts, you failed! Now time for me to kill you all!"
Piers stood up. "Don't flatter yourself." He increased his Mephisto's power, and the black tornado around him intensified, glaring at the devil. Before Piers could jump, Astarte arrived.
"Piers, stop! There are high space fluctuations here, and the space might collapse! We need to evacuate!"
Piers glared at the smiling devil, then turned to Astarte. "Astarte, protect Garth and Silas. They will round up everyone in the Devil Hell Branch and take them out. While they do this, I will keep the devil at bay." Piers jumped toward the devil, taking out his Phantom Insignia.
Astarte yelled, "Piers! Piers! Ugh, I can't stop him now!" She ran to round up the students.
Piers used black spirits to move in the air and sent black and fire slashes of Hellsfire from his insignia. The devil dodged the slashes and flew toward Piers. "Well, once I catch you, I will pluck your hands and legs out of your body!"
"We will see about that. Mephisto has way more powers compared to any devil," Piers countered. He manipulated the matter and created chains around the devil. The devil tried to dodge but was eventually chained. Doing so drained Piers, and he fell to the ground. The devil crushed his own body into several pieces, which swirled in the air and reformed him.
The devil landed in front of Piers. "You are so weak now." Piers gritted his teeth and looked up. The devil raised his fist and struck down. "Time for your death!" The strike hit Piers and destroyed the ground beneath them.
Near the exit point, Astarte heard the explosion. "Piers, I hope you know what you are doing," she whispered, ensuring everyone was taken safely.
The devil smirked and turned to leave, but heard the sound of rustling rubble. He turned back and saw Piers getting up. "You had a chance to remain low and play dead, yet you still fight. You know the people you are protecting don't care about you. Then why are you willing to fight for them?"
"To dominate them," Piers said.
The devil looked surprised, then laughed. "Dominate? Hahaha! You look more like their slaves than their master currently!" Piers was huffing, exhausted. "Let's end this already."
The devil thrust a claw, which Piers caught, but it was coming dangerously close to his body. Suddenly, Piers's ring started glowing. He felt a surge of strength; all his powers and abilities seemed to be increasing, and his body sparked with lightning, his eyes glowing. Piers pushed the claw back and tore it apart.
The devil retreated. "Wait, how can it be? Just how are you getting strong?"
Piers looked at his hand, which was sparking with thunder. "I don't know, but whatever it is, it is giving me power, which I am going to use to defeat you." Piers jumped and took out his sword, sending Hellsfire slashes that cut and burned the devil's body clean off.
"Don't think I am just going to let you kill me," the devil roared, regenerating his parts. He flew toward Piers, and Piers jumped at him, crashing into him. Piers began attacking with Hellsfire-covered fists, destroying the devil's body again. The spaces around them fractured from their battle, intensifying the spatial fluctuations.
Outside the collapsing building, everyone—the students, the secretly escaped Zen and the 4 Heads, and the teachers—watched. Nearby, Kaiser, Emilia, Ben, Lyla, Adreil, Sentry, Hella, Bret, Luc, and Tenko watched the ruins.
"Don't tell me that........ we have to try to find Rei from this crowd," Kaiser muttered.
"Whatever you say, it won't change anything, Kaiser," Adreil said smugly. "He died, passed away, snuffed out of existence."
Within the destroyed space, Piers landed on the ground, his fist covered in Hellsfire. "Time to show you my power," he declared.
"We will see about that," the devil retorted.
Piers jumped, and the devil descended, charging at each other. Piers attacked with his flaming fist, and they both shot upward, breaking the space. Suddenly, the ground beneath the rubbles began to glow, and a huge flame erupted from it. Both Piers and the devil emerged from the flames.
"It's Rei!" Kaiser shouted.
"He always makes a grand entrance," Ben happily noted.
"It's really Rei!" Sentry and Hella exclaimed together.
Piers's eyes glowed. "I am going to show you what my power truly is." As Piers landed, the lightning on his body and the dark tornado increased. He drew more of Mephisto's power, and the tornado intensified, destroying nearby houses before turning into wings made of dark wind.
The devil regenerated and charged, saying, "I won't let you win!"
Zen, his mouth and body bleeding, threw a sword at Piers. "Use this!"
"It can't be! That's the Holy Sword he used before!" one of the Heads shouted from the crowd.
Zen coughed blood. Rei, I am sorry for this. I knew I was going to die, and I planned to turn you back, but looks like I won't be able to do it, he thought. From now on, you must start a revolution—a revolution to unite the light and dark together.
Piers caught the Holy Sword and charged at the devil. The devil thrust his claw, but Piers stopped the thrusts with his holy sword and sometimes even dodged it. He then prepared to slash, but the devil flew away. Piers jumped toward the devil, who sent black fumes at him. Piers burned the black fumes with his Hellsfire but suddenly dropped to his knees; the energy he was receiving from the Devourer's Ring was becoming overwhelming.
The devil saw his opening and thrust his claws to attack, but the lightning energy coming from Piers's body suddenly struck and burned the devil's hands. The devil clutched his hands and looked at Piers. Piers's eyes were now glowing, and his body was covered in lightning like a lightning god.
"Time for you to die," Piers declared.