November 17th, 1955
Nearly a month had passed since Simon's betrayal—unexpected, yet somehow obvious in hindsight.
In that time, by what could only be called a miracle, Alma had discovered an abandoned house deep within a dense forest. First the cave, now this house—it felt like divine intervention. But with the path he'd chosen, he knew better than to believe such kindness came from God.
Alma wasn't one to believe in luck. Or fate, for that matter. Maybe God had thrown him a bone in the form of a house. Maybe there was a plan for him. Or maybe he was just overthinking the impossibility of it all.
Still, there was one thing Alma never doubted: the grace of God.
Some might call his belief hypocritical—he had taken lives, and Christ's teachings in the Bible did not condone that. He prayed for forgiveness regardless. Vengeance wasn't his to take; it belonged to the Father. Alma understood that. But he wanted to see J.I.B.R.I.L. fall—on his terms. That desire was selfish. Wrong.
Since October 24th, Alma had trained every day with Shield and Spear. He had started to understand more about Shield—what it did, and what it could do.
Shield blocked all physical matter. Alma had rigged a shotgun with a rope to test it. The bullets bounced harmlessly off the dome it created. Shield stopped his fall from a 100-foot cliff—he walked away without a scratch. Even Kojo's soul-slicing attacks were nullified by it.
Alma's confidence in Shield grew with each test. Nothing could harm him. Nothing could bypass it.
But Spear... Spear was a different beast entirely.
Spear pierced through everything. The destruction it unleashed leveled entire buildings. The only reason it stopped was because Alma stopped it. Who knew how far it could go—how much devastation it could truly cause?
If Shield couldn't be bypassed, broken, or pierced...
Then wasn't Spear its opposite? Wasn't it unstoppable?
Could Spear pierce anything? Kill anything?
As far as Alma knew—yes.
He also discovered that both Shield and Spear could be used without activating Black Eyes or Evil Eyes.
Over the past 23 days, Alma had trained his body again. The 280 pounds he once lifted became 310. The muscles started to become apparent, and he grew half an inch. He noticed something strange about the difference between Black Eyes and Evil Eyes.
When he tried lifting a vending machine, he failed. But with Black Eyes activated, he could lift it with some effort. With Evil Eyes, it was effortless. Later, he tried lifting an entire Suburban vehicle. It wasn't easy, but he managed. If his hands were larger, he could've hoisted the whole vehicle overhead.
The biggest revelation: his strength without Black Eyes had increased—by 1.5 times.
From these tests, Alma concluded:
Black Eyes doubled his physical stats.
Evil Eyes multiplied the boosts of Black Eyes—by six.
---
November 18th, 1955
A day after testing his powers, Alma resumed his attacks on J.I.B.R.I.L.'s underground facilities. A few days later following Judith's death, he'd found a Suburban vehicle for traversing North Carolina.
Two questions gnawed at him.
Why did Simon only partially betray J.I.B.R.I.L.? If he knew where Alma lived, why didn't he kill him in his sleep? Better yet, why hadn't the organization? They could've ended this long ago.
Was there a plan for him? A real traitor in their ranks? Probably not. That was just wishful thinking.
The second problem: silence. No word from Simon. No sightings of other agents. It felt staged. Or maybe he was just paranoid.
There was a pattern. He'd attack a few facilities without resistance. Then, one would be guarded by an agent. He'd fight them, and he'd win. Then came the training months, when they could've killed him—yet they didn't.
The longer he thought about it, the less it made sense. From the computer records, from Judith, from that commander a year ago—he was important. You don't get a title like "Nightmare of Modernity" for nothing.
So why didn't they kill him sooner? As a child? Before he was born?
Maybe they knew something he didn't. Maybe they needed him alive for something. Whatever the truth was, Alma believed it would reveal itself in time—as he continued destroying the facilities.
With every Power Core Spear shattered, and every facility that collapsed behind him, he prepared for another battle—with a single agent or a full army.
With the fifth facility destroyed, two facts stood out:
One—only one more facility remained.
Two—still, no one had shown up.
No helicopters.
No armored vehicles.
No ambushes.
Nothing.
J.I.B.R.I.L. was silent.
And that silence disturbed him.
Fear crept in.
Alma drove through a dense city, eventually reaching the highway. From there, he followed the interstate into another city—the final facility's location.
This part of town was abandoned. Not a soul in sight. As he drove past a lake nestled in the dead cityscape, unease grew within him.
He parked far from the facility, knowing one blast could destroy his only source of transportation.
As he approached the building, something felt off. This facility looked like just another ruined structure—but worse than those surrounding it.
Then, a strong breeze swept through. Dust and sand filled the air. Alma coughed as the gust intensified. He sprinted out of the area, watching as the wind swallowed the street and nearby buildings, rising almost as tall as them.
The wind toppled buildings, creating enormous clouds of debris. Without hesitation, Alma activated Black Eyes.
Amid the chaos, he saw a white smudge—someone standing on a rooftop—The source of the storm. Their arms extended.
He narrowed his eyes. The figure jumped.
Pillars of rock shot from the concrete, catching the figure and gently lowering them. It was a woman—tanned skin, brown eyes. Her hair looked like it was made of compacted dirt. She wore a brown butcher's apron, brown boots, brown pants, and a white long-sleeved button-up shirt.
She looked nervous. Almost afraid.
"H-Halt…" she stammered, her voice trembling. "Y-you've been d-destroying too many f-facilities. Under the Genewal—General, y-you will be de-defeated by us."
Alma raised an eyebrow at the plural.
Suddenly, the concrete beneath Alma's feet cracked and lifted. His eyes widened just before he was hurled through a row of decaying buildings.
Above him, a man floated down from the sky, cackling. "Hahahaaa! Did you see that little shit's face, Epher!?"
Epher flinched at the words. "W-what if he hears you...?"
"Relax. That guy's not gonna do a damn thing."
A gunshot rang out—four buildings away. A slug roared through the air, only to freeze in place just before hitting its target.
Alma stared in disbelief. The bullet had stopped midair.
The man sneered, the slug twisting unnaturally until it pointed the opposite way. "I think this belongs to you," he said, grinning wider.
The bullet snapped toward Alma at double the speed. He narrowly dodged, arching his back as it screamed past him.
The man howled with laughter. "Now that's funny!" he said. Epher's unease deepened.
"Graviel," she warned, "y-you shouldn't mock him like that."
"I don't care. This whole organization's been making excuses about not killing him. Now, we finally get to." Graviel's grin turned savage.
Alma studied the man. He controls gravity... That was certain now. Alma could use Spear—a weapon capable of piercing anything—but gravity itself? The very force that gave Spear its momentum? And if Spear failed, could Shield defend against this man?
He would need to strike when Graviel wasn't expecting it. The woman—Epher—wouldn't be much of a problem.
Suddenly, Graviel vanished.
"I'm going to enjoy whooping your ass," he said from behind Alma.
Before Alma could react, he was launched forward, only to meet Graviel's uppercut. It sent him crashing through every floor of the tall, abandoned building.
Graviel appeared again, winding back another punch—but Alma was ready. He fired his shotgun point-blank. The shells froze in midair, and Graviel sent them hurtling back.
"Shield." Alma's rocky dome absorbed the impact.
Graviel's eyes widened. He wasn't the only one with a defense. And Alma's might've just outclassed his.
Appearing beside Epher, Graviel chuckled. "Good reflexes. Instant teleportation, and he still reacted. Almost scary."
"He's fast," Alma said from within Shield. "Or… maybe it's not speed. It was probably him who lifted the concrete under me. He manipulated gravity. That's how he threw me into those buildings."
"Teleportation," Alma continued. "He bent space—created a wormhole to move instantly. But that requires stabilization. Without it, it collapses... and kills him."
"Why target the ground beneath me?" Alma wondered. "Why not me directly? Can he even do that...?" Then the answer clicked.
"That's it." He smiled.
Shield vanished. He dropped from the sky, free-falling.
Epher gasped. "He's insane!"
"Crazy son of a bitch," Graviel muttered, watching Alma descend.
Moments before hitting the ground, Alma summoned Shield again to break his fall. The dome vanished, revealing his hardened gaze.
Can Spear pierce gravity? Probably not. Thinking it can might be childish...
"You're one crazy son of a bitch," Graviel said.
Alma's eyes narrowed. "What did you just say...?"
"I said—"
Before he could finish, Alma was already in front of him, throwing a punch. Graviel dodged, grabbed his arm, and drove an elbow headed toward his gut. Alma jumped, landing a foot on Graviel's shoulder. With a swift kick to the head, he freed his arm and slammed Graviel into the ground.
Without hesitation, Alma drew his machete and charged. Jagged rock spikes burst from the ground in response.
"Shield." The dome protected him just long enough for Graviel to recover and teleport beside Epher.
"Thanks," Graviel said.
"Oh, no! Don't thank me—I-I just did what anyone would!" Epher stammered.
Graviel grinned. "Whatever you say."
Shield faded, revealing Alma's back to them.
"I know your weakness," he said, glancing over his shoulder.
Graviel narrowed his eyes. "Oh, really? Care to explain?"
"You'll know when I hit you." Alma vanished—and reappeared behind him.
But his punch stopped midair, halted by something unseen. It felt like space itself had hardened.
"You're an idiot," Graviel said.
Alma smirked, raising his shotgun toward Epher. She quickly erected several earthen walls for protection.
Alma broke into a sprint—toward Epher. Graviel appeared in front of him, flinging Alma backward with a piece of the wall.
Exactly as planned.
Graviel pursued. Alma smirked, dashing into a nearby building. Graviel followed without hesitation.
In the building's center, Alma raised his hand.
"The Greatest Offense: Spear."
Spear fired upward, shattering the structure. Rubble collapsed around them. Alma activated Shield. Graviel tried in vain to hold the debris at bay with gravity.
"Graviel!" Epher screamed as the building crumbled.
Dust and debris swallowed the surroundings. From the wreckage, Alma emerged, untouched thanks to Shield.
"Hm. So he can't survive that much," he said calmly.
His eyes locked onto Epher's.
"The Greatest Offense—"
Alma was cutoff.
A massive chunk of ceiling smashed into his side, sending him flying.
From the rubble, Graviel rose, breathing heavily. "Damn brat," he spat.
"Are you okay?!" Epher cried out.
Graviel nodded.
Alma skidded across the concrete and slammed into a wall.
"Ugh... that hurt," he muttered, climbing to his feet.
"My plan's working. But… my soul sense—it's weakening…" he said quietly. "I couldn't see his soul through the rubble. Or maybe… his gravity defense blocks it? No... When he blocked my bullets and punches, I could still see his soul…"
His eyes narrowed.
"So what is it…?"
"You know... you're a real piece of work," Alma said with a grin.
"I mean seriously—what are you, twenty-two? Bullying a fifteen-year-old? Thanks for being the perfect example of what NOT to become when I grow up." His voice dripped with mockery as he stared down Graviel, hoping to provoke a reaction.
Graviel clenched his fists, teeth grinding together. If there was one thing he hated, it was being mocked by cocky little kids.
"You little shit," he hissed.
But Graviel didn't move. He stood his ground, glaring. Smarter than Alma had expected. The bait hadn't worked.
Time for a different approach.
Alma darted around the side, circling behind Graviel and Epher. He raised his shotgun and fired.
Epher responded instantly, raising a wall of earth from the ground. The bullets slammed into it harmlessly. Graviel retaliated, launching the wall toward Alma. He leapt over it mid-air, reloading swiftly—only to see a flurry of jagged rocks heading his way.
Alma fired again, blasting the rocks apart. Graviel was now using nearby debris from shattered buildings, hurling them at Alma with raw force. Alma activated Shield, forming a barrier that deflected the assault.
Graviel grunted in frustration. He needed an opening.
Alma landed lightly, eyes locked on the pair. He noticed something—Graviel's breathing had quickened, subtle but clear.
It meant two things.
Either lifting that much debris was physically taxing…
Or something deeper was wearing him down.
Graviel was tiring... while Alma's hypothesis was beginning to cement as truth.
He charged again. Graviel grabbed Epher and leapt backward, now clearly on the defensive. Alma narrowed his eyes. Why protect her so much? She seemed more like a liability. Was she his lover?
He fired. The shot was blocked by an invisible barrier, then redirected back at him. Alma narrowly dodged and gave chase as the two fled, weaving through abandoned buildings and nearly entering public space.
They circled back toward the Jibril building, climbing to the top and jumping off. Alma followed. This chase—this test—was exactly what he wanted.
But from the corner of his eye, he saw something too late.
A leg slammed into his side, sending him spiraling diagonally through several buildings.
Alma had prepared for many things. But not this.
He rose from the rubble, rubbing his head.
"What the heck... was that?" he muttered, peering through the shattered concrete.
A woman floated down from above, suspended mid-air. Her dark blue eyes burned with cold fury.
She wore a pristine business suit. Her dark blue hair matched her eyes. Her skin was pale, her presence silent but seething.
Alma's gaze sharpened. She dove toward him. He unsheathed his rusty machete and swung—but the blade passed through her.
His eyes widened. She was intangible. Like Kojo's attack... but different. His weapon didn't affect souls.
She reached for his face. Alma dodged, instinct screaming louder than logic. She came again and again, trying to touch him.
He didn't know why, but every fiber of his being told him: Do not let her touch you.
She grazed the wall behind him. It began to dissolve.
The concrete faded into nothing. Erased.
Alma stared in horror. Dematerialization.
Slow, but unstoppable. Not death. Erasure.
His mind raced. Could Shield stop someone untouchable? Could Spear hit someone incorporeal?
His soul sense—already weakened—faltered further.
Graviel and Epher were a problem. But this woman...
This woman was something else entirely.
For the first time since the HatMan, Alma Daedulus Alastor was unsure.
Panic gripped him—but he didn't let it rule him. Fear was a symptom of weakness. Yet... what could he do?
Run?
Maybe.
He dashed for the exit—only to see her already there. He barely slipped past her defense—then was smashed through another building by a wall of debris from Graviel and Epher.
"Nebeliel! I'm so happy you're here!" Epher beamed, rushing into a tight hug.
Graviel muttered something under his breath as he approached.
"Glad to see you're safe. No thanks to this idiot," she said, glaring at Graviel.
"Whatever. All that matters is that we kill the little runt," he replied, still seething.
"Agreed. Any weaknesses?"
Graviel shook his head. "Nothing. He's got this dome-like barrier that blocks everything—and it doesn't seem to drain him at all."
"Or he's just good at hiding the cost," Nebeliel said. "Try making a big enough wormhole. I'll lure him into it, and you collapse it. That should erase him completely."
Then she vanished in a blur.
Alma was deep in thought. Her sudden arrival—and her horrifying power—had thrown him off. He'd almost forgotten about the other two. This battle was no longer simple.
He heard Nebeliel approaching the wrecked building. He raised his shotgun toward the doorway. If she made noise while running, she wasn't intangible.
One clean shot, and she'd be dead.
Or so he thought.
The entire building lifted into the sky.
His aim faltered. Was this Graviel's power? Epher's?
Nebeliel appeared in the doorway.
Alma fired.
The bullets passed right through her.
The rising building—it was just a distraction.
She charged again, hands outstretched, trying to touch any part of him.
He dodged, again and again. Her frustration grew—but she never got reckless.
She knew.
He could kill her just as easily as she could erase him.
Graviel stood with his hands clasped tightly together while Epher held the building aloft.
Nebeliel had finally made contact with Alma—just barely. Her fingers grazed the hairs on his left arm. But it was enough.
From that single touch, the fading began. The hair, then the skin, then the flesh of his arm vanished. His hand and forearm were gone.
Alma's eyes widened in horror. Desperation overtook him.
"The Greatest Defense: Shield!" he shouted.
Instantly, the fading stopped. The process reversed. His arm began to reform, restored within the impenetrable barrier of Shield. Nothing could breach it; everything rebounded off it.
Alma broke into a manic grin. Shield was stronger than he'd imagined. His soul sense sharpened, surging with confidence.
When the barrier dissipated, his body stood whole once more. The arm Nebeliel had erased had returned. Her eyes widened in disbelief.
"What the hell...?" she gasped, staring at the smile twisting across Alma's face.
"I'm ready, Nebeliel!" Graviel's voice rang out, faint through the shock that clouded her mind.
Without a word, Nebeliel leapt from the building, descending fast.
Beneath them, a massive tear in space and gravity opened. Buildings nearby were pulled in. Epher's massive support pillar began to collapse, dropping the building toward the swirling void.
Nebeliel, intangible, passed through the wormhole unharmed.
Alma wasn't so lucky.
The building was consumed completely by the void—along with Alma Daedulus Alastor.
"Collapse it!" Nebeliel barked.
Graviel grunted, pouring the last of his strength into sealing the rift. The wormhole imploded—along with Alma.
"Great work, team," Nebeliel said, breathing out in relief. Yet the image of Alma's arm reappearing lingered in her mind.
Graviel suddenly turned and embraced Epher, burying his face into her shoulder.
"I'm sorry... I used you as bait. Please forgive me," he choked.
"I'm sorry you had to hold up that building for so long!" Nebeliel added, hugging her too.
"It's alright, guys," Epher said, smiling softly. "I wasn't hurt. And hey—we won. That's what matters."
Reluctantly, the two let her go, and they began to walk forward. Epher followed behind.
Then—"Are you three in some kind of love triangle?"
The voice stopped them cold.
Their eyes widened.
A fear unlike any they'd ever known gripped them.
A shotgun blast cracked through the air. Bullets screamed toward them.
Epher raised a wall of stone from the ground, blocking the projectiles just in time.
"What the... hell!?" Nebeliel shouted.
It was Alma.
He hadn't died.
Before anyone could speak, Alma moved. His leg crashed into Nebeliel's ribs, launching her through several buildings.
Graviel turned, ready to fight, but Alma smirked and pointed his shotgun at Epher. She raised another wall in defense.
Alma reloaded and leapt over it. "The Greatest Offense—"
Before he could finish the invocation, an entire building slammed into him, sending him flying into others. The resulting chain reaction brought down a whole row of structures.
Graviel panted, dizzy and drained. The wormhole had taken more out of him than expected.
Epher burst from the protective dome she had made. But Alma appeared behind her—silent, deadly, shotgun already firing toward Epher.
"Look out!" Graviel shouted. An invisible barrier caught the bullets just in time. Nebeliel had returned, closing in behind Alma.
She leapt into the air, aiming for Alma. But he moved. Her hand missed and passed through the barrier—toward Epher.
Realizing too late, Nebeliel deactivated her powers to avoid harming Epher. But the moment she did, Alma struck.
A brutal punch to her gut sent her flying.
Then Alma grabbed Graviel by the face—his barrier now neutralized—and slammed him into the ground, dragging him through the concrete.
"Graviel!" Epher shouted as she watched him disappear beneath Alma's grip.
Alma ran him through the streets, crashing his body into lampposts, the sides of buildings, and sidewalks. Then, with a final heave, he hurled him onto a highway bridge.
Graviel tumbled across the asphalt, dazed. Whether from exhaustion or the savage assault, even he couldn't tell.
Through blurred vision, he saw Alma sitting calmly on the parapet, hands in his lap.
"Yo," Alma said, casual.
Graviel blinked. "Excuse me?"
"What? You deaf or somethin'?" Alma asked, tone disturbingly sincere.
Graviel's stomach turned. He glanced around, searching for Epher and Nebeliel, but he had no idea where Alma had thrown her.
Then there was the energy issue—one far worse than the others.
Alma reappeared in front of him, fist crashing into the barrier.
But the barrier failed.
Graviel was out of energy.
The blows came fast. Alma struck with terrifying precision, pummeling Graviel until his body lifted off the ground. Each punch sent shockwaves down the bridge, shattering what remained of nearby windows.
Then—one final punch—straight to the crown of Graviel's head.
He smashed into the concrete.
Miraculously, he didn't fall through it.
Alma grinned down at him. "Seems I was right. As always. Your first mistake? That smug attitude. You treated me like nothing. Like I didn't matter."
"Overconfidence. That's why you lost."
Graviel's powers were gone. Without the special energy that sustained his gravitational abilities and stabilized wormholes, he was just a man.
Alma didn't finish him. He simply stood, basking in his triumph. The one deemed "insignificant" had brought down his arrogant foe.
Alma silently reveled in the moment.
Then—blurred motion. A figure flashed past him and snatched Graviel away.
Alma turned. Two tall, brown, humanoid figures stood before him—eyeless, earless, featureless. Behind them, a slender feminine figure stepped forward. She wore a black-and-purple kimono with a hood, traditional getas, and a strange white mask. No eyes. Just thin black lines streaking down its surface.
"You are an idiot," she said to Graviel, her voice cool, commanding.
He couldn't bring himself to look up at her.
"Did you not realize he was draining your Liminal Numen?" she asked—rhetorically.
Graviel remained sitting on the asphalt, ashamed of his actions. Having to be saved by her.
"Inanagi!" Epher said,raising onto the bridge by a platform, supporting an injured Nebeliel.
Inanagi sighed. Three people, and they struggled against Alma. "I guess it could be understood. You are Alma Alastor."
"Enough with these games! Why are you after me!? And why is everything kept secret?! What are you hiding?" Alma growled before speaking.
More than ever, he wanted answers. Answers to why his parents had to die. His best friend. Everyone he loved. Why they attacked him in the first place. Why they let him destory their precious facilities. Their superhumans. It didn't make sense, no matter how many times he tried to reconcile or contemplate. It was all a giant headache. Nothing connected the dots. Nothing pushed him in a certain direction. Whether it was planned or not, it frustrated Alma. He was confused, upset, afraid, and most of all: angry.
There had been no earlier reason responsible for their actions. Alma never stole from them—anyone—never committed any heinous acts against their cause—whatever that may have been. There was no justifiable reason for their actions.
It all boiled down into one question: why?
Inanagi, and the rest of them didn't respond. Almost as if Alma was excluded from an inside joke.
"Answer me!" Alma yelled.
No response came.
The two brown mannequins beside Inanagi moved. They rushed toward Alma, their fists cocked back. Alma brought up his rusted machete in a reverse grip to block the left one, kicking away the other.
Alma twisted the machete into a normal grip and swept the feet of the mannequin in swift motion. He stabbed it in the chest.
Whatever this thing was, Alma didn't expect blood to cover his machete, or for the red liquid to pool out of the injury. But nothing prepared him to see rice acting as the blood of this creature.
"What?" Alma asked himself. This thing bled white rice. A total phenomenon.
The second creature Alma had kicked away stood behind him, ready to attack. Alma pointed his shotgun at the mannequin and fired, blowing off its head in a rain of white rice, and wooden pieces.
One remaining.
As Alma went to finish the last mannequin with his machete, the hand of the othe mannequin he just killed stopped his hand.
"Do you like my creations?" Inangai taunted, seeing Alma's wide eyed expression.
The head of the mannequin just finished regenerating. It tried to punch Alma, but it was blocked by Shield.
Inanagi chuckled behind her mask.
Alma pointed the shotgun outside the rocky dome and fired, blowing a big hole in the stomach of the mannequin.
Shield faded, and Alma jumped back.
"They're called Rice Puppets. And their weakness is..." Inanagi chuckled.
Alma was faced with two problems. One, these things could possibly survive Spear. And two, if they could, then that woman would have to die first, their controller.
Alma and the two Rice Puppets interlocked in hand to hand combat. Alma was the superior one in all aspects, dominating both opponents. He figured Inanagi was buying time for Graviel and Nebeliel to recover. Which if that happened, the possibility of losing would find him.
A 6-on-1 is not good odds.
Alma tried to get both Rice Puppets lined up, but they wouldn't do so. Either it was Inanagi's doing or these things' own was a mystery. Alma kicked away one of the Rice Puppets, a smile on his face as he aimed his hand at its body.
"The Greatest Offense: Spear." Alma said, the rocky spear head flew in the air, shredding the Rice Puppet faster than what Inanagi could react to. It broke the sound barrier, destroying the sides of nearby buildings and part of the highway bridge as It soared through the air toward them. They weren't the intended target of that Spear, and because of that soul reason, they were able to dodge.
"It's no good." Inanagi said, trying to command the fallen Rice Puppets.
"What's no good?" Epher asked from beside her.
"I can't feel the connection to my Rice Puppet. Whatever that attack was... it killed it indefinitely." Inanagi said, shocking everyone present.
Inanagi tried to reform the Rice Puppet, but found that her link to it was destroyed. No, it wasn't that. The Rice Puppet was destroyed entirely. Erased.
"Epher, I'm going to need your help on this. We can't fight him. With that rocky dome and now that rocky spear head, we're designed to lose."
"It's called Spear." Graviel said, still sitting on the road.
Inanagi turned to look at him through her mask. "Spear?"
"Yes. At least that's what he calls it. I don't know it's full capabilities, but it was able to collapse a building on top of us when we fought. But if it's able to destroy your Rice Puppets, then it can probably pierce my forcefield." Graviel said with a grim expression.
"I see. Epher, I need you to create a distraction so we can escape." Inanagi said, gaining a nod from Epher.
Alma dodged around the remaining Rice Puppet, laughing while avoiding all of its strikes. After he grew tired of playing, he aimed his hand at the Rice Puppet.
"The Greatest Offense:" Before Alma could finish the rest, a massive dirt devil consumed him, blocking his vision entirely.
No matter where he looked, it was all indistinguishable from the rest.
The Rice Puppet was reduced into little grains of rice that traveled away from Alma.
"Stop hiding, you cowards!" Alma shouted.
The dust devil disappeared, revealing the four people had vanished, leaving Alma alone on the highway bridge.
At seeing their escape, Alma hopelessly screamed out into the air, his voice echoing off the nearby buildings.
Defeat once again.