Toru stood tall, chest heaving as he crushed the last of the 150 purple beasts with a final thunderous strike. Its body hit the pavement hard, essence leaking out in a dark mist before fading into ash.
He barely had a second to breathe before the air behind him rippled—and with a grotesque tearing noise, another Veynos emerged from a worm-like essence splitting open the ground. This one looked a bit smaller, paler, and its body twitched erratically as if it were less stable. A clone—but not just a copy… a trap.
The clone lunged at him with a serpentine hiss, its claws raking the air. Toru barely dodged.
"Tch. You again?" he muttered, turning his eyes to Daigo, who was still exchanging brutal blows with the stronger, original Veynos clone.
Toru shouted, "Daigo! Switch! That one's weaker—let me handle the real one!"
Daigo caught Veynos' wrist mid-swing, then flung the clone backward with a magnetic shove, just as Toru rocketed past him with a burst of essence-enhanced speed. The two warriors traded opponents mid-charge, barely missing a beat.
"Finally!" Toru grinned. "Let's see what this freak can do up close."
The stronger Veynos clone didn't hesitate. As soon as Toru neared, it surged with twisted purple essence, meeting him with a clash that echoed like thunder. The impact was so intense, the ground cracked beneath them. Buildings around them trembled, windows shattering from the pressure.
Toru and the clone began trading blows that shook the air—each fist meeting the other with bone-rattling force. They smashed through the side of an abandoned office building, the walls collapsing around them as they tumbled into the upper floors.
"Rrrraaaaagh!!" Toru shouted, uppercutting the clone into the ceiling. The creature rebounded, crashing through three walls before regaining balance, its essence surging again.
Meanwhile, Daigo stood over the weaker Veynos clone, panting as smoke rose from his shoulders. The clone tried to rise, but Daigo wrapped a magnetic force around a nearby streetlamp and hurled it like a javelin, impaling the clone through the chest. The clone let out a shriek and disintegrated into ash.
Daigo turned just in time to see a massive shockwave burst from the nearby structure—Toru and the real clone's battle erupting to the street below, debris flying everywhere.
"They're going to level half the district at this rate…" Daigo muttered.
Back in the fray, Toru took a punch to the ribs but countered with a knee to the gut and an elbow to the back of the neck, driving the clone through a collapsed car and into the pavement. Toru rolled his shoulder and smirked.
"You're strong… but I've been through worse sparring matches with Riku."
The clone hissed, essence twisting its face into something inhuman as it rose again.
Their battle wasn't over yet… but Toru refused to lose.