The forest groaned beneath the weight of a presence that should not exist. Heat shimmered through the air like liquid glass, warping the trees into trembling silhouettes. Red Howl stood amidst the smoke and charred bark, his towering frame radiating infernal malice, muscle-bound and plated with armor forged in the crucible of hell itself. Spiked horns twisted backward like devilish antlers, molten cracks flaring across his obsidian skin. Around him, demon-crowned cinders orbited like cruel stars, each trailing streaks of ember and ash.
His jagged grin stretched impossibly wide.
"My… my… my… what do we have here?" he hissed low, a rumble that sank into the bones like thunder crawling through a grave. "So much power… So many choices."
A dry chuckle escaped, then burst into a mad cackle that could split glass."AAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ENEY… MEENY… MINY… MOE!"
He didn't hesitate.
His axe-like tail, red-hot and humming with destructive intent, lashed through the air with a molten whistle—aimed directly at Kai, who lay unconscious on the cracked earth, flames still curling gently from his limbs.
"DIE."
The tail moved like lightning, a blur of bladed fire that promised obliteration. But before the strike could land, a blur of silver plasma streaked into its path.
CLANG!
Kisuke's body intercepted the tail, blade drawn, both hands braced against the force of the infernal's strike. Sparks and heat exploded from the impact as Kisuke grit his teeth, his body shaking violently.
"AHHHH!" he cried out, voice hoarse from strain, arms nearly buckling. But he didn't let go. With raw effort, he caught Kai under one arm and flash-stepped backward in a blur of plasma, dodging the tail's follow-up swing by inches.
"I got you," he whispered down to Kai, then turned and ran.
Red Howl's laughter only grew louder, booming across the woods.
"Oh hohoho—THIS SMELLS LIKE A HUNT! YOU CAN'T HIDE, PLASMA BOY! AHAHAHAHAHA!"
With a screech of flames, Red Howl launched himself after them, his movements so fast and brutal that the very forest floor ignited beneath his feet. Trees exploded in bursts of fire, leaves curled into ash, and the very wind twisted with scorching heat as he thundered forward—an unrelenting predator with his prey locked in sight.
Kisuke's heart pounded.
He couldn't outrun him forever.
His breaths came fast, sweat rolling down his face, the heat from the monster at his back already singeing the edge of his jacket.
He needed help.
And then it came.
"HOLD IT!"
The voice tore through the air like a war cry, and a second burst of hellfire erupted in front of Red Howl—only this flame blazed golden, furious, and bright enough to rival the sun.
Captain Shin crashed through the trees like a meteor, his entire body wrapped in searing solar flame. Every step he took burned deep craters into the forest floor. Even the bark around him bubbled and flaked, his heat enough to make lesser men combust from proximity alone.
"You're not getting past me," he said through gritted teeth, fire licking from his eyes.
Red Howl slammed to a halt, flames crackling across his armored form. His eyes, two pits of bottomless magma, narrowed.
"Well, well, well… The betrayer returns," Red Howl snarled. "YOU WHO TRIED TO KILL THE BUSHY-HAIRED ONE—NOW YOU DEFEND HIM?! HYPOCRITE!"
Shin didn't blink. "You don't get it, do you? This ain't about them. This is about you."
Then, without warning—
"NOVA FIST!"
Shin hurled a blazing punch the size of a truck straight into Red Howl's chest. The impact rocked the forest, igniting trees hundreds of feet away. Fire roared through the air, and Red Howl staggered, molten cracks splitting across his infernal armor.
He laughed.
"You really thought—"
"RED MOLTEN STRIKE!"
With a violent sweep of his tail, Red Howl retaliated. The axe-blade glowed brighter than lava as it collided with Shin's chest, the sound like the shattering of a star. A shockwave detonated outward, the sheer heat and pressure vaporizing entire trees into dust. The forest became an arena of destruction—two infernos locked in death.
From the smoke and fire, the two blurred again—streaks of burning red and white-hot gold darting through the wreckage like meteor trails. Their fists collided mid-air, over and over, lighting the canopy above in bursts of explosive flame. The heat warped reality itself, and the shockwaves leveled everything for miles.
Meanwhile, Kisuke ran.
He ran past scorched rivers, leapt over fallen trees now glowing with internal ember. Kai's body over his shoulder felt heavier with every step, not from weight, but from what Kai now represented: a spark of something greater.
"I'm not gonna let you die, dumbass," Kisuke muttered through gritted teeth. "You finally started acting smart, now I gotta keep you alive long enough to see if you'll do it again."
Back in the battlefield, the titans clashed once more.
Shin roared as he charged forward, arms glowing brighter than ever before.
"You're done! I'll burn you down to your soul!"
Red Howl grinned with the joy of a creature born in flame.
"LET'S MAKE THIS EARTH OUR CAGE THEN, HUMAN!"
Both of them cocked back their fists—flames brighter than suns gathering at their knuckles.
And then—
"FUCK YOUUUUUUUUUU BASTARD!!!!!!!"
—BOOOOOOOOM!!!!!
The collision shattered the sound barrier, then the air itself. The force could be seen from space—a blooming, spiraling explosion of molten gold and crimson red that blanketed the forest in light for miles.
When the smoke cleared, a crater had replaced the battlefield. Forest gone. Earth scorched. Trees reduced to blackened shadows of themselves.
And in the center, lay Captain Shin.
Bruised, bloodied, body scorched black in places… he didn't move.
Red Howl rose from the dust. Cracks glowed on his infernal armor, one of his horns chipped. Flames danced from his mouth with every breath, but he was standing.
"Well… would seem like my prey got away…" he said, voice low and ragged, a growl more than speech. "For now."
He turned slowly, dragging his clawed fingers through the scorched earth. A grin crept across his face again as he stared off into the distance.
"But you'll burn for me again soon, little sparks… Yes, yes, yes… I'll make sure of it."
He vanished in a blaze of red lightning, scorching a spiral into the ground as he launched into the horizon.
Elsewhere…
Kisuke stumbled into a ravine, shielding Kai as best he could. The flames of the battlefield were a faint glow behind him now. He collapsed near a stream, dropping to his knees, panting hard.
He looked at Kai.
"You better wake up soon, man… We're just getting started."
The water rippled nearby, steam curling from Kisuke's shoulder where burns marked his skin. He pulled out the red book again from his pack, trembling fingers flipping it open to the passage about Press of Death.
"You unlocked it… You actually did it. Thirty-five seconds, huh? Long enough to beat Shin's ass. But not long enough for what's coming next."
He looked up at the darkening sky. Adolla stirred in the heavens.
Red Howl had arrived.
And something even worse… was coming.