The night burned red. Flames and thunder cracked across the ruined battlefield, and the air trembled under the weight of approaching evil. Forty devils emerged from the smoke, eyes glowing crimson, fangs bared, hunger for blood raw and palpable.
Yuto gripped his half-charred katana, his chest heaving. "We end this tonight," he growled. "These monsters won't harm another soul."
Beside him, Sousuke's arms crackled with lightning, electricity dancing across his skin. He gave a fierce grin. "Then let's give them a storm they'll never forget."
Akari, calm as the ocean before a storm, whispered, "Water can heal… but today, it will drown them."
Tatsusuke, shrouded in mist, murmured like a shadow. "Fog hides both mercy and death. Let's see what they find tonight."
The lead devil roared—a massive horned creature cloaked in living darkness. The ground split beneath its weight.
Yuto stepped forward, fire erupting around him.
"Fire Power—Third Technique: Wildfire Surge!"
A crimson storm swept outward, incinerating a line of devils. Blackened bodies fell, but more surged from the smoke.
Sousuke slammed his electrified katana into the ground.
"Thunder Power—Fifth Technique: Heaven's Rumble!"
The heavens answered. Thunder ripped the clouds apart. Lightning struck ten devils at once, bodies twisting in agony.
Akari spun, water spiraling from her blade like a whip.
"Water Power—Second Technique: Tidal Clash!"
Waves erupted, crushing devils beneath their own momentum. The water shimmered like liquid glass before slicing through their armor.
Tatsusuke's voice was barely audible over the chaos. "Fog Power—Ninth Technique: Endless Dusk."
Mist swallowed the battlefield. Shadows danced through fog, and devils screamed blindly as each swing from Tatsusuke's blade claimed another life.
Victory seemed near—until the lead devil laughed. Its veins glowed crimson.
"Devil Power—First Technique: Devil Blood!"
Spikes of hardened blood erupted from the ground, slicing the earth like blades.
Yuto leapt, flames encasing him.
"Fire Power—Fifth Technique: Phoenix Rise!"
A blazing bird erupted from his sword, smashing into the devil's chest. Blood hissed as the phoenix's flames consumed the corrupted mass.
The devil regenerated instantly. "Devil Power—Eighth Technique: Devil Spike!"
Scarlet spikes shot from its body, a deadly storm. Yuto swung.
"Fire Power—First Technique: Blazing Slash!"
He split the spikes midair, sparks raining red and gold—but the impact shattered his blade in half, hurling him backward. Armor cracked.
Sousuke roared, lightning blazing.
"Thunder Power—Seventh Technique: Flashstorm Barrage!"
He became lightning itself, moving faster than the eye could follow. Every strike pierced a heart. He tore through the devils around Yuto, plunging his electrified blade into the lead devil's chest—ripping out its heart in a final flash. The devil exploded into dust.
Three more devils lunged at Sousuke from behind. A claw raked across his shoulder, blood spraying into the storm. They piled on him, dragging him down.
"Sousuke!" Yuto screamed.
Tatsusuke's remaining katana appeared from the fog, spinning through the air. "Take it! End this!"
Yuto caught the blade. Cold energy thrummed through the handle. In that instant, something changed—he felt Tatsusuke's presence guiding him. He surged forward, katana in hand, fire still trailing his movements. Ten devils lunged at him, claws bared.
"Fire Power—Tenth Technique: Fire Tornado!"
A vortex of fire swallowed the battlefield. Devils caught within it screamed, hurled skyward, their cries lost in inferno. Yuto spun, wielding Tatsusuke's katana in tandem with his own fire, slicing through shadows with deadly precision. Each swing tore out hearts, mist and flame colliding in a storm of destruction.
Sousuke's eyes glowed gold. "Thunder Power—First Technique: Roaring Flash!"
He vanished in blinding bursts of lightning, shredding five devils at once, each strike ending with hearts crushed beneath electrified force.
Yuto moved like a tempest.
"Fire Power—Fourth Technique: Crimson Burst!"
Seven devils fell inside the tornado, hearts cleaved by his burning sword. The fog blade felt alive in his hands, as if Tatsusuke's essence guided each strike.
From the mist, Tatsusuke emerged again, limping but determined. "It's time… Fog Power, Ninth Technique: Endless Dusk!"
Mist swallowed the remaining devils. Shadows slithered; blades flashed. Hearts were claimed silently, one by one.
Akari stepped forward, glowing with divine water.
"Water Power, Eighth Technique: Ocean's Heart!"
The ground turned into a swirling ocean, crushing three devils beneath immense pressure. Tatsusuke finished the last two with a single, elegant strike, fog dispersing like morning light.
Seventeen devils lay dead. Their glowing hearts disintegrated into ash, carried by the wind.
Sousuke wiped blood from his face. "Seventeen down… twenty-three to go."
Yuto, katana and fire in hand, raised his head. "Then we finish this—for everyone they took."
The remaining devils screamed, eyes glowing crimson.
The four hunters—fire, thunder, water, and fog—charged again. Flames, lightning, water, and mist collided into a storm of destruction that split the heavens.
The battlefield became chaos incarnate—stone shattered, lightning slashed, fog swirling like ghosts, rivers of molten rock cutting paths through the ground.
The lead devil towered over them, dark eyes pits of void. "You think you can kill me? I am eternal!"
Yuto stepped forward, gripping Tatsusuke's katana alongside his own, fire and fog intertwining. "Enough! This ends here, now!"
Sousuke grinned. "Thunder Power, Third Technique: Storm Breaker!"
He struck the ground, a wave of electricity ripping across the battlefield.
Tatsusuke faded into the fog. "Fog Power, Fifth Form: Phantom Drift."
Akari's water surged. "Water Power, Fifth Form: Raging Torrent!"
Lightning struck the torrent. Fire and fog interlaced with water and thunder. Devils screamed as hearts were torn from chests, bodies shredded in a maelstrom of elemental fury.
The final, strongest devils rose—barriers of blood and darkness, black spikes raining. Yet Yuto swung Tatsusuke's katana with deadly precision, slicing through barriers, cutting paths for his allies.
He unleashed his ultimate.
"Fire Power, Ninth Technique: Hellfire's Judgment!"
A colossal phoenix of flame erupted behind him. Eight devil hearts exploded.
Sousuke's thunder roared. "Thunder Power, Third Technique: Storm Breaker—Resonance!"
The battlefield itself cracked open. Flames and lightning merged into a cataclysm.
Tatsusuke's fog swallowed the remaining devils. Akari's tidal vortex finished the last few.
Silence fell. Seventeen devils dead. The battlefield littered with ash, blood, and mist.
Yuto sank to his knees, breathing hard, Tatsusuke's katana still in his hands. "We… did it."
Sousuke laughed weakly. "Barely… but yeah, we did."
They collapsed, exhausted, and woke days later at Devil Hunter Headquarters.
Master Masauru's voice echoed through the hall: "You survived… but the devils are evolving. It's time to awaken beyond your limits."
He assigned them new training: Yuto would master Sun Power, Sousuke would refine lightning to Heaven's Core, Tatsusuke would master True Fog, and Akari would create Divine Flow.
Yuto clenched his fist, feeling the sunlight pulse within him. He looked at the rising sun.
"I will master it… no matter what it takes."
The dawn blazed across the sky. Four warriors stood at the edge of a new destiny, ready for the horrors yet to come.