The explosion Kaito had caused, devastated the entire first floor of the building. Destroying pillars, breaking both lights and glass.
Isamu looks around at all the chaos, then his eyes locks onto Dante, but instead of taking him seriously Isamu just laughs. "You guys really decided to show up, this is just another easy win for us."
Dante doesn't say anything, he just continues to attempt calming himself. His heart is beating through his chest.
Isamu sees his silence and laughs.
WHOOSH
Isamu appears in front of Dante, swinging his blade at him. Dante panics blocking the attack, Leaning in as their blades clash Isamu laughs. "Hope you know dumbass, i'm seriously gonna kill you this time!"
Isamu kicks Dante off of him. Launching himself towards him, he swings his blade again. Dante rolls out of the way barely ducking the attack.
"Boss says only one of you need to live, so i'm gonna enjoy this!" Isamu says.
"Ok Dante think, you've been training, you can fight too!" Dante says as he sees Isamu charging him again.
"But this is scary!" Dante shouts. His legs shimmer and he summons a wall of ice.
Isamu slashes through it, looking around for Dante he sees he is running away. "Hilarious." Isamu says as he follow behind Dante. Fire magic in his hands.
Rika sprinted through the halls, heart pounding. Her shoes echoed with each frantic step, the lights along the walls casting dancing shadows across her path. Behind her came Con, hot in pursuit
Steel hissed through the air just behind her shoulder. She ducked instinctively, the wind from the blade catching a few strands of her hair. Con was close.
"Can't we just talk about this?" she shouted over her shoulder, dodging around a pillar and skidding down a narrow hallway.
There was no answer at first, just the sharp ring of his sword striking the wall where she'd just been. Sparks scattered.
"You know that thing can really hurt somebody!?"
Then his voice came, low and flat, edged with something colder than steel.
"Quit your yapping."
He was faster than she'd remembered. But she was faster still.
Rika spun, her wind magic surging to her fingertips. The air twisted, condensed, and then burst forward in a slicing gust that forced Con back a step. She moved with the momentum, striking with her dagger, quick, precise jabs aimed for his exposed flanks.
He blocked with brutal efficiency, his blade meeting hers with metallic snarls.
"You really think a sly little thief can beat me?" he growled, teeth bared as their blades locked.
"No," Rika snapped, the wind coiling protectively around her. "But maybe I don't have to."
She shifted her stance, casting a wide burst of wind that knocked him off balance. He staggered, just slightly, but it was enough. She saw it, a flicker of doubt in his eyes, gone in an instant, but unmistakable.
She pressed in.
"You don't have to listen to Renji," she said, her voice quieter now, threading through the storm. "You're not just some blade for hire."
Con's expression tightened, but his strike came a half-second slower than it should have.
"You don't know anything about me," he said, though the words lacked their usual bite.
Rika stepped closer, blade glinting in the flickering light. Her magic thrummed in the air, ready to strike again, but she held it back.
"I know you flinch every time he gives an order."
His blade wavered. Just slightly. But it was enough.
"You're not fighting for yourself," she whispered, eyes locked on his. "You're just trying to be what he told you to be."
The silence that followed was heavy. They stood, wind rustling torn banners above them, their breathing the only sound in the corridor.
But his attacks kept coming.
Jay stood across from Nanami, grinning with absolute confidence. "Can't believe you kids, gave me the easiest fight." He smirked.
Nanami said nothing, all she did was take up a jiu-justu stance. A combat and tight stance. It complimented her. She shifted her weight, carefully, she began to analyze.
"I had a quick run through with Dante last night, he explained an enemies tell to me, but how am I to find it?" Nanami questions.
She had to survive this long enough to find it.
Jay charged, a blur of muscle and aggression. She dodged the first hit, barely. The second came faster, a sweeping kick that caught her hip. "Even with Toni helping my flank, he's still fast."
He wasn't just fast however, he was strong, unpredictable, his style was wild, a street brawler, with super human strength, finding his tell was hard, he moved like he was enjoying the chaos.
Nanami blocked a punch, deflecting it with her forearm. The impact rattled down her bones. She ducked a follow-up and countered with a knee to the side, but he twisted, grabbed her leg, and hurled her across the hall.
She hit the floor hard. Rolled. Came up gasping. "Gods, is Toni in position yet?"
He's too fast, too much power.
"Problem?" Jay called out. "You're thinking too hard."
Then typing on her arm, a blaster transforms onto one of her arms. "GURA!" She calls out blasting Jay with her new weapon. This time instead of pure energy it fired out a ball that absorbs the energy built from elara around them. With Jay away she breaths. "Return." She says and the ball comes back.
The echoing footsteps causes her to roll her eyes. "Of course he's still coming."
From above, perched on a balcony, Toni struck a riff on his guitar, sharp and piercing. Nanami felt it instantly, her muscles igniting with speed and energy, her heartbeat syncing with the rhythm.
Her fingers flexed. Her balance adjusted.
Not perfect, but better.
"Sorry for the wait friend, this place is mighty confusing."
Nanami nodded to Toni. "Not a problem."
Kaito sprinted through the smoke, wreathed upper halls, dodging crumbling pillars and collapsed support beams with the ease of someone who liked the chaos. He wasn't worried. His heart was racing, but not from fear. He could hear Nyla's voice echoing ahead. She wasn't far.
He rounded a corner and spotted her, a blur of gold and red being dragged through an archway. The entrance to one of the guild's massive upper halls.
"Nyla!" he shouted.
She looked back, startled, hope flashing in her eyes for just a second before she was pulled out of view.
Kaito didn't hesitate. He threw his weight forward, shoes skidding as he launched into the next room.
And there, in the center of the vast hall beneath the glass ceiling, stood Renji.
He held Nyla by the collar, perfectly still, like this was all some game.
Kaito's hands curled into fists. "Let her go, now."
Renji tilted his head. "Relax. She's fine. Bit bruised, maybe." He looked Kaito over, gaze amused. "You really showed up all alone? Ballsy. I like it."
"You like a lot of stupid things," Kaito snapped.
Renji chuckled. "Still got that spark. Just like back at the valley. I remember that look in your eyes. Got that twitchy hero energy, like you think you can save everybody."
Kaito was already moving forward. "I'm not a hero, that's Dante's thing, i'm just here to save her."
"Why not just join us?" Renji said, letting go of Nyla. She dropped to the floor, coughing but conscious. "You've got skill. Smarts. Gut instinct. You'd be ten times stronger if you stopped playing hero and started doing what you want."
Kaito cracked his knuckles. "Yeah? I already do that, and what I want right now is to wipe that smirk off your face."
That was all the warning either of them gave.
Renji lunged, fast, but Kaito was faster.
He read the shift in weight, the subtle lean in Renji's left shoulder, and slipped under the first punch like he'd seen it in a dream. He struck back with a rising elbow, clipped Renji in the chin, and rolled to the side before a return strike could land.
Renji blinked, surprised. "Huh. You've improved."
Kaito grinned. "Yeah? Keep watching."
He launched forward again, chaining together a blur of blows, strikes from all angles, feints that turned into real attacks, timing shifts that forced Renji to reset mid-swing. Kaito fought like he was thinking a second into the future, always adapting, always just a little out of reach.
But Renji was a wall.
For every dodge, every quick turn Kaito pulled off, Renji answered with raw force, blows that cracked the floor, punches that bent steel. He didn't need to be clever. He just needed one clean hit.
They traded a storm of strikes, Kaito weaving in and out like fire on the wind, Renji hammering down with relentless power. A kick nearly took Kaito's leg out. A counterstrike cracked Renji across the temple. Neither gave ground.
But then, Kaito started to find it. A rhythm. A weakness in Renji's left side, barely guarded when he twisted for overhand swings. Kaito's grin widened. He darted in, aiming for the opening.
And then- boom.
Renji stomped the ground, a shockwave rippling out. His body pulsed with sudden energy, a deep violet light climbing up his arms and through his veins. His muscles tightened, movements becoming sharper, faster, heavier.
Enhancement magic.
"Not bad," Renji said, voice low and rough. "But I'm not letting some hotshot punk outplay me twice."
Kaito's eyes narrowed. "Oh, you're really doing this, huh?"
Renji blurred forward—faster than before. Kaito barely blocked the first punch, and the impact still sent him skidding back across the floor.
He was on the defensive now, forced to dip, duck, and deflect as Renji overwhelmed him with raw, brutal speed.
Then- a massive punch crushed into Kaito's face!
Okay, Kaito thought, teeth gritted as he flipped over a shattered bench. New plan. Adapt fast, or get crushed.