Kaiju Man, Toruri, and Gnari were tearing along the foggy path, each of their breaths heavy with urgency. The rising light of dawn crept over the horizon, casting long shadows through the mist.
"The sun is starting to rise!" Gnari shouted, her voice laced with worry.
Toruri's face tightened with fear, his heart pounding. "And what happens if the sun rises with Verte and Kinrui still trapped in that thing?!"
Gnari's reply was cold and grim. "They will be permanently gone!"
"No way in hell!!!" Toruri screamed, his body surging forward in a burst of speed so intense that he vanished from sight.
Gnari blinked, eyes wide with surprise. "I never knew he could move that fast!"
Kaiju Man, with his towering frame, watched Toruri disappear into the fog. "It's proof that we need to keep up." His deep voice was calm, but resolute, before his large figure also blurred into the distance.
Gnari stood frozen for a second, then groaned. "Hey, I can't do that!" She quickly manifested a door with a flick of her hand, stepped through it, and reappeared in mid-air, landing directly on top of the speeding Toruri as he practically glided through the dense forest, his speed barely hindered by her presence.
"Quit hiding, you BASTAAARD!!!" Toruri bellowed into the fog, his anger vibrating through the mist. But before either of them could react, they were both stopped in their tracks by an unseen force.
"What the—" Toruri struggled, his limbs seemingly bound by something invisible.
Gnari's voice was tight. "It's the fog! He has complete control over it, remember?"
As if on cue, Nevorra's dark figure manifested behind them, his sinister aura creeping like a shadow.
"You think YOU'RE in control?" Nevorra's voice echoed as his grotesque mouth cracked open wide. "Join your frien—"
Before Nevorra could finish, Kaiju Man appeared from nowhere, delivering a punishing blow to the back of Nevorra's head, black flames swirling around his fist. Nevorra screeched as he was flung backward, vanishing into the fog. The unseen force holding Gnari and Toruri dissipated, freeing them.
"He's got more of a hold on us than we thought," Kaiju Man said, his glowing red eyes flickering through the mist.
Suddenly, with a flash of claws, Toruri let out a sharp gasp, a fresh wound appearing across his back. "You sneaky little—!"
Before he could retaliate, a sword forged from the very fog came hurtling toward Kaiju Man. Toruri, reacting faster than thought, leaped in front of him, taking the sword straight through his chest, the blade impaling him.
"Toruri!!!" Gnari and Kaiju Man shouted in unison.
Toruri gritted his teeth, his voice strained but steady. "I'm fine! I can regenerate." The sword dissolved into mist, and his body mended itself almost immediately.
"It'll take hell and more to kill me. Worry about yourselves," he muttered, glaring ahead.
Kaiju Man's deep voice rumbled. "I could've taken that sword—"
But Nevorra reappeared again, looming over them, his dark mouth yawning wide. "I'll consume you all!!!" He launched toward them, his maw ready to devour, when suddenly, a roaring figure came shooting through the fog.
"FOUND YOU!!! YOU AREN'T GETTING AWAY NOW!!!" Hiyoku's voice thundered as he came barreling toward Nevorra, flames blazing around his body.
Nevorra, startled, tried to vanish into the fog once more, but this time a spiritual chain lashed out, binding him to the earth.
"Spiritual Technique: Lock-down!" Yamori's voice cut through the chaos, the chain glowing with an ethereal light.
Nevorra thrashed. "Impossible!"
Hiyoku grinned, flames licking up his body, turning him into a black silhouette against a ball of blinding fire. "YOU'RE DEAD!!! BURNING MAAAAAN!!!"
Toruri's eyes widened in shock. "What is he doing to himself?!"
Gnari's face twisted in horror. "You fool, you can only hurt him with hell fire!"
But Kaiju Man, calm as ever, shook his head. "Nah, he's got it."
Gnari looked at him, incredulous. "What?!"
Hiyoku's fiery form blurred as he shot toward Nevorra. The spirit's eyes widened in disbelief as Hiyoku's normal flames made contact, sending searing pain through him.
HOW?! These are just normal flames!!! And… IT BURNS?!!! Nevorra's voice screamed within his own mind.
Hiyoku vanished again, appearing above Nevorra to slam him back into the ground. He disappeared once more, reappearing in front of Nevorra, delivering a bone-crunching uppercut that sent the spirit rocketing skyward. With each strike, Hiyoku blurred in and out of existence, sending Nevorra crashing down, only to punch him back up again.
The final blow came as Hiyoku appeared above Nevorra, flipping mid-air, and slamming him into the earth with a flaming kick. "BURNING MAN: IMMEDIACY!!!" All the fire around Hiyoku's body coalesced into his fist as he charged down with a final, devastating punch. The ground erupted in an enormous pillar of fire, splitting the very clouds and shaking the earth as if the heavens themselves were tearing apart.
"I'll contain the fire with my magic to make sure it doesn't spread!" Kaiju Man's voice was steady, despite the cataclysmic scene.
The explosion sent shockwaves through the forest, uprooting trees and creating a mushroom cloud of flame. The deafening roar shook the ground, sending birds scattering in terror.
Toruri's heart clenched in horror. "Hiyoku! You idiot! Verte and Kinrui are trapped inside that ghost! If you burn him, you'll burn them too!"
The explosion reached its peak, a blinding light piercing through the fog as the ground trembled beneath the force, and trees were felled by the sheer energy, the shockwaves leaving devastation in their wake.
As the dust from the explosion settled, the foggy battlefield cleared, leaving a massive crater where Nevorra once stood. Everyone had their eyes closed, shielding themselves from the heat and light—everyone except Kaiju Man, but no one could tell beneath his helmet. In the center of the destruction, Hiyoku stood over Nevorra's motionless body.
Toruri slowly opened his eyes, blinking in disbelief. "You actually contained it, Kaiju?"
Kaiju Man stood stoically, the red glow of his eyes flickering as he answered. "Nothing too new to me."
Gnari, still catching her breath, glanced at Hiyoku. "How did he even hit Nevorra?"
Kaiju Man explained, his deep voice unwavering. "Hell fire is the only flame capable of burning the soul directly. But what that boy used… was mystical fire, a force that ignores all transformed properties. It burns through anything, no matter its nature."
Toruri furrowed his brow. "Mystical fire? How'd he get his hands on that?"
Kaiju Man's eyes narrowed beneath his helmet. "Is that boy human?"
Toruri glanced at Hiyoku. "I think so."
"Impossible," Kaiju Man said flatly. "No human can wield mystical fire. That power belongs to mythical beings alone."
Hiyoku, still ablaze with adrenaline, looked at Toruri. "Wait, Verte's in that thing?!"
Toruri nodded. "Yeah, she and Kinrui both!"
Hiyoku breathed a sigh of relief. "Good thing I only used a small portion of my mana."
Yamori stepped forward, hands glowing with spiritual energy. "Let me get them out. Spiritual Technique: Revoke!" He thrust his hands forward, and Verte and Kinrui were pushed out of Nevorra's body, their figures materializing on the ground.
Verte stumbled, catching her breath. "Ah, thank you! You saved us."
Nevorra, his once mighty form now crumpled, let out a shriek of fury. "No… NO NO NO NO NO!!!"
Suddenly, Nevorra shot into the sky, his dark figure twisting in the mist.
Verte's eyes widened. "It's almost morning!"
Nevorra's voice boomed through the forest. "This won't be the last you see of me!"
Yamori's voice roared back. "No! This is the last we'll see of you! I'M BANISHING YOU TODAY!!"
Nevorra sneered down at them, his voice dripping with malice. "Foolish, FOOLISH FOOLISH!!!" He glared down at Toruri. "You think you can banish me? I'll EAT YOU ALL BEFORE DAWN!!!"
And with that, Nevorra and all of the surrounding fog vanished.
Hiyoku blinked in surprise. "Ah, the fog's gone!"
But before they could celebrate, the sky above them began to swirl ominously, dark clouds forming overhead. A massive image of Nevorra appeared, his monstrous face glowing with fiery red eyes, his claws now stretching into twenty sharp, gnarled fingers. His grotesque mouth opened and snapped violently all over his body, an otherworldly presence looming above them.
Yamori wasted no time. "Now I've got you where I want you! Ritual Arts: Banishment!!!"
A massive portal appeared beneath Nevorra, and spectral chains shot up from the ground, wrapping around the spirit and dragging him slowly into the void. Nevorra screeched, thrashing as he was pulled toward his fate.
"NO!!! YOU WON'T TAKE ME!!! I'M NOT DONE YET!!!" Nevorra howled in desperation.
Yamori gritted his teeth. "Someone! Does anyone know soul magic? It'll amplify my uhane chi!"
Verte stepped forward, determination in her eyes. "I'll help!" She opened her arms wide, unleashing a torrent of green magic that shot toward Nevorra, pulling him down faster into the portal.
Nevorra screamed, his voice shaking the very air around them. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! DOING GOD'S WORK!!!"
Yamori, unyielding, shouted back. "Who did you think you were when you slaughtered all those innocent humans?!"
Verte and Yamori's voices echoed in unison as the chains tightened around Nevorra. "YOU'RE FINISHED!!!"
With one final, deafening screech, Nevorra was dragged fully into the portal, which sealed shut with a thunderous boom. The sky and clouds returned to normal, the early morning sunlight piercing through the mist and casting a soft glow over the forest.
Toruri collapsed onto the ground with a heavy sigh. "I'm pooped." His eyes fluttered shut, and in seconds, he was fast asleep.
Gnari raised an eyebrow. "He fell asleep that easily?"
But before anyone could react further, Hiyoku's fiery gaze locked onto Gnari. His body tensed, flames flickering from his fists. "IT'S YOU! YOU GENOCIDAL BITCH!!!"
Gnari stumbled back, waving her hands in defense. "Hey! I'm sorry!!!"
Hiyoku's fist ignited as he charged toward her. "I promised to scorch ya ass!"
Panicking, Gnari screamed as she dashed away, Hiyoku hot on her tail. "Wait, no, please!" She ran in circles, desperately trying to avoid his burning fist.
Meanwhile, Verte and Kinrui's attention shifted to Kaiju Man, their eyes wide with awe.
Verte spoke first, her voice full of curiosity. "Who are you?!"
Kinrui added with a bit of awe, "You're huge."
Kaiju Man glanced down at them, his voice as deep as ever. "I am Kaiju Man, and I am out." Without another word, Hecate flew up to him, and with a swift motion, Kaiju Man disappeared into him.
Kinrui stared, confused. "It's the fly!"
Hecate's voice buzzed. "Kaiju will not be talking to fans."
Verte and Kinrui shouted in unison, "We're not fans!"
Meanwhile, Toruri lay flat on his back, already deep in sleep, the chaos swirling around him like a distant dream.