The fiery colossal monster unleashed numerous fireballs towards his opponent. Douma hopped away from the center of the platform. This was monster was still Atashi, a bigger and violent version of him.
"Snap out of it Atashi you're only going to destroy yourself."
"Oh be quiet! Can't you see he's stressed out? Give him a break!"
Mr Moikawa crawled towards the fiery monster, begging Atashi to finish the battle quickly, but the monster swat him away with his arm. It didn't hit the man directly but the burning pressurizing force was enough to send him flying away like a ragdoll.
"Vengeful Howl." Atashi, now the ruthless beast, widened his jaws and summoned soundwaves radiating immense heat to the ceiling where Douma was hovering.
In between the unleash of Atashi's attack, Douma summoned a slash of piercing wind with his fan that cut through the first few waves, ending with a collision between the final soundwave emitted.
Atashi wasn't expecting Douma to be able to do such a thing easily, but that didn't matter to him. The battle had barely reached the climatic stage, and Atashi was certain that he would initiate it starting now.
The monster punched through the floor causing the entire platform to collapse. This part of the level slowly began crumbling down into the pit of darkness below.
Mr Moikawa who was just a few inches away from the edge watched both Douma and Atashi fall into the pit. He found it impressive that Atashi could do so much damage in this form, however he was also becoming afraid of him.
Both of them landed on their feet and Atashi immediately pointed his fist at his opponent who was now flying above him.
Flames swarmed Atashi's knuckles as he gave off swirls of raging fire.
Douma couldn't believe what he was seeing, a once-human spinning fire around on his fingertips. If Atashi were to show up at Reiji's place, they probably wouldn't even have second thoughts about this monster being Atashi, his humanity was gone.
The angel dispersed the flames with his fan and raised it. He then summoned a reign of ice at the remaining flames, creating a vortex that exploded in the center of the battleground.
"That should do it." Douma noticed the monster regaining his balance from the explosion. He took this chance to fire his kaleidoscopic ray at the monster, watching it fall to the ground in pain.
Atashi squinted his eyes at the figure in the air. Not only did that attack sting but it was also giving him an intense headache. His vision was getting blurry and he was struggling to concentrate on his surroundings.
Douma suspected that this form Atashi took was the appearance of his new friend. Without anyone realizing it, Atashi's power must have fused with the beast dwelling within him.
And it was all because of that totem.
"You're not getting anywhere if you keep this up Atashi." Douma said sternly.
"I know my family will be safe once you're gone." The monster got up and charged towards Douma only to be met with a fan to the shoulder.
"Even after what these scums have done to jeopardize you and everything you care about, you still want to carry out their biddings?!" Douma didn't mean to put it that way but it was the truth and seeing Atashi in this pitiful state made it harder to put the words nicely. "You've put everyone at risk, especially your own family."
Atashi narrowed his eyes at that statement. "I'M DOING THIS FOR MY FAMILY DON'T YOU GET IT?"
The blonde was taken aback by Atashi's sudden outlash. All this while he was trying to pretend like nothing happened, like there wasn't any tragedy unfolding back home, now that boiled anger he was hiding was pouring out of its full brim, unable to stop because there was just too much to withstand.
"Now I'll tell you this. While we're glad to have you at the Hasu Mountains, at the same time you've brought us a lot of troubles that we can't solve." Atashi lifted himself off the ground with flames surrounding him. "And now you're calling me the troublemaker? Am I incapable of doing anything right? What can I do to keep my friends and family safe Douma? Tell me before it gets worse."
Douma stared at the ground, thinking about what Atashi had just said. While there was some truth to the matter, there was also some fabrication in his explanation that even Reiji and Eiko would notice on the spot. But Douma didn't blame Atashi for thinking that way, because even he couldn't put a stop to the problems caused right when it happened.
"Well are you going to say ANYTHING?"
"Listen Atashi, I understand your upset about everything that's been going on." Douma spoke. "I've thought about leaving Earth and returning to where I came from, but you must know that things were never like this. If you're talking about the rumors and bickering among folks in the villages, that's been happening even before I got here, but making it seem like every problem in the Hasu Mountains is my fault? That's where you're wrong, these problems were recent. Don't push your own fault onto others."
The monster clenched his fist that was starting to engulf in flames. "I'll make sure you stop talking this instance."
Douma blocked Atashi's attacks, the flaming overlord began clawing at his opponent animalistically. He desperately tried to land a scratch on Douma but the blonde was just too fast and skillful with his techniques.
Three volcanos in different parts of the world were about to erupt as people evacuated and ran to safety. The ground was shaking violently and magma was starting to seep from the craters of these volcanos along with fumes of smoke rising to the sky.
Without thinking, Atashi unleashed the power he was gathering within. What he didn't realize was the severity of his attack, in the building and outside it.
A wave of radiating heat struck the walls and traveled out to every part of Cryptic Sanctuary's grounds, turning the place into a literal magma chamber with cracks of ash and flames forming on the ground and infrastructures.
All three volcanoes erupted at the same time. A wave of disaster struck those areas with people fleeing for their lives and leaving behind the plans they had for the day.
The overlord rushed towards Douma with glowing flames on his arms.
"Smoldering Fire!" In a state of rage, Atashi threw two large fireballs at Douma which caused large ignitions of ember in his direction.
Douma emerged from the clouds of smoke with more than enough energy to flung Atashi away with his fan.
The metamorphosis transformation was first unleashed by humans during the century war, when a few notable individuals from the defense side turned into birds and horses holding swords and shields. It was believed that God had given them the strength and resilience to fend off the opposing forces and restore peace. The blonde watched the colossal fiery beast getting dragged to one of the corners.
Apparently, this same power has settled within another human, but its purpose was the complete opposite of what those individuals intended to do with it back then.
Atashi collided with the wall and gasped from the sharp pain on his left arm. "That does it." He said in his deeper voice.
"Don't do anything stupid." At that moment, Douma got into a fighting stance, he could sense another wave of fiery power building up at the corner where Atashi was regaining his composure.
Immediately, Atashi summoned a large flaming weapon resembling an axe with chains around it. The fire surrounding him became more aggressive, getting in tune with the intensity of the battle.
"An upgrade huh, alright then." Douma got his fans ready, bracing himself for what Atashi was about to do next with his arsenal.