Toma snatched the sword out of the air, ducking under the demon’s swing. In the same motion, his blade flashed—slicing the monster clean in half.

  But even as the upper body crashed to the ground, the severed legs kept moving. They flew through the air… straight toward Arlen and Carter.

  “Ugh! Those legs are moving on their own!” Arlen reacted instantly, flames erupting from his hands as he set the writhing limbs ablaze.

  Carter followed up, lightning bursting from his palm, the bolt punched straight through the demon’s chest. The blast left a smoking hole right where the heart should’ve been.

  The demon’s answer? Instant regeneration. Not even a scar left behind.

  Arlen’s voice was tight with frustration. “How the hell are we supposed to beat this thing?”

  “We need to take its head somehow!” Carter shot back.

  “Yeah, but that’s gonna be freaking hard!” Toma growled, tightening his grip on the katana.

  “Don’t worry, boys,” Carter’s smirk was sharp despite the tension. “I’ve got a new plan. We all attack at once!”

  No more hesitation. The three of them charged together.

  With a sickening sound, the demon sprouted four arms again—each one clutching a weapon dripping with malice. Steel clashed against steel as Carter engaged at close range, while Toma and Arlen tore in from opposite sides.

  The creature slashed, stabbed, and swung wildly, but the three moved in perfect sync, weaving between blows and severing limbs faster than the monster could regrow them.

  “Alright, guys—time to finish this!” Carter roared.

  “Understood!” Toma and Arlen answered in unison.

  The two leapt high into the air—Toma’s blade blazing with Blue Nova, Arlen’s body wreathed in seething flames. They dove straight toward the demon, their combined power crashing down like a meteor.

  Carter seized the opening. Lightning surged through him until his entire body was glowing, and then he unleashed it all in one colossal strike.

  After Carter’s attack, a colossal explosion erupted.

  A deafening boom ripped through the city, shockwaves shattering glass and sending rubble flying. For a heartbeat, it felt like the entire skyline had been erased.

  “We did it!” Arlen’s voice was pure relief.

  “Yes, Arlen! We pulled it off!” Toma grinned. “Let’s get down to the inspector!”

  They sprinted toward Carter, who was waving from the street below—

  —and then something pierced straight through him.

  The two froze, eyes wide.

  From behind Carter, the demon rose… but it was no longer the same creature. Its body had swelled into a towering giant, at least fifteen meters tall. Where its arms had been, countless branching, spiked tendrils stretched out—some as long as thirty meters—writhing and coiling like a nest of serpents.

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  One of those tendrils lashed forward, stabbing through Carter’s side. Blood sprayed across the pavement. He collapsed, motionless, and for a horrible second, neither Toma nor Arlen could tell if he was still alive.

  “Damn it—what the hell is this huge bastard?!” Toma’s voice cracked with fury.

  “This… this is impossible,” Arlen stammered. “No matter how many times we kill it, it just gets stronger! Toma, we have to save the inspector!”

  “I know,” Toma’s gaze locked on the towering monster. “But first… we stop this thing.”

  The giant, spiked tendrils lashed toward Toma and Arlen.

  Toma lunged onto one, trying to climb, but the jagged spikes tore at him with every move. The demon sensed his steps. In an instant, fresh spikes erupted along the entire length, cutting off any chance of escape.

  In midair, Toma jammed his katana into another tendril and clung on tight. He swung with all his strength, trying to slice through—only to find the thing was far thicker than he’d expected. The blade bit deep, but not enough.

  From the demon’s horn, a blinding Xeron blast erupted, aimed straight at him. There was nowhere to leap, nowhere to dodge.

  Above, Arlen darted through the air, weaving between the demon’s whips. For a moment, his speed kept him safe. But the demon learned fast. More tendrils burst into existence, surrounding him until they coiled tight around his body.

  “ARLEN!!!” Toma’s voice cracked like thunder.

  Flames exploded in the next instant. Arlen’s power ripped through his restraints, burning them to ash. He followed with a barrage of fireballs, each one slamming into the demon—only to be swatted aside by its writhing limbs.

  Still, it bought him time. Arlen dove toward Toma, landing beside him.

  The ground was gone. Behind them, the earth had shattered into floating shards from the force of earlier strikes. Every blow from the creature’s tendrils had landed like a thunderbolt.

  Toma’s katana flashed—its blade catching a blinding glint even in the absence of sunlight—as it met one of the demon’s limbs. The edge never actually touched flesh. Instead, it carved a rift into the swirling darkness behind it.

  Arlen didn’t waste words. He was already moving—darting in from the side like an arrow loosed from the string, aiming straight for the demon’s ribs. The air bent around him, rippling like water, yet never slowing his momentum.

  One slash. Two. Three.

  Every strike hit home.

  None of them mattered.

  The demon’s hide—if it could be called that—healed instantly, the wounds vanishing like faint scratches on a mountain’s face.

  The tendrils whipped again. One shot for Toma. He ducked under it—

  —but another was already waiting.

  He barely avoided being shredded by the forest of spikes. Spinning away, his katana danced in his grip, the blade tracing a silver arc through the air.

  “We won’t take it down with brute force!” Arlen shouted, twisting away from a scythe-like limb.

  “Then we’ll have to rely on speed!” Toma launched himself straight for the demon’s neck.

  But the creature had learned. Without moving its head, it tracked him with its eyes. A single tendril, kept low until now, shot forward like a spear.

  Toma blocked—but the impact hit like an avalanche. The force hurled him back meters through the air. He twisted mid-flight, barely catching himself before crashing into the crumbling rocks.

  Meanwhile, Arlen had reached the demon’s back. His blade drove for its spine—

  —but the tendrils folded in like a shield, guarding the weak point.

  Arlen used his momentum to twist away, leaping toward Toma. His breath came ragged.

  “This isn’t a fight… this is an execution.”

  The demon didn’t move. Instead, it rose to its full height, its shadow engulfing the battlefield. A deep rumble rolled from its throat—something between growl and laughter.

  Toma’s eyes burned with fire.

  “Then let’s die in a way worth remembering.”

  They charged—one from the right, the other from the left. Their blades slashed in a perfect zigzag rhythm, like the twin jaws of a closing trap.

  The tendrils struck back blindly, but the two were always a step ahead—

  a dodge here, a blur there, a slash too quick to follow.

  Then the demon changed tactics. Two tendrils crossed in its path. When Toma and Arlen went in for the kill, they snapped shut.

  Toma felt spikes punch through his shoulder.

  Arlen tried to break free, but the coils wrapped around him like serpents.

  Their katanas slipped from their hands.

  The air tightened. The world went silent.

  The demon lifted them high, its gaze fixed on their faces. For a moment, nothing moved—only the whisper of wind over ruins.

  Its mouth opened wide. Inside was only darkness… and row after row of teeth.