129 Chapter 12: Diablo

Kairas kicked open the station doors. His eyes fell on a group of demons giving chase to a small group of kids. One of the demons leapt into the air, mouth open and teeth illuminating with a street light.

Kairas jumped on instinct, his knuckles connecting with the monster's cheek, before he twirled in the air and brought his leg down in a heavy kick. The demon slammed into the others, Kairas landing and taking a deep breath. With a heavy exhale, a roar of intense mana burst from his throat, washing over the group of demons and turning them to dust in a heavy explosion.

Wiping his lips, his eyes snapped to Garuga and Jade exiting the station doors. Both looked around, drinking in the situation before zipping off in the shadows. Shine came out next, bounding down the steps, tossing her heels off. "What's going on?"

"Demons. Artificial from what I can tell." An explosion of light erupted further down the road. Kairas and Shine looked at one another, nodding, before dashing towards it.

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Sara had no mercy. She dashed by each demon she could, drawing her blade of light and cutting clean through leather flesh like butter. As she came to a stop, she shethed the light metal, each demon falling to the floor in heavy clumps of blood.

"By declaration of the White Kingdom, all of you are placed under immediate execution!" Her hard eyes looked above, before she leapt back, narrowly avoiding a heavy object slamming into the spot she once stood.

Rising from the concrete cloud, a large grey body faced her. Blank faced, it let out a screech, stomping at her with bulging veins. Sara drew her blade, crying intensely with power, the light growing twice its previous size. She dodged under the High Breed's fist, bringing the blade down and cutting deep into the creature's side. It roared, steam rising from its wounded side.

Turning to her, it reached out, something sparking in its palm, before explosions rushed at Sara. While surprised at the display of magic, the girl leapt into the air.

"These creatures can use magic of this caliber?" Sara landed, watching the High Breed rush at her more intensely than before.

Raising and aiming the tip of her sword at the High Breed, she gripped the hilt with both hands tightly, eyes glowing in pure light as she uttered a soft, yet cold, incantation. "Be purified by the heavens. Sword of White: Scale Stream."

The High Breed stopped in place, a small beam of light running clean through its chest. It looked down, very slowly, before its body erupted with pillars of magic, steam rising from each wound as it dropped to the ground motionless.

Swinging her blade to the side, she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and scoffed. "Disgusting creature."

Quickly, from under the concrete behind her, a hand reached up, gripping Sara's leg tightly. Looking down at the digits that held her ankle, she suddenly flipped into the air as a second High Breed rose from the ground. She attempted to drive her sword into the monster, but it gripped the blade and held it firmly, unaffected by the cut along its palm. "Damn it, unhand me!"

It screeched at her. Shadow string ripped through its arm, the grey limb dropping limp and Sara hitting the floor. It stumbled back, head immediately taking into the air, blood spewing down like rain, and the body slumping in a crumpled heap. From behind, Jade looked down at Sara, both unhappy to see the other. "Saving a noble like you doesn't sit right with me."

"Being rescued by a Shadow isn't my idea of a good evening either." She stood, brushing the dirt from her dress and looking into the air. Her eyes quickly spotted the man in the dark robes, and she narrowed her gaze. "He must be the ringleader."

"Aye," Jade agreed. "I can feel all the Mana around us centering from him. I shall deal with him at once." He moved ahead of Sara. The girl moved her eyes to his back, drawing her blade and aiming it at him.

"I think not. I shall stop this man. You focus on helping the people, like you should."

Jade stopped mid step, slowly looking over his shoulder at her. "Do well to know your place, White."

"Bite thy tongue, Shadow. Being the captain does not mean you've earned mine, or my people's respect." The air began to quake, their magic energy clashing against one another constantly. They moved swiftly, slamming foreheads, gritting fangs and roaring loudly.

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"It's coming." The air around him grew cold, as if it froze solid. "He's coming to liberate us." He looked at his gloved hands, shoulders rising and falling in a chilled chuckle.

The man in the robes rose his palms higher in the air, taking in deep breaths, allowing darkness to flow more intensely from his pores. As the cloud fell, it began to break apart into four groups of three, shaping into large bodies before filling themselves in grey and hitting the concrete heavily.

"Go, my creatures. Kill. Destroy at your leisure. Bring me the boy. Bring us, Takabi Yamishito."

The High Breeds looked around, rushing forward in a stompede.

They came from the trees. Air rushed from the leaves, slicing through branch after branch. Flames danced in the breeze, a twister forming and ripping up the concrete. The High Breeds avoided the frontal attack, watching as Takabi and Nana dashed past them.

They gave chase, Nana looking over her shoulder. She spun around, sliding on the freshly dug up soil. "Sky Drill." She muttered, air forming in front of her. She thrust her fingers forward, a sharp twister of air zipping at the High Breeds, piercing one in the front. It spun, digging deep into the High Breed's organs, before it erupted in a ball of wind.

Takabi smiled at her, jumping on one of the nearby buildings, racing up the brick wall. "Hey! What's the big idea!"

The man looked down. Meeting eyes with Takabi, he craned his head to the side just barely, opening and closing his fingers. The boy leapt through the air, black wings erupting from his shirt and stretching out wide in the air. He brought his knuckles back, before throwing it forward, connecting with the man's palm. Takabi bared his fangs, throwing his leg forward, just barely missing his target. They two split apart, eyeing each other intensely.

One was full of excitement. An unreadable need to connect with Takabi. It twisted him inside. "This feeling," He began, clutching his chest. "I wish to know… What is it… That makes you special to me…"

Takabi raised his eyebrow in response. "Dude, you're a real creep. Call off your demons and get the hell out of here." He watched him closely, before crossing his arms. "Before any of that, I can tell from the robes that you're from the Kult."

"Observant." He lowered his head. "You're… Smarter than you let on. You're strong as well. Please, allow me to feel that strength."

Relaxing his arms, Takabi dashed forward. Flames cackled around his knuckles, the boy throwing a heavy punch. The Man craned his head aside, bringing his knee up and connecting with Takabi's stomach. He coughed, but bit his tongue and thrust his left elbow back. Landing against his cheek, Takabi continued to throw fist after fist, connecting each one with greater force than the last one.

The Man's hands jerked up. His fingers wrapped around Takabi's wrists, holding them both in place tightly. "More. Show me more."

"Seriously, back up!"

He twisted his wrist, spinning Takabi in the air, before kicking him towards the ground. He flipped, landing on his hands and knees, looking up at the man and standing. His head dizzied, and vision blurred for a moment, before he dropped to a single knee.

It shocked him to realize, but that man had much more to him under the surface.

Realizing the danger quickly, Takabi clenched his muscles and released his power. His skin turned pure black and white hair shot down to the bottom of his back. He took towards the sky again, fire swallowing him whole. His head slammed hard into the Man's chin, before spinning and slamming the back of his foot into his chest. He flew downwards, Takabi giving chase, violet-white flames dancing around his fist. With a cry, he tossed it forward, allowing the raging fire to erupt in a violent explosion, the force blowing through block after block of the streets.

His body relaxed faintly, eyes moving upwards. Above him, the Man was crouching, watching Takabi, chuckling quietly to himself. "Yes, child. Give me even more joy. Make me feel alive!"

He stood upright, stretching his limbs wide at his sides. His chest expanded as he took in a heavy breath of air, his muscles bulging intensely under the robes. Takabi's eyes went wide as the Man released his magic, a beam of light tearing through the cloth around his mouth.

Letting his black wings stretch out, he rushed forward, avoiding each power blast. The Man jerked himself forward, bringing his head to the side and allowing the beam of magic to burrow through the soil, cutting it up, letting the dust rise into the air.

Takabi ducked under the beam as it clipped a few feathers off his left wing. Gritting his teeth and swallowing the pain, flames built around his wrists. With his last step, Takabi bent his knee and leapt at the Man like a meteor. Practically cutting through the air with his body, his fire danced around him, encasing him completely. His eyes focused on the Man, before he spun around, twirling the heat, and connecting his head with the Man's ribs.

He cried out, blood spewing from his mouth in a thick pool, Takabi driving his body forward, carrying the Man through wall after wall, until he slammed through the last bricked layer, hitting the ground, watching his opponent slide into the dirt a few feet away from him, between the battle damaged Jade and Sara.

Both looked at Takabi, shocked to see his transformed state. He released his Fallen Angel form quickly, standing up and rubbing his neck. As he did, the Man rose unnaturally, his body carried by the air. His hood fell, and facial features on full display.

Who he looked like, the spitting image left Takabi in a short trance. His black hair was slicked back just a bit. The mixture of violet and green in his eyes was now doused with a yellow haze. Darkness poured from his body in an alternating thin to thick cloud. His expression was one of someone insane. That calm demeanor he always held was cracked, and if not for his eyes Takabi might not have recognized him.

"Girston," He muttered.

"Gir..ston?" He tilted his head. "Ah. The man who owned this body. Do you know him?"

"Wha… Of course, I do. He's…" He paused a moment. Did he actually consider calling Girston his father? Regaining himself, he corrected his previous thoughts and said, "He's an Angel. An evil Angel that inhabits that body."

The Man touched his chest, blinking, before breathing in deeply. "Ah. Yes, I seem to have hazy memories of a man such as that." He looked between Jade and Sara, the pair unsure what to make of the current situation. They had been so involved in their battle they forgot about the attack. The animosity between the two left a nasty imprint in the Mana flowing through the air, and the Man felt it. He drew on it, raising his hands, markings beginning to raise up his skin.

The pattern was odd. A mixture of flames and snowflakes danced along his collarbone and face. Opening his eyes, they were a full yellow shade, untouched by the moonlight above. An aura erupted around him from his feet, calmly, sending a heavy chill through the air.

"Hold on," Takabi began. "The quality of your magic… It feels like…"

Clapping his hands together, the Man began to chat, "Soil Eruption!"

Beneath the three's feet, the concrete shattered instantly, dirt hardening and shooting up at them. All three quickly found themselves pierced with makeshift spears, coughing blood as he twitched and bent his fingers, drawing in the air.

"Concrete Graveyard!" The road began to rupture, ripping apart, giving way to massive tombstones, each one slamming into the trio, knocking them all around until they landed next to one another in heavy heap. "Purgatory Fire," the Man began, clutching his fist tightly, green fire dancing around his knuckles. "Endless Hellstorm!"

The fire surged at the three. Jade jumped to his feet first, shadows spinning around him and taking the full force of the fire. His wounds healed and Takabi leapt from Jade's shoulder, using his own flames to protect him, calling to the power of the White Gem. The markings appeared on his body, purity eroding all evil around him. The Man threw his fist forward, matching the punch Takabi threw, the equal force of their colliding punches caving the ground in more than it had been previously.

They watched each other closely, Takabi gritting his teeth before asking, "Who are you! What is that power!"

Joy filling his chest, he leapt back and took to the sky, looking down at Takabi. "If I remember correctly, you addressed me as Girston." He smiled, tossing his arms happily in the air. "Diablo shall be my name. Girston is no longer a thought."

"And your power," Jade asked as he and Sara approached Takabi.

"Well… I'd hate to spoil the surprise. Let's just say it's a test. After all, your blood is very rich." Diablo sneered at their shocked faces, dark mist rushing back around him. "I shall take my creatures back. You all are spared tonight. Good day." Blocked from sight, his body faded away with the mist, leaving the three to drink in the amount of damage done, and the last words he spoke.

"My blood is rich?" Takabi crossed his arms, releasing the power of the White Gem. "What the hell does that mean? Did he do something to Hailey's kid?"