The sky cracked open as the chains above the demon capital flared with violet light.
Below, in the shadow of the castle, two figures stood alone.
Wind howled. Lightning flashed.
Ren Arashi adjusted his coat, flicked a speck of dust off his rapier, and said:
"So. That's seven demons."
Kuroblade Nightshade raised his hood dramatically. "I count eight."
Ren blinked. "No, there are definitely seven."
"I'm including myself."
Aria, from the safe distance of very far away, called out, "Focus, you morons!"
They emerged in formation—towering figures of warped magic and pure menace, each radiating their sin like a perfume made of anxiety.
* Wrath: Fire-skinned, tusked brute with twin chainblades.
* Pride: Armored duelist with mirrored skin and a floating crown.
* Greed: Hunched demon with claws made of stolen spells.
* Envy: Sleek shapeshifter with one eye always watching Ren.
* Sloth: Floating cocoon of swirling runes that pulsed once per minute.
* Lust: Pale, hypnotic figure whose voice echoed in every direction at once.
* Gluttony: A writhing mass of mouths and limbs, dragging itself by consuming the ground beneath it.
They moved like a wave of inevitability.
Ren stepped forward.
"We'll make this quick," he said.
Kuroblade raised a hand.
"I cast Covenant of Calamity."
Lightning struck the ground behind them for no reason.
Wrath charged first, fire trailing from his blades.
Ren met him midair, rapier drawn, a crescent arc of light blasting from the first strike.
> "Dawnpiercer Spiral!"
Chains shattered. Wrath's armor cracked.
Ren landed, spun, parried two counterattacks and shouted, "Try to keep up!"
Kuroblade didn't answer—because he was too busy reversing a gravity field cast by Greed and Envy using Ebon Chain Collapse, yanking the two generals into each other.
> "You cannot steal the abyss," he intoned, voice dark and smug.
Pride descended next.
"Only one of us is worthy of glory," the mirror demon said.
Ren looked confused. "I'm sorry, which one of us just reflected sunlight off their own cheekbones to blind you?"
He flashed a grin.
Pride roared.
Ren and Kuroblade moved like lunatics in sync.
Ren clashed with Pride in a flurry of rapier lunges—each blocked, deflected, then twisted into position.
Kuroblade summoned a shifting rune prison around Sloth, whose time-warp magic slowed everything inside.
Except for Kuroblade, who whispered: "I'm already too slow to notice."
Then blasted the cocoon with *Soul Torrent: Unsealed Memory*, detonating stored attacks from earlier spells.
Aria screamed from her hiding spot, "STOP FIGHTING CONCEPTS!"
Gluttony surged forward—a grotesque mass that swallowed Ren's light beams and laughed.
"I absorb your light," it hissed.
Ren held out a hand.
"Okay. Try eating this—"
And ignited the sky.
> "Ultimate Limit: Sunburst Finale!"
The beam carved through Gluttony's chest like butter made of hubris.
It didn't die.
But it *stopped laughing.*
Lust tried to seduce Kuroblade with a voice that bent space.
He didn't even flinch.
"I already serve a mistress," he said, and activated Forbidden Veil: Eclipsed Devotion.
The resulting feedback charmed Lust back into thinking she wasn't evil for six seconds.
Kuroblade used that time to encase her in a rune-locked sarcophagus of light and shadow.
Envy shifted into a perfect copy of Ren.
His stance. His moves.
Even his sword.
Ren watched him for five seconds.
Then smiled.
"I always wanted to fight someone this handsome."
They clashed across rooftops and fallen towers, rapier against rapier, light against mimicry.
Ren was faster.
He wasn't fighting with skill.
He was fighting with style.
Aria watched from behind a half-destroyed shield barrier and muttered, "I need to start drinking."
Only Pride and Wrath remained standing.
Barely.
Ren stood shoulder to shoulder with Kuroblade, both panting, both bleeding, both smiling like idiots.
Pride raised his sword.
Wrath ignited with flame.
And the two heroes said, in perfect unison:
> "Dual Limit Art: Eclipse Spiral Breaker."
Ren launched skyward, light wrapping around him in a radiant spiral.
Kuroblade summoned a black eclipse beneath them.
And then, with zero warning, both heroes crashed through the enemy lines in a streak of fused magic—white and black, dawn and night, screaming something that probably sounded cooler in their heads.
Impact.
Silence.
Collapse.
The battlefield smoked.
The generals were down, sealed, unconscious, or just plain deleted.
Kuroblade fell onto his knees.
Ren dropped beside him.
Aria stepped into view, singed but unharmed.
"Told you not to blow up half the plaza."
Kuroblade coughed. "We saved the rest."
Ren grinned up at the castle.
"They're probably in worse shape up there."
Aria snorted. "I doubt it."