The flames had barely died out in Craterhold, but peace was an illusion. The city's ruins whispered of something worse—something crawling beneath the rubble and through the cracks of broken trust.
In the Ministry's central tower, Daiki stood before a relic window of stained glass and ancient circuitry. Wind danced around him, unsettled.
"Something's not right," he muttered.
He couldn't explain it. The air didn't flow the way it should. It felt… polluted. Not by smoke or blood, but by intention.
The Four were summoned to a secret chamber beneath the Ministry. Vaulted ceilings towered above with floating lights, glowing with old tech magic. The High Seer of the Ministry stood cloaked in white, his beard long and silver.
"We have a traitor within our walls," he said."And they wear the face of an ally."
The boys exchanged glances. Trust was already fragile. Now it was threadbare.
Haru stepped forward, tone sharp.
"So who is it? You've got foresight priests, right? Can't they see the truth?"
The Seer's eyes met Ren's.
"His gift is stronger than most. But even his Sight cannot peer through betrayal when the heart itself is unsure."
Ren lowered his eyes.
"I've seen flashes. One of us bleeding. One of us standing over the other. But I couldn't see who."
Daiki gritted his teeth.
"Then we watch each other's backs even harder. No one dies tonight."
In the background, whispers spread. Some Ministry clerics questioned the Four's loyalty. After all, wasn't it strange how demons always found them? The Vatican's agents fanned the flames expertly.
In a backroom tavern of Craterhold, a Ministry soldier slammed his mug on the table.
"They say those kids brought the demons here. That they're cursed."
Another muttered,
"They ain't cursed… they're the storm. Wherever they go, war follows."
Outside, a child stared at a crumbling wall where a painting of the Four had been scrawled in charcoal. Someone had crossed their faces with red.
Night fell like a blade across the sky.
From the northern wilds came a tremor. Trees snapped. The earth quaked. And out stepped the first of the Abyss's new generals—Zahakel, the Soul Eater, a demon draped in broken angel wings and armor forged from human bones.
He knelt beside a ruined church.
"This world has forgotten fear," he whispered, voice like splintered glass."Let me remind them."
With a roar, the skies turned black.
Lightning tore the heavens open, and from Zahakel's summoning rune, beasts crawled out—scaled horrors, bipedal monstrosities, and laughing wraiths with hollow eyes.
The city's alarm bells screamed.
Ministry soldiers rallied, but they were not enough.
Daiki leapt from the Ministry tower, sword drawn, air splitting behind him.
"We stop them here!"
Haru somersaulted down from a roof, twin pistols blazing.Each shot turned the air molten, incinerating wraiths before they landed.
Ren's visions danced like a flicker in his eyes, shouting,
"Two behind, one cloaked! Daiki, left—now!"
Daiki spun midair, slicing a leaping demon in two.
Icarus tore through rubble like a moving tank, punching the earth and launching spears of stone into the incoming tide.
But then…
"Icarus, wait!" Ren shouted."That one—it's different!"
Too late.
A horned demon disguised as a wounded child exploded with black fire, hurling Icarus across the street.
He groaned, rising slowly.
Zahakel floated above, six wings unfurled, each dripping with shadow.
"You are not the end," he sneered."You are the warm-up."
As the battle reached its climax, Ren gasped—his mind tearing open.
A vision. Crystal clear.
A shadowed figure passed Ministry gates, leading Zahakel's cult directly inside.
And it was…
"No…" he breathed.
He turned to the others.
"Someone in the Ministry let them in."
The High Seer. The same man who had given them sanctuary.
In the tower, the Seer stood before a hidden shrine—not of the Light, but of the Abyss. His palms bled on a dark altar.
"The prophecy is flawed," he whispered."The Four will not save us. They will bring ruin unless guided."
A Vatican sigil glowed beneath his robes.
The Four, bruised and bloodied, regrouped.
Ren clutched his temples.
"We're pawns in a war between liars."
Daiki nodded grimly.
"Then let's be kings instead."
Haru loaded his last clip.
"We're not dying here. I got a date with a bath and a sandwich."
Icarus grinned through a broken tooth.
"Let's show them what monsters really look like."
They charged as one.
Daiki split the sky.Haru painted fire into art.Ren controlled chaos itself.And Icarus brought mountains to life.
Their combined assault tore through Zahakel's army in a flash of wind, fire, stone, and will.
Zahakel fell — but not before whispering,
"The Abyss remembers you."