The scene opened on a view from above: a vast stretch of the jungle, utterly ruined and destroyed by the celestial impact. The broken, splintered trees and fractured earth were bathed in the cold, pale luminescence of the full moon. Shadows, deep and grotesque, stretched across the shattered landscape, creating an environment that was both silent and profoundly unsettling.
The four companions were moving through this wasteland, their pace determined but cautious. They relied solely on the moonlight to guide their path, rendering torches unnecessary. Takashi led the way, his focus entirely on the destination: the site where the enormous, alien sphere had impacted. Kento followed slightly behind and to the right, his senses heightened, his new power making him restless. On the left side walked Sami and Nitsuki, armed with their salvaged weapons and armor, the non-powered members relying on the physical protection of the equipment and the metaphysical protection of their friends.
"This place is totally ruined," Nitsuki commented, his voice calm but soft, surveying the scale of the destruction.
"Yes," Takashi confirmed, barely glancing away from their path. "Because of that stone. Let's go there fast. We need to analyze it and find the source of these events."
As they moved through a clearing, Sami's eyes narrowed, spotting a large, dark shape ahead. "Guys. Look," she whispered, her tone urgent. "There is another Soul Reaper."
Kento, eager for another easy victory, grinned. "Leave it to me," he said with an arrogant smirk, already preparing to charge his Phore.
But as the moonlight shone fully upon the creature, they all realized that this monster was fundamentally different from the generic, multi-headed Reapers they had fought near the school.
"Wait…" Takashi said, stopping dead, his analytical mind instantly recognizing the deviation. "This one isn't like the ones we've been fighting until now."
The monster was terrifyingly specialized: it possessed a single, massive head atop a long, thick neck. It walked on five stocky legs, carried four powerful wings folded on its back, and possessed a colossal tail. Its face was reptilian, resembling an immense, armored dinosaur. They could visibly perceive heat radiating from its body, creating a strange, unnatural fog that was beginning to drift around it.
"I've seen it somewhere… ohh yeah," Takashi murmured, his memory placing the creature precisely. "It's a 3rd-grade Soul Reaper. Its ability is to release smoke from its body, making the area completely foggy. After the fog sets in, it releases intense heat, causing the atmosphere to become super-heated. From within that fog, it can launch unexpected, focused attacks, primarily fireballs it creates and throws from its mouth."
Kento's smirk vanished, replaced by an expression of frustrated concern. "How do you know that?"
"It's given in the Soul Apocalypse book, right?" Sami interjected, already connecting the dots.
"Right!" Takashi confirmed.
But Nitsuki, standing slightly to the side, was observing more than just the immediate threat. He scanned the entire, distant perimeter, his fear giving way to sharp observation. He saw subtle movements, darker shapes barely visible in the lunar shadows. "Hey, there isn't just one 3rd-grade Soul Reaper here," he warned, his voice rising in alarm. "There are many more scattered in the distance!"
At that moment, the first monster began to act, releasing a torrent of thick, black smoke from its body, rapidly engulfing the immediate area.
"Nitsuki, hide with Sami in a safe place. Now," Takashi commanded.
"Got it," Nitsuki replied, gripping Sami's arm.
Nitsuki quickly moved Sami to the left side, pushing through the ruined foliage. Ahead, he spotted a deep, shadowed depression in the earth—a pit created by debris impact.
"Alright, let's hide here," Sami agreed instantly. "Even if it's not completely safe, we can at least avoid some of this situation and give them cover."
Nitsuki moved first, slowly descending into the pit, carefully holding onto broken trees and strong vines for support. "Be careful, Sami. Slowly descend, holding onto the wood and vines," he advised.
Sami followed, but her foot slipped on the loose earth, and she lost her grip on the wet vine. "Ahhh!" she cried out.
"Nooo!" Nitsuki shouted.
Sami tumbled the remaining short distance, landing directly on top of Nitsuki.
"Ugh!" Nitsuki groaned, winded, the combined weight of their bodies knocking the air from his lungs.
"Ahh, sorry, sorry," Sami quickly apologized, scrambling to move.
"Get off my body and move!" Nitsuki muttered, pushing her gently.
Sami carefully rolled off him and stood. She reached out her hand toward Nitsuki, who grabbed it and pulled himself up. Now in the pit, the moonlight was almost completely blocked, plunging them into near-total darkness.
"It's a little dark. I can't see properly," Sami said, adjusting her armor.
"Yeah, same goes for me," Nitsuki confirmed.
The two of them relaxed slightly, realizing they were out of immediate sight. Nitsuki was still holding Sami's hand—a subtle, necessary comfort in the terrifying dark. But the peace was fragile. Ahead, they noticed a strange, bright yellow glow penetrating the gloom.
"Hey, Sami. What I'm seeing, can you see it too?" Nitsuki whispered.
"Yeah. Something is glowing yellow," Sami confirmed, her voice laced with renewed apprehension.
(The Fog of War)
Above ground, the area had become a dense, stifling gray cloud of smoke and fog, reducing visibility to nearly zero. Takashi and Kento could no longer see each other.
"Heyy, are you alright?" Kento shouted, his voice echoing eerily in the fog. "I can't see anything in this fog!"
The air began to change—it grew noticeably hotter, heavy and stifling, exactly as Takashi had predicted.
"Yeah, but be careful," Takashi shouted back. "The atmosphere is getting hotter. He is definitely going to attack soon."
"Look after yourself," Kento responded, fueled by Phore energy. "Nothing will happen to me!"
Immediately following Kento's declaration, a massive fireball, easily five times the size of a football, hurtled through the fog toward his voice. Luckily, Kento reacted with hyper-speed, jumping high and surviving the blast, which impacted the ground with explosive force.
"Damn... this fireball size is huge, bigger than I imagined," Kento muttered, hovering in the air.
"I told you to be careful," Takashi's voice chastised from somewhere in the mist.
Another fireball was immediately thrown toward Kento. Since he had jumped, he was floating above the ground using small bursts of thunder energy to counteract gravity. From this slight elevation, Kento could briefly glimpse the vague direction from which the fireball had originated.
"Hahaa!! I found you," Kento shouted triumphantly, his focus narrowing.
At the same time, another fireball was thrown toward Takashi, but his speed was high enough that he easily dodged it, making only a faint kinetic displacement in the smoke.
"Really? Where is that Soul Reaper?" Takashi asked, readying himself.
Kento unleashed his power, sending electric lines from all the fingers of both his hands. The energized lines struck the incoming fireball. The immense electric current caused the fireball to shatter slightly, then vanish completely.
"First tell me where you are!" Kento demanded, needing to coordinate.
Kento used small thunder waves from his feet to push against the air, allowing him to rise slightly above the smoke line. Takashi also charged up and jumped vertically, rising just high enough for Kento to spot his signature yellow aura through the dissipating smoke layer above.
"Ahh, I see you," Kento said. "Stay there and listen to me!"
"Ok. Tell me quickly," Takashi agreed.
"Run straight ahead," Kento instructed rapidly. "You'll see a big tree—the biggest one left. Move to the left side of that tree… and ahead of that, the Soul Reaper threw a fireball toward me! That's its position!"
"Got it," Takashi confirmed.
Takashi was charging up, but a fresh fireball suddenly erupted from the fog. Takashi dodged it just in time, then launched himself straight ahead. He reached the big tree, took a sharp left turn, his speed snapping broken wood out of his path.
"It's getting hotter," Takashi noted, the stifling heat pressing on him. "Maybe I am almost there."
While running, Takashi suddenly jumped and delivered a powerful kick to the ground, which momentarily caused the nearby smoke to rise and swirl. In that brief window, he could see the massive 3rd-grade Soul Reaper a short distance ahead. Without wasting any time, Takashi went straight for the Soul Reaper and delivered a fierce kick to its body! The blow connected, but the immense, armored creature only moved slightly, largely unaffected.
"Ahh, his body is way too hot," Takashi gasped, pulling back immediately, his speed barely saving him from severe burns. "I won't be able to go near it a second time, otherwise I'll be completely burned!"
"Leave it to me then," Kento said, his voice hard. "Now I can see him clearly. Move far away, Takashi."
Kento focused his entire will. He slowly raised his left hand above his head, and his right hand gradually rose to meet it. Between his two hands, a small electric energy ball began to form, coalescing from the raw Phore energy within him. The ball moved slightly above his hands, and as it grew, it rapidly expanded to the size of a large fireball. He pointed both hands toward the Soul Reaper, and the massive electric energy ball started moving toward its target.
As he channeled the unprecedented amount of power, Kento muttered his inner thoughts aloud, driven by pure instinct. "I don't know what's happening. I don't know how I'm able to do all this. It feels like all my strength has gone into this one energy ball. But right now, none of that matters. What matters is winning this battle. No matter what… I'm going to defeat this Soul Reaper."
The Soul Reaper, recognizing the immense, concentrated threat, threw three fireballs at the energy ball at once, desperately trying to save itself. But as the fireballs approached the electric energy ball, they instantly vanished, consumed by the sheer electrical force. The energy ball then directly hit the 3rd-grade Soul Reaper, causing a cataclysmic blast. That explosion turned the night into temporary day, illuminating the entire ruined jungle. All the oppressive smoke and fog cleared instantly, revealing the obliterated remains of the powerful Soul Reaper.
With this, they had defeated the formidable 3rd-grade monster.
"Unbelievable," Takashi whispered, staring at the raw power Kento had just unleashed. "How can he manage to use his Phore at this amount!"
At the same time, Kento started falling from above, completely depleted. Takashi noticed him and, using a final burst of speed, ran to catch him before he hit the ground.
"He used so much Phore without knowing anything about it," Takashi muttered as he gently held the unconscious Kento. "Right now, let him remain unconscious for a while. His body needs rest."
But this was a battlefield of death, and safety was an illusion. The immense blast had not deterred the Soul Reapers. Because of the explosion, five more 3rd-grade Soul Reapers arrived instantly at the scene, their ominous shapes appearing nearby.