Hisoka stumbled back, eyes wide as Tamotsu materialized behind him again.
Tamotsu silver eyes glowing "Your blood... it's wrong. Flickers like dying embers. Where's your rage? Your fear?"
Hisoka gripping scarred face "I'm not human. Not anymore. But scraps remain... just enough to want you." His demon claw twitched. "The Lord's will is all that matters now."
Tamotsu grinning wildly "Take me? I feel... energetic lets play.
Hisoka lunged. "Demon slash: Bone breaker!" Crimson claws tore through ash.
Tamotsu didn't dodge.
Water threads surged a shield of ice mist swallowed the slashes.
Earth threads shook the ground liquefied into black mud.
Hisoka slipped. "Grah—!"
Tamotsu leapt, soaring unnaturally high. "Try this." He flung his hand down.
Shards of dark metal—sharp as broken void—screamed from his palm.
Hisoka scrambled, but one shard impaled his thigh. Damn you—!"
He dove into the ash, vanishing down a hidden tunnel.
Tamotsu didn't hesitate. "Running? Tch."He plunged after him into darkness.
The acid-lava storm raged—until Hayate descended like a hurricane.
"Winds of Tranquility!" She spun, hands outstretched. Howling gales reversed. Clouds untangled. Rain still fell... but the chaos died.
She landed, scanning the scorched earth. Ice spikes. Magma burns. No Tamotsu. No Hisoka.
"Boy... what madness did you unleash now?"
Tamotsu dropped into a cavern lit by veins pulsing in the walls.
Silence.
Then—hundreds of eyes opened in the gloom.
Some figures looked near-human—haunted faces with marks and clothes torn.
Others were full demons— with cracked skin, bone blades, drooling fangs.
All stepped forward, encircling him.
A voice hissed from the shadows:
"Welcome... Combiner. The Lord awaits."
Tamotsu's silver eyes narrowed. His chest burned icy blue.
Finally. A real challenge.
Hisoka screamed as the dark metal shard in his leg disintegrated into dust. His flesh followed, ash-gray decay crawling up his thigh.
Hisoka Voice cracking "What did you do to me?!"
Tamotsu's posture shifted. Shoulders straightened. Silver eyes glowed darker.
Tamotsu Deep, echoing tone "Finally... back." He flexed his hands. "How long has it been? Centuries?"
Around him, half-human hybrids recoiled. Their features Long black nails like daggers
Mismatched eyes one human, one demon
Cracked violet runes along their necks
Tamotsu: "Insects." He raised a palm.
"Sido 57: Burning Ashes."
White fire erupted from the ground. Hybrids shrieked—
—except nine who slammed hands together:
"Demon-Style: Wall of Agony!"
A shield of twisted, screaming faces blocked the flames.
A figure materialized atop a bone throne—the Shadow Lord, cloaked in swirling darkness.
Shadow Lord: "You? But the Mask is gone. The Pact forbids—"
Tamotsu Ice coating his hand "The mark remains." He touched his chest. "You saw my face. You die."
He vanished. Reappeared behind the Lord, sword swinging—
—as the nine hybrids lunged:
"Demon-Style: Void Claws!"
"Demon-Style: Blood Chains!"
Tamotsu: "Sido 67: Omni-Sight."
His eyes became fractured mirrors.
Parried claws with a magma-armored forearm
Sliced chains with air-blades
Impaled three hybrids through their glowing runes
Shadow Lord: "Enough!"
He Swung sword with the bloody energy waves sliced air Tamotsu dodged; wave hit wall, exploding into shrapnel.
Then Stabbed ground blood geysers erupted under Tamotsu's feet.
Sword clashed with Tamotsu's blade sparks burned like acid where they landed.
The shadow lords sword dimmed after each blast.
Dark tendrils shot toward Tamotsu—
—his blade phased through reality, shearing the Lord's head off.
Only two hybrids remained:
A boy eighteen with broken horns and a girl nineteen with tear-streaked scars
Tamotsu: "Surrender? Then forget."
Hands on their foreheads. "Sido 36: Erase"
Their eyes glazed white.
He grabbed a porcelain mask left side weeping, right side laughing
Inky black aura bleeding from ragged robes
Offered a jagged obsidian key
Tamotsu: "let's go."
"Sido 36: Ascent Road."
A staircase of solid shadow pierced the cavern ceiling.
As they climbed, the soul wardens were waiting above.