"Suuuuuu..."
Hina inhaled deeply, steadying herself.
Both hands gripped her sword. Her stance sharpened — precise, coiled, dangerous.
Her eyes were locked onto the demon before her.
Roka the Devourer.
The name alone carried weight. His aura—thick, gluttonous, almost sickening—pulsed through the chamber like waves of pressure.
"An upper-class demon. That might be an hard one."
But the instinct scratching at the back of her skull didn't care about rankings.
"If I get pushed too far...If I snap—Things might get ugly."
She squinted slightly, adjusting her footing.
The tension between them was like a loaded spring.
"Oi," Roka rasped, grinning wide enough to show every inch of his jagged teeth. "You just gonna stand there like a doll? Has fear locked your legs? Huh?! I'll chomp you down whole!"
His voice grated the air, low and thick like swampwater.
"Shut your trap."
Hina's voice was cold.
Sharp enough to bite.
She took one step back, sliding her rear foot into position — the movement fluid, calm.
"I'm just figuring out the cleanest way...
to kill you painlessly."
"Noise! Useless yappings!" Roka laughed, saliva dripping from the edge of his lips. "You've already been chosen! You'll be nothing but meat—food for the feast!!"
Hina didn't blink.
She simply raised her blade a fraction higher.
Then—
"...Dark Sorcery."
A whisper, like a spell from the abyss.
Tendrils of dark energy slithered out from her skin — rising like smoke, coating her arms and sword in a sheen of shadowed violet.
The blade hissed.
The temperature dropped.
Reality itself seemed to pull away from the edges of her form.
"Futile!"
Roka rasped, stretching his arms wide like a mock deity.
"I need to end this fast!"
Hina gritted her teeth—and vanished in a burst of speed.
"Death Cleaver!"
Her voice sliced the air as she brought her sword down in an X-shaped slash, dark energy erupting from the blade.
It carved through the space—
But hit nothing.
"Where is he?!"
She immediately spun on instinct—And froze.
Roka stood right behind her. Smirking. His aura flaring with anti-tenzen.
"Yo."
He raised one finger, casually.
Snap.
His fingertip tapped her forehead—then—
Whoosh!
A burst of force sent Hina flying. She crashed into the wall, trailing blood in the air.
"Oi oi oi!" Roka laughed wildly.
"That pathetic swing? Please! You thought that could hurt me?"
Before she could get up—
BAM!
He slammed his fist into her gut, the impact shaking the floor.
"Devourer's Tide!"
Roka roared, unleashing a rapid-fire barrage of fists.
Hina blocked and dodged as best she could—sword clashing, feet skidding—but several blows landed hard.
"Hahaha!"
Roka grinned wide, stopping his assault with a dramatic spin.
Whoosh.
"Damn it... I can't lose control—can't snap—if I do, it's over..."
"No... NOOO!"
Her sword pulsed.
Black energy surged from her hands, flooding into the blade, stretching it—twisting it.
She roared and swung—
CRACK!
The slash detonated on contact with the floor, dark flames erupting in every direction.
"Eh? Still weak."
Roka danced through it, slipping past her strike again with mocking ease.
Then—
Boom!
His fist struck Hina's face mid-swing. A shockwave exploded outward.
She flew across the room and slammed into the far wall.
Dust billowed. Her body slumped against the stone.
Blood dripped from her chin.
"I'm Roka! The Devourer!"
He roared, arms stretched wide.
"You think that weak attack could hurt me?! Hahaha! Pathetic! You're weak! Disgustingly weak!"
Drip… drip…
A thick trail of blood slipped down Hina's forehead, but something had changed. The air warped. The shadows deepened. A creeping pressure settled on the battlefield—so heavy it made the ground moan.
Then—
WHUUM.
A pulse of darkness shook the air, as if something ancient had awoken.
Roka's breath hitched.
He felt it—something that did not belong in this plane. "What's this?" He whispered.
And then...Hina began to float.
Slowly and unnaturally.
Her head hung low, arms limp, blood seeping down her face and fingertips like ink in water.
"Ehh…? I haven't seen something so red in years."
Her voice was hushed. Detached. The syllables twisted, distorted slightly—like something speaking through her.
She raised a hand, dragged her blood-soaked fingers down her face… and laughed softly under her breath.
It wasn't Hina's laugh.
"Still pretending, huh?" Roka growled, shaken but sneering.
"I'll peel your skin off and savor your screams. You'll—"
"Silence."
The command cut through the room like a blade.
"You slobber like a dog before a banquet, but you don't even know whose table you've stepped on."
Her lips curled into a smile—slow and venomous.
"Devourer. Is that what you call yourself? How quaint. You speak of hunger… yet stand in front of famine incarnate."
She lifted her head.
BOOM.
Another blast of cursed energy blew through the room like a scream.
Her hair—longer now—blew wildly, its color shifting to a deep, bloodred shade.
Her eyes glowed red with vertical slits.
Black marks etched across her skin—cruel, ceremonial, ancient.
Her grin widened.
"You should've let me rest, fool."
Roka's knees buckled.
He stepped back in horror.
"Impossible! A-Aralyss… Aralyss Nyxvoria…? T-The Dreadveil?"
His voice cracked.
"You—no… no, the legends say you died! You—!"
"You believed legends?" she interrupted, voice rising like a storm.
"What insolence?"
She leaned forward slightly.
"You insects always do this. You mistake dormancy for death. You mistake grace for weakness."
Her smile turned vicious.
"But that's fine. Every era needs a reminder."
The air thickened.
Even the walls groaned as her presence grew.
"Bow."
The word wasn't loud—but it bent reality itself.
BAM!
Roka dropped like a puppet with its strings cut, forehead smashing into the floor.
"L-Lord Aralyss!!" he cried.
She laughed.
"There it is. The truth your spine always knew."
She stepped forward, floating inches above the floor.
"Now then…"
She raised one long, sharpened nail.
"I'm merciful, aren't I?"
Her grin widened, almost playfully.
"Ten seconds."
Roka's breath caught.
"Ten seconds to flee. If you escape my range, you live."
She tilted her head mockingly.
"Run, Devourer. Let's see how far cowardice can carry you."
"One."
***
TBC