6

The ground beneath their feet shuddered as another wave of dark energy erupted from Kouta's transformed body. His new form cast an elongated shadow across the ruined stadium floor - muscular and imposing, crowned by a wild mane of midnight hair that whipped in the energy currents surrounding him. But it was his eyes that truly marked the change: blood-red orbs that held no trace of humanity, only an ancient, primal fury.

Chunks of concrete and twisted metal orbited his body like debris around a black hole, pulled by the sheer gravitational force of his power. Each breath he took came out as steam in the suddenly cold air, and where his feet touched the ground, the surface cracked and blackened.

"Magnificent," Amaterasu breathed, her metalic suit adjusting and recalibrating in response to the massive energy readings. "To think this much raw power was hidden in such an unremarkable vessel."

Yüsēi struggled to his feet, his rejuvenated form showing signs of strain from the earlier battle. Golden light still emanated from his body, but it flickered like a candle in a storm compared to the inferno of his grandson's transformation. "You have no idea what you've awakened."

A sound emerged from Kouta's throat - not words, but a growl that seemed to resonate at a frequency that made everyone's bones ache. The air itself appeared to distort around him, reality bending under the weight of power never meant to exist in the human world.

Behind a collapsed section of stadium seating, Himari grabbed Moon Moon's arm. "We need to get out of here! Like, five minutes ago!"

"No argument here," Moon Moon whispered back, her hair dusted with concrete powder. "But in case you haven't noticed, we're kind of trapped between demon boy and psycho chrome lady!"

The two idols flinched as another tremor shook the stadium. Through a gap in the rubble, they could see Yumi-Chan several yards away, pressed against a support column, her eyes wide as she watched the scene unfold.

Amaterasu took a step forward, her clawed gauntlet extending toward Kouta. "Come, young prince. Let me guide you back to your true home, to your destiny-"

She didn't finish. Kouta's form blurred, and suddenly he was on her, moving with such speed that the air cracked in his wake. His clawed hand slashed through the space where her head had been a split second before. She barely managed to dodge, and even then, her visor cracked from the pressure wave of his attack.

"No strategy," she noted, backflipping away from another wild swing. "No technique. Pure instinct and rage. Like a beast that's been caged too long."

Kouta responded with another roar, this one powerful enough to shatter what remained of the stadium's lights. In the sudden darkness, his crimson eyes burned like twin stars, leaving trails of light as he moved.

The fight that followed was unlike anything the witnesses had ever seen. Kouta fought with the raw fury of a natural disaster - all power and no restraint. Where Amaterasu's movements were precise and measured, his were wild and unpredictable. He would slash at her with claws wreathed in dark energy, then immediately slam both fists into the ground, sending shockwaves in all directions.

"We have to do something!" Yumi-Chan called out from her position. "He's going to tear himself apart fighting like that!"

"Stay back!" Yüsēi warned, creating a barrier of golden energy as debris flew in her direction. "In this state, he'll attack anything that moves. The demon blood has completely overwhelmed his consciousness."

Saori watched from the edge of the battlefield, her hands clenched into fists. Every instinct told her to run, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from what her best friend had become. The boy who had helped her with math homework, who had shared his lunch when she forgot hers, who had always been there with a quiet word of support, who had never kissed a girl before - now transformed into something from humanity's darkest nightmares.

"This is wrong," she whispered, then louder: "This is WRONG!"

Her voice carried across the battlefield, but Kouta showed no sign of hearing her. He was fully engaged in his assault on Amaterasu, who was finding it increasingly difficult to avoid his attacks. His fighting style was becoming more erratic, more dangerous - to himself as much as to his opponent.

Dark energy began to pool around his hands, condensing into something that made the air itself seem to recoil. Amaterasu detected the danger immediately trying to put distance between them.

"The fool's going to kill us all," she muttered, her voice carrying a note of genuine concern for the first time.

Yüsēi recognized the building power with horror. "No... he's accessing too much too quickly. His body can't handle that level of demon energy!"

The darkness around Kouta's hands spread up his arms, his skin cracking to reveal veins of molten power underneath. His roars had become screams of pain, but he couldn't stop himself. The power demanded release.

"Everyone get down!" Yüsēi shouted, throwing up the strongest barrier he could manage. "He's going to-"

The explosion that followed defied description. It was as if a small sun had been born and died in the span of a heartbeat. The pressure wave flattened what remained of the stadium's structure, and a pillar of dark energy shot into the sky, parting the clouds for miles around.

When the dust began to settle, Kouta stood at the center of a massive crater, his transformed body showing signs of strain. Parts of his skin had burned away, revealing the raw power underneath, and steam rose from his form in waves.

Amaterasu emerged from behind a barrier of her own, her chrome suit scorched and dented but still regenerating. "Impressive... but ultimately meaningless if you destroy yourself in the process."

She was right. Each surge of power was doing more damage to Kouta's body. The demon blood gave him incredible strength, but his half-human form wasn't designed to channel it. Dark energy leaked from the cracks in his skin like blood from wounds.

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"I have to reach him," Saori said, taking a step forward.

Yumi-Chan grabbed her arm. "Are you crazy? He'll kill you!"

"He's dying!" Saori shot back, tears streaming down her face. "Look at him! His body is literally tearing itself apart! I don't care if he's some demon prince or whatever - he's my friend, and I won't watch him destroy himself!"

Before anyone could stop her, she broke free and ran toward the crater. Himari and Moon Moon emerged from their hiding place, shouting for her to come back, but she ignored them.

"Kouta!" she called out, sliding down the crater's slope. "Kouta, stop this! Please!"

His head snapped toward her, those inhuman eyes fixing on her with predatory focus. A growl rumbled in his chest as he turned to face this new target.

"That's right," she continued, taking another step closer despite every survival instinct screaming at her to run. "Look at me. Really look at me. I'm not afraid of you."

"Foolish girl," Amaterasu sneered. "The boy you knew is gone. There's only the demon now."

But Saori kept walking forward, even as Kouta's power lashed around her like razor wire. "Remember when we first met? In middle school? You were reading manga alone at lunch, and I asked if I could join you. You were so surprised anyone wanted to sit with you that you knocked your drink over."

Another step. The dark energy was burning her skin now, but she didn't stop.

"Remember last night? That terrible date you went on? You called me afterward, and we stayed up for hours talking about it. You said you'd never find someone, and I told you to stop being so dramatic."

Kouta's growl faltered. Something flickered in those crimson eyes - confusion, recognition, pain.

"I don't care what you are," Saori continued, now close enough to reach out and touch him. "Human, demon, prince - none of that matters. You're my best friend. And I'm not losing you to this."

She wrapped her arms around him, ignoring the searing pain of contact with his power-wreathed form. For a moment, everything went still. Then Kouta's body tensed, and a sound escaped him - not a roar this time, but something closer to a whimper.

"Sa... ori..." The word came out distorted, barely recognizable, but it was there.

"I'm here," she whispered, holding him tighter even as his power burned her. "I'm right here."

"It hurts," he managed, his voice a grotesque mixture of human and demon. "Everything... hurts..."

"I know," she said. "But you have to fight it."

Amaterasu watched with growing concern as Kouta's chaotic energy began to stabilize. "No... NO! I won't let you ruin everything!"

She launched herself forward, claws extended for a killing strike aimed at Saori's exposed back. But before she could reach them, a golden barrier materialized in her path.

"I don't think so," Yüsēi said, his power flaring. "My grandson is fighting his own battle right now. You'll have to deal with me."

The demon general skidded to a halt, reassessing the situation. The heir's power was changing, becoming more focused. The girl's words were reaching him, helping him find some kind of equilibrium between his human consciousness and demon nature. If she didn't act soon, her mission would be a complete failure.

But something shifted inside Kouta. His crimson eyes flickered, the rage in them dimming like dying embers. The dark energy surrounding him sputtered and crackled, his transformed body swaying unsteadily.

"K-Kouta?" Saori whispered, taking a tentative step forward.

The demonic aura dissipated like smoke in the wind. His features softened, muscles contracting as his body returned to its human form. With a quiet groan, he collapsed forward. Saori rushed to catch him, cradling his unconscious form in her arms.

"Well, this is disappointing," Amaterasu sneered, advancing toward them. "But perhaps it's for the best. The prince clearly needs proper guidance to control his power."

Yüsēi moved to intercept her, but a sudden flash of light stopped him in his tracks. Four figures materialized around Amaterasu, each radiating deadly power.

The first to step forward was a towering warrior with an aura of overwhelming confidence, his armor gleaming with radiant streaks of silver and blue. His piercing golden eyes seemed to scan everything with calculated precision, and his black cape shimmered faintly, like the night sky. Tribal markings adorned his exposed arms. "General Amaterasu," his voice rumbled like distant thunder, "we came as soon as we detected the prince's awakening."

"Sirius," Amaterasu's voice carried a note of irritation. "I don't recall requesting assistance."

To her left stood a lithe figure clad in fiery orange and crimson armor, her glowing hair resembling a cascade of molten gold. Her sharp amber eyes glinted with the heat of restrained fury, and faint embers seemed to trail her movements. "With all due respect, General," she said, her voice cold and precise, "the Council insisted we ensure the heir's retrieval."

"Of course they did, Betelgeuse" Amaterasu muttered.

The third warrior, stocky yet agile, wore frost-coated white and silver armor adorned with patterns of swirling ice. His rugged face bore a weathered expression, with icy blue eyes that seemed to cut through anyone who dared to look. A layer of frost clung to his breath as he growled, "Besides," he growled, cracking his armored knuckles, "we couldn't miss all the fun, could we?"

"Stand down, Polaris," commanded the fourth figure – tall and graceful in shimmering black-and-violet armor that sparkled with hints of starlight. Her long, dark hair framed her pale face, and her violet eyes held a calm, piercing wisdom. In her hand, she carried a blade that seemed to absorb light, its edge flickering like a distant constellation. "We're here to complete the mission, not indulge your bloodlust."

"Always the voice of reason, aren't you, Vega?" Polaris spat.

Yüsēi's eyes narrowed as he assessed the new threats. "Five against one? Now it becomes an even fight."

Amaterasu laughed. "You seem nervous, hero."

The attack came without warning from Amaterasu. Sirius and Polaris charged from opposite directions while Betelgeuse ignited the air around her, sending waves of flame toward Yüsēi. Vega disappeared in a ripple of light, only to reappear behind him with her void blade poised to strike.

Yüsēi moved with incredible speed, ducking under Sirius’s devastating punch while deflecting Polaris’s icy kick. He spun away from Vega’s blade and erected a barrier against Betelgeuse’s fiery barrage. But five elite warriors proved too much, even for him. Each time he countered one, another found an opening.

Sirius’s fist struck him in the ribs with the force of a collapsing star. Before he could recover, Polaris’s frosted leg swept his feet out. As he fell, Vega’s blade sliced through the air. Yüsēi barely managed to dodge, but the dark energy still carved a deep gash across his chest.

"Your reputation precedes you, hero," Vega remarked, readying another strike. "But even legends fall."

Yüsēi struggled to his feet, golden energy fluctuating around him. Blood trickled from numerous wounds, but his eyes remained defiant. "As long as I draw breath, you won't take him."

"Then perhaps," Polaris’s icy breath crystallized in the air, "you should stop breathing."

The frost-armored warrior advanced, his hands emanating an aura of biting cold. Yüsēi lunged forward, preparing to counter, but Betelgeuse unleashed a fiery arc that forced him to dodge. Polaris seized the moment, gripping Yüsēi’s left arm. Frost spread rapidly from his touch, encasing Yüsēi’s arm in a thick layer of shimmering ice.

Yüsēi’s golden energy surged in an attempt to free himself, but Polaris’s freezing grip was relentless. With a chilling crack, Polaris twisted his hand, and Yüsēi’s frozen arm shattered into countless crystalline shards that glittered briefly before hitting the ground.

Yüsēi screamed in agony, stumbling backward as blood poured from the jagged stump where his arm had been. Golden energy flickered weakly around him, struggling to hold his broken body together.

"NO!" Saori's cry echoed across the ruined stadium as she clutched Kouta's unconscious form tighter.

Amaterasu approached the fallen hero, her chrome armor reflecting the carnage around them. "I won't kill you," she said, her voice almost gentle. "You should live to see what the heir becomes under proper guidance."

She turned to her warriors. "Sirius, retrieve the prince. It’s time we returned home."

The massive warrior moved toward Saori, who tried desperately to drag Kouta away. But her efforts were futile. With a single motion, Sirius lifted Kouta’s limp form from her arms.

"Please," Saori begged, tears streaming down her face. "Don't take him!"

But her pleas fell on deaf ears. Amaterasu raised her hand, and in a flash of crimson light, she and her warriors vanished – taking Kouta with them.

Yüsēi collapsed to his knees, his remaining hand pressed against the charred stump of his arm. The golden light of his power faded completely, leaving him looking old and frail once more. His voice was barely a whisper as he stared at the spot where his grandson had been.

"I'm sorry, Kouta. I failed you."