As the dust settled, the magnitude of the explosion became apparent. Yet, amidst the chaos and destruction, the mountain stood resolute, as if untouched by the blast that had just erupted at its base.

As the mist cleared, it revealed a sight that chilled the bones of even the bravest warriors. The cloaked demon responsible for the illusionary mist stood unscathed, seemingly impervious to harm. His eerie presence was only heightened by the towering red ogre that stood at his side, guarding him. It was then that Kidomaru stepped forward, his spiked bat nonchalantly slung over his shoulder.

The spikes on the bat were sharp and deadly, yet they couldn't penetrate the tough skin of the ogre. Kidomaru, however, appeared completely at ease, as if he had faced similar foes countless times before. The only evidence of any damage was the faint trail of smoke emanating from the spiked bat. With a casual flick of his wrist, he brought the bat up and breathed on it as if it was a hot spoon.

I couldn't help but feel a sense of unease creeping over me. It wasn't just his towering presence or the way his sharp gaze seemed to penetrate right through us. No, there was something else at play here - a feeling of impending doom that settled heavily on my chest. Despite the fact that he hadn't unleashed any powerful Ord or made any aggressive moves, I knew that we were in a dangerous situation.

Kidomaru's quiet intensity was enough to make anyone tremble, and I could feel my own heart racing as I tried to steady my nerves. At that moment, I knew that we were facing a foe unlike any we had ever encountered before.

Kidomaru crouched, his powerful legs bulging with a rippling mass of muscle. Without warning, he exploded into motion, launching himself toward us with such force that I could scarcely follow his movements. Despite my trained senses, I struggled to keep up as he hurtled through the air, his speed and agility defying belief. It was as if he had disappeared entirely, moving too quickly for me to see him. For most people, covering the distance from the mountain to our position would have been impossible, but for Kidomaru, it was as effortless as leaping over a puddle.

CLANG!... The clash of metal reverberated through the air as Chariot confronted Kidomaru in mid-flight, their respective weapons - a spiked bat and a thin rapier - colliding with a grinding sound. Despite the danger of their confrontation, Chariot wore a wild, almost crazed expression on her face, her expertise as a Special Exorcist evident. "You're Ultimate Class, aren't you?"

As soon as those words left her mouth, hundreds of slashes rang out with lightning speed, each one impossible to track with the naked eye. In the blink of an eye, a deep cut appeared on Kidomaru's throat, causing him to stagger back in shock and pain. The red ogre's frown deepened as he swung his spiked bat in a wide arc, but before the weapon could connect with its intended target, something unexpected happened. Chariot, who had been standing motionless until now, suddenly sprang into action. Her heels glowed with a bright light, and in an instant, translucent angel-like wings sprouted from them. With a graceful movement, she leapt into the air, using the wings as if they were solid ground.

Fwish!… In an instant, she was behind him, and another large array of slashes landed, and a cut appeared on the back of his neck.

“You’re fast,” Kidomaru said as he landed, the ground below his feet cracking like a spider web.

“And you're durable as hell,” Chariot said as she landed within arm’s length of him. There was not a trace of fear in her silvery gaze. “It’s a shame, really, since I am at 80% and still can't do much. The last guy at your level I killed had his limbs go flying every 100th hit.”

As she explained her special ability, the Ord around Chariot burst and multiplied to an absurd degree. When she had created this ability, there was a risk of an enemy dodging her 100th attack, but in her current form, dodging her attack was next to impossible.

“You have a strange Ord,” Kidomaru said.

If only he knew how right he was. Chariot and Velma were a rare occurrence. Originally, they were supposed to be twins, but due to their mother’s situation, one twin consumed the other while they were both in the womb.

On top of that, due to a very traumatic childhood, Velma developed a double personality disorder. The chances of that happening, while at the same time both personalities and twins being talented at exorcism, were supposed to be slim to none, something that had never happened before. Yet here they were.

There was another situation similar to hers, but that was of someone transferring their consciousness to another body and trying to live forever through that method. They weren’t someone I would have thought of even looking for, but with Bets’ situation, there was only one special ability I knew that could make his condition better.

Clang!... Clang!... Clang!

Consistent clashes rang out. This was another battle that I couldn’t see clearly due to the speeds the two fighters were moving.

“Tch, she’s losing,” said Anika, sensing what was happening. She closed her eyes, and her silver strings extended. The speed of the red blur decreased slowly as strings started grabbing at his feet. It didn't slow him by much, but it was enough for Chariot’s speed to completely overwhelm him!

Dozens of small cuts appeared all around his body, and there were slashes going for his weak points like his Achilles tendons, neck, and the back of his knee. Yet none of the injuries turned fatal, and the worst part was that if he landed one hit on Chariot, then she was done.

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Suddenly, Kidomaru stopped, and that was when hundreds of thin strings burst out of the ground and slashed at him at incredible speeds.

Though her attacks weren't strong when attacking at speeds that casually broke the sound barrier, speed equaled power. The kinetic energy making her strings sharper than razors.

Scratches appeared all over the demon's body until one suddenly made him scream, "Aghhh!" He clutched his eye while blood flowed down his fingers.

Anika looked shocked that she had been able to injure an Ultimate Class demon, but she didn't stop her barrage of attacks.

Should I fuse with Carpy and join in? But I wouldn't be able to contribute much, and it would be a waste of time.

I decided to observe from the sidelines and try to come up with something. This was a dangerous situation; whether I was fused or not, if even one attack from Kidomaru landed on me, then I was out of the fight, or dead. The latter seemed more likely, if I was honest.

"Hey, guys! The Moon Exorcist is giving out some talismans that block this illusionary ability," Agon said as he landed next to me and handed me a talisman.

Did he just reveal to our enemy that we had a guy who could cancel out one of their main strategic advantages?

"Don't worry, the sound-muffling ability is effective on demons too," Sei reassured me as he handed a talisman to Anika. "Though Agon, be careful, as Ultimate Class demons could still be excused from those kinds of rules."

"Don't worry!" Agon flexed his arms. "We're gonna take this guy down just like when we took down the other ultimate old man!"

Bets and Gem joined in too, and Agon smiled, showing his white teeth that glistened in the sun. "Don't worry, guys," he said. "As long as we work together and believe in each other, everything will be okay!"

The others smiled, and a couple seemed moved. Only Sei and I had the decency to look at Agon skeptically.

Was that a power of friendship moment? Good, we needed Agon to power up and go smash some demons!

Suddenly, in a swirl of darkness, a red eye the size of someone's head manifested in front of our group, and we all froze.

It was some kind of borderline Ultimate Class demon! It had been teleported into our midst!

Before I could comprehend what was happening, Kidomaru turned toward us, and his gaze sharpened, showing that we were his target all along.

Shit! We had to figure out the requirements to get out of this!

{Perfect Me!}

Pew!

But faster than Perfect Me could solve anything, a drill-like blast of energy shot from Kidomaru's hand, and he was looking me straight in the eye. "I've been observing you for quite a while, and you're a problem that needs to be taken care of now before it's too late."

Suddenly, Bets shoved me aside and he activated the special ability that he had inherited from the diamond guy. But despite that, the drill blast pierced through his chest instantly, leaving a gaping hole the size of a man’s head. Blood poured onto the ground, staining the green grass beneath him crimson.

Someone threw a knife, and it landed on the eye demon, killing it and releasing us from its effect.

Perfect Me had already gathered what the demon's effect was, and it seemed to be age-related. Anyone younger than a certain age couldn't move.

But I didn't care about any of that nor about Perfect Me suddenly deactivating. My mind felt like a blank slate, devoid of any thoughts or ideas. I was completely frozen in place, unable to process what was happening around me.

A surreal feeling of detachment crept over me, like I was caught in the midst of a bad dream that I couldn't shake off. I couldn't bring myself to believe that what I was experiencing was real, as if I was trapped in a twisted alternate reality that didn't quite make sense. The sensation was so overwhelming that it took over my body and mind, leaving me paralyzed and helpless.

Bets' body buckled and he opened his mouth but only blood spewed out. The drill attack had destroyed his lungs.

"Don't bother speaking!" I yelled out, finally coming to my senses. "Don't worry! I will fix this!"

{Perfect Me}

'Order, save Bets!'

As soon as my view was about to turn into 3rd person, it reverted back to normal, as Perfect Me deactivated.

"PERFECT ME! SAVE BETS!" I yelled out, activating the ability again, but it deactivated in an instant once more.

Bets noticed he couldn't speak, and instead smiled, showing his bloody teeth and gave me a thumbs up. He fell backward, and I caught him before his body hit the ground.

"Hey, you fucker! We're supposed to play chess a bit longer!" I held up his smiling face and slapped it.

I wanted to reject this fucking reality! Even though I knew my actions were foolish, I couldn't stop myself. Since even Perfect Me couldn't do anything, and I felt myself slipping, I decided to do something.

"Perfect Me! Kill him!" I glared at Kidomaru, and this time Perfect Me didn't cancel. Carpy wrapped himself around me, and we fused.

***

Everything had happened so fast. Gem didn't know what to do or what to think. He could feel the Ord gushing out of his body, as it was a sign that his pawn had been promoted to a Queen and didn't seem like it would revert any time soon.

But Gem didn't care about any of that and stared at Bets' corpse. He didn't have time to contemplate the despairing situation as an overwhelming burst of Ord, easily surpassed his own appearance. It was Kon, and he was going all out in his fused form.

Kon charged at the ultimate class demon.

Normally Gem would never question Kon's decision, as he was much smarter than him. But Gem knew the general gist of Kon's power, and there was no water around, nowhere near enough to deal damage to the ultimate class demon.

Gem understood right then and there that Kon had made a decision purely based on emotion for the first time since he had met him.

"Stop him!" He yelled; at this point, Gem knew this wasn't what Bets had wanted.

Bets would never want Kon to charge at his own death!