Stand against the Evil! Part 2

The wind howled past them as Kai and Aika plummeted toward the battlefield below. The world was chaos—fires raged across the city, warships clashed in the sky, and the streets were painted in blood.

Aika's breath came in short, panicked gasps as she gripped her staff tight enough to make her fingers ache.

"Kai!" she shouted over the wind. "This is way too fast!"

"No kidding!" Kai yelled back. His coat whipped violently as he struggled to stay upright in freefall. "Unless you've got a plan, we're about to be smeared across the pavement!"

Aika gritted her teeth, forcing herself to concentrate. The panic clawing at her chest threatened to take over, but she shoved it down.

"I've got this!" She tightened her grip on her staff and thrust it downward. "Gravity Shift!"

A deep violet glow pulsed from her staff, and suddenly the force pulling them down lessened. Their bodies slowed midair, the magic wrapping around them like an invisible cushion.

Kai exhaled in relief, adjusting his trajectory as they descended at a much safer speed. "Remind me to thank you later."

Aika barely had time to respond before the battlefield rushed up to meet them. They landed softly atop a ruined skyscraper, the last of Aika's magic dispersing like smoke.

Kai rolled his shoulders. "Not bad."

Aika staggered slightly, gripping her staff to steady herself. "That… took more energy than I thought."

Kai helped her up, his gaze scanning the hellscape below. Lionel's forces were overwhelming—machines marching in unrelenting waves, demon users carving through soldiers with terrifying ease.

Aika swallowed. "This is worse than I thought…"

Kai exhaled sharply, adjusting his glasses. "Yeah. We're in deep."

His comm crackled with static before Arnik's voice came through.

"Kai? Aika? Status."

Kai tapped his earpiece. "Landed. No major injuries. What's the situation?"

"Demon users are here," Arnik said grimly. "They've been a huge problem. Only the mutants and top mages are clearing them out, but there are only so many."

Aika's hands tightened around her staff. "Then we'll take one out."

Kai smirked. "That's the spirit."

Below, in the midst of the battlefield, a single demon user stood, effortlessly cutting down squads of soldiers with pure magic alone. His eyes glowed with eerie amusement as he raised a hand, conjuring a black flame that turned anything it touched into nothingness.

Kai's smirk faded. "Yeah. That guy's bad news."

The demon user turned his gaze toward them, sensing their presence. He grinned, a cruel and knowing expression.

Kai cracked his neck. "Alright, Aika, time to go to work."

Aika took a deep breath. "No holding back?"

Kai flipped his weapon into position. "Hell no."

They leaped down.

The demon user laughed as they landed before him, unbothered by their presence. "Humans always throw their lives away so easily," he mused, flexing his fingers as dark energy crackled between them.

Kai dashed in first, his weapon shifting mid-swing. The demon user moved to block, but Kai's blade morphed into a spear at the last second, stabbing toward his throat.

The demon user barely dodged in time, the tip of the spear slicing his cheek.

He staggered back, eyes widening. "Tch. That was close."

Kai grinned. "What's wrong? Thought it was just a normal hunk of metal?"

The demon snarled and retaliated, reinforcing his body with magic before lunging at Kai. "You die first!"

Kai braced himself.

Before the strike could land—Aika flashed in front of him.

Her staff glowed red.

A shimmer cloaked her entire body.

"Arcane Veil."

The moment the demon's attack connected, Aika absorbed the force, redirecting it instantly. A massive explosion of magical energy shot forward, sending the demon flying into a heap of debris.

The battlefield went silent for a moment.

The soldiers who had been cowering behind cover suddenly found their resolve. They stood, gripping their weapons with renewed vigor.

"They're holding their own!" one soldier shouted. "Let's back them up! Angel Squad is fighting—so should we!"

Gunfire erupted. The soldiers opened fire on the demon user, but their standard magic bolts barely did anything.

Kai gritted his teeth. "No, you idiots! Use heavy weaponry! Magic energy-based rounds! Regular bolts won't do a damn thing against demon users!"

One of the commanding officers shouted back, "Understood! Switching to heavy ordinance!"

Turrets shifted. Cannons hummed with energy. The battlefield rumbled as the first high-powered magic-infused blasts tore through the air.

The demon user groaned, standing up from the rubble. His wounds already beginning to close.

"Tch. Annoying little pests."

Kai and Aika didn't give him a chance to recover.

They rushed forward.

Something had changed.

They were getting stronger.

And they weren't done yet.

The demon user sneered, his crimson eyes flickering with disdain as he wiped the blood from his cheek. "This demon user is clearly weaker than the one we faced before," Kai muttered, analyzing the way his opponent channeled magic. The energy output, the structure of his spells—it was nothing like the monstrosity they fought before.

Kai cracked his neck, gripping his weapon tighter. "Based on the magic he's using… he's very low-ranked. I can take him."

Aika, standing at his back, looked over the battlefield. The human forces were scattered, struggling to hold their ground against the relentless machines and demon users.

"I'll clear the area! Aika, heal as many soldiers as you can!" Kai ordered.

Aika hesitated for a second but nodded. "Got it!"

She turned, immediately focusing on the wounded soldiers around them. As her staff glowed with soft violet light, a wave of restorative magic pulsed outward, knitting wounds and giving the human troops the second wind they desperately needed.

Kai exhaled and put his sword to his forehead, beginning a chant.

The demon user's eyes narrowed. "Idiot! Don't leave yourself open!"

With a vicious grin, the demon rushed in, claws outstretched.

Then—he ripped Kai's head clean off.

Blood sprayed into the air.

For a split second, the battlefield froze.

Aika's heart clenched. "Kai—?!"

But something was wrong.

The blood disappeared. The body dissolved.

The demon's eyes widened.

"What?!"

It was a decoy.

A sharp whistle echoed through the battlefield.

The demon user spun, instinct screaming at him to move—

But Kai was already there, completing his incantation.

The ground trembled. The dust and rubble at his feet twisted, morphing into humanoid shapes. Dozens of figures formed, rising from the very land beneath them—Mars' clay soldiers.

Doll magic.

A magic that required absolute precision.

Kai exhaled as his creations solidified. "Doll magic is incredibly precise. It takes someone with great focus to activate."

The clay soldiers straightened, their weapons forming from the stone in their hands. Each of them carried the skill of their creator—Kai. However, they only held half his strength and durability.

The demon user scoffed, regaining his composure. "Pfft. I can take on a hundred of you."

Kai smirked. "You demons really do think too highly of yourselves."

Seven clay soldiers lunged.

The demon barely had time to react as they surrounded him, attacking from all sides. He parried one, dodged another, but the sheer numbers overwhelmed him. Blades scraped against his reinforced skin, cutting deep.

"Gah—damn you—!"

Kai moved.

Launching himself into the air, his weapon morphed once more—a magic-infused spear forming in his grip.

"Die."

With a sharp thrust, he drove the spear straight through the demon user's chest.

The creature gasped, blood spraying from his lips.

The magic spear pulsed—then detonated.

The demon's body shattered apart, his essence ripped from reality.

The battlefield fell silent.

Kai landed lightly, flicking blood off his weapon before shifting it back into a neutral stance.

Aika turned, her breath unsteady. "You… you killed him."

Kai adjusted his glasses. "Of course I did."

The remaining soldiers, those who had watched the fight unfold, hesitated—then erupted into cheers.

"He took down a demon user!"

"Angel Squad really is something else!"

The morale shifted.

For the first time, the battlefield didn't feel completely hopeless.

Aika planted her staff into the ground, her eyes burning with determination. Magic pulsed from her like a heartbeat, raw energy swirling into the air as the very earth beneath them began to shift.

Kai's eyes widened as stone and metal pulled together, shaping into something massive.

"Aika?! Seriously! I knew you had a lot of magic power, but this—"

Before he could finish, the structure completed itself—a fully formed medical shelter, standing firm amidst the chaos of war.

Aika took a deep breath, wiping sweat from her brow before yelling out, "Bring me all the injured! I'll be your medic!"

Soldiers didn't hesitate. They rushed forward, carrying the wounded, their faces filled with renewed hope.

Kai exhaled, rubbing the back of his head. "Guess that means I'm on guard duty."

More soldiers arrived, a few demi-humans among them, their magic weapons shimmering under the broken sky. They weren't out of this fight yet.

One of them grinned at Kai. "Looks like we've got our work cut out for us."

Kai tightened his grip on his weapon.

"Yeah. Let's get to it."