Do you guys wanna see a Toji omake chapter on his life in DxD before getting soul diffed by Mahito?
~Start~
The last thing I remember before everything went to hell—before he took over—was the darkness.
It swallowed me whole.
Right after Mahito hijacked my body and made that twisted binding vow with that lunatic priest, I felt my mind get yanked down—hard—into something I can't even begin to describe.
Hands. So many hands.
Hundreds of them, stitched together like some grotesque quilt, grabbing at me, dragging me down into this endless black sea.
And once I was under?
Hell started.
I don't know how long I've been here. Days? Weeks? Months? Years? Time doesn't work right in this place. There's no light, no sound, no air. Just… feelings.
And not the good kind.
Every single second, I was being assaulted. Not physically—emotionally, mentally, spiritually—everything.
Hatred.
Disgust.
Wrath.
Contempt.
Betrayal.
Paranoia.
Guilt.
Cruelty.
Sadism.
Everything ugly and evil and rotten this world has to offer—I felt it all. All at once.
Like being flayed alive with emotions instead of blades.
The hands that dragged me under? They never let go. They tore me apart slowly, piece by piece, ripping away everything that made me me.
My anger? Shredded.
My hope? Gone.
My will to fight back? Crushed.
At first, I tried to resist. I tried to hold onto my thoughts. Tried to scream, to rage, to care. I wanted to fight, to think of Murayama, to hate Mahito, to plan my escape—something.
But it didn't matter.
Because every time I tried, those feelings hit harder. Sharper. Stronger. Like they knew. Like this place wanted me to break.
And eventually… I did.
I just gave up.
Let myself sink. Let the feelings numb me.
Stopped thinking. Stopped fighting. Stopped being.
And weirdly, that's when the pain stopped.
It was like the abyss was satisfied now that I'd accepted it.
No more torment. Just silence.
So I curled up at the bottom of this pitch-black ocean, stopped trying to remember who I was, stopped pretending escape was possible.
And slowly, so slowly, I felt my sense of self fade away.
Until I became nothing.
But then—
everything shook.
Like the whole damn abyss quaked all at once, and for the first time in what felt like forever, I stirred.
Something had changed.
I opened my eyes—at least, I think I did—and there it was:
Light.
Actual light piercing through the suffocating black above me. It was faint at first, but it cut through the darkness like a blade, reaching down into the pit I'd been trapped in.
And when I looked into it, I saw something.
A vision—no, a window. A glimpse into what was going on outside, back in the real world. My world. My body.
And what I saw made my heart stop.
There was Kiba—Kiba, the quiet, polite guy I figured was just a pretty-boy prince of Kuoh—
Only now he was missing an arm and still going at it, fighting Mahito.
My body.
My body.
His sword was jammed straight through me—or rather, through Mahito. Then, he twisted it, and it exploded in a violent burst of lightning that made Mahito's body seize up.
Then bam—
Issei came flying in, and slammed a punch right into Mahito's face so hard it caved it in.
I watched, stunned, as all the people I thought were just my weird schoolmates—Rias, Akeno, Koneko—
They were all fighting him. Fighting to survive.
Rias, calm and commanding, firing blasts of that terrifying crimson magic.
Akeno, her eyes burning with fury as she unleashed lightning like a goddess.
And Koneko—Koneko looked like a goddamn humanoid cat girl brawler, claws and tail and all, standing strong even after looking like she got wrecked.
I watched their fear, their pain, the way they moved like a team—
Like family.
I saw the way they protected each other, how they trusted one another. How they refused to give up.
But… I also saw how nothing seemed to really work.
No matter how hard they hit, no matter how flashy or powerful their attacks were, Mahito just reshaped his damn body like it was Play-Doh.
Every hit got undone. Every burn, every cut, every break—gone in seconds.
Except for two.
Kiba's sword—his sword made from what I think is his sacred gear—that did something. They might have not noticed but I saw it. The way his face twitched for a split second. I felt it in here, it's what created the small crack which let the light that woke me up in here in the first place. It actually hurt him.
And Issei's punch?
That shook this whole place to its core.
When he hit me—hit Mahito—it was like a bomb went off in my mind. The whole sea of darkness quaked again. That single light above me grew brighter, piercing deeper. And for the first time in what felt like forever, I felt something.
Hope.
And yet... I doubted.
Even after all that, I still doubted.
I could see it—feel it—that Mahito was holding back.
Just toying with them. Like some twisted cat batting around half-dead mice.
Playing with his food.
They didn't stand a chance.
No matter how hard they fought, no matter how brave they were, he was better.
Stronger. Smarter. Meaner.
I doubted they could beat him.
I doubted I could even do anything to help.
Hell, I doubted I could even move.
The stitched hands still had me. Still anchored me here, deep in this hellhole of a sea.
So I curled up tighter. Hugged my knees to my chest and just… let go.
I gave up.
But—
Right before I shut my eyes for good—
I looked up. One last time.
And that's when I saw it.
Koneko.
Mahito lunging straight at her, claws out, aiming right for her face.
And just for a moment—
I didn't see Koneko anymore.
I saw Murayama.
No.
No.
NO.
NAH!
I'm not letting that bastard win!
I'm not letting him run wild in my body, my life, killing whoever he wants like it's some sick game!
THIS IS MY BODY.
NOT HIS.
And I swear to God, I won't let him hurt anyone else.
Not Koneko.
Not Issei.
Not anyone.
I screamed—
Raged—
And ripped those stitched, grasping hands off of me.
They clawed at my skin, pulling, tearing, whispering all their filth and venom into my ears—
But I fought.
I swam.
Up through the black ink, through the choking sea of hate and despair.
Every inch I rose, it got worse. The pain, the pressure, the voices—
Hatred.
Guilt.
Jealousy.
Regret.
Like a thousand knives in my soul.
But I didn't stop.
I ignored it all.
I just kept swimming.
Toward that light. Toward them.
Toward my second chance.
I burst through the surface of that pitch-black sea with a gasp, like I'd just come back from the dead—
Because honestly? That's exactly what it felt like.
Water—if you could even call it that—rained off me in heavy sheets, thick and oily and cold as sin. But I didn't sink.
No.
I stood on it. Like the sea itself was afraid to drag me back under.
And right there, ahead of me… I saw him.
Mahito.
Or at least, his soul.
He was just sitting there like a smug little bitch, perched on the open palm of this massive stitched-up hand that jutted out from the sea like some grotesque throne. Around him, more of those long, jagged arms reached out from the depths, clawing at the air—hungry, twitching, blind.
His eyes were closed. Probably focused on controlling my body. Fighting Issei and his friends. Hurting them.
I felt something inside me snap.
Each step I took toward him, the sea beneath my feet rippled and shook. As if it could feel what I was about to do. As if it knew I wasn't walking over to talk.
I was shaking. Not from fear. From rage.
I clenched my fists and that's when it happened—
That weird, purple flame-like energy sparked around my hands, flickering and twisting like it was alive.
Cursed energy.
I didn't even have to think about it.
I just knew what it was.
I reached out, grabbed him by the head—
Hard—
And felt his smug little skull in my grip.
His eyes shot open, pure confusion flashing across his face.
Too late.
"IDLE TRANSFIGURATION, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
And I poured his own cursed energy straight back into him—
Twisting, bending, reshaping him from the inside out.
Using his own trick.
Against him.
For once, he didn't smile.
"WHAT THE HELL?! HOW?! HOW ARE YOU EVEN HERE?!" Mahito screamed as his form began to convulse and distort under Yuki's grip.
His smug, twisted face melted into panic, eyes bulging wide as Yuki's fingers dug in harder, cursed energy flooding through him in jagged, violent waves.
He was being reshaped—his own technique, Idle Transfiguration, thrown back at him—warped by someone who had no business wielding it.
"No... no no no no—"
He tried to pull away, but it was too late. He'd been caught completely off guard.
"AHHH—HAHAHAHA!"
And then—he laughed.
Through the pain. Through the horror. Through the grotesque reshaping of his very soul.
"OF COURSE! OF FREAKIN' COURSE! IT WAS ALL BECAUSE OF THAT BASTARD MC, WASN'T IT?!"
His voice twisted into maniacal glee as his body became an unrecognizable mass of tangled, pulsating flesh.
"I KNEW there was a reason I didn't kill him! HA! I KNEW IT!"
The scream-laugh hybrid turned into wet, gurgled chuckles as his form collapsed inward, and just like that—
Mahito's grip on Yuki's body snapped.
The moment he felt the control slip, Yuki moved.
Without hesitation, without second thoughts—he lunged upward, breaking free from that nightmare realm and diving straight back into his own body.
He crashed into it like a lightning bolt, forcing Mahito's consciousness deep into the dark where it belonged.
But as Yuki stood there, catching his breath, feeling his heart pound in his chest again… he knew it wasn't over.
Not even close.
He could feel Mahito writhing somewhere in the depths of his soul. Reforming and recovering his form back to normal. He knew his own use of Idle Transfiguration was like a novice compared to Mahito and he knew this only a one-time thing that only worked because he caught him off guard.
It would hold Mahito back for at least minute or two. But this was fine, it was just enough time for him.
So Yuki turned to the only people who might be able to help him finish this.
His voice was hoarse but steady, his face tense with resolve.
"Issei... everyone... I need your help."
Issei's eyes widened, disbelief washing over his face as he took a step forward, barely able to find the words. His voice came out shaky, confused, and full of something dangerously close to hope.
"…Yuki?"
Yuki nodded once, slowly.
"It's me!" Yuki shouted, pointing to himself as he staggered forward. "But listen—there's not much time! I can't hold him back for long. He's clawing his way back up—fast. You need to stall him. Just five minutes. That's all I need!"
He turned to face Issei and the others, his voice urgent, cracking under the pressure. "I'll fight him from the inside, do whatever I can to keep him chained down. But after five minutes, you all back off. No more attacks—get away from me. You got that?!"
Issei nodded, still catching his breath. "Y-Yeah, we got it! But... dammit, can you tell us what the hell's even going on?!"
Rias stepped forward, eyes wide, desperation in her voice. "Please, Yuki... just tell us something. Anything."
Yuki grimaced, sweat running down the side of his face. "I don't even know how to explain it. He just... showed up. After the Raynare incident. Got into my head, my soul, something. He tricked me into making a deal—some kind of binding vow—and ever since then he's had more and more control over my body."
Koneko, still in her transformed state, took a cautious step forward, her eyes sharp and uncertain. "W-What... is he?"
Her voice was shaky. Even with her heightened nekomata senses, she couldn't fully comprehend the sheer wrongness that Mahito radiated. That darkness, that suffocating malice—she'd only felt a hint of it from Issei during fights, but Mahito's was pure, unfiltered nightmare fuel. There was no warmth. No heart. Just hate.
Yuki looked her dead in the eyes. "I don't know what he really is, he calls himself a Curse. But the energy he uses? It's called Cursed Energy. And his power? Idle Transfiguration. A cursed technique that lets him shape souls like clay."
He turned to Issei now, eyes heavy with a revelation. "It's what you've been using this whole time, man. That weird energy inside you? That's cursed energy too. You've been instinctively reinforcing your body with it—making yourself tougher, stronger, hitting harder. It also powers techniques like Mahito's."
Issei's eyes widened. Rias, Akeno, and Koneko exchanged stunned looks. The air went still for a moment as the weight of Yuki's words sank in.
Yuki clutched his chest, doubling over as his body began to convulse again, his breath coming in ragged gasps. "Ugh—he's coming back! Get ready! Five minutes! That's all I'm asking—then get the hell away from me!"
He grit his teeth and thought to himself, silently, with raw determination burning in his heart:
'Once I've got control back... I'm ending this. Even if I have to kill myself to drag you down with me, Mahito... I will.'
"Hehe… hehehe… heeeehahahahaha!" Mahito's laugh echoed like nails dragging down a chalkboard. His smile twisted wider with every syllable. "You really think you can survive that long? Please, don't make me laugh. Four minutes. I can spare 4 minutes playing with you. That's more than enough time for me before I tear you apart."
Everyone tensed. That voice—that twisted confidence—was all Mahito. Yuki's warning echoed in their minds. It was now or never.
With a wicked grin, Mahito's arms grotesquely shifted and morphed into long, jagged claws. He darted forward like a blur, zeroing in on Akeno, aiming to gut her from stomach to spine in one vicious swipe. But halfway there—his body jerked violently, locking up like a puppet with tangled strings.
His claws snapped back to normal.
"Ugh—what?!" Mahito snarled in disbelief, trying to move but finding resistance pulling at every limb.
"It's Yuki! He's fighting back!" Issei shouted, eyes blazing. "Now's our shot—HIT HIM HARD!"
Kiba moved first, a green streak of sharp gale winds covered his blade and body as he dashed in. His sword swung fast and true, slicing clean into Mahito's neck—but it only cut halfway before stopping with a sickening halt. Mahito grit his teeth, snarling as cursed energy surged through him, hardening his neck like iron. With a growl, he caught Kiba's blade mid-swing, locking him in place.
Then Mahito's free hand snapped forward, reaching for Kiba's face.
But he never made it.
Issei crashed in from the side like a truck, his punch slamming straight into Mahito's temple and sending him flying across the courtyard. Mahito spiraled through the air—
Right towards Koneko.
The nekomata girl was already waiting, charging forward with wild, untamed fury. She slammed into Mahito with a brutal lariat that snapped his head sideways and nearly took it clean off. The impact sent him hurtling back—
Straight to Issei again.
"Try this on for size, freak!"
Issei launched a full-body rising uppercut into Mahito's gut, sending the cursed user skyrocketing into the air. His body twisted as it soared above them—
And that's when Rias and Akeno unleashed their spells.
"NOW!" Rias shouted, hurling a massive orb of writhing crimson destruction skyward.
"Go to hell!" Akeno followed up with a shrieking sphere of lightning so bright it lit up the whole sky.
Both blasts collided with Mahito mid-air at the same time—crimson and white light swallowing him in a deafening explosion that cracked the air and shook the earth, a swirling inferno of destruction and electricity lighting up the morning sky.
They didn't know if it was enough—but they weren't stopping now.
~~~
While chaos raged on outside—with Mahito's body clashing against Issei and the others—the real war was happening deep inside.
Within the pitch-black depths of the innate domain, Yuki and Mahito's souls were locked in a brutal deathmatch for control.
Yuki's arms had twisted into grotesque claws, his right hand buried deep in Mahito's chest, black and purple energy crackling from the point of impact.
"You little—!" Mahito spat, fury blazing in his eyes as he slammed his foot into Yuki's stomach, launching him across the cursed sea like a ragdoll. Yuki bounced and skidded across the thick, liquid surface of the inky water, black mist spraying up in his wake.
Mahito sneered, stepping forward with that signature psychotic grin stretching wide across his face.
"What's this? Finally decided to grow a spine?" he cackled, arms outstretched. "So now you wanna fight back? You wanna actually stand up to me?" He laughed harder, louder, more unhinged than ever. "Fine then! Let's rip each other to shreds! The winner devours the loser!"
Without another word, his body twisted again—his left arm morphing into a monstrous claw, while his right transformed into a grotesque, jagged blade made of flesh, bone, and sinew, pulsing like a living thing.
He whipped the flesh-blade around in a tight arc, slicing the air with a sickening screech before dropping into a low stance—legs bent, back hunched, clawed hand twitching in front of him like a beast ready to pounce, while his sword-arm loomed behind, coiled like a serpent ready to strike.
Across from him, Yuki slowly stood up, eyes locked and burning with defiance.
Mahito lunged like a mad demon, closing the distance between them in a blink. He spun mid-charge, his grotesque blade-arm howling through the air in a deadly arc aimed to cleave Yuki clean in half.
Yuki ducked low, barely dodging the swing—only to eat a brutal kick to the face that sent him stumbling. He threw both clawed arms up just in time as Mahito drove his twisted hand forward like a spear, the impact rattling through Yuki's bones.
"Come on, fight me!" Mahito howled, eyes wild, mouth stretched in a manic grin.
Then came the barrage.
Mahito's attacks turned rabid—his blade and claws slashing in wide, merciless arcs. Yuki was forced onto the defensive, backpedaling, sidestepping, barely keeping up. His claws clashed with Mahito's again and again, sparks flying, but he couldn't stop them all. Each miss, each delay, cost him.
A claw scraped across his side—blood. A blade sliced across his shoulder—more blood. Cuts piled up, deep gashes tearing through his body, his own crimson splashing onto the cursed black sea with every hit. It rippled beneath his feet like it could feel his pain.
But even as the pain racked his body and every breath burned in his lungs… Yuki didn't fall.
Not yet.
He grit his teeth, eyes burning with fire, refusing to back down.
Mahito suddenly froze mid-swing—his whole body locking up with a violent jolt. From the outside, Issei's fist had just slammed into him, and it wasn't just physical—his soul took the hit too.
Yuki didn't waste a second.
"Gotcha," he growled.
He lunged in, claws flaring with cursed energy, and in one brutal motion, he sliced off both of Mahito's arms. Before Mahito could react, Yuki drove his claws deep into his chest like a goddamn kebab skewer, pumping cursed energy straight into him while shouting:
"Idle Transfiguration!"
Mahito screamed as his form began to warp, Yuki hijacking his own technique to lock down Mahito's control.
"Ugh—THE FUCK?! Ah… I see what this is!" Mahito snarled, laughing through the pain, even as his flesh writhed under Yuki's manipulation. "You're trying to screw with my ability to morph out there, huh? Stop me reforming my body, and transform my limbs into weapons, to give your little boyfriend and the rest of his Scooby gang a chance?"
His twisted smile widened. "Clever fucker."
Then—WHAM! Mahito headbutted Yuki so hard it cracked the air. Yuki went flying, skidding across the cursed black sea, catching himself just before he tumbled head over heels. Blood trickled from his scalp, but he wiped it away and forced himself to his feet, panting.
"Still got fight in you?" Mahito taunted from across the sea.
Yuki focused, breathing steady. He pushed cursed energy through his body, the torn skin and gaping wounds slowly knitting shut. 'He's split,' Yuki thought, 'trying to fight me in here and control my body out there while taking on Issei and the others. That's the only reason I'm even still standing.'
His jaw clenched. 'I've just gotta keep tearing him apart from the inside. Every second I stall is a second closer to the end of the binding vow.'
Across from him, Mahito grinned wide and rolled his shoulders. Where his arms had been, two massive hammerfists of flesh and bone erupted from his stumps, each one bigger than his own torso. He pounded them together with a thunderous crack—BOOM!—a shockwave exploding out and making the black sea beneath them tremble like it was about to split in half.
"It's clobberin' time, bitch."
Mahito launched himself high into the air, his hammerfists pointed down like twin wrecking balls. Then—with a thunderous kick to the air above him—he dive-bombed like a missile straight at Yuki.
"Shit—!" Yuki cursed, barely managing to hurl himself sideways.
Mahito hit the surface like a meteor. BOOM! The impact was monstrous—inky water exploded into the sky, the shockwave throwing Yuki like a ragdoll across the cursed sea. Waves surged in every direction, crashing and folding over themselves in chaotic fury.
Yuki hit the water, bounced, and skid along the black surface before rolling to his feet, gasping for air, his body trembling from the force. He didn't even get a full breath before he heard it—whoosh! Mahito burst from the sea like a torpedo, already airborne, hammerfists crashing down again with psychotic force.
Yuki dodged—barely. The fists missed by inches, but the sheer pressure of the shockwave blasted him back, spinning through the air before he tumbled across the surface like a skipping stone.
But he wasn't going to be caught off guard this time.
He gritted his teeth and forced himself up fast, eyes scanning the surface. 'Where is he? Come on… where—'
TOO LATE.
A violent burst of cursed water exploded straight beneath him.
"FUCK—!"
Mahito came tearing out from under the sea like a demon rocket, both hammerfists slamming directly into Yuki's chest. The impact was unreal. Bones cracked like fireworks—CRUNCH!—and Yuki's torso twisted grotesquely inward as he was launched upward, coughing a geyser of blood. More blood gushed from his eyes, nose, and ears, painting his face crimson.
They soared together into the sky—Yuki limp, barely conscious—when Mahito snarled and shifted mid-air, lifting his elbow high over his head.
Then with another explosive air-kick, he rocketed down again, elbow-first—SLAM!
It crashed right into Yuki's gut like a sledgehammer through wet cement.
"GUHHHAAAGH!"
Yuki's entire body spasmed, more blood spraying from his mouth as they plummeted like comets. When they hit the surface—KA-THOOM!—it was a goddamn tidal wave. Water erupted in every direction, black waves rising and falling like the sea was screaming.
Yuki lay in the crater of the impact at the bottom of the dark sea, broken, bleeding, barely breathing… but still alive.
Barely.
~~~
Back on the outside, Mahito tried to morph his arms into hammerfists—but they didn't held for long, stuttering in shape before snapping back to normal with a sick, wet crunch. His control was slipping.
CRACK! A blinding bolt of lightning slammed into him from above, blasting him down to the ground. The moment he hit, BAM! Koneko crashed in like a meteor—double knees straight to his skull. His head caved in under the impact, and the earth beneath him cratered from the force. She leapt away just in time as a crimson orb of Power of Destruction dropped like a miniature sun.
BOOOOM! The explosion rocked the battlefield.
Out of the smoke, Mahito rose—barely.
Half his face was gone. His right leg was missing. Chunks of both arms were vaporized. His whole torso looked like burnt meat—scorched, blistered, still sizzling.
He started reforming, cursed energy oozing and reshaping his body. But it was slow. Sloppy. He was slipping, and they all saw it.
Before he could even get his arms halfway up—WHAM! Issei was behind him. BAM! Koneko in front. A brutal pincer assault—fists and feet flying, smashing into Mahito from both ends, snapping his head back and forth like a ragdoll caught between two wrecking balls.
Finally, just as Mahito's arms finished regenerating and he tried to strike back—
SLASH! Kiba zipped in like a flash of blue light—clean, surgical—and sliced both arms clean off again with his sword crackling with lightning, before Mahito could even blink. Then zipped away.
"Agh—DAMMIT—!"
He didn't get a chance to scream. Issei and Koneko went back in, fists flying with merciless precision. One to the gut, one to the jaw, ribs cracked, spine bent, blood spraying from his mouth with every blow.
They didn't let up.
They weren't just fighting anymore—they were beating him down.
But then—outta nowhere—Mahito tilted his head back and opened his mouth wide, grinning through broken, blood-soaked teeth.
And then he vomited.
Not just blood—four pulsing, veiny, fleshy orbs splattered onto the ground with wet slaps, twitching like they were alive.
Issei's instincts screamed at him—something was wrong.
He stopped mid-charge, eyes narrowing. "Koneko, get awa—!"
BOOM!!
All four orbs detonated in a massive burst of cursed energy—raw, unstable, and violent. The shockwave tore through the ground like a c4 detonation.
Issei was blasted back like a missile, skidding through the dirt. He coughed hard, his ribs screaming, skin burned in patches across his arms and face.
But Koneko—she'd been mid-sprint, just a few feet from Mahito.
She got caught right in the heart of the blast.
The explosion engulfed her.
When the smoke cleared, the sight made Issei's blood run cold.
Koneko's whole body was covered in raw, scorched burns—her skin blackened, smoking. Her right arm was just gone, blown off at the shoulder, leaving a mangled, gory stump.
She dropped to one knee, trembling, breathing ragged.
But then—she stood.
Slowly. Shakily. But she stood.
The glow of her Senjutsu-infused form flickered—then flared. Her aura pulsed violently, reacting to the damage. Muscles tensed, bones shifted, and the wounds across her body started to close. Her missing arm began to slowly regenerate, white-hot energy stitching her back together piece by piece.
She growled, eyes burning with fury, ears twitching, tail lashing behind her like a whip.
"I'm not done yet, you bastard," she muttered, smoke still rising off her.
And Mahito?
That smug, blood-streaked grin never left his face.
He was just getting started.
"If I can't turn myself into a weapon…" Mahito muttered, grinning through bloodied teeth, his body cracking and twisting as it reformed completely, "…then I'll just make one."
He gagged—then violently vomited up two more writhing flesh-orbs, each one pulsating like they had their own heartbeat. The instant they hit his palms, they began to twist and stretch, bones cracking, sinew pulling taut, until they became barbed, jagged spears, grotesque and dripping with cursed energy.
With a mad gleam in his eye, he made a binding vow. He can no longer reshape the spears in exchange for making them stronger. The spears flared with dark light.
Then he bolted forward, a blur of movement heading straight for Koneko—still healing, still vulnerable.
But Issei and Kiba were already moving—they appeared in front of her like a damn wall, fists and blade at the ready.
Mahito didn't slow down.
The air cracked as he clashed with them, barbed spears whipping and stabbing, spinning in chaotic arcs. He twisted his body unnaturally, flipping, ducking, even bending at impossible angles as he fought like a demonic whirlwind. Kiba's sword clanged off the barbs, Issei's punches met the shafts or missed entirely as Mahito danced around them—too fast, too wild, too unpredictable.
Each clash pushed them back. Mahito's cursed energy flared brighter with every second. They were barely keeping up.
Then—zap! Akeno hurled a lightning spear from behind, aiming for his spine.
But Mahito, without even looking, snapped his body backward like a damn puppet and the spear shot right past him—
And nailed Issei in the side.
"Shit—!" Issei stumbled, electricity arcing off his body.
Mahito grinned like a lunatic. "Thanks for the assist!"
And then he hurled one of his barbed spears straight at Akeno.
It screamed through the air—dead-on—
Until Rias intercepted, blasting it mid-air with a crimson burst of destruction, vaporizing the spear before it could impale Akeno.
Mahito didn't even blink. He spun mid-sprint, used his last spear like a pole vault, launching himself over Kiba's head with terrifying speed. While still airborne, he twisted his body in mid-flip, winding his arm back like a javelin thrower—
And hurled the barbed spear straight at Koneko.
Thunk.
The spear hit dead center.
It rammed clean through her abdomen, exiting out her lower back. Her eyes widened, her breath caught in her throat as she stumbled, blood pouring down her front.
"KONEKO!!" Rias and Issei both screamed at the same time.
Mahito landed like a beast, skidding across the battlefield, laughter echoing across the broken ground. "One down."
A blade suddenly burst out of Mahito's chest, gleaming with light.
Kiba had driven his sword clean through the bastard's back—then twisted it hard, causing Mahito to grunt in annoyance rather than pain. Kiba didn't wait—he jumped back, leaving the sword stuck in Mahito's body.
That was the trick.
The blade began to glow, its surface flaring with light—and then with a sharp pulse, it detonated, blasting a massive hole through Mahito's torso in a shower of flesh and red mist.
But Mahito didn't scream. He didn't even slow down. He staggered forward, chunks missing from his chest, still gunning for Koneko like some nightmarish zombie.
But a crackling electric lasso wrapped tight around his leg mid-step.
"Not another step, asshole," Akeno muttered.
With a tug, she yanked him into the air, and that's when Rias lit him up—blasting him with shot after shot of her Power of Destruction. Each hit ripped off pieces of his already torn body, burning through limbs and flesh. He writhed in midair, body jerking violently as chunks of muscle flew off with every impact.
Akeno, smirking now, swung him like a wrecking ball, slamming him through house after house, walls shattering, rubble flying. Then, with one final heave—
WHAM!
She hurled him toward Issei, who was already mid-jump.
"HEY, DUMBASS!" Issei shouted.
BOOM! He dropkicked Mahito so hard he smashed through a multiple walls, his body half-embedded in the wreckage.
Mahito groaned, pulling himself free. Blood poured from his mouth—and then suddenly, he giggled.
He opened wide—and spat glowing cursed orbs like machine gun fire.
POP! POP! POP! Each orb exploded on impact, the street around them lighting up in chaotic blasts of cursed energy.
"SHIT!" Issei yelled, diving behind a half-destroyed wall.
Mahito didn't stop. He gagged and spat again—another pulsing orb—but this one he caught midair and slapped onto his palm.
In seconds, it twisted and morphed into something massive—a cursed heavy bolter, shaped like a grotesque war cannon with teeth and veins along its frame. He shoved his other hand into the loading port and pumped it full of cursed energy, the weapon roaring to life as it fused with his arm.
"Say hello to my little friend, fuckers!" Mahito laughed maniacally.
And then he opened fire.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Cursed rounds the size of a man's forearm tore through buildings, ripping holes in walls, collapsing entire rooftops. The shockwaves alone blasted the team off their feet.
"SCATTER!" Rias shouted, diving into cover.
Mahito cackled like a demon on crack, eyes wide, bolter roaring as he shredded through anything that moved. "Where ya gonna run?! Where ya gonna hide?!"
Akeno tried to interrupt him, lightning spears raining from above, aiming to take out his gun. Mahito noticed and immediately shifted his aim, tracking her with rapid cursed fire. Akeno dodged through the air, each cursed bullet exploding just behind her, getting closer and closer.
One shot almost clipped her wing.
Then—["DRAGON SHOT!!"]
A beam of power blasted through the wreckage, vaporizing the cursed bolter in a fiery explosion.
Mahito screamed in rage, his arm charred and useless. He turned toward the source, eyes burning with fury—and saw Issei stepping out from the shadows, smoke rising from his fists.
"Alright…" Mahito growled, voice low and dangerous. His body twitched as it began to reshape again. "Play time's over."
Issei felt it.
The air shifted.
A chill crawled down his spine.
Mahito wasn't playing anymore.
Ddraig's voice rumbled in his mind.
["Issei. There's still nearly two minutes left. Hold out… just a bit longer."]
Issei clenched his fists. His body ached, scorched and bloody. But he wasn't backing down.
"Two minutes, huh?" he muttered. "Then let's make 'em count."
~~~
Deep beneath the surface of the black sea, where light didn't reach and the air felt like it was suffocating reality itself, Yuki and Mahito were locked in a brutal slugfest.
Both of them had transformed their arms into massive, grotesque hammerfists, and they were trading bone-crushing blows like rabid titans.
Each time their fists collided, the impact shattered the sea around them, blasting water outward in a ring of force so intense it created a temporary vacuum. They were fighting at the very bottom of the abyss, standing on cracked black stone, surrounded by nothing but a raging sphere of displaced water, held back only by the raw power of their strikes.
WHAM!
CRACK!
BOOM!
Shockwaves rippled through the black nothingness every time their hammerfists slammed into each other. Their faces caved in from repeated hits only to reshape a moment later. Their bodies were covered in blood and torn muscle, but neither of them slowed down. If anything, they hit harder.
Yuki roared as he smashed his fists into Mahito's side, causing his ribs to warp and rupture. Mahito retaliated by cracking Yuki in the jaw so hard that a chunk of his face tore off, flying through the pressurized void around them. Blood misted the air, turning the water outside their battlefield a deep, unnatural red.
But then Mahito's expression shifted.
He sneered.
Suddenly, instead of countering the next strike, he caught both of Yuki's hammerfists mid-swing—the raw strength behind that move was enough to send out another thunderclap across the black abyss.
Yuki's eyes widened. "Fuck!"
Mahito's foot shot forward—slamming right into Yuki's chest, and he braced it there. With both hands gripping Yuki's giant arms, Mahito started to pull.
"LET'S SEE YOU SWING THESE AFTER I TEAR 'EM OFF!!" he screamed, laughing like a maniac.
Yuki screamed in pain as his shoulders bulged, tore, and then ruptured—muscle unraveling, tendons snapping like thick wires under strain. Blood sprayed from his wounds, and bones crunched under the pressure.
"AAARGHHHH!!"
And with one final yank—
RIPPPP!!
Mahito tore both of Yuki's hammerfist arms right out of their sockets, flinging them aside like meat clubs. Yuki dropped to his knees, gasping, blood gushing down his sides like waterfalls as his mutilated stumps twitched and spasmed.
Mahito stood over him, breathing heavily, his grin twisted and wide.
"Now what, tough guy?" he sneered. "Wanna keep playing?"
But Yuki, through the agony, looked up at him with wild eyes—and grinned back, blood spilling between his teeth.
"Yeah…" he growled. "I can do this all day."
Mahito took a slow step toward Yuki, a sadistic smirk on his face—but then suddenly dropped to a knee, grunting in pain.
His form rippled.
His body jittered, his flesh warping unnaturally, like something inside him was coming apart at the seams.
It wasn't just physical.
It was his soul.
Issei's hits from the outside, combined with Yuki's relentless assault inside, were finally catching up. Mahito's soul—the core of his cursed being—was fraying. Unraveling. Tearing apart from the inside.
Yuki, breathing hard and bleeding all over, didn't waste the opening.
"Now's my shot…"
He roared as his shoulders burst open again, and from the gore sprouted fresh new limbs—a massive hammerfist on his left, and a jagged, glinting blade arm on the right.
He crouched low.
Muscles tensed.
FWOOOSH!
He spun like a damn beyblade, a whirling death wheel of flesh and transfigured steel. Mahito barely had time to react—he pushed himself upright, tried to dodge, but Yuki was already there.
SCHLK!
The blade cleaved straight through him. A vicious cut that sliced Mahito in half at the waist.
Blood and flesh splattered as Mahito's top half hit the ground, his legs crumpling behind him.
The shockwaves finally subsided and the inky black sea rushed back in, slamming into the crater they'd been fighting in. Yuki leapt into the air, landing on the rippling surface, eyes scanning the dark water.
Silence.
Then—SHHK!
A flash of pain exploded across Yuki's back as a barbed, two-pronged spearblade lashed out from the water, slicing deep. It was attached to a fleshy, barbed tendril-like appendage that whipped back into the depths before Yuki could counter.
More came—slash after slash, blindingly fast, each strike leaving fresh wounds, spraying blood across the surface as the tendrils darted in and out.
But Yuki gritted his teeth and waited.
Another spear shot out—but this time he was ready.
SLASH!
He cut it off mid-lunge and grabbed the twitching appendage, yanking with everything he had. Mahito's body came flailing out of the water, but before Yuki could reel him in completely, Mahito severed his own tendril, landing a few feet away.
His arms morphed again—this time into a twisted blade-and-claws combo, wicked and brutal.
Yuki snarled and charged.
They collided.
Transfigured steel rang against one another, blades clashing in rapid strikes—sweeping arcs, stabbing thrusts, wide parries. The air sizzled with every impact. Sparks flew. The black sea churned around them.
Mahito ducked low and went for a sweep—Yuki leapt over it, flipped forward mid-air, and with his blade arm raised high, brought it down like a guillotine.
CRUNCH!
Mahito couldn't dodge in time—his clawed arm got cleaved off
He screamed, jumped back, skidding across the water's surface, but before he could fully regain his balance, they both lunged again.
Blades behind them, stances low.
In a split second—
FLASH!
They passed by each other in a blur of motion.
Neither moved.
Then—
SPLURT!
Blood erupted in the air as deep gashes split open across their bodies, the damage catching up with their insane speed. For a moment, both of them just stood there, dripping crimson.
Then Yuki's blade arm hit the water with a splash—it had been sliced off.
Yuki didn't even flinch.
He roared and charged forward, slamming his remaining hammerfist toward Mahito's chest.
Mahito's eyes widened—"Hell nah!"
In a panic, he transfigured his other arm mid-motion into a massive, jagged shield made of rock-hard muscle and dense bone, just in time.
BOOOOM!!
Yuki's hammerfist crashed into the shield, the impact sending shockwaves across the sea and forcing Mahito to skid backward, feet tearing lines across the water's surface.
The shield held—but barely.
Mahito was breathing hard, his body twitching, soul trembling.
Yuki didn't stop. He just cracked his neck and took a step forward, eyes locked, full of fire.
"This ain't over, you freaky bastard."
~~~
Mahito grinned wickedly as he yanked hard on the barbed lasso lodged into Akeno's leg. The cursed rope coiled with writhing flesh and jagged spines dragged her from the sky, and with a brutal yank, he slammed her into the pavement, the concrete cracking beneath the impact like glass.
"Time for a little payback, sweetheart!" he cackled, eyes gleaming with twisted joy.
Before she could recover, he swung her like a ragdoll—through walls, into houses, around buildings—her body crashing through solid structures as if she weighed nothing. Blood flew in every direction, bones cracked and shattered, and the air was filled with the sickening sound of meat slamming into stone. He even dragged her through the ground, creating a trench of ruin, before whipping her back up and slamming her down again and again, each hit more violent than the last.
"HAHAHA! This feel familiar, bitch? Thought you could do it to me and walk away!?" he roared as he spiked her into the ground one final time, the force enough to create a crater.
Akeno didn't move.
She lay there, barely conscious, blood pouring from her mouth, nose, and forehead. Her limbs twisted at wrong angles, bones jutting through skin, her chest rising and falling in short, shallow breaths as she wheezed, choked, and coughed blood, her ribs caved in.
Mahito tilted his head and licked his lips. "Two down."
BOOM!!
A blast of crimson energy erased half his face, sending him staggering.
"GET AWAY FROM AKENO!!"
Rias, surrounded by a blazing aura of pure destruction, charged in with fury in her eyes. Energy pulsed from her like a tidal wave as she hurled blast after blast at Mahito, each one tearing into him.
Mahito regenerated fast, his mouth stretching wide into a bloody grin. "Aww, is the lil king pissed? Seeing your little slaves all broken get you hot, huh?! What's the matter, cow tits? Think you'll do better up close?"
He laughed, delirious and cruel. "I swear, the thought of ripping your fucking tits off almost made me cum!"
SPLURT.
He hawked up another flesh orb, morphing it in an instant into a grotesque, pulsating shield, covered in teeth-like ridges. He braced for impact.
Rias didn't flinch.
As she reached him, her blasts carved chunks off the shield, but she didn't stop—she closed the distance, her aura blazing brighter.
Mahito swung his shield to bash her—
But Rias was faster.
She slid in a stance, twisted her hips, and with her leg coated in destructive power, she spun into a devastating roundhouse kick that shattered his shield into dust.
Mahito barely had time to blink.
Rias roared, she pun around with the momentum of her roundhouse kick and brought her other leg high overhead and axe-kicked his skull, slamming him face-first into the ground with a brutal CRACK that echoed down the ruined streets.
"Lucky hit!" he growled, face already re-forming, and lashed out with a wild punch.
But Rias reacted despite his superior speed and slipped in close. She grabbed his outstretched arm, twisted under it, and with perfect control, judo-threw his ass into the ground like a sack of garbage.
Mahito quickly rolled back to his feet avoiding her stomp at his head.
"Did you just—"
CRACK!!
A palm strike snapped his jaw upward, snapping teeth loose.
Then—BOOM.
Rias planted her other palm right against his chest, and before he could even curse her name—
She unleashed a point-blank blast of Power of Destruction.
The explosion lit up the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Issei crouched behind the crumbling rubble of a destroyed house, away from the chaos where Rias and Mahito were fighting each other. His breaths were heavy, shaky—not from fear, but the weight of what he was carrying.
Akeno's body, limp and broken in his arms. Kiba was clinging on his back barely breathing, hanging on by a thread.
He had yanked them both out of the battlefield—Akeno first, after Mahito slammed her around like a ragdoll, then Kiba, who he found half-buried beneath fallen debris, the left side of his abdomen torn open, nearly severed in half from one of those cursed rounds.
Issei stumbled into what remained of a blown-out grocery store, where he finally found Koneko. She was slumped against a broken shelf, gasping and covered in blood, but alive. She had yanked Mahito's barbed spear out of her gut herself—and it had dragged some of her intestines out with it. The wound was gruesome, raw, and leaking, but thanks to the Senjutsu energy surging through her, she was barely holding on, body regenerating slower than usual due to the sheer trauma.
Issei had found her right after blasting Mahito's heavy bolter with a Dragon Shot—but in choosing to look for her, he left Akeno unprotected.
That choice nearly got Akeno killed.
Now, both of them were laid out in front of Koneko as she poured what was left of her Senjutsu into their broken bodies. Her hands trembled as she tried to heal them—not with skill or technique, but by brute-forcing raw life energy into their bodies. It was working, but barely. Kiba twitched and groaned… but Akeno—
Akeno wasn't breathing.
Her heart had stopped a couple seconds ago.
Koneko's eyes widened in panic as she pressed harder, tears streaming down her cheeks, her voice breaking.
"C'mon… c'mon, Akeno… wake up. Please. Wake up!"
Issei couldn't take it anymore.
He dropped to his knees and let out a raw, guttural scream.
His fists pounded the ground over and over.
"It's my fault! It's all my fucking fault!"
He hit the floor again.
"If I hadn't left… if I just stayed…"
Another hit.
"I should've been there! I could've protected her! STUPID! STUPID! FUCK!!"
He smashed his knuckles against the stone until he couldn't see through the tears streaming down his face.
Then—
SMACK.A slap cracked across his face.
He looked up, stunned.
Koneko, barely holding herself upright, stared down at him, her eyes red from crying, her voice trembling—but sharp.
"Quit feeling sorry for yourself, you idiot!" she barked, breathing hard.
"Buchou needs you out there—weneed you! So pull yourself together already!"
Her words hit him harder than the slap.
And then… another voice echoed in his head.
["Partner."]
Ddraig's deep, steady voice rang out in his soul.
["She's right. Now isn't the time for guilt or fear. Mahito is still out there—and your king is facing him alone. Only one minute left. That's all you need to buy. So move, Issei! Stop worrying about everything else! FOCUS!"]
Issei clenched his fists, breathing in deep.
He shut his eyes.
One heartbeat. Two.
Then he opened them.
Gone was the shaking, the hesitation, the doubt.
In its place was a cold fire, an unnatural stillness—a laser-sharp clarity. Like a predator before the pounce. Like a warrior with nothing left to lose.
Issei was locked in.
He stood tall, eyes burning with fierce resolve.
And without a word, he turned and charged back into the fire.
~~~
From the pitch-black water, massive stitched arms erupted—dozens of them, twisted and patchworked with knotted muscle and jagged nails. They surged toward Yuki, seizing him mid-air, dragging him down, crushing him from all sides. His body disappeared beneath a writhing nest of grotesque hands.
But then—
SLASH!
A single, brutal swipe carved clean through all of them.
A barbed, two-pronged spear-like blade tore out of the mess, connected to a tendril-like appendage—Yuki's right arm, now transformed into a grotesque whipfist, just like Mahito's previously.
And then came the boom—
Yuki's hammerfist-transformed left arm smashed downward, detonating the mangled remains of the severed hands into chunks of meat and gore.
He bolted forward without missing a beat.
Mahito was backpedaling hard, springing backward again and again, kicking off chunks of black water like he was walking on air, his stitched features twisted in frustration. His cocky grin was gone now—replaced with tension, with doubt.
This wasn't going his way anymore.
He gritted his teeth and tried to tap into his cursed army outside—to order them, to crush Issei and the others while he bought time in here.
Nothing.
Dead silence.
Mahito's eyes widened.
Something was blocking him.
And then he heard Yuki's voice—smug, calm, a perfect gut-punch to his nerves.
"Calling for help?"
Mahito's eye twitched. His aura spiked with fury.
He roared and lashed out again, summoning wave after wave of those towering, stitched monstrosities. The arms surged forward like a tsunami of flesh, slamming into the water and reaching up to grab Yuki again.
But Yuki didn't hesitate.
He crouched, muscles coiled like springs—and then launched into the air.
Over the hands.
He landed on one massive palm—and kept going, bouncing from one grotesque arm to the next like a parkour assassin, hopping, flipping, never stopping.
When hands blocked his path or tried to grab him, his whipfist lashed out, whirling in savage, sweeping arcs, slicing through cursed flesh like wet paper. The ones that got too close? He punched straight through them, his hammerfist erupting in explosive bursts of force that turned limbs into mist.
And all the while, Mahito kept retreating.
Desperately throwing more and more stitched arms into Yuki's path, trying to stall—trying to breathe.
But it was no good.
Yuki was closing in.
Momentum building. Pressure mounting.
And Mahito?
For the first time in this whole battle—
He felt fear.
~~~
Rias was running—sprinting through ruined houses, leaping over shattered walls, ducking beneath collapsed beams. She dashed through broken buildings and flipped over rubble, darting across rooftops with desperate speed. Behind her, Mahito chased like a lunatic, laughing and howling, flinging orb after orb that exploded with cursed energy the moment they touched anything.
She'd been holding her own at first.
Rias had surprised him—landing solid hits, weaving through his attacks, countering with precise, devastating strikes. She was reading his moves, dancing around him, even with his edge in speed. But then—
A spike.
It came out of nowhere—spat straight from Mahito's mouth, hissing through the air. Too fast. Too close.
Rias tried to raise a shield—a coat of Power of Destruction layered over her body, like her brother's—but it wasn't strong enough. The spike punched through, barely slowed down, and buried itself in her stomach before disintegrating.
She gasped—staggered.
That's when she made the call: Run.
More spikes came flying, and she bolted—blasting through walls, ducking low, bleeding, but pushing herself forward. She threw up barriers as she moved, but they didn't hold. One spike tore through her shoulder, another grazed her thigh—she ripped them out mid-run, gritting her teeth through the pain.
She knew flying was suicide. She wasn't Akeno—couldn't maneuver like that in the air. Down here, at least, she could make him work for it.
But eventually—he cornered her.
She skidded to a stop, only to realize one of Mahito's bombs had already landed—right beneath her feet.
She had no time.
Rias clenched her jaw, poured every drop of power into her body—reinforcing herself as much as she could. The world lit up in a white-hot flash and—
BOOM!
She hit the ground hard, skin scorched and smoking, coughing through the pain. Burns covered her body, some blistering into third-degree territory—but she was alive.
Dazed, ears ringing, vision spinning—she didn't notice him approach.
Mahito stood over her, smiling wide, a barbed spear raised over his head, glinting in the light.
"Three down," he whispered, savoring it.
CRACK!
A fist slammed into his face.
Mahito's head snapped to the side, spit flying, and before he could react—
Issei came crashing down with his devil wings flared, landing hard and uppercutting Mahito so violently that the bastard was launched up into the sky and crashed straight through the rooftop of a nearby building.
Issei didn't say a word.
Didn't scream.
Didn't shout.
His eyes were locked, his body coiled.
He wasn't thinking. He was done thinking.
There was only one thing on his mind now.
Mahito.
~~~
Yuki had finally closed the gap. He roared, swinging his hammerfist at Mahito with bone-crushing power—but Mahito caught it, just barely, with his mutated shield-arm. The force sent Mahito skidding back, but he used the momentum to launch himself high into the air, flipping backward like a twisted acrobat, trying to put distance between them again.
"YOU AIN'T GETTIN' AWAY THIS TIME, BASTARD! GET OVER HERE!" Yuki bellowed.
He hurled his whipfist arm—flesh twisting, bone stretching, the barbed blade on the end screaming through the air like a javelin. It punched clean through Mahito's side, making him snarl in pain, but before he could process it, Yuki reeled the whipfist back in, yanking Mahito toward him while launching himself into the air at full speed.
Mahito gritted his teeth and sliced through the whipfist with his blade-arm, severing it just in time—but the momentum from the pull had already affected him. They were now on a collision course, both soaring through the air, both arms raised—Yuki's hammerfist against Mahito's shield.
At the same time, on the outside—
Issei stood on the ground, staring up at Mahito who had landed on a rooftop, clutching a grotesque new gauntlet—a warped chunk of muscle, bone, and cursed flesh wrapped tight around his arm resembling his hammerfist. He spat blood, eyes burning, as he glared down at Issei.
And Issei glared right back. No words. No yelling. No taunts.
They both just jumped.
Straight at each other.
Two battlefields. One inside. One out.
Both Mahitos let out a savage roar.
Both Yuki and Issei answered it—charging fists raised, eyes blazing, souls burning.
Then—impact.
Yuki's hammerfist slammed into Mahito's shield—
Issei's boosted gear crashed into Mahito's cursed gauntlet—
CRACK!
The shield shattered.
The cursed gauntlet exploded into splinters of flesh and bone.
Yuki's hammerfist split apart, the soul-fractured limb breaking down from the sheer force.
Mahito was left exposed—wide open.
Yuki reformed his right arm, but this time it was just flesh and blood. No weapons. No tricks. His soul was exhausted, damaged—this was all he had left. He pumped everything into that last arm. Every ounce of cursed energy. Every last drop of will.
Issei did the same. His left gauntlet glowed red-hot, burning with power, the Boosted Gear humming like a jet engine. His fist followed through, continuing on as from punching through Mahito's gauntlet—headed straight towards Mahito's gut. Ddraig's voice echoed faintly—["Now, partner! Finish this!"]
And then—they punched.
Two different worlds. Two different Mahitos. One perfect hit.
"BLACK FLASH!!!"
"BLACK FLASH!!!"
Their fists slammed into Mahito's gut like a freight train made of raw hatred.
In that instant, reality bent—time stuttered, space distorted, and the air cracked like glass.
The cursed energy didn't just ignite—it detonated, like a black star collapsing in on itself and then exploding outward.
Mahito's entire body convulsed.
His eyes blew wide open, veins bulging, his mouth frozen in a silent scream as his soul ripped and twisted, caught between two perfect, devastating strikes.
And then—he was blasted off his feet, sent flying like a ragdoll caught in a storm.
.
.
.
.
.
~~~~
And with that we finally reached 100k words and more for the story. This took me awhile because I was busy catching up reading other fanfics and this took me 4 days to write. Many ideas and stuff were added and discarded as I made this.
Anyways, the next few chapters are gonna be necessary for character development and I want to implement the ideas I had so bear with it 😁. But I promise it's gonna be peak! So see ya, In the Kenjussy we thrust Bruzzahs 🙏