Sako tightly grasped Aruta's outstretched hand.
"Such a flirt," Sako said.
"Hey, you're the one who took my hand," Aruta retorted.
"Ughhh just shut up. No more talking. Let's take down this Junoi," Sako stood right beside Aruta. "You're not scared, are you?" she smirked, glaring sharply at the snake-like Junoi.
"I'm scared actually," Aruta answered.
"Hah?!" Sako gaped.
"Look out!" Aruta shouted as a massive chunk of ice with sharp edges shot toward him and Sako.
The two reflexively leaped aside and charged at the Junoi simultaneously.
One of the Junoi's heads, with glowing red eyes, opened its mouth wide and spewed flames at Aruta.
Aruta jumped to evade, but as he did, Sako suddenly dashed in, grabbed him, and carried him into the air.
The Junoi's fire blast missed and exploded. The explosion erupted right beneath Aruta and Sako as they flew.
"Let's go, Aruta!" Sako gripped both of Aruta's hands tightly and began spinning him in the air. Her rotations grew faster and faster.
"Hey-hey-hey!" Aruta's voice came out muffled and distorted as Sako spun him violently.
"BEAT IT!!" Sako hurled Aruta straight at the Junoi.
"HEEYYyyyyy…"
Aruta instantly shot forward at super speed. At first he was still dizzy but tried to regain his focus as quickly as possible. In his slightly dazed state, Aruta concentrated on channeling LYNK energy into his legs, and soon a blazing aura of LYNK energy enveloped his feet.
Aruta was moving so fast that the red-eyed Junoi had no time to react. He came crashing down onto the Junoi's head with his feet. The impact was so powerful that even as the head was falling, Aruta remained planted on top of it, continuing to press down until the rocky ground beneath the Junoi shattered. The head lay completely defeated.
Suddenly, less than a second after incapacitating this head, the Junoi's second head - the green-eyed one - immediately lunged at Aruta. The head opened its mouth wide, ready to devour him. Aruta prepared to jump away, but just as he was about to leap, Sako came crashing into the head from the side at super speed, driving two lightning spears she was holding straight into it. A tremendous flash of lightning erupted from both spears, followed shortly by a massive explosion. The head immediately collapsed unconscious while Sako landed gracefully beside Aruta.
"Where's my thank you?" Sako asked, shooting him a sly grin.
"Tch, thanks," Aruta muttered reluctantly.
"That's more like it," Sako smiled broadly.
"Just wait. I'll make you pay it back," Aruta said.
Suddenly, Sako unleashed lightning flashes that filled her right hand. She raised it to the side and fired a fairly large lightning ball. When Aruta turned to look in the direction of Sako's shot, he saw a rather large chunk of ice heading straight toward them. And when it was hit by Sako's lightning ball, the chunk shattered, leaving only small fragments of ice remaining.
"Looks like there's only one left," said Sako.
The final serphent's head of the Junoi stood imposingly before them. Soon, its blue eyes began to glow brightly and it spewed an extremely intense cold blast onto the stone floor beneath it. The surrounding air became super cold. The skin around this snake head's body turned a bright blue color. The stone floor that was blasted by the Junoi began turning bluish and continued spreading until it reached exactly where Aruta and Sako were standing.
Suddenly, ice walls grew around Aruta and Sako. The ice walls grew so rapidly, shooting up high until they even reached the spot where Aruta and Sako had fallen earlier. And now the only path left for them was to walk straight ahead, coming face-to-face with the Junoi's third head.
The serpent's mouth of the Junoi began opening wide and spewed forth freezing air just as intense as before, but this time directly toward Aruta and Sako.
Sako clenched her teeth, gripped Aruta's hand tightly, and generated lightning flashes that enveloped her body. Sako then charged forward straight through the Junoi's freezing blast while shielding Aruta with her own body.
Aruta was shocked to see Sako suddenly do this and shouted, 'Hey! You could freeze to death like this!'
But Sako kept running while retorting, "Tch, you think I'm that weak? I'm used to cold like this."
As they got closer to the Junoi, small sharp ice fragments began flying around, cutting several parts of Sako's body. Her running began slowing, and her breathing became labored.
"I... have to... make it..." Sako kept pushing forward when suddenly Aruta's voice reached her ears.
"Sako!! Throw me at the Junoi!!" Aruta shouted.
"Idiot! You'll freeze to death if I just throw you like that!" Sako protested.
"Just trust me! Better than you collapsing and both of us freezing to death here," Aruta said, locking determined eyes with Sako.
Sako looked into Aruta's eyes and finally said, "Promise me you won't die!"
Sako immediately hurled Aruta toward the Junoi. Aruta coated his body with LYNK energy and began charging through the Junoi's ice storm at high speed. But gradually, his speed decreased. The freezing air began piercing his bones. Ice shards also cut his hands, temples, cheeks, and many other parts of his body.
"Come on... just a little more..."
But Aruta began slowly falling downward.
"D-damn it..."
Then suddenly, a fairly large chunk of ice smashed into Aruta's face. He immediately began falling headfirst. His vision started blurring. He briefly saw Sako, who could no longer run and had collapsed.
"Sako..."
Aruta struggled to stay conscious but his eyelids grew incredibly heavy, as if forcing him to close them. Just as he was about to shut his eyes, he saw the necklace given by Mr. Kuroto come loose and fall right in front of him. Suddenly, Aruta felt like he remembered something. He felt like he'd been in this position before, even though he knew for certain he never had. His heartbeat grew increasingly rapid.
Finally, Aruta tightly grasped the necklace, twisted his body to position his feet downward, and the moment his feet touched the ground, he immediately leapt toward the Junoi with his legs cloaked in LYNK energy.
Whereas Aruta's charge had slowed before, now he didn't slow at all, as if there were no obstacles in his path. He finally emerged from the blast area and positioned himself right above the Junoi's head.
"AAAAHHHHH!!!!" Aruta drove both fists into the Junoi's head. The Junoi's blast stopped instantly as it crashed down hard.
Aruta kept pummeling the Junoi with tremendous force until the ground and stone floor beneath it cracked.
But as Aruta continued punching, the Junoi suddenly thrashed violently, causing Aruta to be tossed about before finally being flung away. The blue-eyed Junoi head rose again and charged at Aruta with its mouth gaping wide. But before it could advance more than a meter, Sako suddenly appeared in front of the Junoi's head.
With a hand crackling with lightning, Sako delivered an incredibly powerful punch to the serpent Junoi's face, generating an enormous lightning flash like a thunderbolt. The Junoi's head was instantly knocked back and ultimately collapsed to the ground.
"Hah.. hah... hah..." Sako panted heavily while standing atop the Junoi's head.
Sako slowly jumped down to where Aruta was waiting.
"Nice punch," Aruta said.
"Yeah..." Sako began staggering as if about to fall.
Aruta immediately stepped forward ready to catch her.
Just as Sako seemed about to fall, her body suddenly stopped mid-fall.
"Huh?" Aruta was surprised.
"Haha waiting for me to fall so you can catch me, huh? Remember, we're not in some romance fiction," Sako teased.
"No! You were staggering so I thought you were going to fall!" Aruta retorted.
Suddenly, the ground around them began shaking
"Ugh what now?" Sako asked, steadied herself.
And surprisingly, all three of the Junoi's heads were able to rise again.
"Shit! You've gotta be kidding me," Sako groaned.
Not long after, all three heads opened their mouths, firing a barrage of ice, fire, and poison simultaneously.
The two scrambled to escape as the attacks pursued them relentlessly.
"Dammiiit!" Sako screamed right before one of the Junoi's fireballs exploded directly behind her and Aruta, blasting them off their feet.
As they crashed to the ground, they scrambled behind a massive boulder before the junoi unleashed another storm of wild attack.
"Tch, how do we handle this now?" Sako leaned against the rock.
"Hmm…" Aruta frowned. "How about we just charge again like before?"
Sako immediately smacked his head. "Idiot! You got a death wish or something?"
Sako furrowed her brow, thinking. And finnaly...
"Hey, Aruta!" Sako called.
"Huh?"
A moment later, Sako stepped out, drawing the Junoi's attention.
"Come get me, you dumb Junoi!"
In an instant, Sako's entire body became wreathed in lightning, her eyes blazing bright. Her feet slammed into the ground with such force that the earth around her cracked.
"Crazy Thunder Run!"
Sako shot forward at blinding speed.
The Junoi didn't just stand there. It unleashed a barrage of attacks at Sako. Yet not a single one landed as she zigzagged wildly around it, her movements erratic and unpredictable.
The eyes of each Junoi began glowing brighter, intensifying their assault into a brutal onslaught that filled the area with explosions.
Finally, Sako hovered high above the Junoi. Lightning crackled around her hands as a sword of pure electricity materialized in her grip.
"Thunder tools: sword of the first hand."
All three of the Junoi's mouths gaped wide as a massive red LYNK energy sphere formed between their heads. In an instant, the orb unleashed a searing crimson beam straight at Sako.
Sako simply stood still, smiling. The beam struck—piercing straight through the ceiling as the Junoi's attack continued unabated. When the barrage finally ended, Sako was gone... until suddenly, a shout rang out.
"NOW, ARUTA!!"
The Junoi looked down just in time to see Sako spinning Aruta's body like a top, poised to hurl him forward.
***
Earlier:
"Aruta, I have a plan. Just run straight at the Junoi, okay?" Sako said.
"Huh?! Run at it? You trying to kill me?"
"Hey, wasn't that your idea in the first place? But anyway, just relax. I'll be the bait. When you're close enough, I'll dash in and throw you at it," Sako peeked at the Junoi.
"You sure about being bait?"
Sako lowered her gaze for a moment, transported back to years past when Ella had effortlessly evaded the gang's assault.
Finally, Sako turned to Aruta and said, "Absolutely." She flashed a sharp grin, her gaze unwavering, as tiny lightning arcs briefly crackled across her body.
***
The Junoi was shocked and immediately opened all three mouths again, but it was too late.
Sako threw Aruta simultaneously with her lightning sword.
Aruta caught the lightning sword and shot forward at super high speed. He channeled his LYNK energy into the lightning sword, and instantly, the sword's flashes became even more intense. When he got close to the middle serpent branch of the Junoi-the one with red eyes-Aruta immediately slashed its neck, severing the central serpent branch.
Having lost his momentum, Aruta fell. As he fell, the green-eyed serpent branch immediately chased after him, its mouth gaping wide. But Aruta didn't stay idle. He threw the sword, striking the serpent's chin and forcing its mouth shut.
Not long after, Sako flew at high speed, grabbing the hilt of the embedded sword and cleaving the serpent's head in two. Without pause, Sako shot straight up toward the Junoi's last remaining head. The blue-eyed serpent. She raised her sword high above her head while the serpent opened its mouth, revealing an icy blue light within.
"Thunder Execution!" Sako shouted, and the sword above her head suddenly grew to an enormous size.
The Junoi unleashed an immense blast of freezing air. But as Sako swung her sword, the Junoi's attack was instantly split apart. Sako continued her descent while the Junoi intensified its blast. Yet Sako's attack didn't weaken in the slightest.
Her sword struck the Junoi's head, and she kept descending, splitting the Junoi from head to base. All three serpent branches collapsed, motionless.
Sako landed and stood before the defeated Junoi, panting heavily. Shortly after, Aruta approached her.
"You really are insane," Aruta said.
"Hehe, I'll take that as a compliment," Sako replied, turning toward him. "You fight pretty well too. Have you fought creatures like this before?"
"Yeah... once when I was a kid," Aruta answered.
"Damn, fighting monsters like this as a child?" Sako kicked the Junoi's body behind her, which had begun dissolving into red smoke.
"Yeah, but it wasn't as terrifying as this!" Aruta retorted.
But moments later, Aruta's gaze was drawn to something strange emerging from the dissipating smoke. After a brief moment of observation, a card emerged from the smoke before vanishing along with it.
"A card?" Aruta muttered.
"Oh, by the way, Aruta," Sako called.
Aruta turned back to her and noticed her face was slightly flushed.
"Thanks for... saving me earlier."
"Huh? Ahahaha, no need to thank me. Next time you need help, I'll-"
Suddenly, Sako punched him in the face.
"Don't get cocky!" she yelled.
Aruta fell flat on his back. He sat back up, clutching his cheek. "Ow ow ow, you thank me, then you turn back into a wild beast?"
"Hmph!"
Suddenly, a loud boom echoed from above.
"A boom? Did you hear that too?" Aruta asked.
"Yeah. Seems like it's from above. It's pretty far up, so that must've been one hell of an explosion," Sako said.
They looked up at the hole they had originally fallen through-only for it to suddenly collapse into an even larger opening. Walls and wooden debris rained down as Mono appeared in the center of the destruction.
"Mono?" Sako said.
"Mono, I'm gonna catch you!" Aruta shouted, jumping to his feet.
Seeing Aruta and Sako, Mono immediately screamed, "YOU TWO, GET OUT OF THERE NOW!!"
Just as Mono reached them, something leaped from the massive hole and slammed into the ground near the trio, sending them all flying.