Vale's attack was devastating. Not just for the target, Rex. But also for his surrounding. Everything around the Fiend was engulfed in fire and arbitrarily charred. Lucky for Jester to be further away from the circle of destruction.
Jester didn't miss the opportunity. As the chaotic fire storm ended, he dashed in. Turning into blur of motion, as he re-activated his [Sprint!].
He quickly deliver another set of rapid, disorienting strikes. Activating the [Toon Momentum] of his [Thunder Nunchaku].
WHAP! THWACK! THWACK! BANG!
Fiend Rex was strong and resilient. And possessed a wild, untamed destructive power. But he lacked the finesse and coordination to defend against their consecutive assaults.
He was like a stuck bear. Repeatedly stung by hundreds of bees. Without any chance to retaliate.
Jester's [Toon Momentum] allowed him to land a series of glancing blows. On Rex's body and limbs. Each one one was stinging but not critical.
Rex finally retaliated with sweeping attacks. His bladed arms left corrosive trails as it randomly slashed around.
Jester immediately activated [Shrink!] again to evade. His smaller form darted in and out of the danger zone. Just like a hyperactive imp.
He took a calculated risk in that size. Dashing and sliding between Rex's legs. Reappearing instantly behind him. To connect a vicious [Thunder Blast] to the Fiend's... crotch.
Rex bellowed. His legs buckled. One of the main weaknesses of men were severly damaged. Sizzling and slightly smoking under the sonic impact.
"You… Bastard!" The Fiend screamed. His voice was cracking with pain, rage, and frustration.
"What's the problem, Fiend? It's not like you'll have a decent date with that kind of appearance." Jester shot back. Mocking mercilessly. His grey eyes were glinting with mischief and savagery.
He was enjoying this. In a grim sort of way. A shame Rex had to die. But he had chosen his path. No mercy for the traitor of humanity.
Meanwhile, Vale pressed the advantage. With the Fiend was momentarily off-balance, Vale played a complicated tone that sounded sharp and cold.
"Cool your head next, Ugly Guy! Taste my [Frost Storm]!" Vale commented.
SCHREE! FIUHH! CRACKLE!
Another elemental storm appeared. This time it was a sudden, chaotic wave of cold frost and sharp wind. Similar to the previous [Fire Storm], the feezing chaos suddenly erupted around Rex. Engulfing the Fiend in small, concentrated hailstorm.
Jester had long gone after hearing the first note on Vale's musical instrument. His sharpened intuition told him to avoid the location for safety.
Cold frost appeared. Layering it on top of Rex's existing pain. The Fiend didn't move. Frozen all over.
But then, the layers of frost cracked. Rex could move again. His body was shaking uncontrollably. The remaining flesh on his body turned bluish. Black blood surprisingly began to seep from the gaps in his metallic skin.
"Wait! Is he malfunctioning?" Jester commented.
He saw the desperate flicker in Rex's lone human eye. And he knew he was right. This was it. One more concerted push.
Jester charged. His nunchaku whirling like a tornado. He aimed for the head. Intending to end it swiftly.
Rex, despite his suffering, saw the attack coming. He let out a desperate, inhuman shriek. And his body began to swell. Metallic plates expanding. Flesh tearing further to accommodate a rapid, grotesque transformation.
Jester's nunchaku hit the Fiend's shoulder instead his head. Due to the sudden swelling.
THWACK!
Jester didn't mind missing the target. He connected the attack with further barrage of strikes. Building [Toon Momentum] to unleash another [Thunder Blast].
WHAP! THWACK! BANG! THWACK!
It was a race. Either Jester could build enough momentum first to unleash the [Thunder Blast]. Or Rex completed his desperate transformation first.
But before Jester could build enough momentum... Before Rex could finish his horrid transformation... The air between them crackled with a different kind of energy. Colder. Darker.
A sudden, jarring BANG! echoed through the place. It was not sound of impact. But the sound of reality torn apart. It was immediate, cold, and absolute.
The air shimmered. With pure negative space. A portal, blacker than charcoal and perfectly shaped like a teardrop, appeared. It seemed to rip itself open barely a meter from Jester.
A hand shot out. It was slender. Pale. And tipped with sharp, blood-red nails.
Jester saw the movement too late. His nunchaku was mid-swing. The world seemed to slow down. Not through skill. But through shock.
The pale hand clamped onto Jester's right arm just above the elbow. He felt a sickening, brittle pain. And uncontrolled fear.
A figure stepped through the tear. A Devil. She was tall. And young. Breathtaking in a way that screamed danger.
Her eyes were golden and shining. Set beneath two delicate, polished bronze horns that curled back toward her raven hair. A thin, scaled tail flicked impatiently behind her. She wore sexy black leather armor that seemed to absorb all ambient light.
She didn't announce herself. She didn't stare. She just acted.
"Nuisance!" The Devil stated. Her voice was a low, resonant bell. Devoid of any genuine emotion.
With a jerk that was almost casual, she ripped Jester's arm out of its socket.
Blood sprayed. A terrifiying spray of crimson that instantly vaporized into black smoke as it hit the misty darkness emanating from the Devil. The severed limb, still clenching the Wild Nunchaku, went tumbling across the ruined floor.
The pain was overwhelming. It was soul-deep pain. A violation of the sanity that held him together. Jester's eyes widened. Struggling to stop himself from screaming.
Before he could even process the situation, the Devil delivered a precise, open-palmed strike to his chest.
BANG!
Jester's body became a projectile. He slammed through the wall of the school building. And vanished into the thick cloud of pulverized concrete and dust. Buried by another collapse of debris. He was out of the fight. Maybe out of life.
The Devil turned her attention to the Fiend, Rex. He had frozen mid-transformation. His grotesque shell was twitching violently.
"Pathetic!" She spat. Not even glancing at the students and teachers who watched in horror.
Vale's classmates had finished the three Wererat Demons. Some teachers had also slain their demon opponents. They were supposed to be winning. But, now... with this devil, the situation seemed hopeless.
These people froze. Vale, however, didn't. He moved with the practiced fury of a storm waiting to break. Seeing Jester fell from the casual savagery of the attack snapped his focus into lethal clarity. He didn't wait to assess the threat level.
The [Stormlord Lute] resonated with a deep, furious thrum. Vale's fingers danced across the strings in a frantic, accelerating frenzy. The air pressure in the battle zone doubled instantly.
"Listen to this, Bitch! [Chaos Storm]!" Vale muttered. His green eyes were glowing with banked elemental energy. He slammed down the final, power-chord key of his Lute.
The summoned storm he called this time was not refined. It was raw, primal elemental rage. Mixed into one volatile cocktail.
Around the Devil and the Fiend, columns of roaring orange flames burst out. Immediately followed by blinding white bolts of electrical lightning. Where the lightning touched the ground, jagged spears of crystalline ice erupted. Only to be mixed with chunks of wet, swirling earth. And razor-sharp wind shear.
Fire. Thunder. Earth. Water. Ice. Wind. Six distinct elements. All seemed to be fighting against each other. All raged around the Devil who stood calmly between them. And the horrified Fiend.
The sheer power of the Chaos Storm should have atomized anything caught within its radius. But the Devil remained whole.
The darkness emanating from her was not just an aura. It was a shield. A perfect null zone.
The fire hissed and died a foot from her skin. The lightning crackled and dissipated into stale air. The ice melted instantly. And the stones fractured before they could touch her. She stood in the heart of the elemental maelstrom. Utterly untouched. Looking mildly amused.
The Fiend, Rex, was not so lucky. The Devil had shielded herself. But not him. The uncontrolled elemental fury tore into Rex's already transforming body. Metallic scales were vaporized in the heat. Flesh was flash-frozen and then ripped apart by the wind shear.
Rex let out a bubbling, dying scream. Collapsing into a twitching heap of gore and useless metal. Just a few steps behind the Devil.
She watched Rex fall. Then dismissed him with a sigh.
"Such waste. So much potential squandered on mediocrity." The Devil observed.
Her focus was now entirely on Vale. Who stood tautly. Still holding the [Stormlord Lute] with deviant glare.
"You, however, were an efficient study." She continued. Tilting her head. The gold in her eyes assessing the white-haired musician. "Ten-star Gear. Arcane focus. True Transcender potential already. You do not reek of the pathetic struggle for power. You simply wield it."
Vale said nothing. His gaze was still cold and hard.
"We are expanding our local holdings. We require talent who understand efficiency. That pathetic little rogue who just broke the sound barrier proves that brute strength alone is insufficient here."
She gestured vaguely towards the rubble concealing Jester. "Jester Eventide, huh? I wonder why Little Rex was so obsessed with him. Even more than you. He is an amusing novelty. Broken before he began. You, however, could be a foundation."
The Devil offered a terrifyingly beautiful smile. "Join us, Valiant Bardean!"