The courtyard burned gold under the setting sun.
Master Yuzi Katzuki stood before his students, the firelight glinting off the scars that crisscrossed his arms. His gaze swept across the line of exhausted recruits.
"Listen well," he said, his voice cutting through the crackle of torches. "Fire is not just destruction. It's life, rebirth, agony, and will. Those who fail to control it—will die by it."
He raised his sword, and flames flared to life along its edge.
"Fire Power's First Form—Blazing Slash. Every flame begins here."
He slashed downward, the air itself igniting. Sparks rained like embers in the wind.
Yuzi's tone deepened, commanding silence.
"Second Form: Scorching Ember Dance. Third: Wildfire Surge. Fourth: Crimson Burst. Fifth: Phoenix Rise. Sixth: Infernal Spiral. Seventh: Sunflare Strike. Eighth: Ashen Requiem. Ninth: Hellfire's Judgment."
Then he paused. The ground seemed to hum.
"And my own Tenth Form… Fire Torende. Dangerous. Unpredictable. Absolute."
For months they trained—until skin tore and bones groaned. By the third month, half the recruits had vanished, broken or burned. Yuto remained. His body hardened, his will sharpened. His movements became fluid, his blade alive with crimson flame.
By the sixth month, even Yuzi took notice.
"You move like you were born from fire itself," the master said. "Let's see if your flames can stand against mine."
The courtyard fell silent. Students formed a circle as Yuzi and Yuto faced each other, swords raised.
Yuzi moved first. "Fire Power: Second Form—Scorching Ember Dance!"
His sword carved arcs of flame that hissed through the air.
Yuto's eyes blazed. "Third Form—Wildfire Surge!"
Their swords met in a storm of heat, sparks bursting outward as stone cracked beneath their feet.
Yuzi smiled grimly. "Not bad… try this! Fifth Form—Phoenix Rise!"
Wings of fire erupted behind him, heat rolling off in waves.
Yuto didn't flinch. "Seventh Form—Sunflare Strike!"
Light collided with flame, a shockwave sending both skidding backward through smoke and dust.
The crowd could barely see them move—just bursts of red, orange, and blinding gold.
Yuzi spun mid-air, shouting, "Sixth Form—Infernal Spiral!"
The ground split open as flaming rings tore through the courtyard.
Yuto countered instantly, "Eighth Form—Ashen Requiem!"
Grey fire erupted, devouring the spirals and swallowing the world in smoke.
Then, in unison, their voices roared:
"Tenth Form—Fire Torende!"
The explosion could be seen for miles. The courtyard became a vortex of fire, a storm that devoured sky and earth alike. When the flames finally subsided, both warriors were on their knees—burned, bleeding, but alive.
Yuzi's smile was faint but proud. "You've surpassed every one of them. You carry the fire of a legend, Yuto."
Yuto bowed deeply. "Thank you, Master."
Their moment ended with a sharp clap echoing across the ruins.
Master Masaru stepped forward, his black cloak fluttering. His voice was cold as steel.
"Tomorrow," he said, "begins your final trial. Seven nights in the den of devils. Two hundred beasts. No rescue. No mercy. Survive—and you earn the title of Devil Hunter."
The recruits froze. Some whispered prayers. Others grinned with terror.
Yuto clenched his fists, feeling the weight of everything he had trained for.
"I'll survive," he murmured. "No matter what."
---
Night fell heavy over the forest.
The moon was blood-red. The air reeked of sulfur and rot.
Yuto and the others advanced cautiously through the trees, torches flickering in their hands. All around them, shadows moved—and breathed.
A scream shattered the silence.
A devil had descended upon one of the trainees, ripping him apart in seconds.
Without hesitation, Yuto charged forward, flames bursting from his body.
"Second Form—Scorching Ember Dance!"
He slashed through the darkness, blades of flame spinning around him. The devil shrieked and leapt aside, leaving trails of black smoke.
Yuto didn't stop. "First Form—Blazing Slash!"
His katana blazed as it cut through the demon's chest, tearing out a pulsing, crimson heart.
The devil gasped as its body crumbled. "Thank you… for freeing me…" Then it dissolved into ash.
Yuto stood still, chest heaving. There was no time to rest. A massive shadow fell across him.
A ten-foot devil, armored in pulsing veins, stepped into the firelight.
"Heart… give me your heart!" it roared.
Yuto's pulse hammered. Fear clawed at him, but his training held.
"Seventh Form—Sunflare Strike!"
His blade streaked forward, blindingly bright. The devil blocked—but Yuto's swing severed its arm clean off.
The beast screamed and regenerated instantly, its heart throbbing back to life within seconds.
"What the hell…?" Yuto hissed.
The devil grinned. "I don't die. You do."
It lunged. Yuto barely rolled aside as its claws split the ground open. Heat flared in his chest. He inhaled slowly, feeling the fire rise within.
"Eighth Form—Ashen Requiem!"
Flames burst from beneath him, grey and white, consuming everything in a storm of ash.
The devil responded in kind, its voice echoing with dark magic. "Devil Art—Fifth Technique: Full Darkness!"
The world went black. Sight vanished. The forest became a void.
Yuto closed his eyes. He could still feel the heat of his own fire. He didn't need light.
He raised his sword. "Fourth Form—Crimson Burst!"
A sphere of fire erupted around him, banishing the shadows. He saw the devil rearing back—and sprinted straight through the flames.
"First Form—Blazing Slash!"
The blade tore through the devil's chest. This time, it didn't heal. Its heart erupted in light, burning from the inside.
As it fell, the creature's voice rasped, almost human.
"Fire… our true end…"
Then silence.
---
By the seventh dawn, smoke covered the forest. Out of three hundred trainees, barely one hundred twenty remained.
Yuto stood among them, his armor scorched, his hands bloodied, his katana glowing faintly red. He had slain sixty devils in seven nights.
When the sun rose, Masaru appeared before them once more.
"You have survived hell," he said. "Now you are no longer students… you are Devil Hunters."
A crow landed on Yuto's shoulder, cawing softly — his new companion, his mark of rank. Masaru's gaze lingered on him longer than the rest.
"You," he said quietly, "will change everything."
Yuto didn't reply. He just looked out toward the smoking horizon — where, somewhere in the shadows, the Devil King Akuma Ikari was waiting to rise again.
And Yuto swore silently:
If fire is my fate, then I'll burn the darkness itself.