The two demons stopped moving.
The molten creature's claws hovered inches above a crushed car while heat continued pouring from the cracks running across its body. Nearby metal glowed orange from the temperature alone.
The skeletal demon froze with several tendrils suspended in the air behind it. The appendages twitched erratically while its shifting face stared toward the two heroes in visible confusion.
Moon-Light stood beside Tempestia with his shoulders squared and his breathing controlled. Dark energy rolled slowly around his boots while his eyes stayed locked on the demons ahead.
Then he looked around the ruined city.
Burning buildings leaned dangerously over shattered streets. Bodies remained trapped beneath collapsed concrete and twisted steel beams. Blood filled the deep cracks splitting the pavement while broken limbs protruded from wreckage scattered across the avenue.
A woman's arm hung lifelessly from the side of an overturned van. Her fingers remained curled tightly around nothing. Nearby, a torn child's backpack lay open across the street with notebooks, pencils, and blood-soaked papers scattered around chunks of broken concrete. Smoke drifted through the air together with the heavy metallic smell of blood and burning debris.
Moon-Light stared silently for a moment before rubbing one hand down across his face.
"Oh crap…"
His voice came out rough and low.
"This is completely fucked."
He slowly turned in place, taking in the destruction surrounding them.
"Do we seriously have to deal with all this ourselves? Look at this place…"
Tempestia never looked away from the Demon King.
"We do not have a choice," she answered calmly. "Black Mentis is not on Earth right now. That means we are the only ones capable of stopping them."
A nearby skyscraper groaned loudly before collapsing sideways into another tower. The impact shook the street beneath them and sent a massive cloud of dust rolling across the avenue. Loose debris bounced across the pavement around the heroes.
Tempestia held her ground without flinching.
Then white energy erupted around her body.
The air surrounding her distorted while glowing symbols spread beneath her feet in massive circular patterns. A gigantic magic circle unfolded behind her layer after layer, bright enough to illuminate entire city blocks. Golden shockwaves pulsed outward from the center in expanding rings that swept across Ember City.
The city began changing.
The collapsed buildings trembled before sections of shattered concrete started pulling themselves back together. Twisted steel beams straightened violently into place. Broken roads sealed shut while overturned vehicles rolled backward across the pavement.
Blood stains vanished from the streets.
Severed limbs dissolved into particles of light before reforming into living bodies.
People gasped sharply as life returned to them.
A man buried underneath debris suddenly coughed violently and rolled onto his side, grabbing at the pavement beneath him while trying to breathe. A crying child reappeared beside his mother before she immediately wrapped both arms around him so tightly he started sobbing harder.
Several civilians stumbled backward in confusion while staring at their own restored bodies. One woman touched the side of her neck repeatedly where a deep wound had existed seconds earlier. Another man stared at his shaking hands before looking around at the repaired street surrounding him.
"What… happened?"
"Were we dead…?"
"No… no, I saw that building fall…"
Not everything returned.
Some buildings remained collapsed in the distance. Fires still burned across parts of the city. Certain streets stayed buried underneath rubble.
And some people never came back.
The spell ended abruptly.
Tempestia dropped to both knees.
Her hand slammed against the cracked pavement to stop herself from collapsing face-first. Violent coughing shook her body while strands of hair fell across her face. A thin line of blood slipped from the corner of her mouth and splattered onto the ground beneath her.
High above them, Megalodon watched silently.
The two demons remained motionless behind him.
"Hmm…"
The Demon King's glowing eyes focused on Tempestia more carefully now.
"This power…?"
Moon-Light immediately dropped beside her, one knee nearly hitting the pavement. He grabbed her shoulder firmly before leaning closer.
"Since when can you do that?"
His eyes moved rapidly across the repaired city around them.
"You just reversed time and fixed all of this? I did not even know that was possible."
He lifted one hand immediately afterward.
"Full Recovery."
Green energy burst outward around Tempestia and wrapped tightly across her body. The cracks spreading through her aura stabilized while color slowly returned to her face. Her breathing steadied little by little.
She looked sideways toward him while wiping blood from her chin with the back of her hand.
"We will talk about it later," she said quietly. "Let's focus on the fight."
Behind Megalodon, the molten demon suddenly leaned forward. Lava spilled from its claws as it prepared to charge.
The skeletal creature moved at the same time. Tendrils stretched outward toward the recovering civilians nearby.
Tempestia raised her hand instantly.
"Greater Teleportation."
Light exploded across the city.
Thousands of civilians vanished simultaneously. One second they stood frozen throughout the ruined streets. The next, entire groups disappeared in flashes of white light before the demons could even reach them.
The streets emptied almost instantly.
The two demons stopped mid-motion in visible confusion. The skeletal creature's tendrils recoiled sharply while the molten one looked around the abandoned avenue.
Far away, inside HeroCorp emergency sectors, terrified civilians suddenly reappeared across evacuation platforms and medical zones. People collapsed onto the floor crying while rescue teams rushed toward them. Some survivors hugged strangers. Others stared blankly around the crowded shelters, still struggling to understand they were alive.
Back in Ember City, Megalodon lazily lifted one hand.
The demons immediately halted completely.
The molten creature lowered its head slightly.
"Forgive us, Your Majesty."
Tempestia slowly pushed herself back to her feet. Sweat rolled down the side of her face while her breathing remained uneven underneath the healing aura surrounding her.
Inside her mind, panic pressed harder than the pain.
"I cannot let him know," she thought. "I manipulated fate itself. If anyone discovers what I changed…"
Her fingers curled briefly before relaxing again.
"There are only a few heroes close enough to respond right now," she said while keeping her eyes on Megalodon. "The others are already evacuating nearby cities in case this spreads further."
She stepped forward beside Moon-Light.
"We need to hold the line here."
Moon-Light rolled his shoulders while dark energy tightened around his body. The pavement underneath his boots cracked softly as his aura thickened.
"Yeah," he muttered while forcing out a long breath. "No pressure or anything."
He pointed upward toward Megalodon.
"It's not like if we screw this up, the whole planet probably gets flattened."
His eyes drifted sideways toward Tempestia briefly.
"And I am guessing whatever insane thing you just did is not something you can keep repeating?"
Tempestia wiped another thin streak of blood from beneath her nose.
"No," she answered. "That spell can only be used once every decade. I cannot simply cast it whenever I want."
Inside, frustration twisted harder.
"Great," she thought bitterly. "I relied on his blessing again. I cannot keep risking this."
Moon-Light stared up at the towering Demon King above the city.
"Fantastic," he muttered. "Now giant ass nightmare demons are falling out of the sky."
He shook his head slowly.
"Seriously, why do creatures like you even exist?"
His voice hardened afterward.
"And why the fuck are you trying so badly to come here?"