The hunter quickly throws Luci and Fred away to the side like rag dolls, eyeing Kaito. He sees the beast and the way it scopes out the battle. "This one's different then any monster I've ever seen." Kaito says.
The graith was different in a way just from how horrific it looked. And it's sheer power. No doubt this beast was weaker, but it seemed smarter.
Kaito wastes no time summoning his beario sword. The hunter lunges after him the ground shattering from where it jumped from. Kaito's blade once again clashes with it. The force of the attack sending him flying.
He catches himself and quickly dodges the next attack. The hunter grabs him and throws him yards away. An arrow quickly follows his path. Kaito flips around slashing the arrow from the air.
Dante panics watching the fight, he reaches for his sword his hand trembling. "C-can I even help here, I can barely tell what's happening!" He shouts.
Luci takes the opportunity to jump back in. A desperate attempt to get a sneaky stab in. The beast will turn and stomp her head into the ground quickly.
Kaito gets worried and he jumps in towards the hunter but he's too slow. It goes to stab her, the blow is blocked by a barrier Kaito had created.
"That was close!" Kaito shouts. The hunger tilts it's head at Kaito. It goes after him again recognizes he's a better fighter,
CLANG CLANG CLANG, Their weapons clash, the steel thundering through the air. The beast then uses it's other arm to grab and throw Kaito. It leaps towards him while he's in the air. Sweeping in a downward arc going for a killing blow.
Kaito erects a barrier, a large wall of ice appears in between Kaito and the hunter. The hunter crashes into the wall.
"Thanks Dante!" Kaito shouts. Dante's legs are shaking but he gives Kaito a thumbs up regardless. "I-it was nothing." Dante says.
The hunter plays the game and it dives back for Luci. Kaito reacts and he jumps in the way slashing the beasts hand. "Why're you protecting us kid!?" Luci questions. "Shut up!" Kaito yells. He's still irritated with them for using trickster as bait.
The hunter goes for a slash but another ice wall blocks it. Kaito jumps around the wall kicking it in the face. The hunter growls and slashes at him. Another wall stopping the attack.
Kaito jumps and uppercuts the beast. "I'm not confident enough to step into the fight myself, but I can at least mix up the hunter." Dante tells himself.
POW. Kaito lands another devastating hit on the beast.
The hunter gets annoyed with this game of cat and mouse. It launches itself to Dante. "Dante?!" Kaito questions. Fearing for his friends safety.
Dante freezes in place seeing it coming for him in such a high speeds. "Dante MOVE!" Kaito shouts at him but he's paralyzed with fear.
Kaito scans the area and he sees the trickster hiding nearby. "Trickster can you launch me at Dante!?" Kaito begs. "Yeah!" She says.
She quickly charges wind magic and then she propels Kaito to Dante. It's close! Too close! He can't parry that attack or block it in time.
Kaito watches in fear as the slash comes straight for Dante. Dante screams as the blade comes down at him and he falls onto his back.
Drip.... drip. Blood drips onto the ground. Trickster watching on her voice unable to escape. The blade dripping blood onto the ground.
Dante realizes that he's not in any pain. He slowly opens his eyes realizing the blade never made contact with him. He looks up to see Kaito. He looks further to see that the beasts dagger is in Kaito's side as he holds the hunters arm. Defending Dante with his own body.
"Aunties counting on me to keep you safe..." Kaito says to Dante with a smile on his face. Kaito's blood drifts onto the ground.
A nasty ripping sound is heard as the hunter rips the dagger from Kaito's body. It then pulls it's arm high up to finish off Kaito. BAM. The beast is thrown into a nearby tree by wind magic.
The Trickster sprinted to Kaito's side, eyes wide with panic as she dropped to her knees. "Are you okay?!" Her voice trembled with fear.
Kaito gave a short nod, blood still dripping from his side as he pressed his hand to the wound. A faint golden light shimmered beneath his palm—his sacred arte pulsing weakly as it fought to mend torn flesh.
But his eyes weren't on his wound. They were locked on the lone figure approaching through the haze—The Hunter, relentless and silent, stepping through the dust like death itself.
Kaito shook his head slowly, a grim smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "No one's coming to save us," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. His voice wasn't hopeless—it was resolute.
With a sudden motion, he slapped himself across the face, snapping his focus back. Enough. Time and time again, he had faltered. Been forced to retreat. Been rescued by others. Saved by luck or sacrifice.
But not this time.
This time, there was no cavalry. No escape route. No second chance.
If they wanted to live—he had to win.
Kaito rose to his feet, the light from his arte now blazing brighter, reflecting in his determined eyes. He inhaled deeply, every breath steadying the storm inside him.
"Come on, magic," he whispered, voice low and fierce. "Work with me… just this once."
And with that, he faced the Hunter—alone, unbroken, and burning with resolve.
"I'm going to win!" Kaito shouts as he charges the beast.
Kaito repurposed his energy fission from healing into attempting to enhance his own body. His eyes grew faster. His hearing clears, he could feel it empowering him.
Kaito's body once again burns with FLAMES. He slides past the hunters attack. He blast fire at the beast, the hunter charges through the flames undeterred by it.
Kaito expected as much and he takes it head on. He uses his sacred arte focusing all of the energy into his fist. His arm pulsing with power he hooks the hunter sending it flying into a nearby tree.
The hunter snarled quietly before jumping back at him with a relentless leap. Kaito goes to clash the attack. The hunter shatters Kaito's beario sword with it strike. It pulls back then quickly redirects for a stab.
Kaito slams his palm into the blade, his flesh tears he winces, relentlessly pushing forward he grabs the hilt of the dagger, quickly shocking everyone he uses wind magic launching the beast away.
Dante and trickster are confused by this. "Fire and wind?" They both question.
Kaito snatches the dagger from his hand, he quickly charges wind magic into it. "Just like Max!" Kaito uses wind blades and cuts the hunter.
The hunter pulls another blade from the blow and charges for Kaito. It goes for an overhead slash. Kaito ducks, the hunter goes to sweep his legs.
Kaito uses energy fission to empower his legs, Kaito flips through the attack and then slices the beast in it's stomach with the dagger.
The hunter tosses the blade to it's other hand and then goes to stab Kaito. He charges energy into his legs again then he jumps back.
Three arrows are launched in quick succession at him. Reacting impossibly fast thanks to energy fission. Kaito slashes the first arrow and then dodges the other two.
Reyes and the others watch in awe at his skill. Dante especially. "What is this. Kaito's supposed to be a d ranked fighter, how's he dodging and attacking so well?" Dante questions.
Kaito uses earth magic slamming his arms into the ground and throwing a boulder at the hunter. The hunger shatters the boulder, Kaito flies from the debris with the dagger forwards. The hunter reacts just as quickly slashing at his head. Kaito dodges taking a cut to his shoulder.
He uses wind magic to speed himself up along with energy fission empowering him. An attack from above, blocked.
An attack from the side. Blocked. Kaito managed to block the attacks from the beast accordingly and counterattack on his own.
Kaito focuses in between ragged breaths, his sweat falling from his body soaking his clothes. He forces his body to keep pushing.
Kaito unleashed a flurry of fire blasts at the beast, his movements sharp and unrelenting. Then, with a surge of energy, he summoned wind magic to his other hand—fire in one palm, wind in the other. With a roar, he hurled them together.
The two forces spiraled through the air, intertwining into a blazing cyclone of wind and flame. It struck the hunter with a deafening impact, flames howling as they danced through the sky.
Without pause, Kaito soared upward. And to the astonishment of all watching, he conjured a colossal boulder of ice—so massive it blotted out the sun. With a guttural cry, he used every last ounce of strength to send the frozen mountain crashing down.
The hunter looked up, and for the first time, let out a tortured howl—one not of rage, but of dread.
The impact shattered the battlefield. Ice cracked and flames flickered in the aftermath. Kaito plummeted from the sky, barely conscious—his vision flickering.
Before he hit the ground, the Trickster flashed forward, catching him mid-fall.
The walls conjured by the hunter crumbled into dust. Reyes and the others scrambled away, their faces pale—less from the danger, more from witnessing the terrifying power Kaito had just unleashed.
Kaito landed shakily on his feet, breath ragged. "T-thank you," he whispered, nodding to the Trickster, sweat dripping from his brow.
At his feet, the hunter's bow glimmered with otherworldly light.
He stepped forward, grasping the relic. It pulsed once—then dissolved into his skin like smoke drawn into fire.
Kaito Nakaya had just claimed a Phantasmal-tier weapon—now the most powerful artifact in his arsenal.
Dante stared, stunned. Awe tightened in his chest like a vice. Kaito had faced the beast with nothing but raw will and unshakable courage—while he himself had frozen. All Dante could do was watch and wonder: How could I ever hope to stand beside someone like this?
Even the Trickster, who had only just met him found herself quiet. A boy once overlooked had met the abyss without flinching.
She could only stare, washed in admiration.
But Kaito, he smiles brightly knowing he had just climbed the steps reaching ever higher.