The trees parted as if afraid to block their path.
Valen's squad moved swiftly Aika darted between trunks like a ghost, Ayame scanning every shadow with sharp, icy focus. The higher-ranked exorcists moved with deliberate caution, slower but ready. Souta walked beside Valen, both radiating quiet intensity. The air grew thick, pulsing with corrupted mana. Something dark and intelligent waited ahead.
> "Faster," Valen ordered. "I can feel a beast approaching from over there."
Ayame's eyes widened. "Sir… that thing it's not a demon, is it?"
Valen furrowed his brows.
> "What are you talking about? What do you mean something else… something that twists its surroundings?"
Aika suddenly halted, raising a hand.
> "Movement. Thirty meters. It's not Ren."
They all dropped behind a nearby rock ridge. A humanoid shadow passed by, cloaked in black robes, dragging a massive book bound in rusted chains. The aura it emitted was suffocating like dread carved directly into flesh.
Ayame narrowed her gaze.
> "That's no demon. That's an anomaly."
Souta clenched his fists.
> "Then let's break it
Meanwhile…
The Script Reaver stood tall. Behind him loomed a summoned beast—stitched together from charred parchment and crawling ink, like a nightmare torn from an ancient book.
Ren cracked his neck, gripping his sword.
> "So... you're the one stealing spells and turning them into monsters."
The Reaver said nothing. With a flick of his wrist
The beast lunged.
> "ITSUKI NOW!"
Itsuki flipped his book open, shouting,
> "Page 72 Magic Barrier: Seal Net!"
A glowing net shot forward but the beast tore through it like it was paper, its claws shredding the magical threads.
> "What the?! It broke through?! That thing's immune to spell barriers?!"
Ren charged in, slashing at the creature's leg. His blade dug deep, but the monster didn't flinch.
> "It's absorbing the impact…" Ren muttered. "Ink armor? Damn it it's like fighting a living spell!"
Junpai's sword ignited with Senshi flames.
> "Fire Eagle!"
A fiery bird erupted from his blade and soared toward the monster. Distracted, the creature snarled, snapping at the flame.
Arisa took the shot.
Three precise rounds one hit the eye. The beast reeled back, hissing.
> "Weak point's the head!"
Haruno dashed in with a devilish grin, slipping past the monster's attacks.
> "Tch How'd it notice me?!"
He quickly backed off, catching sight of Arisa nearby. She reloaded with a flick of her wrist.
> "Cover me. I'll aim for a clean burst."
Itsuki flipped through his pages, muttering.
> "If I can reverse the script… If I rewrite the stolen spell into corrupted ink, I might overload it…"
Haruno stepped beside him. The Reaver turned toward them slowly.
> "So… the author finally tries to edit."
Chains erupted from the ground, lashing toward Itsuki.
Ren and Haruno jumped in, cutting two of them down.
> "ITSUKI! Focus!"
---
Suddenly
> "SHADOW SLASH!"
A black streak sliced through the remaining chains, disintegrating them in midair.
Everyone turned.
Souta landed in front of them, sword drawn, eyes blazing.
"You guys took too long to make a campfire. Mind if we join the party?"
Ayame, Aika, and the other exorcists emerged behind him Valen at the lead, weapon gleaming.
> "Tch. Show-off," Ren smirked.
The team was together now.
Ren cracked his knuckles, stepping forward.
> "Alright… Let's rewrite this fight."
The Reaver's smile stretched like ink over silk as he spoke:
> "Ah… the party has arrived. Time to write a tale fit for a children's book."
With a flick of his chained tome, corrupted glyphs spun into the air and with a deafening crack, a monstrous figure tore its way out of the pages.
A corrupted beast landed with a sickening thud, ink-like sludge dripping from its jaws. Its arms were massive, dragging across the dirt like anchors, and though its eyes were stitched shut, they glowed with malevolent light.
Itsuki's hands trembled, pages of his journal flapping in the storm of dark energy. Glyphs on the parchment pulsed in protest.
> "That spell… it's from Chapter 3… but I never finished it…"
From the smoke stepped the Script Reaver, his robes flowing like shadowfire, the chained book pulsing with cursed mana. Mist warped around him, distorting reality.
> "You left it open," he said, his voice like dead wind. "So I finished it for you."
Junpai clicked his tongue and stepped in front of Ren, his fists already flickering with flame.
> "This guy's really pissing me off…"
Before the tension snapped, Sir Valen stepped forward, calm and collected. With a glance to Arisa, he placed a firm hand on her shoulder.
> "Let my squad handle the beast."
Arisa nodded, stepping back.
> "Yes, sir."
Like lightning, Haruno dashed toward the monster, grinning. His blade, crackling with electric fury, slashed across the beast's leg. But the severed limb instantly began to reform.
Haruno skidded back.
> "Tch it's regenerating?!"
The beast slammed the ground with a roar. Ink exploded, coating the terrain like liquid darkness. Haruno leapt back again, electricity crackling around his shoulders.
> "I can't cut through this shit!"
Nearby, Itsuki scribbled furiously, trying to rewrite the corrupted spell mid-combat.
Then, Valen stepped forward, eyes locked onto the ink beast. Silent. Focused.
He raised his massive twin-headed blade, chanting an incantation:
> "Lux Rendros."
The blade blazed with holy light, splitting the dark like a sunrise. With a roar, Valen charged, a streak of brilliance across the cursed ground.
The beast lunged forward to meet him
BOOM!
Valen crashed through the monster, his light cleaving the corrupted ink apart. The beast roared in confusion, twisting as its body began to erupt.
KA-THOOM!
The creature exploded in a wave of shadow but a shimmering dome shielded the party.
Ayame and Airi stood firm, palms raised in unison.
> "Light Barrier: Twin Seal."
Across the battlefield, Souta and Aika flanked Ren, weapons drawn.
Ren pointed his sword straight at the Reaver.
> "I don't care what you are… I've fought worse than shadows."
The Reaver's voice coiled through the air:
> "You haven't fought your own story… yet."
Suddenly BOOM!
Black ink burst beneath their feet. Runes rose into the sky, spinning and shifting.
A figure stepped from the smoke.
Same stance. Same weapon. Same hair.
Only this one's eyes were hollow… its mouth twisted into a grotesque smile.
Souta's face went pale.
> "R-REN… that's you…"
Itsuki's eyes widened.
> "He… he wrote your data. Your style. Your memories. That's your shadow."
Junpai charged forward, fists ablaze.
> "Then we beat him like any other fake!"
His punch went straight through.
The Reaver chuckled, low and cruel.
> "He's not fake… he's what your fear wrote."
Ren's sword ignited, crimson veins of light crawling through the steel.
> "Then I'll show him… that fear has teeth."
Steel clashed with steel blades flashing like lightning.
Every move Ren made, the shadow mirrored with perfect, eerie precision.
They fought across the battlefield clashing again and again.
Ren staggered back, breathing hard.
> "Shit… what am I supposed to do?"
The shadow grinned, voice twisted:
> "You're my fake. Let me out, you fool."
It lunged. Their blades locked face-to-face.
The shadow leaned in, whispering into Ren's soul:
> "You're not real…"
Ren trembled but his eyes burned with defiance. He kicked the shadow back.
> "Die."
He lunged but the shadow slipped past, ready to strike from behind
SHHHHINK!
A holy light cleaved the darkness.
Sir Valen appeared behind the shadow, twin blades glowing.
With a single swing, he split the doppelgänger in two.
SCREEEEE !
The shadow wailed and vanished into smoke.
As silence settled, the Reaver slowly backed away, his voice oily with satisfaction.
> "Ahh… you survived. But I'll be right back…"
But before he could vanish
CLANK!
Haruno's blade pierced his armor, electricity pulsing wildly.
> "You're not going anywhere!"
"Electric Gift!"
BOOOOM!
The explosion engulfed the Reaver, leaving nothing but smoke and crackling light.
Haruno stood back, panting.
> "I killed him…"
Everyone looked around, the battlefield silent
Then:
> "VICTORYYYYYY!"
The team erupted in shouts, laughter, and disbelief.
For now… they had won.