The fight still raged on, with everyone nearing their limits. Yusef, Mary, and Priscilla paused to catch their breath, surrounded by waves of fiends.
"Damn, they just won't stop," muttered Yusef.
"I don't think we can hold out much longer," Mary added, sweat and blood mixing on her face.
"If only Master was here..." whispered Priscilla.
Suddenly, as more fiends charged, they were all cut down in a flash. The trio turned, eyes wide.
"Master!" they cried.
"Why are you stopping?" Hide asked, standing tall. "The battle's just begun."
Hope surged in their hearts.
"Yes, Master! Let's finish this!" Yusef replied, and the three returned to the fray, emboldened.
Meanwhile, elsewhere on a tranquil shore, Sona gazed into the distance. A younger version of Hide stood beside her.
"So, how many times has he repeated this? History keeps looping," the younger Hide said. "Do you think he'll ever break the cycle?"
Sona turned to him, smiling gently. "This time it's different. He'll return. I believe in him."
Back on the battlefield, the Lugren prepared another devastating attack, launching black spheres that sucked everything in.
"Look out!" Rin shouted.
As the spheres grew, panic spread.
"It's going to explode!" Izumi warned.
Just as the detonation seemed inevitable, Hide arrived and teleported the sphere into the sky, where it exploded harmlessly.
A stunned silence followed.
"What took you so long, bastard," grunted Helm, more relieved than angry.
Chronos, clutching his injured arm, managed a smirk. "Quite the entrance."
Jin chuckled. "You never do anything quietly, do you?"
Hide joined them and apologized. They forgave him. Then Jin shared what they had learned.
"Hide, Nagamoto... he's the Fiend King."
Hide nodded solemnly. "I know. It ends now."
Izumi looks at him tiredly. "It's up to you."
"I understand," he replied, walking forward.
He met Ji-San along the way.
"You can rest now, Ji-san. I'm back," said Hide.
"Young Master... it's good to see you," Ji-san replied, stepping aside.
Facing the Lugren, now reverted to a humanoid form, Hide glared.
"So, you're still standing. I didn't expect that," said Nagamoto.
"Shut up," Hide snapped and launched himself forward, landing a brutal punch.
Nagamoto crashed into a building. "Heh... you're serious this time," he murmured.
Their battle resumed, too fast for most to see. Only the elite—Izumi, Pierre, Ji-san, Chronos—could follow their movements.
But more fiends appeared, drawing the others into another fight.
Nagamoto summoned a sinister, dark aura blade. Hide countered with Tricky Tricky, transformed into a sword. But Nagamoto's weapon had a secret—it could banish magical weapons and nullify healing. Hide was wounded and left weaponless.
Then, from the ruins, a blade soared to his hand—Sona's blade.
"Even if I can't beat you with my weapon, I'll finish this with hers," Hide declared.
As they clashed again, Nagamoto sees Sona in the distance he aims a beam aimed at Sona.
Hide teleported just in time, shielding her from it, but was pierce in the abdomen spitting out some blood on her face.
Injured, he laid her gently against a wall and wipes the blood off her face.
"Let's end this together, Sona," he whispered.
Nagamoto unleashed another barrage of projectiles. Hide fought them off, but another one pierced his abdomen.
Then he heard a voice.
"It's not over yet."
Sona stood beside him. She stepped forward, casting a spell.
"Mother's Embrace."
Roots surged from the ground, binding Nagamoto. Sona looked at Hide nodding.
"Now it's all up to you."
She vanished. Hide rose, flew into the sky, and raised his hand.
"This ends now."
The battlefield fell silent. Then, a single word:
"Beyond."
A blinding white light erupted from Hide, engulfing the battlefield, wiping out the fiends, the gate, and Nagamoto.
When the light faded, there was only silence.
Then, cheers erupted.
"He did it!" Rin exclaimed.
Hide descended onto the ground. Everyone gathered around him with words of joy and praise.
But Hide didn't respond.
He walked quietly to Sona, crouched beside her, and picked her up.
"I'm back, Sona. Let's go."
Bleeding from his eye and his wounds, he passed through the crowd. No one stopped him.
Izumi held Jin back. "Let him go. He's been through enough."
"Master is gone..." Priscilla whispered.
"Young Master..." Ji-san somewhat saddened.
Hide while carrying Sona walks toward the flower patch.
He stand there while carrying Sona.
It was quiet, Hide stood there carrying Sona with his eyes closed.
Hide and Sona appeared on the beach. He sat beside her, her head on his shoulder. They vanished.
The flower petals starts to fly with the wind into the open blue clear skies.
In the afterlife, on that same beach, Sona waited with the water hitting her feet.
Hide ran up to her.
"Ready?" she asked, offering her hand.
"Yeah. Let's go," he replied, taking it.
"Are you sure about leaving them behind?"
"I'm sure. The world isn't ready for someone like me."
Sona smiled. "Then let's walk together."
And so they did, disappearing into the horizon.