Things take a turn for the worst in this chapter. Could this be the end of Jun? Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out.
Chapter 36: Trust Is The Same Thing As Reliance
With the afternoon having turned into night and amidst the rain, Kaim led the surviving Beasts away from the mansion the Crusaders had turned into their cursed haven. For many minutes, he ran as fast as he could, with Takeshi, Hitomi, Mico and the others following after him until a loud bang reached his ears. Dismissing it, he kept thundering through the valley until he felt the same extremely powerful and monstrous presence Sirene had felt which caused him to stop in his tracks all at once.
"What is this enormous power i am sensing?! Is it from Akira or Jun?" he thought, his eyes wide open in shock "No….I should not have been able to sense it from this far away….Who could possess such power?" there was no way that enormous presence was them, or even his beloved Sirene. Whoever possessed that much power, certainly wasn't on their side.
Takeshi's voice pulled him out of his thoughts "Kaim? What's wrong?" which caused him to turn towards the green-skinned beast that was looking at him in puzzlement, a look shared by almost all the other beasts. The pachyderm demon knew from their looks alone that none of them, not even Takeshi, Hitomi and Mico has sensed that power, which meant that their abilities to sense such things, at least from this great distance from the epicentre, were nowhere near as powerful as his or Sirene's.
With a serious expression, he ominously replied "I feel that something terrible is about to happen. I must return back to that accursed place." while beginning to walk in the opposite direction, to the great surprise of the other beasts. He then turned towards Takeshi and declared "I am entrusting their safety to you. Take them as far away as you can."
Still bewildered, Takeshi asked him "But what about you and the others?" as Kaim walked past him. Without even turning around, the pachyderm demon stated "Do not worry about us. Your safety is much more important than ours. And besides, some of you may know these forests better than i. Now get as far away as you can, quickly. If things will turn out alright, we shall reunite in a few days from here." urging the green-skinned beast to take the beasts away.
Having understood, in spite of the concern for his friend, Takeshi nodded and proclaimed resolutedly "I will, i promise. Best of luck then, Kaim. I hope you and the others make it back in one piece." wishing his friend luck. And with that, the pachyderm demon hummed in approval and stormed off back towards the Crusaders's lair, eventually dissappearing through the foliage and trees.
He then turned towards the other beasts, once more finding himself in the position of leader of a group of people to save, just like several months ago, when he, Takae, Misaki, Kyoko and many others revolted in the second camp in which they were imprisoned, mere hours before the climatic battle between the monstrous God Child and the Saviour of the Beasts herself. With a determined look, he put himself in front of all of them and declared the next course of action "Alright, if there are no objections, i'll take command of our escape from now on. Our top priority is to get as far away as possible from here. I know that some of you are probably not from the same town or city as i am, but right now we can't afford to go on our separate ways. Many of you are probably exhausted from several days without any food or water and as such, you are hardly in a condition to put up a fight. Which is why, i would suggest heading straight towards Tokyo, which is where i live. Now, which of you is also from Tokyo?" he asked, having already come up with a plan and to his surprise 16 of the 24 beasts raised their hands, including Mico and Hitomi.
"Well, in that case, it makes things easier for us." remarked Takeshi in relief before turning towards the female moth beast and asking her "You. What's your name?" at first startling her slightly due to how serious he was, with his authoritative voice. She then hesitantly answered "Haruka…. Haruka Kobayashi…." while shyly putting a finger on her lips and with her compounded black eyes shaking slightly while the other beasts coudn't help but think that she sounded and looked absolutely adorable in spite of her moth-like features.
"Okay, Haruka, if you don't mind, would you be so kind to fly above the trees and get a better look at our surroundings? If we can find a road, it will help us find our way back to Tokyo." he politely asked the humanoid moth beast, now known as Haruka, with an encouraging smile, taking her completely by surprise. She didn't expect him to actually be this kind and polite.
With a smile, she nodded and replied "Consider it done!" and promptly took off and flew upwards above the trees to get a better view, in spite of the rain. As all the other beasts waited for her return, Hitomi and Mico looked at Takeshi with a smile, pleased to see just how kind he was, on top of being charismatic. The latter coudn't help but think that he reminded her a lot of Akira personality-wise. And given everything he and so many others like him had already been through several months earlier, it woudn't surprise her if he ended up leading a few of those people in their path to freedom in the past.
A couple minutes passed before Haruka returned and reported "Okay. As it turns out, we're in the middle of the Kiso Valley. Before anyone asks why i know this, it's because my grandparents used to live in the village of Okuwa, which is not too far away from here. Unfortunately i wasn't able to find any roads, but there's a railway not too far from here."
As Takeshi listened to what the female moth beast had to say with his arms folded over his chest, the purple skinned gecko beast with the sharp blades in place of its forearms known simply as Minoru, chimed in "The Chuo Line! If memory serves me right, it connects Tokyo to the city of Nagoya!" earning a surprised look from all the others.
"We could use it to head straight to Tokyo. The question is, how do we…." thought Takeshi, before all of a sudden, a clever idea popped up in his mind.
"I have an idea." he spoke, gathering the attention of everyone "If we could find a freight train headed to Tokyo we could just board it and it will lead us directly there." causing some of the beasts's eyes to widen in surprise and others to exchange puzzled looks among each other. Some of them thought that it was an ingenious idea while others…..
"Are you sure? What if people see us boarding the train? Woudn't the sight of more than twenty Devilmen in their true forms gather some attention?" asked Mico, while some of the others nodded and mumbled to each other their thoughts as the girl had made a good point.
That was until the humanoid ant-eater, friend of Minoru, spoke up "What other choice do we have? Even if some would see us, it's our safest way to get back to the city. And right now, we can't afford to drag more people into this mess. And after we return to the city, we're gonna have to keep a low profile for some time. As much as i hate to do that, we can't tell the goverment what those bastards have done to us and countl-"
"Are you out of your mind?! You're telling me we're supposed to just stay hidden and keep the rest of the population in the dark while those monsters are free to do as they please?!" interrupted the reptilian beast with the sharp claws, who had turned towards the humanoid ant-eater "We have already suffered enough all those months ago! How are we supposed to keep our mouths shut after all the hell they just put us through?!" he demanded, beyond enraged by all the atrocities he had been forced to witness in those days of captivity, a feeling all the others shared.
"Look, i hate this just as much as you do, but right now, we can't-" replied the humanoid anteater but before he could finish, the reptilian beast lunged towards him and forcibly grabbed him by his shoulders before inching his face, equipped with a fanged maw and roar with a hint of sorrow "WE CAN'T WHAT?! YOU'RE TELLING ME WE'RE SUPPOSED TO KEEP THE TRUTH AWAY FROM THE PEOPLE?! HOW CAN YOU ASK ME TO DO THIS AFTER EVERYTHING WE'VE BEEN THROUGH?! AFTER ALL THE SHIT ME AND MY FAMILY HAVE B-"
"ENOUGH!" commanded Takeshi as he swiftly put himself in between the two arguing beasts and shoved them away from each other with his muscular arms, cutting off the reptilian one mid-speech. Both gasped in surprise at what he did and, after sparing them a serious look, he stated "You've all seen for youself how horrible it was in the camps!" before turning towards the reptilian one, rounding his yellow eyes on the orange slit-pupiled ones of the other beast and asking "Have you already forgotten that less than four months ago, we were all imprisoned there, simply because of what we had become?! What do you think will happen now that we've only just begun to find our place in this world, if the news of a terrorist group of beasts were to spread?!" causing all the other beasts's eyes to widen in realisation, along with their mouths.
"Let me tell you: humans will grow distrustful towards us, until they will come to see all of us and not just those monsters as the source of that problem. Afterwards, it will only be a matter of time before they'll choose to revolt against us, or worse, encourage the goverment to begin a new purge towards us!" he explained, chilling the reptilian beast to the core and making it realise that he was right. As much as he wanted to reveal what had happened to the rest of the population, the risk in doing so, was too high. They coudn't afford to put the entirety of the beast population of the country and perhaps, even that of the rest of the world, in danger, at least for now.
After seeing a look of pained understanding on the reptilian beast's face, Takeshi's face softened and, after letting it go, he looked at all the other beasts and declared "I know all of you seek vengeance towards them for everything they've done to you but right now we can't afford to endanger the fragile peace our saviour has given us. For now, all we can do is get back to Tokyo in one piece. Then we'll begin to think about what to do next." and as he spoke the final words, he lowered his head down in dejection as most of the beasts nodded while Mico and Hitomi looked at him with empathy. Even though, he had the charisma and the bravery to inspire others like him to follow him, they knew that he was still a young man, perhaps not even a grown-up and therefore, he had many doubts and uncertainties in his mind, most likely caused by his previous experiences ever since he became a Devilman. And given that he was only one of many people who had been imprisoned several months ago just because of what he had become, they coudn't blame him for not trusting the goverment or the majority of the population.
Nonetheless, Mico, with a resoluted look, stepped forward and declared "I'm with you, Tak. And so are we all." which caused Takeshi to raise his head back up and look towards his fellow Devilman who smiled encouragingly at him before his eyes saw the others doing the same.
Heartwarmed, Takeshi returned the smile and declared "I promise you, the time to fight will come. But it's not now." he then looked towards Haruka and told her "Lead the way, Haruka. We trust you." earning a nod from her. Then she began to float in the air by flapping her wings and, like a fairy, she flew besides Takeshi, before turning to the rest of her companions and declared "This way. I'll get all of you guys out of here, i promise you."
And with that, all the other Devilmen began to follow after her with Takeshi taking the time to spare one final glance at the direction Kaim had dissappeared to "Akira….Miss Fudo….Please be okay…" he thought, worried about the safety of his friend and the woman to which he owed everythingbefore he took his leave with the others.
Back at the underground room
There was nothing but silence as Akira and Jun rounded their eyes towards the powerful demon that stood at the other end of the room, right beneath the room ten meters above in which Satoru and his henchmen watched, with Nike in their clutches.
"So this is it….." mused Akira to himself, for the first time in quite a while actually feeling intimidated and with an uneasiness he had almost never felt before. He had faced many powerful opponents in the past, but this was the first time he was actually feeling like this. Not even when he faced Satan did he feel this nervous "But at least he can't possibly be as powerful Ryo. Besides, i have…."
He became even more worried once he saw that, as intimidated as he was, Jun, who stood as his left, was actually shaking slightly after the display of power she had witnessed earlier in slight fear and anxiety. Not even when she faced that massive weasel-like beast armed with those enormous blades that reminded her of the scythe of the Grim Reaper, did she feel this frightened. Not even when the first beast she encountered nearly devoured her before she awakened.
"Jun, are you alright?" he asked her in concern, snapping her out of her trance. She then turned towards him and replied "I don't know how to explain it, but…." she paused, looking back towards Atun "I've never felt so….. Overwhelmed. Not even when i fought Asuka. It's almost as if…."
Before she could finish, Akira placed a hand on her right shoulder to calm her down. Her golden eyes bore into his own as he reassured her "Remember, we fight as one. If he's indeed more powerful than us, it's crucial that we attack him at the same time if we want to win." he turned back towards Atun before stating "We musn't give him the chance to counterattack." as he bore his black eyes towards the humanoid demon with avian features in front of him.
Feeling a little more at ease with this plan of attack, Jun nodded and as she also gazed back towards Atun, she declared "Alright. You go first and keep him occupied. I'll finish him off with one swipe of my Cutters." earning a nod from Akira.
From the room above, Satoru and his henchmen were all quite surprised to see Atun's true form, the latter four even more so, given that the Demon Hero actually possessed many avian traits, much like them.
"So that's his true form, heh? He sure looks quite a bit like us, don't you think, Higa?" remarked Kotura with an amused smile while his colleague of Fire, who stood with his muscular fethered arms folded over his chest, replied "Indeed. And i'm quite curious to see if he actually has the power to back up his appearance, not to mention that arrogance of his." with an equally wicked smile on the face engraved in his chest, eager to see just how strong Atun really was.
At the same time Izumi, disgusted by the mere sight of Jun, thought "That filthy woman…. Always in Master Satoru's way. The fires of hell have taught her nothing." before a malicious smile made its way on her lips as her red eyes drifted towards Atun "As much as i despise him, seeing him tear that wretched traitor apart is something i will greatly enjoy."
As all four Crusaders chuckled evily in anticipation of what was about to happen, Atun, with his confident, smug smile having not left his lips ever since he assumed his true form, declared "The time of your atonement has arrived, Amon!" he then spread his arms, becoming him to attack him while roaring "Now, come to me! COME TO YOUR DEATH!" as he lunged towards the two Devilmen
(OST: "Monster Suit – Final Part" = Yu Yu Hakusho soundtrack )
With a mighty battle cry, Akira and Jun charged towards Atun at the same time, the former in front of the latter. Their opponent made the first move, throwing a punch towards Akira that he managed to block and counter with a barrage of his own punches, but the Demon Hero proceeded to effortlessly block all of his attacks with little to no effort. It was all a distraction however, meant to keep Atun occupied as Jun leapt over Akira and, having already manifested her forearm Cutters, aimed to decapitate him with a single slash of her right arm blade.
However, as it turned out, much like Lilith, having not one, but two pairs of eyes allowed Atun to have a much broader field of vision and perception. Thus, having already tracked the Devil Lady bearing down towards him with his second pair of eyes, he smiled wickedly and, after pushing Akira away with a kick to his midsection, intercepted Jun's arm blade by shifting the claws on his elbow over his hand and extending their length, thus creating some sort of a gauntlet, leaving her in shock.
"What?! He can shift the claws on his elbow over his hand?!" was all she could think, disbelieved to see just how easily he had blocked her blade. With a grin, Atun pushed her arm blade away, thus leaving her wide open to attack….
But before he could strike her down, Akira lunged towards Atun once more and punched him in the face, causing him to skid backwards by a few meters and allow Jun to land back on the ground unscathed. With another roar, he charged towards the powerful demon once more and began assaulting him with another barrage of punches when, to his shock, Atun caught his right fist in his left hand, causing Akira's eyes to widen in disbelief.
"Is that all? Surely, that is not the best you can do." he remarked before he tightened his grip, his face completely devoid of even a single bruise "Right, Amon?" he taunted as he began to actually crush Akira's fist with his grip, forcing him to grit his teeth in pain and try to get away, but to his shock, he coudn't move by even an inch. Atun's grip was so powerful that no matter how much he tried, he coudn't free himself. Luckily for him, Jun appeared on his left, spun around and threw a kick aimed at Atun's face which forced the demon to block it with his other arm, thus immobilising him and leaving him wide open to attack. But as the two Devilmen followed with another attack, Atun simply smiled before his whole body became covered in a purple aura of energy, much like Lilith, before he vanished, shocking Akira and Jun once more.
"Great, he can teleport too…..." thought Akira in frustration as he began, along with Jun to frantically look around, not even knowing were the next attack would have come from. The latter soon gasped and cried out "BEHIND YOU!" causing Akira to gasp and turn around.
"TOO SLOW!" roared Atun as his left fist made contact with Akira's face, hurling him straight towards the Devil Lady. Both of them grunted as they fell on the ground hard after the former struck her head on, faster than she could catch him. He then taunted "Don't tell me you have gotten that weak, Amon. Has your strength really diminished so much, to the point that you now need help from a concubine to even stand up to me?" causing Jun's golden eyes to shoot wide open in shock.
Said shock immediately turned into raging fury as the Devil Lady gritted her teeth, rose back on her feet and launched herself towards Atun again in an almost feral manner, while roaring "HOW DARE YOU! I AM NOBODY'S CONCUBINE!" her voice filled with pure outrage at the nerve the demon had to refer to her as nothing more than a slave.
But as she attempted to strike him with a furious barrage of punches with the occasional slash of her forearm Cutters, Atun effortlessly avoided every single one of them either by side-stepping slightly or simply by cocking his head left and right while taunting "You fight like a wild animal. Full of rage, devoid of any self-restraint." enraging her even more and causing her attacks to become even more frantic, before he caught one of Jun's Cutters with his right fingers with frightening ease, somehow managing at the right moment to grip the outsides of it, stopping her dead in her tracks "But lacking any sort of skill." he added, while she watched in muted incredulity with her eyes wide open.
But before he could counterattack, he spotted Akira charging towards him, aiming to seize this opportunity to land a few hits. But much like before, Atun teleported away and Akira's fists hit nothing but air, to his growing frustration. And after reappearing a few meters away, with another smug smile, Atun tauntingly beckoned both Devilmen forward with a finger. Even more incensed than before, Akira and Jun charged towards him with an even more enraged roar and this time, both of them assaulted him with a barrage of fists at the same time, hoping that this time, they would have been able to land at least a hit or two.
But much like last time, Atun had absolutely no problem parrying their combined attacks or simply avoiding them, although this time, with more difficulty. Finally, after the two Devilmen's combined attacks began to push him back, the humanoid avian demon stated "Enough of this!" and at once his upper pair of eyes began to glow purple before they emitted a bolt of energy towards Jun that, while not inflicting much damage, pushed her back by several meters before swiftly grabbing Akira by the face, immobilising him and leaving him wide open for an uppercut aimed directly at his abdomen.
Quickly recovering from Atun's last attack, Jun gasped in panic as soon as she saw what was about to happen. Without a moment's hesitation, she cried out "AKIRA!" and promptly sprinted back towards him, managing to arrive right before Atun's punch could connect to his abdomen.
(Soundtrack Ends)
But that meant that, as soon as she shoved her lover out of the way, she was immediately struck by the powerful demon's right fist. Time itself seemed to slow to a crawl to her as Atun's fist hit her squarely in the stomach, causing her eyes to snap wide open due to the downright agonizing pain she experienced. It was the equivalent of being struck by a sledgehammer and as a result, Jun spit a copious amount of blood as all of the organs in her abdomen were shaken by the tremendous blow she had received. Not only that, but she had been struck with so much force that the punch sent her flying straight towards the massive room's concrete walls, leaving a large hole as she crashed into them before falling from it to the ground, her body limp.
"JUN!" cried out Akira in panic, fearing the worst. To both his relief and dismay, moments later Jun weakly managed to stand up, only to double over and cough up even more blood from her mouth as the punch had heavily damaged many of her internal organs and thus she required several minutes to recover "H-How... How could i have taken this much damage from just one punch?!" thought the Devil Lady in disbelief as she clutched her abdomen with both of her arms, not believing what had just happened. She was in so much pain that she had to grit her teeth just to endure it.
"Oh? You can still stand after such a blow? Impressive. That is more than most demons can pride themselves of." complimented Atun after relaxing his posture, causing Jun to look back towards him in great dismay, not believing that they still didn't manage to put so much as a scratch on him, not even when Akira punched him in the face after she distracted him with her arm blades.
"But i am afraid that this is the end for you." stated ominously the Demon Hero as all the tips of the claws on his shoulders, abdomen and head began to glow with purple energy, startling Jun. But no matter how much she tried to move, she would have been too injured to avoid such an attack.
But as Atun spread his arms and began to roar as he powered up his next attack, Akira flanked him on his left and after yelling "NOT SO FAST!" Atun gasped slightly and turned towards him, immediately noticing that he had his arms crossed over his chest with the palms facing the inside of his shoulders. With the blue orb of energy already in front of his forehead, he roared "DEVIL ARROW!" and promptly fired his signature attack towards the humanoid avian demon.
To his frustration, Atun simply spread the large raven-like wings on his back and used them to swiftly launch himself in the air and thus, the arrow-like projectile passed underneath him and struck the wall of the room, detonating harmlessly in a medium-sized explosion. Having anticipated this however, as soon as Atun began to swoop down towards him, Akira declared "Maybe i didn't make myself clear!" and promptly unleashed his fire breath towards him which appeared to engulf the demon and incinerate him to ashes. However, Atun protected himself from the torrent of fire by summoning a barrier of purple energy around him and thus he landed on the ground, with the fires still surrounding said barrier which dissipated as soon as he landed, creating a small explosion.
"Son of a bitch…." growled Akira, even more vexed than before, while Jun looked on with much worry, while kneeling on the ground to recover more quickly. From the room up above, Higa was surprise to see that the one he and his colleagues thought was Amon could also spit fire, just like him "Mmph. So he possesses that ability as well. Too bad it won't help him in the slightest." he thought with a malicious smile on the face on his chest, having already a pretty good idea of how the battle would have ended.
And indeed, as soon as the smoke cleared away, Atun could be seen with his back facing towards Akira, completely unscathed. The Devilman bared his teeth as the demon turned towards him and, with yet another smug smile, remarked "You must think quite low of me, Amon, if you believe that i would not know how to defend against that attack of yours." taking both him and Jun by surprise. The former figured out that it was because he and Amon fought together in the past, so it would make sense if Atun would know how to defend against his rival's powers.
"Dammit… Guess there's only one good way to stop him…." thought Akira in frustration and anxiety, having come up with another plan. He then roared "Watch your mouth! I am not Amon!" and charged towards Atun once more and this time, the demon brought his left arm backwards, preparing to bring down his left fist on his arch-enemy's skull….
But as he did so, Akira sprouted his wings from his back and used them to jump away at the last second. At the same time he crossed his arms over his chest and, with the orb of blue energy having already appeared in front of his forehead, he stated "HOW ABOUT POINT BLANK!" causing Atun's yellow eyes to widen in shock as soon as he realised that he had been tricked.
"DEVIL ARROW!" roared Akira as he fired his attack at point-blank range and this time Atun seemed to have no way of defending himself, apart from covering his face with his arms to shield himself from the explosion that resulted from the attack. Up above, in the room where she was held, all four of Satoru's henchmen looked upon with shock, believing that the humanoid avian demon had been defeated, while Nike smiled, thinking that Amon had managed to defeat his rival. Likewise, Jun, still on one knee behind where Akira was, remarked in relief "Alright!" believing that the battle was over.
With a satisfied smile, Akira stated tauntingly "Did you like that?" as he landed back on the ground "No matter how tough you may be, there's no way in hell you could survive that." assured that with the last attack he had blown Atun's head off his shoulders.
(OST: "Meikai" = Yu Yu Hakusho unreleased soundtrack )
But while his minions still looked upon with surprise, Satoru's trademark wicked smile that he had ever since the battle began grew even more. And as soon as the smoke began to fade away, the satisfaction on Akira's face turned into a mix of shock and horror and he exclaimed "What the?!" upon seeing that Atun had actually used his wings to cover the front of his body. And with the exception of many scorched wing feathers, the Demon was mostly uninjured.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me….He blocked it with his wings?!" was all Akira could think as he looked upon the demon before him with his black eyes shaking in slight fear and disbelief. Then, with a smirk, Atun swiftly punched him square in the face, taking advantage of the rude awakening the one in front of him had, sending Akira flying towards where Jun was. He struck the floor hard with his back, causing him to ricochet on it, flip over and land on his front, scraping on it by several meters backwards "Akira!" called out Jun in great concern as he landed right at her left. Atun's voice then came "Did i forget to tell you? My wings make for excellent shields." he stated as he took on a neutral stance.
"Why, you….." spoke Jun in frustration after turning her golden eyes towards him, while from the room ten meters above behind the powerful demon, Nike cried out in distress "Amon!" as the one she believed to be her lover began to slowly get on his hands and knees, breathing heavily as a result of the punch that sent him flying towards the floor, while also looking back at the one responsible for it.
"I was only being fair." stated menacingly Atun with his smug smile growing even more as both Akira and Jun got back on their feet, albeit barely in the former's case. Having decided that playtime was over, Atun then declared "Although i was also hoping that you two would provide me MUCH MORE ENTERTAINMENT THAN THIS!" and with that roar, in less than two seconds, he closed the distance between him and Jun and kicked her in the same spot she had been punched earlier, hurling her dozens of meters upwards. The Devil Lady didn't even have time to recover as the demon teleported behind her, before she could even hit the ceiling and, after bringing his hands together, slammed them on her back. She cried out in pain as she plummeted back towards the floor with even more speed, hitting it with so much force that it made a small crater all around her, causing her to spit blood, the result of several bones in her chest being cracked or broken.
Immediately afterwards, Atun came crashing down towards Akira in an attempt to plunge the claws of one of his feet in his body. Quick on his feet, the half-devil jumped backwards, but his opponent was even faster and after closing the distance and sidestepping him on his right, Atun backhanded Akira in the face, once again sending him flying backwards.
And that was only the beginning. For the next two minutes, Satoru and his henchmen watched with glee, amusement and satisfaction as the powerful demon they had allied themselves with, proceeded to utterly trash Akira and Jun with nothing more than his bare hands, accomplishing on his own what had taken all four of them to do: putting that traitorous woman in her place.
"Oh, no….. They're helpless…." was all Nike could think as she looked in dismay at the sight of her beloved Amon getting effortlessly and brutally pummeled by Atun, as well as all the futile attempts of that woman who looked so much like him, to come to his aid.
"IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO?!" roared the taller humanoid avian demon in indignation as he uppercutted Akira in the stomach, damaging many of his internal organs and causing him to cry out in pain and spit blood. As he doubled over and fell onto the ground with both of his arms clutching his abdomen, Atun looked down on him with great disgust and contempt while stating "I did not know that you had become so soft, Amon. You and i used to be equals all those eons ago and look at you now. Never would i have imagined that living among those ants would make you as insignificant as they are."
Enraged by those words and still lying on the ground with his arms around his abdomen, Akira managed to mutter "How many times do i fucking have to tell you….." while Atun raised an eyebrow in confusion before the one that looked exactly like his arch-enemy turned towards him and roared at the top of his lungs "I AM NOT AMON! HE'S GONE! I TOOK HIM OVER AT THE BLACK SABBATH!"
And with those words, shock briefly replaced all of the anger in Atun's face while Nike's green eyes widened in disbelief and she momentarily stopped breathing. It coudn't be true. Things coudn't have possibly gone that way. There was no way a simple human being could have managed to take over her beloved Amon, no matter how powerful its heart was.
She was snapped out of her thoughts by Atun venomously roaring "YOU LIE!" as he kicked Akira hard in the chin, lifting him back on his knees and causing the angelic demoness to gasp in concern upon seeing what she still believed to be her lover, getting hurt for the upteenth time. The humanoid avian demon then forcefully grabbed him by the top of his head and, after bringing him closer to his face, furiously stated "No matter how much your strength would diminish, a mere human would have never been strong enough to take over your mind! Why are you hiding behind such a ridiculous facade?! Have you no shame, you traitorous filth!" his voice full of wrath but at the same time disbelief and denial. There was no way Amon would have been so easily conquered by a mere human. There just wasn't. Atun refused to believed that such a thing had actually happened.
As he was voicing his fury in Akira's face, Jun managed to get up on one knee and, after seeing the beating her lover was taking, tried to force herself back on her feet but she coudn't "Dammit… I have to do….Something…" was all she could think, cursing herself for not even managing to stand up, but no matter how much she tried, she coudn't. That last attack was even more deadly than the punch she had received to her gut earlier and it left her even more weakened.
Thus she could only watch as Akira, in an act of defiance, weakly managed to grin and state mockingly "Believe….. Whatever the fuck you want….." pausing as he spat more blood from his mouth, directly into Atun's face "But it's the truth. The one you waited so long to fight…..Is gone, and you have to accept it….. Whether you fucking like it or not….."
And with those words, Atun's yellow eyes widened in pure shock and incredulity and once more, all the anger dissappeared from his face as he stared into the black eyes of the one that looked exactly like his rival. His breath caught up in his throat as soon as he saw that those eyes were not filled by ruthlesness or bloodlust. No, those eyes lacked those emotions completely. Instead there was defiance, fear and hesitation. He realised at that moment that the one before him was nothing more than an empty shell, a body now inhabited by a thief who had stolen it from its rightful owner.
Gritting his teeth in even more raging fury, he roared hatefully and proceeded to toss Akira towards Jun with all of his might and both Devilmen cried out in pain as the former struck the Devil Lady like a cannonball, sending both of them tumbling to the ground.
(Soundtrack Ends)
And with those last of words of defiance Akira had spoken, Nike looked at the one she thought was Amon, still refusing to believe that a human had managed to take him over. Then she saw Jun, lying on her left side, clearly in much pain as evidenced by her gritting her teeth and her eyes being closed shut. Then she recalled the memories she had seen earlier when she read Izumi and Higa's minds, realising how much these monsters had hurt her. But if the one who appeared to be Amon cared about that woman, then this meant…..
"He has to know. He has to know just how much these monsters have wronged her…..And maybe…. If he hears my voice again, he might just remember me!" thought the angelic demoness, having made her decision. Thus, her eyes shot wide open and became engulfed in a white light, which caused her irises to dissappear. Atun, who had begun to walk towards Akira and Jun, having decided to finish them off, stopped in his tracks upon seeing what Nike was doing. Behind her, a startled Izumi, bared her teeth at her and angrily demaded "What do you think you're doing, you insolent…."
Only for Satoru to stop her with one of his petite hands and politely tell her "Please, Miss Izumi, allow her. It will only make those traitors's demises all the more fittingly pathetic." having already figured out what she intended to do. Having some form of psychic powers at his disposal as well, Satoru was no stranger to such abilities, even if what happened afterwards took him slightly by surprise.
Jun looked upon in surprise and confusion, not understanding what that angelic woman was doing. However, as soon as Nike opened her eyes, Akira's surroundings dissappeared, replaced only by darkness. Startled, he somehow managed to get up on his feet and speak out loud "W-What is this?" not understanding what was happening.
"Amon, can you hear me?" suddenly came Nike's gentle voice which startled him even more. Looking around in even more bewilderment, Akira demanded in anxiety "Who are you?! What have you done to me?!"
Hiding her incredulity and dismay at how the one who looked like the demon she loved did not recognise her, Nike explained "I've used my powers to momentarily separate your mind from your body. As we speak, time in the outside world has momentarily stopped. This will allow me to show you what i have been able to see from the minds of my captors." trying her best to hide her sadness, without much success.
Surprised at the amount of sadness in this woman's voice, Akira asked in even more puzzlement "What do you mean? You can read others's minds?!" his confusion turned into shock as soon as Nike declared "Amon, you have not seen what those monsters have done to that woman who looks so much like you! What they have taken away from her!" her voice actually filled with much concern and sadness towards Jun in spite of having never actually met her.
With his eyes widening in incredulity, Akira demanded "Why are you doing this?! How do you know Jun?! Answer me!" beginning to get even more apprehensive about what was happening.
"We don't have much time. Amon, you may no longer be the demon i once knew, but if you truly care about that woman, you have to see this!" and with those final words, the darkness gave away to new surroundings.
"Come back! You still haven't told m-" began Akira, wanting to know what this woman was doing before all at once his surroundings took the form of a night sky. He soon realised that he was hovering in the air without even using his wings and that there were skyscrapers and all sorts of smaller buildings all around him "What the? Where am i? What's goin o-" he thought in pure confusion as he began to look around, but then…..
He froze the moment his black eyes saw what was happening in front of him. He saw Jun, pinned on the wall of the pentagon shaped penthouse of an enormous skyscraper by several ice shards that had pierced her in various parts of her body, predominantly on her legs, arms and hands and even on her wings. On his left were all four of Satoru's henchmen hovering in mid-air with their leader sitting on a ring of concrete behind them. Gasping in pure shock, Akira cried out "JUN!" but to his dismay, there was no reply, as if he wasn't even there. Not a single one of those who were before him reacted to his scream. Then it dawned on him.
"This… This is a memory! A vision of a past event!" he realised just as Jun screamed as the Crusader of Lighting, Kotura mercilessly proceeded to shoot his lightning towards her, causing her to scream in excruciating pain as milions of volts of electricity burned her body. But what shocked Akira even more, was what happened next.
"Stop this! You're going to kill her!" came a voice he had never heard before and as soon as the half-demon turned towards where it came from, his eyes widened even more. Right besides Satoru, there was a young girl with short orange hair kept in a bob, green eyes, wearing a yellow long-sleeved shirt with a red sleveless top above it, as well as a brown skirt and shoes.
Turning towards her with his trademark sadistic smile still on his lips, the beast in the guise of a human boy stated "That's right. That woman is going to die. It's her punishment for betraying her own kind." horrifying the girl besides him, to the point she clutched the sides of her head, stood up and screamed "NO!" in a mix of terror and denial as Akira looked upon, at first not understanding who she was.
And as Higa, Izumi and Kitano proceeded to torture Jun with their elemental abilities, Satoru asked the girl "Do you want the same power we have? You're tired of those stupid humans anyway, aren't you?" as the Devil Lady wailed in even more agony as fire, wind and ice ravaged her body. He then stated "You should have it in you too. See those eyes?" pointing towards Jun before asking "You want that power too, do you not?" as the trembling green eyed girl finally managed to look towards Jun again.
And as soon as the heavily bruised and barely alive Devil Lady, covered in blood, weakly managed to call out "Kazumi…" Akira gasped in shock and his heart sank.
"It's her! That girl is Kazumi! Then, this is….." he finally realised in horror what he was witnessing. He remembered what Takae, Misaki and Kyoko said about Kazumi declaring that she would have preferred to be a beast after witnessing the murder of her friend, Chika right before her eyes and what Jun said mere moments before they confessed their feelings towards each other for the first time. How the woman he had fallen in love with was tortured by those monsters after they captured Kazumi and used her as a bait to lure her into a trap. And finally, how Kazumi was turned into a beast in the process. Now he was witnessing that horrible past event with his own eyes.
He was brutally pulled out of his thoughts by the sight of Jun actually managing to free her right arm from the ice shards that pinned it on the wall, only for Kitano to thrust his talons in her chest, which caused her to throw her head back and spit a copious amount of blood.
"Come on. She's going to die if you don't hurry. Your precious friend." sadistically encouraged Satoru and Akira could only watch in dismay as Kazumi's eyes turned yellow exactly like those of Jun and, with her hands still clutching her head, she threw it back and screamed in what appeared to be agony as she began to turn into a beast.
The last thing Akira remembered before the vision faded away was Jun gasping in a mix of horror and grief before extending her right hand towards Kazumi and screaming "NO! PLEASE, STAY HUMAN!" with sorrowful tears falling from her golden eyes.
But not too long after the vision dissappeared, another one took its place. This time all Akira saw was a trail of destruction and debris all over the place. Then he saw a heavily bruised Jun, surrounded by what appeared to be corpses of other beasts around her. To his shock he also saw Kazumi, appearing to be restraining Izumi, holding the swan beast who towered over her, in place.
"Run, Jun! Now i'm strong enough-" she cried out, urging Jun to get away. But then…..
"DAMN YOU!"
For Akira, time itself slowed to a crawl at that moment and he could only watch in muted horror as the Crusader of Ice roared spitefully and plunged her left arm, equipped with three recurved claws, right into Kazumi's abdomen. And as the young girl, doubled backwards, her gaze became blank, almost lifeless but nonetheless, she managed to mutter out "To protect you…"
As darkness once again began to surround him, the last thing he could hear, was Jun crying out in horror and despair "KAZUMIIIIIIII!" just as everything faded to black and his mind, momentarily detatched from reality due to Nike's powers, returned back into the present world.
(OST: "The One Who Is Torn Apart = Xenogears Soundtrack )
Akira gasped in horror and shock as soon as he reopened his eyes and found himself lying back on the floor of the room in which he and Jun were at their wits's end against Atun. Then as soon as the full extent of what he had witnessed sunk in, his dismay and horror turned into a raging fury, a fury he hadn't felt ever since he witnessed what Miki's murderers had done to her and how they stuck her various body parts on spikes, exhibiting them as trophies.
Then as he began to get up, he seethed "Now i know….. You monsters…. It was you….." in so much fury that it even surprised Jun, who was lying on her side on his left. But as soon as he fully rose on his feet, he rounded his black eyes, filled with nothing but anger towards Satoru and his henchmen and roared in pure hatred and venom "IT WAS YOU! IT WAS YOU WHO KILLED KAZUMI!"
All Jun could do was gasp in pure dismay and horror, her golden eyes wide open in shock, refusing to believe that Akira had somehow learned the truth. All this time, ever since she found out that Satoru and his henchmen had somehow returned, she could never bring herself to tell Akira that they were the ones responsible for Kazumi's death. She just coudn't. It was too painful for her to share those sorrowful memories with him and yet he now knew.
As Atun simply looked at the one who appeared to be his former ally turned traitor in bewilderment, from the room above Satoru simply smiled with even more sadism and spoke "So, now you know. I suppose it's because of what this woman has shown you." he paused, gesturing towards Nike before declaring "Isn't it amusing though? Someone like you getting so furious over the death of one mere human who you didn't even know. It's so pathetic, it makes me want to laugh." as a brief chuckle escaped his lips, causing both Akira and Jun's eyes to widen at how callously he had dismissed that girl's life. The latter of course was hurt even more by those words, as evidenced by her golden eyes shaking in sorrow as soon as all those painful memories came back with full force. But Akira? He was one step away from losing all reason and turning into a wrath-driven killing machine that lacked any semblance of humanity.
Which happened as soon as Izumi mockingly added, just to further rub salt into the wound "And to think that you were able to take over the body of such a powerful demon. But no matter how stubborn and foolishly brave, a bug remains a bug, no matter the form it takes. Just like that puny girl who threw her life away for the sake of a traitor who refused to embrace her true nature." and soon Higa, Kotura and Kitano joined her in a malicious and derisive laugh.
And with that Akira, fully lost it.
Baring his teeth in uncontrollable, unaldeltared rage, the half-demon sprouted his wings from his back and launched himself towards them with a mighty flap of his wings, pulling his arm back and preparing to smash the skull of the first of those monsters he could get his hands on, all the while roaring "YOU BASTAAAAARRRDDDSSSS!" while Jun could only watch with her golden eyes trembling in a mix of grief and incredulity as the man she had fallen in love with, became so enraged upon finally learning who was truly responsible for her beloved Kazumi's death, that he immediately launched himself towards her first lover's murderers in a fit of animalistic and uncontrolled fury. Never before had she seen him so enraged, so unrestrained, so driven by nothing more than raw anger. Yet, in his roars, there was also sorrow…. Perhaps due to Kazumi's fate having reminded him of that of Miki…
But as soon as Akira flew just above Satoru and his henchmen, dead-set on tearing apart the first one he could sink his claws in, as Nike watched in pure shock and bewilderment at how furious the one who up until before he proclaimed otherwise, was her beloved Amon, Atun teleported in less than two seconds right in front of Satoru, his henchmen and the angelic demoness and all it took him to stop the raging Akira was to raise his left arm and effortlessly catch his fist with his hand, stopping him in mid-air. Disgust and hatred filled every inch of his face as he bore his yellow eyes into the wide, shocked black ones of the human who had taken Amon over and who now inhabited his body before coldly stating "There really is nothing left of you, Amon. You are just an outdated shell, the pitiful self-preserved remains of the one who once was our greatest hero."
Nike momentarily stopped breathing as soon as she fully understood what those words meant, and Satoru smiled even more disturbingly as Atun, keeping his opponent in place with his right hand, proceeded to slam his right knee into Akira's gut, causing him to double over, cry out in pain and spit blood as many of his organs were either ruptured or damaged by the blow he had just taken, before the humanoid avian demon brought his hands together and slammed them on the half-demon's back, which sent him plummeting back towards the ground just like Jun did before.
The Devil Lady could only cry out "Akira!" in distress, still too weakened to even stand up as the black and red feathered demon landed on the floor behind Akira and as he began to walk towards him, he began "I refused to believe what so many demons spoke of. You, our greatest warrior, taken over by a mere human." as Akira tried to get up, but he never got that chance. The moment Atun reached him, he lifted his left foot, roared spitefully "YOU'RE A DISGRACE!" and slammed it on his back, causing Akira's face to slam back on the floor and grunt in pain as the demon's recurved talons sank into his back, drawing blood.
Narrowing his yellow eyes on his left wing, he grabbed it with both hands and demanded "Has your soul always been so weak?! HAVE YOU ALWAYS BEEN SO UNDESERVING OF YOUR POWER?!" he roared once more as he tore it off of his back and Akira screamed in agony as blood began to gush out of the newly formed gash where his wing used to connect to his back.
Atun wasn't done however. He brutally proceeded to repeatedly stomp the wound several times with his clawed foot while continuing to furiously voice his outrage "DID WE MEAN NOTHING TO YOU?! HOW COULD YOU JUST ALLOW A MERE, PUNY HUMAN TO ROB YOU OF YOUR OWN BODY, DESECRATE IT AND USE IT TO MASSACRE YOUR OWN KIND?!" as Akira grit his teeth to endure the agonizing torture he was being subjected through, due to how, with each stomp, the humanoid avian demon's claws sank further and further into his flesh. What Akira failed to realise, was that buried in all that hateful fury, there was also sadness. Up until now, Atun had refused to believe what had happened to Amon, how after all the battles he had been through, all the brothers and sisters in arms he had made, after all the bonds he had formed, he still fell the pitiful and ignoble way he did. He wasn't just roaring his fury and outrage on how Akira had taken him over. He was voicing his sadness at the fact that he had forever lost not just his arch-rival but one he used to call friend and not because he had betrayed his own kind, but because he had been so desecrated by a mere human.
"NO! STOP!" desperately screamed Jun as she reached out for Akira to no avail as he finally howled in pain upon being stomped on his wound one final time, horrified at the sight of her lover being so ruthlessly tortured, while Nike could only look upon with her green eyes trembling, her horror turning into grief and sadness, having finally realised that the demon she loved was gone forever. Finally, Atun grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up, bringing him close to his face. By this point, Akira was barely even moving and his breath was weak, almost as if the very act of breathing caused him pain. His soon-to-be executioner narrowed his eyes on his black ones and declared "This is your final moment, human. With your death, Amon's soul will at least be released by the torment of being trapped within his own body." his voice now solemn and devoid of anger. The most he could do now, was putting this body out of its misery.
Realising that he was about to die again, all of Akira's thoughts drifted towards his newfound love. Jun's golden eyes began to shake in horror and sadness as Akira turned his head towards her, his black eyes half-shut. Weakly managing to raise his arm in a futile efforts to reach out for her, he pleaded "Jun….. Run… Save yourself…."
And with those pleading words, Jun's heart finally broke and tears of sorrow finally began to fall from her trembling eyes. She was too late to save Kazumi. And now it was happening all over again. The second person she had fallen in love with was mere inches away from being murdered right in front of her eyes, just like on that fateful night. If only she had been faster… If only she had been stronger…
At the same time, a heartbroken Nike finally began to cry. Much like Atun, she refused to believe that her beloved Amon was gone completely despite what so many other demons spoke of. But the moment she gazed into his eyes as Atun stopped him in mid-air right before he could strike down the first of her captors he could get his hands on, she knew that the one who had conquered her heart was now forever gone, his body now inhabited by a human that, for some unfathomable reason, had managed to take him over.
With her face soaked by sorrowful tears, she called out in grief "A-Amon…." her voice cracking. But not too long after doing so, Satoru grabbed her by the jaw and turned her head towards him. Nike was so heartbroken that she made no resistance the moment the young beast made her look in his eyes and gleefully began to lecture her "Do you understand now? Trust is the same thing as reliance. It's a fault of the weak. By relying on each other and on everything they've built, humans have stopped to be afraid, to feel the fear that they could be destroyed at any moment. However, fear is necessary for evolution and by forsaking it, humans have stopped to evolve and that, is what makes them so weak."
The angelic demoness was already utterly devastated by what she had witnessed but what Satoru spoke next broke her "You, my friend, are no different. You were so assured in your belief that Amon would have come here to save you, that you refused to even consider the possibility, no matter how remote, that what so many others of your kind had seen with their eyes was true. Were you really so naive as to believe that Amon would have remembered you, let alone come here just to set you free, when he coudn't even take over the mind of a puny human? Your blind belief in him was your greatest mistake." and all at once, Nike momentarily stopped breathing. He was right. She had relied too much on him. After having seen him triumph against so many powerful opponents in the past, it was absurd for Nike to believe that the noble and strong demon she had fallen in love with would have shared the fate of others who just so happened to possess the wrong human, one that had the pure heart and willpower to take over their minds and bodies and use it as their own. But this was the reality she was facing. She should have figured it out the moment she was not recognised by the one that was now inhabiting his body but even then, she hoped that by showing him the memories she had glimpsed from her captors's minds, by hearing her voice again, he would have…..
Suddenly, out of nowhere, she felt a surge of power that was also felt by Satoru and his henchmen. Then…..
"You monster….. You're just like him….:." came Jun's voice, now filled with unbridled anger, directed towards Atun. Everyone else's eyes were now upon her and they were all greatly surprised to see, that she was now standing up, in spite of her body being still heavily bruised from the beating she took earlier from Atun.
"J….Jun….." weakly managed to speak Akira, inches away from passing out, still held by Atun by the neck, not believing that not only she had managed to get back on her feet, her face was contorted in so much fury that she hardly resembled the same woman he had fallen in love with. He didn't know her willpower was so great and that in spite of how much she hated violence, her anger would increase it to unfathomable levels.
"How many more innocent people?! How much more blood will you demons have to shed before you stop?!" she demanded, her sharp teeth grit in so much uncontrolled anger, that she almost didn't look human, but this only served to amuse Atun "Interesting. Your strength seems to have returned." he remarked, impressed to see that she had almost fully recovered in such a short amount of time. He then chuckled deviously and declared "You will be much more fun to fight than this empty carcass." while tossing Akira's almost unconscious body away.
Even more enraged, Jun venomously proclaimed "Seeing you live makes me sick! Who do you think you are, acting like you have the right to judge the lives of others?!" while pointing her left index finger at him in, while Nike could only watch in pure disbelief. This woman….. Not only did she look almost exactly like Amon….. Her resolve and willpower was just as strong as his own. But in her voice there was also sorrow and grief, mixed with her raging fury.
"Foolish woman." gleefully berated the demon before her, his smile growing even more, which caused Jun's golden eyes to widen "The powerful always judge the weak. That, is how the world has always worked. Might, in the end, controls everything, and without it, you cannot protect anything." and after seeing how her eyes began to shake upon hearing those last words and how Akira also trembled as soon as he heard those words, due to him recalling how he too was unable to arrive in time to save Miki, Atun added, just to further rub salt into the wound "Just like how you could not protect that human girl."
And with those last words, like Akira before her, Jun's fury reached it's breaking point. With even more tears falling from her eyes, she grit her teeth and, in a fit of uncontrollable rage, charged towards Atun, roaring "GET OUT OF MY WAAAAAYYYYYY!" while Akira, still lying almost motionlessly on the ground, could only watch in dismay at how she appeared to lose every last semblance of humanity as she began to swing her Cutters towards Atun in an almost animalistic and frantic frenzy.
But it availed to nothing.
Once more, Atun effortlessly avoided every single one of her slashes, aimed to cut his body in half, before the claws on his right elbow shifted above his hand and in a quick movement, he shattered Jun's left arm blade apart with his three extended black talons. Brutally pulled out of her wrath by the pure shock of having witnessed one of her Cutters, that had effortlessly cut down many beasts in the past, being sliced apart with so much ease, she wasn't able to react in time to avoid the avian demon uppercutting her in the chest with his left fist, shattering many of her ribs. And as soon as the Devil Lady doubled over and spewed blood from her mouth, Atun's right hand shot forward and firmly seized her by the throat.
His eyes wide open in distress, Akira desperately cried out "JUN!" while managing to turn onto his front and rest on his elbows. The Devil Lady could only gasp heavily for air and put her hands around Atun's wrist as he effortlessly lifted her off the ground with just one hand. As he did so, the demon narrowed his yellow eyes into Jun's own and coldly stated "You do know this is your fault, right? For having acquired all that power only to cast it aside like a tool that had outlived its usefulness." which caused her blood to freeze. He coudn't possibly mean….
"What?" was all a disbelieved Akira could say, not comprehending what Atun was talking about.
Jun's greatest fears were confirmed when Satoru's voice came "You still haven't realised it, have you, Jun Fudo?" the young beast having figured out from her reaction that she still was oblivious to the truth. She then looked above towards him, along with Atun and Akira, and the moment the Leader of the Crusaders declared "You were the one who brought us back." she shuddered in horror "Did you forget? The power you used to defeat Lan Asuka was comprised of the souls of every single member of your own kind that died by your treacherous hands. By forsaking that power, you let go of our souls and as a result, they materialised back in our living bodies."
And the moment those words were spoken, something within Jun broke. She was the one who brought them back. By letting go of the power she used to vanquish Asuka once and for all and granting freedom and equality to all Beasts…..
She had brought back the one who took everything away from her. And that meant that all the beasts who were imprisoned here, tortured and starved without a shred of mercy, suffered because of her. At once, the Devil Lady's face turned almost lifeless, frozen in a mix of horror and grief as she experienced a mental breakdown. She didn't even hear the last words Satoru spoke "Ironic that we have you to thank for this, don't you think? Thanks to you, we are now free to resume our quest and finally return this world to its rightful owners. And your death, shall be its foundation."
Likewise, Akira was so shocked and horrified by what he had heard, that his breath caught up in his throat. Jun was the one who brought those monsters back? Was this the horrifying side effect of having let go of that power that she used to bring peace between humans and Devilmen?
He was brutally pulled out of his thoughts by the sickening and horrendous sound of bones cracking. He gasped in horror as Atun crushed Jun's throat with his bare hand, simply by clenching it around her neck, to the point his black claws pierced through the skin and drew blood. Time itself slowed to a crawl as Jun's body fell on the ground, limp. Akira shuddered and began to cry as soon as he saw Jun's head turn towards him, her wide open, but seemingly lifeless eyes turning from gold to brown, their original color. Her powerful muscles, fur, claws and tail all dissappeared from her body and her head-wings returned to be nothing more than most of her long dark brown hair.
The Devil Lady was gone and the moment she hit the ground and returned back to her human form, the last sight she saw before darkness overtook her, was Akira screaming in horror and grief "JUUUUUNNNNNNN!" as he futely reached for her with a hand, but she didn't even hear his voice.
Nor the sound of concrete being smashed apart, or the sight of part of the room's wall behind Akira being shattered as something came out of it…
(Soundtrack Ends)