The Demon Cultist Battle
Dust filled the air, interrupting Hagane and the red-cloaked man's fight. A silhouette emerged from the debris—Akuma had arrived.
In a flash, the dust dispersed as Akuma examined his hands. Small pentagrams lay engraved in his flesh, allowing him to pull drops of blood from the symbols on his palms. Black flames cloaked his blood as it emerged. Akuma could manipulate his blood at will through the pentagrams, shaping it once it left his body.
Akuma blitzed forward at the red-cloaked man, who barely dodged the punch. A blade formed on Akuma's elbow, slicing across the man's chest. His shirt fell away, revealing a pentagram etched into his skin.
Hagane gasped. "You're one of the 32 Demon Cultists."
The Demon Cultists were thirty-two of the most powerful demons, varying wildly in strength. They were the only demons the government allowed to exist—doing the state's dirty work in exchange for their lives.
"I am Fade," the red-cloaked man declared, his voice echoing with supernatural resonance. "I am a member of the 32 Demon Cultists. I represent the fear of being forgotten."
Fade dashed backward as the two brothers surged forward. Hagane struck at Fade's neck, but the demon ducked under the blow, punching Akuma in the stomach. His hand shattered on impact as it hit a patch of crystallized blood.
Akuma laughed, forming a blood dagger in his palm. He brought it down through Fade's collarbone, dragging it all the way down his chest. Fade punched weakly at Akuma, trying to escape the devastating wound.
Akuma kicked Fade away before slowly walking toward him. Fade's hands clutched at the dirt, flinging it weakly toward Akuma as he crawled backward, his eyes wide with terror.
"Stop! Wait, no!" Fade cried, horrified. Blood leaked from the giant gash across his chest.
"This is a new era," Akuma said, driving his dagger through Fade's heart.
Akuma smiled wildly at his brother as Fade collapsed. The two rookie rebels had claimed their first victory.
But they were not alone.
A series of fate-defying defeats occurred across the realm that same day. Twenty-five rookie rebels, each with bounties of 50,000 or more, had emerged to challenge the established order. The revolution had begun.