May 19th | 11:00 AM 67 hours left
The team gathered at a central meeting point to discuss their next move. The air was thick with the scent of ozone and dried sweat.
"So, we already killed all the E-Rank devils in one day," Lucious noted, crossing his arms.
Reno leaned against a nearby wall. "The E-Ranks weren't a big deal, but we have three D-Ranks and a C-Rank left to handle".
David looked at the others, his voice low. "Have any of you ever actually encountered one?".
"I have," Kirito said, his eyes darkening as he remembered. "A high A-Rank appeared at my sister's school once... I was completely helpless in front of it".
"We should move together," Asuna suggested, her hand resting on her weapon. "It would be safer".
Pragyanjali shook her head sharply. "No, that will consume too much time. Don't forget, we still have to deal with that C-Rank devil, too".
"I think Asuna is right," Reno chimed in, surprisingly serious. "There are civilians to think about. If things get out of hand, they'll get caught in the crossfire".
"I have an idea," Reno said after a moment. "Leave it to me".
"I'm going with Reno," Kirito said instantly. "Me too," Asuna added. "But why?" Ansh asked, confused. "Just a homie's instinct," they both replied.
Lucky sighed, joining the group as well. "Then I guess there's no other choice".
Pragyanjali looked at Reno expectantly. "Fine. Tell us what to do".
"What if, instead of splitting up, we make every devil submit to one single point?" Reno proposed.
"Yes," Kirito agreed. "That way, we can all attack them at once".
Lucious looked skeptical. "But how are we going to force them to one place?".
"And even if we do," David added, "they'll just escape once they detect our mana".
Reno grinned. "I know that. So we'll distribute our power and make them stick to exactly where we want".
"But where?" Asuna asked.
Pragyanjali warned, "If we do this inside the city, there's a high possibility civilians will get involved".
"We need an open place where nobody can come," Reno said.
Ansh snapped his fingers. "Oye, Lucky! That ground in the middle of the forest!".
"Yes, that will be perfect for neutralization," Lucky agreed.
"It'll be a perfect place," Reno added with a smirk, "as long as nobody comes looking for a molten rod in their ass".
After a long discussion to finalize the plan, Reno explained everyone's parts. They drove toward the location Ansh and Lucky had identified, eventually leaving the main road to navigate deep into the forest. After about ten minutes of driving, they reached their destination. They parked their cars behind the trees and stepped out.
"Everyone knows what they have to do?" Reno asked. "Yes," the team replied in unison.
6:00 PM | 60 hours left
The mana detector began to beep incessantly: Beep Beep... Beep. The team hid in the shadows of the trees, waiting for the devils to arrive.
"Normally, a detector measures mana to locate devils," Reno whispered as they waited. "But if we reverse the mechanism, it produces high mana waves that attract devils no matter how far they are".
"If Reno's plan works, this will be a huge success," Ansh muttered.
Suddenly, the roar of devils echoed through the clearing. Three aerial-type devils descended from the sky. One of them dived down, picking up the detector in its beak and crushing it instantly. The mana signal vanished, and the devils became incredibly aggressive.
"Kirito, now!" Reno shouted.
"Alright! Atomic Doom!" Kirito yelled.
He created a massive, blue-glowing dome of mana, capturing all the devils inside. One devil tried to ram through the barrier but failed. The rest of the team stepped out into the open.
"I didn't know you could cast spells like this too," Pragyanjali remarked.
"Just my specialty," Kirito replied with a grin.
Reno looked at the barrier intently. "Did you make it one-way or dual?".
"I don't know!" Kirito said. "You shouted, so I just cast it in a hurry!".
Reno levitated several stones and hurled them at the barrier. They dropped to the ground the moment they hit the surface.
"It's dual," Reno said, eyeing Kirito sharply.
"See... see? We can still work the plan," Kirito insisted.
"And how?" Lucious asked.
"I just have to rebuild the barrier," Kirito explained. "It only takes a couple of seconds. You just have to keep them in position while it's down".
"Ok, I'll do it," Lucky said, stepping forward.
Kirito and Lucky stood side-by-side. Kirito dropped the barrier, and the devils immediately lunged toward them.
"Wild Ice!" Lucky shouted, freezing all of their legs to the ground in an instant.
"Atomic Doom!" Kirito recast the barrier, this time perfecting the frequency. "Guys, let's finish this!".
"Light of Justice!" Lucious moved like a blur, severing the devils' wings in a single flash.
"Spark of Lightning!" Asuna commanded. A horizontal rain of blue lightning lit up the entire clearing.
"Guys, the core is open!" Asuna shouted.
"Dust Storm!" Ansh added, sending a barrage of stones at the disoriented creatures.
"Time for the victory move," Pragyanjali said, leveling her rifle. "Wind Arrows!".
She fired with surgical precision, destroying the cores one by one without missing a single shot. Soon, the corpses fell to the ground. The team took a long breath of relief.
"One more to go!" Kirito shouted.
"That C-Rank will lick our shoes!" the rest of the team shouted back.
8:00 PM | 58 hours left
"Let's party!" Ansh yelled. The team began to celebrate their victory, momentarily forgetting they still had one final devil to hunt.
In the middle of the celebration, Kirito's phone buzzed. It was Allya.
"Brother, answer my call!" she shouted through the line.