Epic battle, Third class Demon Mosiac vs Shu

Upon hearing what her son had just said, Hannah asked softly, "You finally know the truth, don't you?"

Her eyes were filled with a complex mixture of emotions—sadness, resignation, and something that looked almost like pride.

"I do," Shu replied. "And I understand why you kept it from me. I'm grateful I got to live a normal life for as long as I could. But now… it's time to face my destiny. I have to retrieve the staff."

Hannah's expression shifted immediately to alarm. "But how?" she asked urgently. "The mountains are heavily guarded. If you're caught, the punishment will be severe." Her heart raced—she had known this day would come, but not like this. Not so suddenly. Aside from basic training in self-defense and kantar reinforcement, Shu had no real battle experience. He wasn't ready to face trained guards, let alone whatever lay beyond them.

"I don't know why," Shu said, meeting her eyes with a confidence that seemed impossible for a twelve-year-old, "but I'm confident I can get past them. You may have only taught me the basics, but after being exposed to that being's kantar, I learned so much—instantly."

Before Hannah could respond, Shu reinforced his legs with kantar. The air around him shimmered with crimson energy.

"Wait—" Hannah began, but he was already gone.

He dashed off at blinding speed, moving too fast for the eye to follow. Guards at the mountain's base only felt a sudden gust of wind pass them—by the time they registered the movement, Shu had already vanished into the peaks. In less than ten minutes, he stood face-to-face with the legendary staff.

It rested, half-submerged in stone at the mountain's heart—glowing a bright red adorned with streaks of gold that seemed to pulse with ancient power. The moment Shu laid eyes on it, he felt a pull, as if the staff was calling to him.

He approached and grasped it, pulling with all his strength. The staff slid free from the earth with surprising ease.

Immediately, a brilliant red light exploded into the sky, visible to everyone in the village below. The light was unmistakable—a beacon that announced to all who could sense kantar that something had changed.

Power surged through Shu's body like a tidal wave. He raised the staff, smiling despite himself. He could feel its abilities as if they were an extension of his own will. The knowledge of its forms, its power, its history—it was all suddenly available to him, almost overwhelming in its clarity.

But before he could take in the moment fully, he sensed several powerful kantar signatures racing toward the mountain. Soldiers. Guards. Those who would try to stop him.

Without hesitation, Shu took off again, disappearing as quickly as he had come, the staff clutched firmly in his grasp.

---

**Back at the Orphanage**

The armored demon—revived and fully charged—was preparing to launch an attack on the orphanage compound. Its dark kantar pulsed with malevolent hunger as it drew back one massive clawed fist.

Then a fierce wind erupted.

Shu appeared before it in a burst of speed, radiating crimson kantar. His eyes glowed with fierce determination, and in his hands, he held the legendary staff.

"So… you're the demon I'm supposed to face?" Shu asked, his voice carrying a confidence that seemed far too old for his young face. He pointed the staff at the beast.

The demon let out a low, rumbling chuckle. "Well, well. The little mortal returns—and with a power source." It stepped forward, revealing its true form: humanoid in stature, but with the head of a wolf and a body like a leopard's. Heavy armor plated its frame, scarred and battle-worn. "I wouldn't say I'm *lower-class* anymore, though. Since you forced me to use my true power to regenerate, I've evolved. Call me Mosiac."

The demon cracked its knuckles, the sound like thunder.

"This time, boy, you won't get lucky."

They stared each other down for a tense moment—then both shot forward with blinding speed. To any onlooker, they would have simply vanished.

Shu launched massive fireballs from his staff, testing its capabilities, but Mosiac dodged them with predatory grace and landed a crushing punch aimed at Shu's face. Shu raised the staff defensively, and the impact sent him flying backward, crashing through several buildings. Wood and stone exploded around him as he skidded to a halt, leaving a deep trench in his wake.

But Shu rose to his feet, unharmed, his body unmarked by the impact. In one fluid motion, he shifted the staff into the form of a katana. With a flick of his wrist, he unleashed devastating energy slashes—each swing carving through the air like a blade of pure force. Buildings crumbled in the wake of his strikes as Mosiac barely managed to avoid them, moving with inhuman speed.

The battle raged across the village. Both fighters clashed on rooftops, their speed creating sonic booms with each exchange. The villagers could only hear the echoing thunder of their combat and feel tremors as homes crumbled around them. Shu summoned huge boulders from the earth with the staff's power and hurled them at the demon, who shattered each one mid-air with precise spear strikes, the broken stone raining down like hail.

Eventually, they leapt away from each other, creating distance. Both were breathing heavily.

Panting, Shu asked, "How are you so strong? The first demon was nothing compared to you."

Mosiac grinned, its wolf-like features twisting into something almost proud. "You want to know the secret?" It settled into a relaxed stance. "We demons are classified into six distinct classes. At the bottom, there are *lower-class* demons—like the one you fought earlier. Their power is around fifty times that of a regular human."

It began to circle, the tone conversational but dangerous.

"Then come *third-class* demons. That's where I started before today. We're granted names, which boosts our power twenty-fold beyond the lower class. Then come the *second-class* demons—they wield the power of malevolent force, making them a hundred times stronger than third class. *First-class* demons possess the ability to transform, which multiplies their power fifty times more."

The demon's voice grew reverent, almost worshipful.

"And then there are the *demon kings*. Chosen from among the first class, they inherit the combined power, skills, and experience of every demon king before them. Their strength is beyond comprehension."

Shu absorbed this information silently, his mind calculating. "So I'm only measuring up to a... second-class demon level?" He frowned slightly, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "And you said you're third-class, right?"

"That's right," Mosiac confirmed proudly. "Which means you're outmatched."

Shu simply smiled.

He raised his staff high, and a surge of kantar so intense it turned the entire sky crimson erupted from his body. His energy radiated like a pillar of light, so bright that even the sun seemed to pale in comparison. The staff reverted to its original form and began to grow, extending at a rapid, accelerating speed—longer and longer, transcending the size any weapon should logically reach.

In one sudden, devastating thrust, it pierced straight through Mosiac's skull.

The demon's body turned to ash, scattered on the wind like forgotten memories.

And the last thing Mosiac saw before oblivion claimed it…

…was the smiling face of Shu.