Dante faced the national powers.
The king of bygone eras was surrounded by the most powerful warriors of the current nations. It was a confrontation between the King of past ages and the princes of modernity—the past in living flesh against the strength of the now. Around him, the ruins of a destroyed city served as the arena for this titanic battle.
"These snakes…" Dante thought, dodging with almost supernatural agility a colossal serpent, the size of a train, sliding fiercely toward him. "Just being touched by them, the poison infiltrates my body. I can feel it corroding my energy flow. They are always targeting my blind spot, where Kael and Haruto create openings."
Kael and Haruto advanced like arrows shot from ancestral bows, relentless and precise.
— You are strong — Dante spoke with a dark smile as he launched into close combat with the two.
The clash of powers reverberated through the ruins, shattering pillars and collapsing already fragile buildings. The modern abilities of Kael and Haruto were impressive, but did not intimidate the king.
Kael, the dragon of Siberia, raised a colossal structure of ice around him, glowing coldly under the gray sky.
— Warriors of the present are interesting — Dante murmured, leaping high to land directly on the frozen wall.
Haruto, with fluid and precise movements, charged at Dante. His eyes analyzed every point, seeking the lines of energy flow permeating the king's body.
"This Japanese man…" Dante thought, "he aims directly at my vital points. His techniques, if they hit, will cause me serious problems. I need to neutralize him first."
With energy condensed at his fingertips, Dante exploited a gap in Haruto's guard. In a quick motion, he touched his stomach and hurled him away, crashing him into debris.
But there was no rest. A firm hand grabbed Dante from below, dragging him into the ice. Kael, sovereign of the icy winds, was relentless.
— You shall not pass — Kael grunted as he repeatedly struck the king, trying to subdue his resistance.
Yet, amidst the freezing torture, Dante's body ignited with black flames, burning like death itself. A massive explosion shattered the icy prison, scattering petals of ice falling slowly around. Kael fell to the ground, burned and dazed.
— You fight well, but not well enough — Dante declared, his voice low and cutting.
He advanced slowly, his gaze slicing across the battlefield.
— Now, appear, snake woman. I will burn you too.
But then the petals floating around him stopped in the air, above his shoulder. He felt icy needles piercing his skin where the petals touched.
The world changed.
It was a cruel illusion. The ice petals were not petals, but snakes, sinking their venoms into his body.
The poison was instantaneous: Dante was paralyzed.
Before he could react, three arrows shot from the shadows pierced his abdomen, hitting precise points in his energy flow.
— What technique is this…? — he murmured, feeling his life force being locked, suffocated.
Kael and Haruto approached, confident and fierce.
— Perhaps I underestimated the strength of the world's elite — Dante smiled, a cold, challenging smile.
His eyes turned black as night.
He aligned his palms and the environment exploded in fire and ash.
Kael and Haruto were thrown meters away, destroying everything in their path.
Dante gathered a colossal energy, preparing an incantation that could sweep everything away. However, before he could utter a word, chains emerged from arrows embedded in the ground, wrapping around him, imprisoning him, and preventing his casting.
"This wretched poison is slowing my ability to cast techniques…" he thought with irritation.
Kael gripped the chains tightly and hurled Dante against debris, which crumbled under the impact. The chains burned to ash from the black flames the king exhaled.
— Come, I want to see how far you can go — Dante provoked, staring at them with fury.
Haruto and Kael advanced in sync, joining their hands.
— First Fissure: Temporal Tremor! — Dante bellowed, preparing the technique.
Even with the slowness imposed by the poison, he knew it would work.
The enemies' perception of time began to distort, everything slowing down around them, while Dante remained normal.
His hands touched the ground, which quickly became covered in black, burned marks. Fissures opened, releasing flames and currents targeting Kael and Haruto.
Paralyzed and confused, they were defenseless targets.
It was the perfect moment for Elara, the archer, to fire a precise arrow at Dante, who was still casting his attack.
— NO! — Amina shouted, running to defend.
From the ground, a huge serpent erupted, throwing Kael and Haruto to safety and destroying the serpent in the process.
Elara's arrow hit Dante, but he tracked its trajectory with eyes that seemed to see beyond the physical.
— Got you — Dante mocked, his voice dripping threat.
Elara felt invisible, surrounded by spells, but Dante's eyes located her with precision.
A cut made of pure black energy tore through the space where she was, reducing the structure she stood on to dust before her eyes.
— I sense your energy, snake woman — Dante declared, without mercy.
Amina had to quickly conjure that snake to save her allies, an effort that cost her dearly her position.
In the shadows of ashes, Amina felt a presence behind her. Dante had placed his hand on her head, burning her alive—but her body was merely a decoy.
Amina had transformed into a massive black serpent that emerged from the ground and hurled Dante away with a headbutt; Amina had spent much energy to assume this form.
Dante was thrown far.
Kael fell on top of him, crushing his body and immediately tried to tear open his stomach with a sharp ice punch, but Dante dodged and fell a few meters back.
Poisoned and surrounded, Dante tried to recover, but there were no pauses.
Haruto appeared behind him at maximum speed, ready for the final blow.
With 40% of his power locked and the poison corroding his body, Dante couldn't react in time.
The fight the princes wanted to wage against the king wasn't one of brute force, but of endurance.
Haruto placed his hand on Dante's head, trying to reverse his energy flow.
But Dante turned quickly, conjuring black flames that enveloped him.
The struggle for the activation of the incantation was fierce.
Haruto succeeded first, executing a lethal technique that dealt a fatal blow to the king.
A reversal strike.
Dante fell to the ground, motionless, wounded and defeated.
Amina, Kael, and Haruto gathered over the king's body.
— That was close — said Amina, panting. — He is as terrifying as Mei.
Haruto looked serious, staring at the fallen body.
— I don't sense Mei's energy around here… — he murmured.
— We must reclaim the city and go after her — Haruto said.
Kael agreed with a nod.
Amina nudged Haruto, teasing:
— You always liked Mei, even after she took your podium in the world power ranking.
Haruto responded with a serious, controlled gaze.
— Rest assured, I'm just trying to lighten the mood after this battle.
— Mei wouldn't be defeated by him — he stated, somberly.
Kael commented:
— Perhaps Mei is trapped, or her power contained… but if they killed Dante, there's a chance she's dead too. Prepare for the worst.
Meanwhile, Elara, unconscious in the ruins, watched everything from a distance; she had barely dodged, blood trickling from her wounded head.
Her sharp eyes saw something no one else noticed.
The sky above was strange, dark, devoid of light. An abnormal flow of energy emanated from the charged clouds.
Elara realized.
An arrow struck the ground near the heroes.
Elara screamed with all the strength she had left:
— RUN! GET OUT OF THERE! RUN!
But it was too late.
Their bodies were paralyzed, spatial perception distorted.
The sky opened in black fissures.
Flaming rock formations fell slowly from the sky, like condemned meteors.
Everyone watched, helpless, as Dante slowly rose.
His body still smoldered on the ground as his hands touched the earth, implanting black energy that distorted space in a ten-meter radius around him.
He laughed maliciously.
— You fought well.
He looked at Haruto and said, gratefully:
— Thank you. Your intention made your technique clear; at the last second, I reversed my flow, so when you tried to do the same, you actually just aligned it and saved my life.
Dante had feigned death, suppressing his immense aura—thanks to the poison limiting him, this was extremely simple.
It was the king of eras using all his experience against the arrogance of the modern era.
— Now, be crushed — he declared, his voice like thunder.
And so, the flaming rocks continued to fall, the king's second technique: the Obstruction of the Heavens.
Amina, Kael, and Haruto watched the sky with terror in their eyes.
Elara wept bitterly in the distance.
To be continued…