----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What seemed like a victory.
The end of a colossal struggle.
Was nothing but a sweet illusion.
Aisha slowly rose from the rubble, panting.
Her body covered in open wounds, dirty with blood and dust. Her muscles trembled. But her aura burned like live embers.
Even in the face of the impossible, Aisha had always been like this.
Unbreakable.
Determined.
— Excellent, girl… — said a deep, drawn-out voice.
Dante approached with slow steps, the shadow of his presence spreading like poison in the air.
— Warriors who live only for direct combat don't survive in a world that defies the very laws of existence.
You need to be more than that.
You need to be reborn.
Sell your soul, if you must.
Develop power… even if you have to rip it from the devil himself.
His red eyes glowed like embers, and a crooked smile, laden with provocation, cut across his face.
— And I see you have been reborn… — he continued. — You're stronger.
Show me… how much.
Aisha then took a deep breath… and vanished.
The air exploded in a vacuum.
And in an instant, a precise punch struck Dante's face, with a force that sent the king flying meters back, crashing into a wall of ruins.
Aisha advanced.
Furious.
Precise.
Unstoppable.
They dragged through the destroyed streets, tearing up what remained of the rubble. The ruined city became the stage for a new apocalypse.
Aisha dominated the field.
She had faced an entity.
What was a "king" compared to that?
Blow after blow, Dante was struck.
Until, in a fluid motion, Aisha called her blade to hand and delivered the fatal strike.
But Dante summoned a black sword wreathed in flames, and the clash was brutal—the collision tore through the air and the ground, breaking Aisha's stance.
Then Dante counterattacked.
A dry punch.
Straight to the face.
Aisha flew like a projectile, crashing through pillars and debris.
Blood gushed from her nose with the impact, splattering stones and dust.
— Still lukewarm… — Dante taunted, laughing. — Come on, girl… put MORE energy into it. More! More!
He vanished.
And reappeared behind her.
— MORE!— he whispered near her ear, with an almost demonic tone.
Aisha spun instinctively, trying to hit him, but Dante grabbed her head with brutality.
The memory came like a blade.
That feeling…
The burning in her eyes.
The flames consuming her vision.
The same horror was about to repeat itself.
Dante's energy began to boil.
In a desperate scream, Aisha exploded her aura.
A spiritual blade took form—controlled with her mind.
And then, in an agile strike, she severed Dante's arm.
She retreated.
— That's… — Dante said, animated. — A crude technique, but it's a start.
He didn't seem bothered by the mutilation.
With the spiritual poison of the runes still circulating in his body, his regeneration was slower.
Dante held the severed arm and placed it back, slowly fusing the tissues with black energy.
Aisha then channeled all her aura into Dante, concentrating her poisonous energy.
A subtle smile appeared on Dante's lips.
— This… spiritual poison… is slowing my regeneration. — he thought. — How rare…
He released the arm, now semi-reconnected, and advanced.
A punch to the stomach hurled Aisha into the sky.
Dante appeared above her and struck her brutally downward.
The impact cracked the ground.
Aisha staggered, dizzy, her body begging for respite.
— Focus… recover… basic spiritual techniques, come on… — she whispered to herself.
But the memories returned like spears.
The pain.
The torture.
His laughter…
Aisha couldn't see, but she felt the executioner approaching.
Dante descended with a fist charged with energy.
A blow that would crush her skull.
She couldn't react.
But then… Dante stopped.
Something made him retreat, instinctively.
— What is this…? — he whispered. — This energy…
A cut sliced through the air and struck his chest, blood spurting.
Dante dodged in time, but felt the superficial tear.
He smiled.
— You've returned… Jade…
The figure before him was Stella—but her presence, her energy…
It was as if Jade had been reborn.
The energy in Dante's chest exploded.
He was violently thrown backward.
— Aisha… — Stella called, firm. — Recover.
We will kill this monster. Now.
Aisha felt Stella's energy rising like an unstoppable tide.
She took a deep breath.
Sat down, concentrating.
There was still fight in her bones.
— Such a warm welcome… — Dante mocked, rising with a smile. — It's been ages since we last met. And this is how I'm received? How discourteous.
— Shut up, — Stella replied, already at Aisha's side.
— I'm ready, — Aisha murmured.
And then, both vanished.
Dante didn't even blink before being engulfed by slashing blows, explosions, and cracks of spiritual energy.
The city continued to shatter around them.
Towers crumbled. The ground split.
From afar, Vernasha and Hazau watched.
— The cosmos is aligning… — Vernasha murmured, with a crooked smile. — Soon, my condemnation will come as well.
But I… I will circumvent it.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Hazau's voice:
— Where is Karmore?
— Around… — Vernasha replied. — Somewhere between the north and east of the square. I feel her energy. Everything is proceeding as expected.
Hazau nodded, but soon his eyes widened at the sound of footsteps.
Slow.
Firm.
Defiant.
Both smiled at the figure approaching.
— Well, well… if it isn't the traitor.
The murderer.
The vessel.
The one born to be chaos in the flesh.
The demon of Hala one-two. — Hazau said, mocking.
Dan walked alone.
His body cut, bruised.
But his eyes firm as forged steel.
— Where are your companions? — Hazau taunted. — Did they die?
Dan clenched his fists.
Fury filled his eyes.
— I don't sense anyone else… — Vernasha murmured, smiling. — Besides him… and the two fighting the king.
The rest… irrelevant.
— Hazau, — she said — do the honors.
— With pleasure.
Hazau stepped forward.
— I remember our fight…
It wasn't me, but I saw it.
You and that blonde bitch… burning me with that "friendship" talk.
Pathetic.
Hazau approached.
— Now she's fighting an impossible battle.
And you come after, with the same false hope in your chest.
You're so alike.
Are you two dating?
The taunt cut through the air.
Dan exploded with energy.
Charged forward.
— Due to the experiments of your childhood, I can't enter your mind… — Hazau said, with a smile. — But I can burn you from the outside.
A black smoke enveloped Hazau's body, black flames appearing in his palm.
Dan's white flames collided with Hazau's black ones.
The impact shattered the ground beneath their feet.
Dan used his clones—a swift offense.
Hazau destroyed them one by one.
Two charged at Vernasha.
She merely sidestepped, and both exploded in vain.
— Take the fight elsewhere, Hazau, — she said. — I need to think in peace.
— With pleasure.
I want to make this brat scream.
Hazau landed a brutal blow to Dan's stomach, hurling him dozens of meters forward.
Negative energy exploded with the impact.
— Let's start the fun, kid… — Hazau said, smiling. — Now… you're going to scream.
To be continued.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------