The camera lights trembled.
Drones captured flashes of destruction at speeds even lenses couldn't follow.
In the crater carved by the impact of the two, the air burned. Space bent.
Two titans at war.
Dante, with black eyes and a body exuding heat and darkness.
Mei, enveloped in a golden and crimson spiral, as if she were the center of a small sun.
They collided again.
The clash of auras exploded in all directions, shattering buildings for miles. Glass shattered throughout the city.
Normal people in concentration posts far away fainted just from feeling the spiritual pressure.
Dante appeared above Mei, descending with a flaming punch, dense as magma.
She smiled, not retreating.
— Phase 1… Protostellar Flame!
A circle of energy appeared around her like a spinning shield. When Dante's punch reached her, it was repelled by a centrifugal explosion, throwing him back.
Mei leaped and followed him mid-air.
The speed was absurd—as if time itself was being torn.
She appeared beside him and spun in the air, her heel covered in spiral flames.
— How about a raw and graceful beating, little king?
"Polar Burn Ray"
The kick hit Dante on the side of his face and threw him to the ground, creating a flaming trail for several meters.
Dante stood up. Part of his face slowly regenerated.
He didn't smile, just analyzed.
— The art of arrogance in combat… A trait of the weak.
— Or of those who don't need to worry, my dear — Mei retorted with scorn.
Dante extended his hand.
A black sphere of flaming energy began to form, surrounded by ancient runes.
— You're not the only one who names attacks.
He pointed to the sky.
— Solar Abyss.
The sphere shot forth like a dead star, sucking in the air around it.
Mei looked up and narrowed her eyes.
— Cute.
She spun her body and extended both arms, crossing them over her chest. The flames around her changed hue—the gold turned intense purple, and sparks of stellar energy spun like moons around her.
— Phase 2: Massive Star
She threw a punch into the air.
The impact reversed the very advance of Dante's attack, and the "Solar Abyss" sphere collapsed before reaching her, exploding high above like a contained supernova.
The world trembled.
The ground opened new fissures.
The sky darkened with the force of the clash.
Dante reappeared behind her.
His hands were enveloped in a silent fire, colorless—something older than the very concept of light.
— …These flames… — Mei murmured.
He whispered:
— Pyre of the First Realm.
The attack pierced the air and struck Mei head-on.
BOOOM.
Everything turned to fire and smoke.
The city around them broke into pieces. The shockwave destroyed an abandoned hospital, two neighborhoods, and melted parked cars.
Silence.
Dante breathed heavily. Sweaty. The poison weakened him, delayed his spells. But he was still Dante.
He stared fixedly at the cloud of ashes.
— It is done.
But from the center of the crater, a red-orange glow began to emerge…
Flames rose… spinning… like a flower blooming under hell.
A figure emerged from the smoke.
Torn. Burned.
But smiling.
— …Ooooh… close.
Mei Nuhay. Alive. And furious.
— That one hurt. I'll be honest. — She spat blood. — But you know what hurts more?
She raised her eyes, now incandescent.
— Being threatened by a historical failure.
CRACK.
The ground around her melted.
The flames began to rise in a spiral.
Mei walked slowly, her hair dancing like flaming tongues in the vacuum.
— Phase 3: Red Giant.
Dante tried to retreat, but it was too late.
She took one step. The ground split into hexagons.
Two steps. The nearby buildings vibrated with the heat.
Three steps.
— Ascending Thermal Burst!
She vanished.
Before the concept of thought could form in Dante's mind, she was before him.
An uppercut straight to Dante's chin.
He rose like a projectile.
Before he could recover, Mei appeared above him, both fists spinning together, enveloped in an aura of flaming plasma.
— Think twice before calling someone arrogant.
— Double Solar Whip!
Both fists struck his chest.
Dante fell, opening a three-story hole in the city ground.
Mei descended, landing slowly with an aura that made the concrete boil.
She walked toward the crater where he fell.
Dante was still moving.
— Get up. Are you going to tell me that's all?
— You are winning... for now. — He stood up. — But this isn't the end.
He spat blood.
His eyes returned to red.
— The poison is slowing my rhythm... but my essence is nowhere near spent.
— Good. That way I can keep having fun.
She rolled her shoulders.
— But, to be honest, I expected more from the guy who needed the whole world to be killed.
Dante took a deep breath.
— You're underestimating me. Again.
— I'm facing you. That's already more than you deserve.
The two fell silent.
And then, they ran toward each other.
Black aura against stellar sun.
History against the present.
What remained of an era… against what shines now.
The reborn King against the incandescent Empress.
The city became a field of furious gods.
To be continued...