The demon before our friends, a demon with a lion's mane, horns, a muscular body, and armor, vampire wings, a beast among beasts, with black eyes and red pupils, begins to emanate a sinister aura to intimidate our protagonists, but they feel no fear. They stand and face it.
DANTE HERALDI: Demon, what do you want? Why are you harassing us?
GADREL: Human, I've been looking for you. Don't play dumb with me. I know you defeated Mammon, and that's why my king also sent me to find you.
DANTE and REX jump back to gain distance. Immediately, they begin to assess their opponent.
DANTE HERALDI: Look, REX, this guy is only level 16, one level higher than us, so we can beat him if we both go together, but his stats are the problem. We have the same speed; you could beat him. The rest is very strange, it's very lively, I wonder why?
REX: I don't know, but we need to focus on him. WATCH OUT, HERE HE COMES.
The demon GADREL leaps toward them, slamming the ground with force, causing them to jump to dodge. Immediately, the demon lashes out at DANTE, its claws whipping out of the air in a series of slashes that strike him. DANTE manages to defend himself with great difficulty; he is only slightly injured.
DANTE HERALDI: Damn, that hurt. REX, NOW.
REX activates his transformation, growing larger and biting the demon, which tries to break free; half of its body is trapped in REX's mouth. DANTE pulls his sword from his bag and runs toward GADREL. REX releases the demon, and DANTE cuts it, injuring the demon. GADREL takes flight to put distance between them and begins to heal; its hand glows, and it places it on its wound, trying to heal the wound on its chest.
DANTE HERALDI: ¡REX, damn it, he's healing!. I have it… (DANTE reaches into his bag and, concentrating his mind, manages to pull out some kunai.) Damn it, this is draining my mana just to get things out of this bag. That BELL evened things out for both sides… (He imagines BELL smiling.) I swear I'll kill him when I find him again.
Without wasting any time, Dante throws the kunai at the demon Gadrel, hitting some of them, though Gadrel manages to dodge most.
GADREL: Damned human, take this! (He inflates his chest and unleashes a massive fireball.)
REX and DANTE are surprised and try to dodge the fireball, but it is too big. REX quickly jumps over DANTE to protect him. The damage is too much for REX; the poor animal falls and returns to his normal form. DANTE checks on him quickly and sees that he is alive. He only fainted, but his health is at half. DANTE grabs REX and runs as far away as possible, but the demon chases them, diving from the sky toward them.
DANTE notices this and concentrates energy in his sword, throwing a flying slash at the demon. GADREL cannot dodge in time, and his wing is cut, making him crash into the ground. DANTE leaves REX on the floor and quickly runs toward GADREL. The demon is getting up, but when he lifts his head, he only sees a kick coming at his face. The hit sends him flying a long distance. He recovers and stands up immediately, but DANTE is already right in front of him.
GADREL: (holding his ribs) You are very tough, you jerk! But now the real battle begins.
The demon sets his hand on fire and a sword appears. It looks like a Crusader's sword. He takes a fighting stance. DANTE also takes a kendo stance. The two look at each other for a few seconds. Suddenly, they both jump at each other, clashing their swords. At an impressive speed, they hit their blades from different angles, dodging and striking. It seems like it will never end, but slowly DANTE starts to get tired, and the demon begins to win. DANTE hits with great force and jumps back. The demon's hand is shaking, and he thinks that the human is very strong.
DANTE HERALDI: (to himself) Damn, he has more stamina than me. What do I do? Think, think... I know! Of course, why didn't I think of this before?
DANTE immediately opens his blue screen and spends his points: 4 in Agility and 1 in Strength, increasing his speed for the battle. DANTE runs at the demon and swings his sword. The demon barely manages to block, and the ground under him sinks from the pressure of the hit.
GADREL: (to himself) What the hell! He became faster and a little stronger.
GADREL starts to sweat. He realizes DANTE is stronger and faster. He thinks: "What the hell? How did he get so much power out of nowhere?" Angry, he throws a fireball at DANTE. DANTE dodges the attack easily; he is much faster now. It doesn't matter how big the fireball is. DANTE quickly concentrates energy in his sword and throws a flying slash that hits GADREL's arm. The demon steps back and falls to his knees. He looks at DANTE with anger, wondering why the human is better than him.
Then, the demon remembers what the King told him: if he fails, he should not return to the kingdom. With this in mind, GADREL gathers all his energy and shoots a powerful fireball. DANTE is surprised, and he is at his limit. He concentrates all his power and throws a huge black slash that cuts the fireball in half. The demon is shocked as the slash flies toward him. He tries to block with his sword for three seconds, but his sword breaks. The slash cuts the demon in two, from his right shoulder to his left waist. It is all over. DANTE has won. As the demon falls, he only says: "Forgive me, my King."
DANTE is exhausted, but this time his hands are not broken, only hurt. It seems he understands his power better now. DANTE falls to the ground and looks at the sky. Suddenly, a blue window appears in front of him. It says he leveled up 3 times and learned a new skill: "Shadow Slash." Then, REX runs to him and starts to lick DANTE.
DANTE HERALDI: Hey! Wait, REX (pushes the dog away). I'm okay, I'm okay. You don't have to act like that.
REX: (wagging his tail) I was worried, DANTE, but you won! That's great, and you are not so hurt this time. What happened?
DANTE HERALDI: What happened? BELL happened. That jerk helped me. I don't know if he is a bad person or a good one. It seems I use my Mana Points to throw that slash now; the more I spend, the more powerful the slash becomes (he sits down). Right now, I am very tired. My mana is almost zero; I think I only have 1 point left. I will have to put points into Intelligence to make that slash stronger (he stands up). Okay, let's search the demon's body to see what we can find.
REX: Alright. Hey, DANTE, did you level up?
DANTE HERALDI: Yes, 3 levels (smiling). I am getting stronger every time.
DANTE and REX go to GADREL's body and spend a few minutes checking it. They separate the most important things they find, and REX starts to take out the heart.
DANTE HERALDI: (watching in disgust as REX opens the demon's chest) Hey, REX, can't you be a little more polite? (Blood splatters on his face).
REX: Why? This bastard attacked us and almost killed us (DANTE wipes his face). Besides, he's already dead.
DANTE HERALDI: I know, but have some respect; he was a great warrior. When we finish, I will bury him.
REX: Well, if that's what you want, I won't stop you. After all, you beat him.
After a while, they sit down and look at the items they took from the demon.
REX: Look, he had 10 gold coins, that's great! And a strange bracelet. Why did you take it, DANTE?
DANTE HERALDI: You might not see it, but this bracelet is special. According to "Examine," it gives the wearer +100 Health and +50 Mana. It's very good; I'll wear it. Heh, I feel like I'm in a video game.
REX: Yeah, right. Well, should we split the heart? Or do you want it all?
DANTE HERALDI: No, it's fine, split it. We will eat it together to see what it gives us.
REX cuts the heart with his claws. They eat it and feel a sharp pain that passes quickly. Then, they see their new powers. Now the dog can shoot a fireball! DANTE got his Passive Regeneration to level 2. He also got 5 more points to spend, for a total of 8 pending points. DANTE is now level 18, so all his stats increased by 3 points. He is very happy.
DANTE HERALDI: Look at this! My Passive Regeneration is level 2 now. Great! I have more points to spend; I'll use 3 for Intelligence to increase the power of my "Shadow Slash."
REX: I leveled up once for helping, and my growth power feels stronger. I feel more powerful.
DANTE HERALDI: Alright, it's time to move. Let's go to the river.
REX nods, and they head to the river, happy with what they achieved. Night catches them on the road, so they stop to rest. DANTE takes a tent out of his backpack, spending mana in the process and understanding his bag better.
DANTE HERALDI: Um, ey!, REX, now that I look at my bag properly, when I open its blue window it has 30 squares, some of which we've already filled. I think I can take items out until the squares are full; it seems it's not unlimited like I thought. Maybe if I level it up it'll have more, but how will I do that? Damn.
REX: Interesting, well, we don't know for now; there's no point in thinking about it. Set up the tent and let's rest; tomorrow our journey on this immense island will end.
DANTE HERALDI: You're right. I completely forgot this was an island, haha.
After a while, DANTE sets up his tent and goes inside to rest. He leaves REX outside to watch first, and the night continues normally.