Chapter 18: A Shade of the Past

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By now, the majority of the group trailed behind Dante as he led the way through the double doors exiting the back of the castle. They walked out across a massive obsidian plateau brimming with gray stones and fenced with spines of twisted ebony. Well into the distance was the third and last staircase. The third level was the highest point. There would be their final confrontation.

But at the base of the third stairs, hidden by the massive castle behind them was one more set of Cathedral-esk buildings twisted to match the architectural marvels of the rest of Zeridûl's Dark citadel. The buildings were as large as the castle, but none could see much past them from the jagged walls surrounding the courtyard.

"What's with this fountain?" Skyla's voice slipped out into the tense veil of air around them, "It has no water."

"This place is pretty devoid of water anyway, so I'm not really expecting to see clear water anywhere in this dimension." Xera replied, following his partner's actions and jumping up to mirror her steps on the other side.

She went one way, he went the other. The two circled the base of the fountain's shallow foundation as they kept moving forward as a group. Although in Dante's case, he knew the young girl's words held merit. Usually one would expect a black fountain at the center of a courtyard to hold some amount of significance. Perhaps it did and it was unknown to them at the moment. Perhaps it was just as it was, a fountain and nothing more. Time would tell.

At the center was a towering infrastructure of interlocking pillars, and smooth, interlacing protrusions acting like smaller bridges in a scaled down complex of spiraling towers. The overall appearance of it looked like an intertwining spire of spikes, all reaching up into the darkened sky into a sharp, four-tipped point high above the fountain's base. They were channeling something. Afterall, this kind of architecture could function as a conduit.

"I see… One more useless trial then? How utterly tedious… Why delay the inevitable...?" spoke Dante.

"He seems pretty keen on testing our abilities before we even get to him..." Fate replied, her voice trailing behind Xera.

"Perhaps he's seeing what kind of challenge we'd pose?" Weiss offered.

"A challenge is one thing, but wearing us out before a big fight is another..." Xera returned, stepping over a dark, unlit brazier as I made my way around.

"Do you think he'd really do that?" Ruby asked.

"Of course. He is, after all a Dark Entity." Dante cut in, "He will do his absolute best to wear, tear, and gnaw at the very fiber of your being until you are nothing but a broken and battered shell. It's within his nature to use any means necessary to win."

"But there are Dark Entities who don't follow that kind of conduct, right?" Xera asked, stepping down from the fountain's edge in tandem with Skyla as they maneuvered into the group again, "From your memories, I know they're not all like that."

"Only a very rare few have any actual common decency and honor. Much less intelligence to understand when they should not perform the actions most of their kind undertake."

"Zeridûl seems pretty intelligent to me…" Ruby reasoned, hands tightly clasped behind her back as she and Skyla fell to the tail of the pack again, "And he seems different too from the rest of them."

How naive… You only make that assumption based off of what you've been told. And yet, you've only seen one of many...

"It's hard to say right now with certainty, but Destiny says he hasn't shown too many ravenous characteristics or an insatiable thirst for blood like most tend to do." Fate pitched in.

"But at the same time, we can't assume he's among these few entities who happen to play by different rules." Xera replied.

"What you fail to understand is that they do not follow rules. The majority do not respect the will of their Ruler of the Dark World. Instead, they follow their own rules and their own guidelines when best suited to their needs and wants. Some may claim to be honorable or may seem to be honorable, but when in desperate need to save its own life, it will more than likely abandon any sense of honor in order to ensure victory and survival." Dante responded.

"It would be pretty bad if he happened to be the kind of entity to do exactly that..." Ruby said.

"Which is why the first chance we have…we will erase his existence from the very fabric of Reality..." replied Dante.

It was within their nature. Always. Years of experience had taught Dante to never trust a Dark Entity, with the exception of rare circumstances like Lucifer and his Commanders. And most recently, Raum. The only reasons he trusted them was because of their desperation. Their desperation to protect. It very much reminded the young immortal of himself, and in a way, allowed him to connect to them in some way.

"We can talk about it all we want, but there's no way of knowing until we reach him and conclude this whole endeavor." Weiss interjected.

"You may continue thinking what you will. But I know full well what they're capable of. Which is why we will end him." Dante stated over his shoulder, casting a sky blue gaze back at the rest of the group.

Three of the five of them immediately looked away when his gaze fell upon them. His own eyes widened momentarily, but soon, his gaze softened. He had realized why they were avoiding him, why they hung back this entire time. His gaze was almost dull now. Narrower, sterner, less caring...

He realized now what they were actually afraid of. And that is why he had made his choice.

"No… Never mind what I just said…" he said, casting his gaze away from them all.

"Never mind what? What you said about efficiency?" Fate asked.

"Or… the Dark Entities…?" Ruby questioned.

He turned and faced us them fully, his cold gaze enveloping them all.

"I mean to say never mind in 'us' going."

"Save us the hero monolog." Fate immediately replied with a hint of anger, "We're all here now, and we've been working through this place together. You'll need our help to complete this."

"And here I thought you the slightest bit intelligent… Apparently, I was wrong."

"Tch… And here I actually saw you as a leader," Fate replied, crossing her arms as she looked away, "Instead, you're just another pompous washout with power and strength..."

"See me in whatever way you wish… It makes no difference to me… You do not understand. And because of that, you will never be able to understand. And so...I'll only say this once. You've done your parts. Go home. All of you."

They all remained silent and confused before looking towards each other for some reasonable explanation for his words. But sadly, it was as he said. They knew nothing of why he was sending them away.

"You expect us to listen to a half-baked remark like that?! After all this?!" Fate muttered.

"Precisely. I expect you to do as you are told. Otherwise…"

Dante narrowed his eyes further, turning them slightly to an empty space. It was as if he were seeing some invisible force others couldn't.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" he asked the empty space.

"Proving a point."

Xera Stark had appeared from thin air and drew his sword, making to strike at Dante's neck. Unfortunately for the Phoenix, the young immortal was far stronger and quicker to react.

He didn't even move an inch and simply raised his hand, using his left index finger to completely halt Xera's strike without effort.

"And what exactly would that be?" asked Dante.

"My point is that we aren't here because you commanded us to, or that we're supposed to. That was never our reasoning and that was never our objective."

Xera sheathed his sword and continued to stand directly in front of Dante.

"We aren't here under orders. Yours, or anyone else's. We're here because we intend to stop something that's been a prevalent malice in our world and save the lives of everyone outside this rift still fighting for their lives against a threat we don't even know about. It's a vain effort to tell us to go away, especially since you're not yourself."

Not himself… If only the Phoenix knew the full truth...

"If your wish is to save lives, start with your own. Leave while you're still able to." retorted Dante.

"You think this is suicide for us." Fate's voice spoke out again, moving forward too to pass Dante's other side, "But we aren't so self-centered to save ourselves before our friends."

"You may not have realized this, but we're human. We know you're immortal and that you can't die. And we know that going ahead for you is so much easier than going ahead for us…" Ruby spoke up now, the sounds of her shuffling feet slipping out into the tense atmosphere "But we still don't want you going alone, so we're still going to go with you."

"Allowing you to come in here was a mistake…" Dante said, moving his right arm behind him out of their sight.

"I understand that this realm has changed you, Dante. But we're all in here under our own free will. All of us." Weiss stated, the heels of her boots clicking forward as she approached.

"If you really want us gone, and you want to take this burden on yourself," Skyla slowly said, her violet eyes growing dark as she spoke, "Then you're taking the worst possible way to go about it."

"There's no guarantee of the return journey being free of danger either." Fate added.

"Given the current state of matters, I alone am sufficient in eliminating him and returning. That… and…"

His grip on his arm grew tighter.

"If we die, then we die. What's it to you if this isn't even your universe?" Skyla asked calmly, "We're not significant enough for you here, not like your siblings and your partner outside. So what does it matter?"

"That isn't what concerns me."

"Then..?"

He looked behind himself, as if he were hesitating to say what was on his mind.

"Would it matter if I were to be a potential cause of your deaths?"

"Then we'd know what to expect." Xera said, "We know more about you than we do him. If you ended up losing yourself, especially with how this place has been affecting you, then we'd see it coming."

"Then you are a fool. Before you would even have the chance to react, your heads would be rolling at my feet. Why would you ever hope to challenge a being you cannot possibly defeat?" he asked.

"Someone I respect immensely told me once that, despite so many years of striving to do things on their own, of refusing the help of others, of friends, of everyone else but themselves, they always ended up just hurting those they cared about by tackling those challenges on their own. But despite that, even after so long of believing in their own ideology, they eventually began to realize something."

Xera let his gaze fall back to Dante. Despite everything he's said, despite his orders and his reasoning, there wasn't any drive to let him go and do this on his own while they all fell back and let it happen.

"He realized that, even if he bore all the pain himself to save his friends from that very pain, he only hurt them moreso than any physical injury could ever inflict every time he put himself in harm's way. Even if they could die, even if they should die, they still wanted to be there at his side. And they wished for him to let them."

"Tell me…if you know so much…" Dante started as he brought up his right arm and took it out from the sleeve of his coat slowly, "then do you know what this is?"

It was exactly the same like in the church a few nights ago. His arm had been completely covered in grey colored muscle fibers, layered with black segments of jagged skeletal armor.

"If that's what I think it is, then that means we still have time. You may be losing yourself, but you haven't lost yourself fully yet. But even if you can't control it-"

"The form I am slowly assuming from but days ago was responsible for taking the lives of two hundred men in one night in under five minutes, each, I assure you, dying excruciatingly painful deaths at my hands. And only my hands. They made a rather poor decision, and it cost them very dearly. And do not forget all those that had come before them."

Those men had deserved the full fury of his brutal and bloody wrath. They deserved their fates of being torn apart limb from limb. But these people with him...they deserved no such fate. Even if they had decided to try and detain him, it would not work. Whatever fragment of consciousness he would have would see them as an enemy. And then...

"I don't fear you as much as you probably think I do or as much as you'd probably want me to. But I have my own reasons for coming here. I have every intention of following this through, even with the second threat of this new form of yours. The last member of my family's life was dictated by this being for years… I'm not going to let it go so freely without finding the closure I need between both my brother and our enemy."

"This idea of closure is silly, and very likely unbeneficial. And yet…you still wish to continue?"

"We're only human, Dante..." Xera replied softly, letting his gaze turn to the void above us, "We can't help but seek closure after losing something dear to us. Even if it hurts us along the way."

"Only you've lost nothing. . Your brother is still alive and recovering. There is no reason for closure. It's pointless."

"It may feel senseless to you, but Zeridûl is the only person currently within my reach that can answer my questions. I need to at least try, even if he has nothing to offer."

"You risk too much for too little."

"There's nothing else I see as more important right now than that." Xera replied.

"What you seek will very well not be there. And you will have only wasted time and effort."

"You think of this as wasted time and effort, but no matter how you picture it, we still have every reason to go in there with you to finish what we started. Even without all ulterior motives involved, we came in here with a goal in mind, a purpose. Turning that around is more senseless than not finding what we seek."

Dante looked to the rest of them, looking at each and every one of them before moving to the next.

"Knowing what you know now…" he began as he placed his arm back inside the right sleeve of his coat, "do you all still wish to continue?"

Xera's answer was clear, so he had turned his gaze to the rest of them as well. Fate was already standing past Dante on his other side, arms still crossed with her eyes fixed on the arduous pathway ahead of us.

"Knowing what we know now doesn't change a damn thing." she stated evenly.

"You've done really well with keeping your energy turned toward our enemies so far." Ruby started up, stepping up to Dante, "So I think we'll be fine if we just make this upcoming fight last as short as possible. If it draws on for too long…then we can retreat."

"If Ruby's in danger, then you can be sure that I'll pull her back and keep us out of the way if it gets that far." Weiss affirmed.

"You've wondered before whether or not we trusted you, and whether or not we could place our trust in you," Sky slowly stated now, her hands gripped together behind her back as she leaned forward, letting her brown hair sway in a small tilt of her gaze, "I can tell you now, that I still trust you, even after what you said here. But there's someone I trust far more than I can ever hope to trust in you with the same regard…"

Skyla finally took her steps forward and walked up to Xera's side, taking a small pinch of his sleeve into her hand.

"My opinion lies with Xera. What he believes in, I believe in. So if he's still pressing forward, then so will I. This is important to him."

"If he went inside the mouth of a kraken, I can only assume you would certainly follow?"

"Yup~" Sky replied with an affirmative hum.

"I see… I've given you all ample opportunity to leave while there is still time. And yet you refused and remain here. Brave…but foolish…"

He then turned once again to face the distant buildings before looking back to them all.

"Are you sure of placing your trust in me?"

"As sure as we need to be." Ruby replied.

"That goes for the rest of us too," I pointed out, getting nods from those who didn't speak up.

"Certainty of death… yet very small chance of success… Very well. Let's go then… Together…" he spoke, his voice almost hesitant in his response.

"That's...one big door…" said Skyla.

They all took the central path between the three buildings and found a massive entryway closed and locked up tight right at the base of the stairs. Bordering its hefty frame were thick walls with sharp, spiked ridges running along their pikes. The only way to the stairs was through these doors or over those walls. And seeing that not everyone could climb them, especially due to the black metal seemingly brimming with red energy, it left Dante and Xera the only two that could traverse.

Fate took up a stone from the courtyard and tossed it over the wall, watching as it struck an invisible field of crimson energy before bouncing off. The impact glowed and bristled with light, then faded back into thin air.

A barrier… How quaint...

"Any chance we can just break it down?" Ruby asked, staring up at the marvel before her.

"Not with your power, no." Dante replied, staring at the door's center before "That field disperses kinetic energy with a high efficiency. Nothing any of you can do will so much as scratch that door."

"And you?" Fate asked.

Dante drew his sword and stepped forward a few steps before his blade crackled with black Aura, and slid forward in a stabbing motion towards the door. His longsword's point made contact with the field, dispersing a massive expense of pitch black Aura that swallowed up the door. The Aura continued to flow violently from blade until it dispersed a few moments after. Not so much as a scratch either.

"I see… It also negates any energy that tries to come into contact with it…" Dante concluded, pulling his sword away from the gleaming doors.

"Whelp..." Sky sighed, placing her hands behind her neck as she turned on her heel, "We tried. Let's go check out those buildings."

"Knowing our enemy, they probably play an integral role in unlocking the door." Weiss added.

"Same could be said of the fountain." Xera pointed out, walking back with Skyla as they all made their way back to the black courtyard.

The buildings all looked the same, only, the two on the left were smaller than the one on the right. But each building's entryway had an engraving etched into the surface, chiseled cleanly into the stone that crafted each structure's masonry.

"Dante, what do those read?" Xera asked, making my way over to catch a peek inside the building at our furthest left.

There was just a closed door inside. The rest of it was an empty room.

"Till death, do we dance, and to ruin, do we ever reach. Prevail not in the anguish of life, but in the rhythm within those who bear it. Usher forth Dexterity and Versatility, or perish to the throes of a merciless machine." Dante read out.

He his head to read the next set of etchings, saying "Truth in wisdom is the falsity of intellect, yet fealty is pledged to all who give it and all who seek it. Usher forth Intelligence and Intuition, or bear the burden of the elements and be torn by madness." he continued.

His eyes then turned to the last building, the one that stood alone, "Fortitude will bear your weight, pride will carry you forward, but strength alone will bury you and break you. Usher forth Vitality and Speed, or fall to the embrace of blood from your companion."

"They're challenges..." Fate said, sliding her glasses back into place before letting her crimson hair blacken away back into the raven locks of her twin sister.

Violet eyes now studied the smooth engravings above the door that required intelligence to complete.

"He's testing us more individually now, rather than as a group." Xera said, walking away from the building he examined, "They're specifically designed for the members of our raid party."

"More specifically, he's purposefully splitting us into pairs under the base knowledge of our unique attributes." Weiss elaborated, glancing to the same door Destiny was looking over.

"Then we'll separate for the time being." Dante stated, casting his eyes back into the group as he gripped the handle of his longsword, "Speed and Vitality are Ruby and my attributes. We will undertake this trial."

"Intelligence and Intuition are attributes of Destiny and me, so I suppose the two of us will complete the second building on the left." Weiss replied.

"Xera-kuuuuuuun, we finally get to do what partners do best!" Skyla called out, "We get to work together again!"

"I guess we do" Xera responded, brushing his arm against his partner's as he made his way past her, "Let's get it done."

"Let's!" she replied excitedly, latching onto my passing arm.

"Wait in the courtyard when you've completed your task." Dante called to our two groups, "And be on guard constantly. This could very well be a trap."

"Sure thing!" Xera called back as he entered inside with Skyla.

Soon enough, all who remained was Ruby and Dante.

"Um… So-"

"If you're uncomfortable with traveling with me, you can stay here if you wish." said Dante immediately cutting off Ruby.

"No! That's not…"

"You're hesitant. I can tell. You don't need to lie to me."

"I'm not afraid of you or anything. It just...well… Can I see your hand again?!" she asked with a gleam of excitement in her eyes.

…

"What?" was all the confused Dante could say.

"It looked so cool! Is it weaponized armor?!"

"Not...exactly…" replied Dante as he watched Ruby scurry around him rapidly, examining him from all directions.

"Is it all made from bone?! Or metal?!"

"Uh… I don't…"

A thought had occurred to him in that moment. Even he didn't know the exact composition of his Shadow Skin. He had always assumed it to be solidified Aura, but could it actually be something more? Perhaps an unknown material transmuted from his Aura.

"That is...a question I would like to have answered myself..."

"So, do you always wear it? What does it do if anything?"

"I don't always wear it. Usually, I activate it through usage of my Aura and it forms over my entire body. Like an armored second skin of sorts. Only now, its activated on its own accord. Not only that, but the form it's assuming is vastly different in comparison to the standard form it takes."

"You said it activated on its own?"

"Indeed. It's this realm. My power is of Dark nature, but also of Light. In the case of Dark, there is only the tiniest traces of it that remain. Even so, those embers where fanned into a blazing inferno when I entered this realm. Such is the power of a Dark World."

"So what does the armor do?"

"It exponentially boosts all of my abilities and parameters than normal, pushing past any limit that entraps me. In addition, it alllows me much more access to my Aura as well as significantly increasing the supply I have."

"Woah~! That's so cool!"

"Yes… Cool..."

Dante sheathed his katana on the left side of his hip and walked forward towards his and Ruby's trial.

"Hey, wasn't your weapon a Longsword?"

"Normally it is. But I have six different weapon forms for this weapon."

"Six?! How is that possible?!"

"I'll explain along the way."

"So, intelligence, intuition, ingenuity, intellect, all the particularly apparent and incredibly specific perks of the two of us, I presume?" Weiss asked, heels clicking through the dark hallway before her as her white flames flickered with a pale light.

"More or less, but I'm half-suspecting this to be a trap." Destiny replied, walking with crossed arms as the two progressed.

"It would be easy to lead us astray by splitting us up, but it would also be equally as easy to counter us by taking advantage of what we lack in these pairs." Weiss responded.

"It wouldn't take much to overwhelm us, a summoner and a caster…" Destiny sighed.

"It really wouldn't, but despite my skepticism, we're following this through. From what I heard of Zeridûl, he's honorable, or he's at least led us to believe he is. All this? It may very well be exactly what it is. A set of specific set of challenges for targeted attributes of our group." Weiss said, turning her gaze up to Destiny's own.

"But that really isn't the smart play here." Destiny replied back, glancing to the heiress herself before looking away, "If he meant to kill us, it'd be almost certain that this is all a trap to manipulate us."

"But so far…" Weiss prodded, turning her own gaze ahead now too.

"He's only sent his power pieces to combat us… and now that we've shown our strength, he wants to test us further with these challenges." Destiny said, trying to find reason in what they've done to this point.

"In other words, he has expectations of us." Weiss elaborated, getting a nod from the girl beside her.

"Something like that."

"I guess that begs the question of why he seems to expect anything from us." the heiress breathed out, crossing her arms now as well.

Ulterior motives could've rested behind every twist and turn of this arduous path, yet not so much as a stray moment of malice slipped through at any part of it.

No tricks. No traps. Just challenges. What exactly was Zeridûl doing..?

"Wait, do you hear that?" Destiny suddenly asked, her eyes snapping to a faint glimmer of light ahead of them.

"Yeah," Weiss affirmed, "It's…"

"Rushing water."

Ruby and Dante stepped out from the small corridor and stepped onto a small stone bridge with no railings. Dante took a look down and saw a deep, black abyss below. Falling would not be preferable.

Connected to the bridge was a sort of square shaped arena that spanned one hundred yards on each side. Wisps of blackened mist swept through the arena, which was only lit by the blue flame torches on the walls. There were no railings on the edges of the arena either.

By now the duo had made their way to the center, each cautiously checking their surroundings for any sort of trap. Yet nothing came their way.

"Okay… This place is pretty creeepy. I mean, I know I said that before in other places, but here…"

"You'd be right to feel uneasy here. I do as well to a degree. Although, that's mainly due to my overly cautious nature."

"So if this is a trial, shouldn't things be coming after us or something?"

She's right. This is odd. I would've expected a trap mechanism, or something of the sort. But so far…

Dante's eyes lead him to examine the stone walls above, allowing him to finally see his means of pushing forward.

"I see…"

"Um, see what?"

"It's a rising arena platform. I'm assuming that switch is what will allow us to progress further up. But as to any extras that might entail it… Be on your guard."

"Roger!" replied the Reaper in red as she readied herself and her scythe.

Dante raised his right hand up to his chest, palm facing the air as an Aura sword of black and white Aura hovered over his right shoulder. When he thrusted his hand forward towards the switch above, the Aura sword traveled through the air with blinding speed and impacted the stone mechanism node, forcing it into the wall. The floor beneath them began to quake slightly before it slowly began rising up, the stone bridge below retracting into the wall.

"Who knows? Maybe it's just an elevator ride?"

"As much as I appreciate the optimism, I highly doubt that is the case."

"Darn…"

"Relax. Whatever may come our way won't stand a chance. I'll make sure to protect you."

"Wha-?! Oh, um, thank you?!"

He heard her murmuring to herself, but he didn't focus his hearing to hear what. Instead, he listened closely and waited. Then...he heard it. Footsteps.

A shrill shriek sounded throughout the enclosed tower as dozens of scurrying footsteps could be heard from numerous directions. They were being surrounded. But from where would they be coming from. Where they below? Inside the rising platform? Climbing up the sides?

No… They're coming from above…

Dante stepped back as a gangly skeletal creature, much like the ones from before, landed directly in front of him. Before even giving it the chance to attack, the young immortal delivered a swift stomp kick to the creatures head, sending it flying off the side of the platform.

How odd… My kick should have severed its upper body…

More of the creatures began landing on the platform, falling from the air above them in multitudes. They all landed one after another and immediately proceeded to attack duo, who had begun their retaliation. Dante was simply using his hands and feet to bash away any creature that came his way, Ruby striking at them as well, only, her scythe wasn't cutting them. It was simply batting them away in a similar fashion like with Dante's own strikes. Not even the claws his encroaching form had were slicing them apart like they should have.

"What's going on?! I can't cut them with my scythe at all!"

"I'm having some difficulty as well."

I don't understand… These creatures aren't the slightest bit different from before with the exception of color… Wait a moment… Their bodies are bulkier. Could this mean..?

Dante and Ruby had pushed back a large group, giving them space between them and their foes. The young immortal quickly raised up his hand as clear, black hexagonal shapes formed together rapidly in a dome like shape around the duo. As soon as the barrier was formed, the hexagons merged into one another to create an entirely smoothed out barrier.

"I don't get it! These are the same freaky creatures from before, right? So why are we barely doing a thing to them."

"I have a theory. But I'm not entirely sure. Structurally, they aren't so different. But if you'd compare these creatures to the ones from before, you would notice that they seem bulkier."

"Woah… You can spot those kinds of differences?"

"It's important to understand your enemy and how they function. Once you gain an understanding of their capabilities, the structure of their body, their toughness, it opens up a plethora of weaknesses to take advantage of. You must not only be a strong combatant, but also an intelligent one."

"So what's the theory you have?"

"If I had to say, their bodies have been reinforced."

"Reinforced?"

"Yes. Likely through means of magic, they have physical wardings surrounding their bodies in order to absorb more damage than usual. It's likely the reason why I haven't been able to destroy their bodies with single blows, the same in your case."

"If their bodies are surrounded by magic, shouldn't there be a caster or something around here?"

"Unlikely. There's no other current presence that isn't similar to these creatures. When I hit the switch, the arena activated and began raising itself up. Shortly after, the creatures began flooding in."

The creatures,outside the barrier continued their shrieking that was dulled by the enclosed barrier. Cracks began forming.

"Wait! The arena! Is it possible the arena itself is making them more powerful?"

Dante was almost surprised with her statement. It was reasonable.

He looked down and noticed a subtle blue glow in the cracked floor they stood on. It wasn't the mist like he had originally thought, but it was as Ruby said. The arena itself was responsible for the increase in power.

"Well done Ruby. You've brought to my attention the cause."

"Ehehehe… It was nothing… Still though...is there a way to cancel the spell? I mean, we can keeping trying to knock them off but…"

A means of deactivation. Where would I find one? A switch is what began this whole parade of shenanigans. Would it be safe to assume a switch is what will cease it?

Dante's eyes scanned the room once more, ignoring the masses of creatures battering and bashing the barrier as the cracks grew in large and in multitudes.

"Uh, they're almost through!"

He had found his target. Or rather, Ruby's target.

"Up above. Do you see the stone floating in the air?"

"Where is it where is it where is it… Yeah! I see it!"

"Aim for it as soon as the barrier falls."

"It'll be kinda hard to do that…"

"Calm down. I told you that I would protect you, yes?"

"R-Right…"

"I'll keep them at bay. Get ready."

Dante had brought up his arm once more, palm facing outwards towards the barrier as a blazing ring of black Aura surrounded himself and Ruby. This in turn calmed Ruby as her scythe folded up into is gun form, allowing her to raise it up and take aim at the constantly moving stone in the sky.

"Okay… Ready!"

Dante nodded and clenched his fist, the barrier shattering into pieces and allowing the multitudes of creatures make their advance towards them. Instead of ripping the two to shreds like they intended, the ring of black Aura surrounding the duo quickly expanded outwards into dozens of Aura sword, effectively pushing them all away to give Ruby room to take her shot.

With that single shot, she hit her mark, and the blackness covering the gangly creatures immediately vanished. And with that, Dante swung his arm outwards as his blackand white Aura swords spiraled outwards in a circular motion, acting as sawblades as they tore through the masses of creatures with ease now, their bodies turning to black ash seconds later.

"Awesome! We did it!"

"That we did. But it's not over yet. Another switch has appeared and we're still moving. We can only assume that there's more enemies bound for us. And after we defeat them, more switchs and the such. Are you prepared to keep moving?"

"Yep. Let's keep going!"

The arena had finally stopped moving, a stone bridge connecting to the platform shortly.

Ruby was hunched over, breathing heavily while Dante stood watch for anything. Three flocks of enemies, each with increasing difficulty came after them one after another. And in addition, more switch to hit in order to deactivate the physical wardening that allowed them to take more damage, each switch more faster moving and harder to hit with each wave. Needless to say, Ruby had a lot of running and leaping to do.

"Are you okay?" asked Dante.

"Yeah… Just...give me a minute… Man…that was...a lot of uglies…"

"Rest for now. You've earned it."

"But…"

"I would not recommend enabng these kinds of enemies when exhausted. It will do you no favors."

"I know... I'd just like to keep up...is all…"

"You're fine Ruby. No need to rush." said Dante sitting down next to Ruby, who plopped down next to him shortly after.

"Is it alright for us to be taking a break?"

"It's fine as long as it's a short one. I'm unsure whether or not there are more enemies ahead. Hence why I'm suggesting a few moments to pause and collect yourself."

"The way you say that… It's like you're saying I'm the only one who needs a break. Don't you ever get tired?"

"No."

"Hungry?"

"No."

"Thirsty?"

"No."

"Sleepy?"

…

"On ocasion."

"Aha!"

"I don't need to sleep if I don't wish to. I only do so out of want rather than necessity."

"Darn it…" said Ruby as she pouted.

She looked to Dante and saw he was sitting cross legged with his eyes closed, left ar, resting on his sheathed sword. The reaper in red couldn't help but wonder if this was his method of "taking a break".

"So… You're from another Reality, right?"

"That is indeed true, yes."

"Then...there's a me from that Reality too, right?"

"Correct."

"What's she like?"

"Very much the same I'll have you know. Not much difference really. Well, exception to age. She's likely sixteen by now."

"Likely? You say that as if you haven't seen her, well, me, in a long time."

"It has been a while in actuality. My partner, siblings and I were sent out on a mission that's lasted nearly six months now."

"Six months?! What kind of mission takes that long?"

"That kind that leads you to hunting down a perpetrator."

"You were chasing a criminal?"

"Something of the sort. They and their groupies were responsible for some terrible things. And so, we were tasked of hunting them down and bringing them back. Dead...or alive."

"D-Did you find them..?"

"No, not quite. Although, our leads were taking us towards Mistral."

"Woah… Mistral… I've never been there before…"

"I have a feeling that you'll be going there soon enough…"

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Are you ready to continue?"

"Uh, yeah! Upsy daisy!" said Ruby as she leaped back up, Dante simply standing back up from his position.

"I will go ahead of us. Make your approach behind me slowly."

"Okay!"

The young immortal gave her a simple nod and began walking forwards slowly towards the stone bridge, his eyes ever watchful of his surroundings. And he was right to do so. Shadows slowly crept from behind him, moving past his feet and amassing in front of him just a few feet away. They were slowly rising up and taking shape of a person. But once Dante recognized what the shadows were taking the shape of, he immediately drew his sword and looked around.

"What matter of foolishness is this Zeridûl? Did you perhaps think that using him would somehow impede my progress?"

"Uh… What are you talking about? W-Who's he?" asked Ruby as she nodded towards the fully formed shade.

"Someone I should have killed the moment I met him. And...the person responsible for making me what I was long ago."

A large ultra greatsword formed in the shades hand. Skeletal armor formed around its body and was tightly wrapped around it. It's face, while recognizable, was distorted and twisted into something like that of a demon, eyes hollowed out and glowing a bright purple glow, its mouth a maw of wretched teeth, the inside of its mouth glowing a bright purple, like its eyes.

"Ruby."

"Yes? Attack only when he stops his patterns of attack. Otherwise, dodge out of his way."

"Got it."

Dante swiped his katana to the side and dashed forward at great speed, bringing his sword across his body as he approached his intended target and swung. Their blades greeted one another with a stream of sparks, the distorted roars of the shade echoing throughout the room. The young immortal forced down the shades blade and sliced at its side, leaving only but a small slash as he swept through. The shade angrily roared and charged at him with the intent to annihilate the young warrior, but even with his great speed, he was outmatched by Dante's as he dodged every swing smoothly, leaving a slash mark somewhere else on its body as he danced around it with fluid ease.

When the shade slashed outwards across its body with its massive sword, Dante crouching beneath the the strike and stabbing the shade in the stomach, making it stagger backwards on its knees. Dante moved in for the kill, but was forced to move back and avoid a deadly swing to his head. Doing so allowed Ruby to dash in and swing her scythe from below upwards into the shade's chest, forcing a cry of pain from it. The reaper in red quickly pulled the trigger to tear her blade upwards and out before leaving another deathly slash across its body. She leapt over another swing of its massive sword, then ducked under another rotational swing before she leapt up and swung her weapon back down into the shades body.

It's hand moved to grab at her, but she immediately leapt up again, and used its arm to kick herself away, allowing Dante to move in and turn his blade downwards to stab the creature in Ruby's place. Dante moved back immediately afterwards and returned his katana to its normal position and waited while Ruby hung back. The shade let out another bellowing roar as shadows merged with its weapon. The young immortal immediately understood what this meant, but to confirm it, he raised up his sword and centered himself accordingly.

When the shade swung its sword, the shadows cloaking its weapon extended outwards, giving him more range to his strike as the shadows crashed against Dante's sword, dispersing shortly after contact. This meant nothing to Dante, for it was a simple increase to the creatures strength and range. But for Ruby, any strike would be devestating, hence why he told her to hang back and move in for strikes only when truly possible.

The shade suddenly twirled its sword around its fingers before leaping up into the air and plunging it into the earth, sending out three outward blasts of light purple Aura that tore through the earth like shark fins ripping through ocean waters. They were all aimed in Dante's general direction. A second before making contact, Dante leapt backwards and allowed the shockwaves of Aura to crash into one another. The young immortal leapt far enough back to make his feet to touch the stone wall, allowing him to kick off it and dahs forwards towards his enemy with great speed. The shade swung wildly in all directions, as if it were hoping the shadows cloaking its blade that gave him extra length would somehow hit the young immortal.

But it did naught for the shade.

Like a strong breeze, Dante swept past the shade, taking its free left arm with him as he dashed through. It tried its best to search for Dante, only finding a readied Ruby as she was crouched low. And so the shade made a mad dash for the young girl, sword raised and ready to destroy her. But then, she did something unexpected. Instead of dashing forwards, Ruby twirled her scythe around before moving it forwards and pulling the trigger, sending it spiraling straight into the shade's chest. Even so, it remained undeterred. It kept running at her, but she was not afraid. Instead of moving back, she used her Semblance to dash forwards quickly and leap up, grabbing hold of her scythe and pulling the trigger to tear her scythe from its body, passing directly behind it as black blood spurted in the air.

The shade staggered down to its knees, attempting to stand a few times but simply stumbled forwards. It managed to turn itself around and moving in the direction Ruby went. But as it stood up to try and make a move, the blade of a katana pierced through its throat, causing the creature to freeze in place. Dante stood in front of it now, watching as its body twitched and spasmed, its sword dropping to the ground shortly after. The young immortal let go of his sword and let the shade fall to the backwards towards the ground with a loud thud. Blackened blood continued to burst from its wounds, and more prominently from the sword that was speared in its throat. It could only watch as Dante approached, looking down upon the creature with his cold, hard gaze.

Then, it did the strangest thing. It reached out to Dante, as if it were silently asking him to take its hand. And Ruby watched the young immortal extend his hand, but not to reach for the shades own hand. Instead, Dante grabbed hold of his sword, pausing for a moment before he twisted the blade so that the sharp edge faced the shades chin, the tore his blade upwards and through its heading, making the young man spin around towards Ruby as his sword was now across his body. The young immoral then lashed his sword out to his side, cleaning it of all blood before he twirled it around a few times and sheathed it. The shade slowly dissolved into the stone until it became nothing more than shadow once more.

"That was...well...exciting I guess?" said Ruby in between breaths, "Who was he exactly?"

Dante stared at the ground a few moments before he answered.

"An evil man who reached far beyond what was possible for him. And in the end, not only did he become a terrible creature, but was cut down like one by my hand. Do not misunderstand. I do not kill simply because I desire it. I would only do so now out of dire circumstances to protect. But he was nothing more than a vile beast. A rabid animal in need of being put down."

"I get it. I mean...I kinda do, but… I guess I understand…"

"Never sully your hands like I have Ruby. Not unless it is absolutely necessary."

She only gave him a simple nod before following behind him, moving across the stone bridge inside a small room with some sort of glowing node. All Ruby saw was a blurred motion from Dante's hand, and the stone fell apart into pieces shortly after.

"With that, I believe we've completed our trial. Let us return to courtyard and see if the others have done the same as well."

Very sorry everyone, but no omake or Weapons Illustrated/ Semblance Encyclopedia this week. Things have been very stressful and very busy for me, so I really had only time to finish this up, hence why I wasn't able to post Sunday or Monday.

In addition, you know how my update schedule is every two weeks (Friday or Saturday for KoWaB, Saturday or Sunday for VotA)? Unfortunately I have finals exactly next week. Then...a long 19 hour drive back home. I need my car for the Summer...so... But yeah, no KoWaB or VotA two weeks from now on the weekend of May 12th-14th. Sorry, but I gotta study and take the longest freaking nap ever when I get home. I will promise you however a release for both stories on the weekend of the 19th-21st, so don't worry about that.

Right then. That's all I have to say. So with that...

I highly recommend you all go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created. Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying.

Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.

Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it. With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!

Bye-bye now!