Guess what everyone? I'm not dead! Yay~ I guess. Basically, intense sickness, which made me feel like I was dying, and getting some stuff sorted out as much as possible was why stuff took as long as it did. And no, Xera wasn't at fault, I kinda was since I messed up when he was actually getting back from vacation and such. When he did, we sat down for the day and worked our hearts out. So please, enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 21: The Fox Devil and The Phoenix

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Students lay on the ground of the icy island of, each in varying positions of either pain or reluctance to get back up as the new arrival stood his ground.

Pyrrha was the last of her own team to still be standing, but she wasn't standing on her own strength. A partially gloved hand lay wrapped around her throat, holding her up on her own two feet as he eyed her coldly.

"Are you done?" he asked calmly, holding Pyrrha in the air.

Everyone was already exhausted from holding off two Dremoha for so long, fighting both head-on as a group on top of that.

They didn't have the strength for this. Not now. Maybe if they were rested, they could've taken him… But there wasn't any beating him this time.

"No…? Good."

The redhead was cast aside, falling and skidding across the ice beside her blonde leader as she came to a limp halt.

"Alright asshat! Time's up!"

Ciel charged him for the fifth time, fed up with both him, his condescending attitude, and most importantly, his extremely poor sense of fashion sense. Erasure was imminent.

Thus, she activating her Semblance to end things now.

Spacial Manipulation was only a part of her Semblance, one she abused greatly when darting around the powerful Niro Ezdeil she previously fought, phasing in and out around different locations around him until finally she darted forward from behind him and slashed.

When he reached out to grab her, Ciel had vanished, and silently spoke, "Time be still!"

And with a snap of her fingers, everything had ceased movement. The world around the young girl lost color and remained grayscale as she landed on her feet, brought her scythe to her side, and dashed forward to end the menace before her.

She only had ten seconds before time resumed flow. But all she needed was three.

Anything past ten seconds would heavily eat into her Aura, and she'd have to relinquish her grip on time itself.

When close enough to the black-clad cowboy, she whipped her skeletal scythe around her body and swung to tear the man in two.

Only, before she could, she saw his hat suddenly tilt up and the gloved palm of his hand to catch the weapon by the blade's edge.

Blood and Aura crashed together as the shock in Niro's sudden movement broke Ciel's concentration, dropping her halted field immediately as Niro grabbed the girl's weapon by the staff and threw her aside, straight-tossing her into Leo.

The twin dropped his aim for that moment and stood to stop Ciel's momentum, the both of them skidding back, but the brother keeping his sister in the fight as she landed back on her feet, a startled breath leaving her lips.

"Why didn't what work…?" Leo asked, before his eyes suddenly widened just as he was taking aim, "Wait, did he-?!"

"He freaking moved!" the girl yelled, slamming her scythe into the ground, "That wasn't supposed to happen..! That guy..! He must have done something before I used Chrono Reaper..."

"Or maybe you're just not strong enough to stop someone like me from moving entirely." Niro replied lowly, lowering the lip of his hat to overshadow his eyes.

"Bite me, douchebag!" replied Ciel.

The simple words he uttered silenced and froze the teens around him, stopping all signs of movement entirely. Not by time, but by tense apprehension to engage him anymore.

He wasn't weakened, not even by a small margin. Were they really that worn in by the fight? Or was it something about him?

"Anyone else?" he asked, looking around him, "Or can I finally speak now that you're all not attacking me?"

Silence and glares met him in return, continuing for a few short moments before the crunch of someone else's footsteps echoed out over the desolate island.

"And what does a man like you wish to say to us?" Ozpin asked calmly, but the grip on his cane was unnoticeably tight, "You are here for your target, are you not?"

"For the most part." Niro replied, tipping his hat up to the approaching headmaster as he eyed the silvered man with a casual ease, "But that's not my only motive for coming here."

"Then, if you fancy not hurting my students more than you already have, I'd appreciate you reveal what it is you're here for. Officially." Ozpin reasoned, his words spoken but no action was taken by Niro for several long moments of silence.

And then he moved.

The dark cowboy made his way over to his armored bullhead and hit its hull with the side of his fist, "Kyzal, open her up."

"Sure thing. The chick in the back finally calmed down. Thankfully..." the falcon faunus replied from the SS-17's cockpit.

Soon after, the bay door at the back of the vessel unsealed with a loud pop of pressurized air, the heavy barrier dropping down and opening fully as Niro made his way around to the back.

Black boots stood casually on the ice before the door's edge as it came to a soft standstill, Niro looking inside and beyond Nora Valkyrie, glancing to the back of the ship.

The same place the girl was staring. Only, Nora quietly stood up and made her way down the ramp, eyes low to the ground as she stopped at Niro's side.

Lime green eyes regarded her for merely a moment, before she stepped out onto the island and ran to Ren's side, where the rest of her team lay.

She was completely unhurt.

"Suit up, we're here." Niro said, his voice drawing everyone's attention away from Nora and to the bullhead again.

Dull footsteps tapped out into the atmosphere's cold air as someone unaccounted for made their way forward, a pale hand reaching out to grab hold of the extended piston that held the bay door open before a new figure stepped out onto the ramp and stopped.

Cerulean eyes looked around calmly, taking in all the faces that stared at him and breathing out softly at their confusion.

Shoulder-length black hair drifted in the wind as he made his way down to the ice, the only sound on the island now just the harsh thud of his boots on the metal of the bullhead's exit.

Those eyes looked around again as he moved past Niro, the cowboy turning to follow the teen as everything on the island stilled.

"I…wish this were possible..." Ozpin slowly said, eyes meeting the blue irises of the one who stood before him as the headmaster himself loosened the grip on his weapon, "But how are you here? Conscious and moving?"

Cerulean eyes turned to Niro as the cowboy continued forward, silently approaching Dante's siblings before moving past them as well.

"I can't explain everything right now," the young man replied, bringing his eyes back away from Niro and to the headmaster again, "but you'll all just have to trust me. Everything will make sense once this is all over."

Ozpin could only nod silently, dully almost, before a flash of intrigue returned to his experienced gaze to ask one more question before he let the young man go.

"And how is that man involved with all of this?"

Those blue eyes turned to Niro again before the pale fingers held loosely at his side clenched together, tightening into fists as he brought his gaze to the rift above.

"He's taking me to see my brother."

"Not just you." Niro interrupted, stopping just before Inuba, who stood protectively in front of a silently staring kitsune sitting on the ground behind her.

Niro was surprised to see no fear in the smaller one's golden-orange eyes, something he would've thought to be present in a frail creature like herself.

But part of him wasn't surprised.

"Storm's over." Niro whispered with a nod to the sky, "No lightning. She'll be fine."

"I don't understand." Inuba returned quietly, eyeing the cowboy with heightened suspicion, but nothing could refute the raw proof of just who exactly stood behind him just a few feet away, "What exactly do you two have planned?"

"Stop idling and find out." Niro returned evenly, eyes easily causing conflicting emotions to flood through Inuba's own irises before she glanced up to the rift above.

He was their enemy. To trust him now after he attacked them…

"You can trust him." the young man assured from behind Niro, the girl's crimson eyes meeting cerulean for the first time, "For now, anyway."

"Great. Now that we have that sorted out, buckle up you two." Niro finished casually, walking back to the headmaster and to the unexpected arrival's side, "We don't have a lot of time."

"You know Xera..." Zeridûl's voice filtered in, "I am beginning to think you should have added the immortal's fox to your ranks when entering. Perhaps if she were here, she very likely would have persuaded him before all of this would have happened."

"Maybe." the phoenix replied, but his eyes never left Dante before him, "But there isn't anything we can do right now to change that."

Minutes had gone by. And yet he was still standing. He was immortal afterall and regenerated faster than they could land hits. Even if that were the case, he could still be worn out. Skyla and Xera were still wearing him out to varying degrees.

"He doesn't even look all that tired… It's like we're only encouraging him to keep going…" Skyla said, wiping some sweat from her brow.

"He's stubborn that way…unfortunately…" Xera returned as he took a few breaths.

Dante simply remained where he was trying to figure out what to do next. He knew their way of thinking, they weren't the first to try it. He figured that their thought process led them to believe that since they were two and he was one, they could crush him now that the essence he absorbed had vanished. Despite this, he still didn't make it easy for them to approach. Not in the slightest.

But even that was proving to be problematic.

Dante didn't want to be here any longer. But he wouldn't let that deter him from his task. He could definitely outlast them, no question about it. The issue was, however, it would take too long.

But what else could he do really? Take their hits and hope they don't block his attacks? Still would take too long. Even dodging would prove too much. Especially with his right arm aching horribly as it did.

Inuba's healing was wearing off. And he knew full well if that happened, he'd be at an even more disadvantage.

What do I do? Do I fight harder? Or do I trick them into thinking I've given up? I just… I just can't let these fools take a huge risk like this. Not with this...smug miscreant who claims to bring no more harm upon them… They don't know what they're doing, it's why I'm here. And if I have to save them from themselves...then I will. I'm not wrong. I am NOT giving up.

"Just end this already! Enough is enough!" shouted Xera.

It wasn't enough. It was nowhere near enough. He would make them see. He would.

It's not enough… Not enough… I… I need…

"Power, yes?"

A woman's voice echoed through his head

That voice… No… It can't be…

"But it is. My Sweet Champion… How long has it been since we last saw one another?"

It was her. That sweet and endearing voice… It could be none other than her...

Too long I'm afraid…

"Yet again you sacrificed much…"

Indeed I did…

"And yet again it did little to ease your pain and frustration."

You're absolutely right… But still, how are you here? I thought you were gone.

"My Dearest Champion… I never left you. And I will never leave you. I always and forever will remain bound with you, no matter what may come our way or separate us for a period of time. That is the strength of our bond."

Goddess… My silence has left me undeserving...but yet... I humbly ask that-

He felt arms wrap around him from behind, softly embracing him like she always did.

"Hush now Sweet Champion, speak not of this nonsense of being undeserving. You are, and will always be, deserving of my power. All you must do…is ask for it."

Then… Please… Give me strength…

Xera and Skyla watched as Dante's katana, along with its sheath, disappeared in a sudden burst of what appeared to be white Aura, almost flame-like.

"Hey… Is he giving up?" asked Skyla.

"I… I don't know…"

Xera remained ever so cautious, even if nothing was happening around Dante.

For the moment.

Why do I get the feeling like I've seen this somewhere before...?

The phoenix couldn't help but feel an eerie presence coming from Dante, more eerie and ominous than the young immortal had been throughout the entire venture. This wasn't something Dark… This felt more wrathful than Dark.

When Xera finally locked eyes with Dante, his heart felt like it sank into the endless abyss below.

A demonic, piercing gaze of a menacing fox stared straight back at him

Shining, crimson red sclera glowed brightly like an angry crimson blaze. Black irises were encompassed by that plane of red, and within those reaches of darkness glowed a pure set of vertically oriented, white, oval-shaped pupils that nearly resembled slits.

He knew what it was that he was about to see. But like Dante's Shadow Skin, the phoenix had ever only "seen" it, never being unfortunate enough to be facing off against it.

And then, just like before, the air quaked once more from the massive pressure of Dante's now rising aura, flame-like white aura bursting forth from him and forming nine long white ethereal fox tails just above his tailbone, each spanning nearly seven feet long and glowing a brilliant pale white.

Then two prominently ethereal white fox ears appeared on his head as quickly as the tails formed.

The long fox tails fluidly whipped about in the air like elegantly raging fires in the wind, Xera now being able to see what lay hidden in the fur of each burning tail. Within the tips of each of the nine appendages remained nine katanas, sheathed and protected, each having white handles and white oval guards.

As the nine long tails behind him whipped around wildly, one of them moved upwards and branched down over his right shoulder.

"I was wrong earlier in saying that favor is frivolous and worthless..." Dante slowly stated, "Truthfully, favor from anything and anyone else I don't trust is more or less like that to me."

In a quick and fluid motion, Dante grabbed hold of the handle with his hand, resting it there as he continued.

"Are you ready, Xera Stark?" the burning immortal asked, piercing red gaze narrowing as he tightened his hold, "This is our power… Our wrath…"

Skyla leaned quietly over to Xera as she blinked for a moment, "See, now he's just straight up cheating. Please tell me you have a super phoenix form of some kind?"

Xera gulped, "None that I know of..."

The two watched as Dante breathed in, then with a loud voice that powerfully resonated off the rocks spanning the reaches of the darkened realm, he screamed "Dakini no Ikari (Wrath of Great Goddess Dakini)!" whilst drawing the katana from the tip of the tail, rapidly twirling the blade around twice until he leaned forwards into a pose, wielding the katana with both hands, sharp edge facing the sky.

Crackles of white flame sparked and lurched from the jet black blade, reflecting the rage he and his Goddess Dakini now shared at the enemy before him. The white flames grew into a miniature inferno around the immortal, completely consuming him and obscuring him from the sight of the duo that opposed him.

Skyla leaned back to Xera a second time, blinking again, "Am I allowed to say it?"

"Yep..." Xera squeaked.

"Well… Shit."

The bright blaze of white flame settled and faded slowly into the earth, forming a small ring of fire around the new unveiled form that hazily filtered into view.

From their short distance, it only looked like Dante assumed his Shadow Skin, but modified. His entire second skin-like form was bathed in a vibrant white, replacing the previous armored pitch black hide of his other.

Instead of normally having perfectly circular, glowing eyes, he retained his Fox Eyes. His maw of numerous sharp teeth, that were a part of the secondary skin encompassing his form, was all that remained similar to his Shadow Skin.

The rest seemed to be different.

The immortals hair remained white, only now with traces of black and white flame flickering off of his shining strands, drifting in absent motions on their own accord. Nine long, black-tipped white tails flowed wildly from just above his tailbone, each spanning nearly seven feet long, and two prominently black tipped white fox ears appeared on his head.

Dante's tails soon slowed, falling into swiftly brushing fluid motions, like that of elegantly raging fires in the wind. It was then Xera, Skyla, and all those who watched saw that in Dante's hands, the sword finally manifested as he kept his stance, the jet black blade brimming with pure white aura that also seemed to dance like fire.

"H-Ha! Is that it?!" Skyla taunted lightly, trying to shake the tension on the field as she raised her arms up momentarily.

Without warning, another one of Dante's tails leaned down towards his left, allowing him to draw another katana from the tip of the tail, which he twirled thrice into backhand style as he crouched back into his stance.

"Erm… Do you think he was already going to do that?" Skyla asked slowly, tilting her head from side to side as she reached the end of her comment, "Or only after I asked..?"

"This form is one granted to me by the Demon Fox Goddess Dakini…" Dante said, drawing their attention back to him, "A form bestowed only to those worthy of being a Champion. Xera, you already know part of what she is capable of. But tell me…do you know why she is also called the Demon Fox Goddess?"

The phoenix gripped the handle of his blade tightly as he lifted its edge defensively, "Because of her ruthless wrath on the battlefield."

"Correct. A being so powerful that not even the great Izanagi no Okami would dare cross her. You've seen and heard so much, and still stand at the ready to continue?"

"Strength comes in the form of physical power, yes..." Xera replied, Skyla entered a defensive stance at his side as she brought up her own blades, "But it empowers a belief just as much as it does your body. Your drive is what allows you to try so hard. We're not backing down, not even now."

"Very well then. I will make you understand the error of your flawed thinking, even if I must cripple you." The immortal took a step forward, forcing the two before him to tense their bodies and ready themselves, "You will regret this."

"We won't." Sky replied evenly, smirking.

Without another word, Dante lunged forward into a rapid glide, quickly closing the gap between the duo and moving towards Xera first. The phoenix tilted his sword defensively to block, but just as quickly found no one in sight, only feeling something crash into his back with great force.

Skyla only turned her head and watched as Dante passed her by with his foot planted into Xera's back, moving the two forward a considerable distance while the phoenix was sent flying. He quickly made contact with the ground, only to bounce off it and crash into a nearby pillar, cracking it completely and shattering its base from his light frame.

Skyla rapidly approached from behind, quickly forcing Dante to turn and face her while he leapt backwards a bit and clashed with her, keeping the both of them firmly placed. She saw Dante move back the left hand that held his katana backhand style, soon feeling the butt of the handle strike her stomach and sending her skidding on her heels.

Dante's head moved slightly to the right as an arcing wave of flame grazed his human ear, turning his focus to the phoenix quickly approaching him, his flight low enough to floor as he raised up his empty left hand and shot out shining, speartip-like shots of flame in multitudes. Dante stood his ground and quickly struck at the incoming projectiles one by one, his gaze ever so intensely focused on what came his way as he cut each explosive shot apart, causing them all to explode.

The fiery haze that erupted soon whipped away as the two clashed, one which Xera broke through the backing of Skyla's semblance to amplify his swing. Taking an opening, the phoenix made for a slash, only to find Dante duck under his strike, spin around, and forcefully whip his nine fox tails into Xera's body, launching him high up into the sky.

"You're a fool Xera Stark." said Dante with his hollow, echoing voice as he dashed after Xera, "You challenge a being you cannot even possibly hope to kill."

"That may be so..!" Xera grit his teeth and turned in the air, yelling back down at Dante as his wings burst with speed and sent him back down, "But we have to try! Even if it's impossible!"

Try was all they could do. Succeeding though...

Xera watched as Dante made a stab with his normally held weapon in his right hand, the blade just mere inches away from his face. But this was a feint. One that was too late to be realized as Dante quickly moved his left hand and planted the fist that held his other weapon directly into his face, sending higher into the sky.

Before Dante made another move, he found ribbons wrapped around his left leg that pulled him towards the dual wielder on the ground, ready to welcome her. But as he flew back down towards Skyla, Dante reared back his nine tails, and one after the other extended themselves and shot out like spears towards the young girl, who darted in between each tail that plunged into the ground.

As soon as the immortal landed, his tails returned to their normal length, allowing him to re-engage Skyla, their blades furiously striking at one another in rapid, blindings motions.

"I'm almost impressed with your ability to keep up." the immortal said, continuing to strike at her.

"Maybe you're just slow!" she replied with a retaliation, trying to catch him in his own words.

"Slow you say? Hmph."

Dante backed away from a swing at his head, and dashed forwards at Skyla, only to quickly blur out of sight when she struck at him. He then appeared off to her side and then moved in a blur, appearing opposite of her before blurring out of sight and reappearing rapidly around her. The speed at which he did so made it seem as though nine of him now encircled Skyla, all of them dashing around her in opposite circular motions of one another in blurs, making it very difficult to determine which was actually Dante.

"What's wrong? Am I moving too slow for you? I could always move faster for you if you'd like." he asked her tauntingly as he continued his tactic.

Skyla smirked and let him talk, the silver reaches of her blades suddenly brimming with bright purple, rupturing aura as she ground one quickly down the length of the other, a vibrating screech tearing out from her central position.

The ground around her melted away under an expanding, crumbling burst of invisible force, tearing into both matter and air as the girl kicked forward and slammed her blades into a harsh clash with the only real Dante around her.

"Neat little trick. Teach that one to your dogs or something?!" She asked coyly, more energy rippling down her swords as the air around her pulsated unnaturally.

"And yet again I've underestimated you. I've seemingly made a bad habit of doing so."

Dante blurred out of sight once more, moving behind her to strike. She managed to turn around just in time, moving her head back slightly to watch Dante's sword barely miss the bridge of her nose. Just as she skidded backwards to a halt, Dante was upon her already and struck down on her, forcing her into an overhead block.

The immortal heard wind rushing behind him and broke his clash with Skyla to turn and block Xera momentarily, jumping backwards and delivering a back kick to Skyla to send her further from him and the phoenix, both he and Xera soon striking at each other rapidly with the same intensity between himself and Skyla from before.

Xera was the first to land a powerful slash across Dante's body, making him spin around with the force of the strike. But the spin was not so simple. As soon as the immortal was made to spin from the strike, he used the momentum of his spin to strike outwards at Xera, leaving a lesser, comparable cut on his chest, leaving him open to attack.

Dante immediately moved in to take advantage of his newly made opening, missing his target when Skyla shoulder bashed into him with explosive force, sending the immortal overhead of Xera. The immortal tucked and rolled back into a stance when he hit the ground.

They're not giving much ground... I'll have to soften them up further. Break their morale. I've been gathering energy the entire time. Xera's fire especially helped in that matter. I should be able to use it now.

Dante plunged his left sword into the ground and grasped his other with both hands, leaning back momentarily before standing back up straight and threw his arms outwards, releasing his now spinning sword in the direction of the duo.

Xera stepped up and swung his sword at the one coming to take their heads, his own blackened blade crashing into Dante's and sending it soaring above and behind them, plunging into the ground once it made contact with the floor.

Oddly enough, instead of taking the sword next to him that he plunged into the ground, Dante charged forwards towards the duo, drawing his next two swords from two of his other fox tails, now holding both normally. When he got close enough, he brought his arms up and slashed both sword in an X formation that sent the duo back slightly, but this was only the beginning.

Instead of giving pause, a second after the immortal's initial strike, he continued by running at them and slashing at them rapidly with near-invisible speed, forcing them into pure defense as they continued to block his onslaught of slashes that came from numerous angles in front of them. To finish, Dante leapt up slightly and spun around rapidly, his sword striking against theirs numerous times.

Before touching the ground, he discarded one sword by tossing it and having it forced up by Skyla, Xera managing to discard the other with a powerful upwards swing. The phoenix moved in and stabbed Dante in the shoulder with his flaming sword. Dante's hand wrapped around the burning weapon, prompting Xera to take a quick glance to see the flames slowly being sucked into Dante's hand.

The immortal moved backward and to the side, sword still in shoulder and firmly grasped, to avoid a double stab from Skyla, allowing him to grab hold of her sword. With that, Dante quickly spun around twice and tossed them away from him in separate directions, but not far away as to completely put distance between them.

He then grabbed hold of two more swords, spun around, and sent them spinning in different directions, one for Skyla and one for Xera. Xera was the only one to dodge out of the way from the sword that planted itself in the ground, whilst Skyla spun around and struck the blade into the ground next to her.

Three swords left…

Dante took a quick glance to Skyla before making a dash for Xera and drawing his next two swords. He knew the phoenix was faster than his partner, which is why he moved for him first. If he had moved for Skyla first instead, Xera would have easily been able to catch up and cutoff his attempt. And so, Dante swung his next two swords upward twice in an X formation before vertically slamming both of them down.

He thought he stuck Xera down, but his body vanished soon after. He had used Blake's Semblance.

Clever.

As the fake "Xera" began to dissipate, the real one came from behind his clone with a powerful stab at Dante. Almost too late to entirely react, Dante put enough force into his counter swing to block Xera's attack, but it resulted in him being disarmed of the sword as it plunged into the ground. Xera wasn't finished, swinging upward and outward, leaving a large slash across Dante's chest yet again for the duration of their fight.

Dante drew his last drawable sword and blocked another flaming strike from Xera, but soon found himself under attack from Skyla as she cut in from his left. Each of Dante's swords now held back an attacker, who were slowly overpowering him by the second. Not long after, it came to be that Skyla and Xera managed to put enough force behind their attacks to send Dante back and disarm him of his final katanas.

Dante skidded on his heels to a halt, kneeling down as his katanas flew past him and plunged themselves into the ground.

He was now completely disarmed.

"Got a magnet in those sleeves of yours? Or just planning something dangerous?" Xera asked, having been cautiously taking into account each of the fallen blades' positions.

His plan wasn't to recall them, it wasn't anything so simplistic.

"Whatever it is, we can beat it!" Skyla stated, keeping Xera's caution at the front of her mind as she swiped up and forward from the ground to send a concussive burst of focused, piercing air into Dante's chest, dry air pulsating again behind her swing as she tracked their opponent's eye movements.

Dante was sent flying, his back hitting the floor and bouncing once before harshly skidding across the floor. He stayed still for but a moment before swinging his legs backwards and flipping himself up so he could stand.

"Any other opponent would likely be dead if they faced you both like you do with me now. You truly are fearsome opponents."

"Not really…" Xera replied.

"We just have a good reason to not be holding anything back right now." Sky finished, sending two more mirrored air bursts his way in an attempt to push him further toward the edge of the wall-less throne room.

But he knew what this technique was now. Taking the hit was usually the best way to find out how it worked and what exactly was behind the attack. Unfortunately, this means of understanding could not be used by the majority, for they would end up injured or deceased.

The immediate second Skyla moved her arms, Dante raised up his arms defensively and blocked the two bursts, two large circles appearing on his forearms, the inner parts of the circles now cracked like glass.

"Dangerous individuals call for dangerous tactics..." said the immortal as he lowered his hands, "I warned the both of you before. But you didn't listen and arrogantly brushed it away."

Dante blurred out of their sight, reappearing a second later at one of his nine swords implanted in a circular formation around the duo, grasping the white handle of the jet black blade firmly as it flowed with white Aura once more.

"This time…will truly be the end."

When he spoke those words, the other eight katanas planted into the ground burst to life with white Aura, brilliantly crackling like fire. Then, something odd happened.

The Aura from the swords, save the one Dante had, began to extend outward and take shape. Shortly after, the Aura formed into flame-like clones of the current form of Dante, each clone grasping the swords tightly with their hands before moving in sync with Dante, standing up and placing the top of their free hands on the butt of the katanas, as if standing watch over the duo in the center, ready to pass judgement.

They were completely surrounded.

Dante, and the clones that simultaneously followed his movements, removed their swords from the ground and pointed them at Xera and Skyla in the center, who stood defensively, constantly watching each direction around them.

Then…with a chilling voice, Dante spoke.

"Burn this into your memory… Dakini no Handan (Dakini's Judgement)..."

Within the second he spoke those words, both he and his clones vanished in blurs, thousands of glowing white slash marks filling the space of their formation within a matter of three or so seconds. After the seemingly final slash, Dante appeared a good distance away behind Xera and Skyla in a kneeling stance, sword brought outwards while his eight other sword were now planted next to him in a horizontal formation, four swords on each side of his body.

Dante let out a quick exhale of breath as he twirled the sword he held twice before sheathing it back into a tail, his eight other tails grabbing hold of the handles of the katanas, tossing them up into the air, and letting them fall back into the tips of the tails, sheathing all of the weapons he had. When finished, Dante had turned around to glance at his work as he spoke once more.

"Do you see now Xera Stark? The difference between our power is like that of heaven and earth. Almost literally if you think about it carefully enough..." he began as he walked towards the phoenix.

Xera could barely stand from the numerous cuts covering his body, breathing heavily as he planted his sword into the ground and leaned into it to support him and keep him standing.

"Imitating others' techniques and abilities does seem like a perfectly logical idea in order to become stronger, beingable to pick and choose different abilities... But I'm afraid the great difference in power will always remain."

Before he knew it, Dante now stood before Xera only about a meter away, towering over him with his imposing form.

"You are now truly on your own."

"Y-Yeah…" Xera breathed out, warm blood seeping over his knuckles he gripped his sword held embedded in the ground, supporting himself as he protected Skyla's downed form behind him, "you're not the only one who's said that to me..."

The phoenix was able to hear Skyla's light breathing, still fully conscious, but the two of them took that attack almost in full. Only difference was that she wasn't able to move at all.

The damage was already done. But even so, Xera was still kneeling in front of his partner, ready to take any extra hits for her.

"Don't worry. I have no intention of fighting her now that she cannot move anymore. When performing my technique just moments ago, I made especially sure to focus on her. Unfortunately for Skyla, maximum threat level shifted to her when performing her 'air-burst' shots, considering you were my original target."

"A-And-" Xera coughed out a splatter of blood, the air and pain seizing in his breath for a moment before he continued, "w-what exactly did your technique do to her…seeing as we're not dead…"

"Two things really. In your case, the technique wasn't as effective given the protection your wings offered against my "vortex of slashes", however much they could. But specifically concerning her…" he said looking down at Skyla, receiving a glare from the girl before turning his head back to Xera, "When I focused on Sklya, I made sure to incorporate stabs in different sections of her arms and legs in order to prevent her from moving either of them for the remaining duration. See?" he said pointing towards her.

Xera didn't need to see to know the extent of her injuries. He already knew… And he knew fully that he wasn't fast enough to protect her with his wings in all that.

"As for the second… I may or may not have mentioned this before, but I will repeat just in case. My Aura works in a special way. Special in the case it is built almost entirely for offense. Usually, with injuries like that, given about three minute or so, Skyla would be able to have her Aura heal those wounds to the extent where she could fight again. However, infusing some Aura into my stabs allowed it to linger in her wounds, linger being the keyword. My Aura works mostly in the case to destroy or incapacitate my enemies. As such, any Aura infused attack of mine that leaves a direct injury on the body will remain unless treated by someone else."

Xera grimaced slightly at the words, burning that little note about Dante's Aura into his memory as soft flickering flames began to seep out of him and wrap around Skyla's wounds. His fire had healing properties. If they were there, he was going to figure out how to force them out, even if it took the rest of the fight and his energy to do so.

He couldn't have those injuries staying.

"You're just one efficient killing machine then…" Xera replied, his already low Aura getting lower as he expended it.

"Yes…" he replied rather dejectedly as he looked away momentarily, "I suppose you're right…"

He then focused his attention on the crackling flames trying to heal Skyla, but that's all they did. Crackle.

"It won't work. Not while my Aura is working against yours. But have no fears, she's not in any danger from bleeding out. As I stabbed in different locations, each stab injected part of my Aura into the wounds. Mainly, like I said, for the purpose of disabling the self-healing mechanic Aura offers for minor injuries. But…it had another purpose. I manipulated each injection of Aura to 'plug up' her wounds so to speak, and even went further as to prevent potential harmful blood clots and internal bleeding. However so, the injuries to her muscles remains. And as such, she won't be able to move at all."

Dante finally returned his cold, fox-like gaze back to Xera as he continued to speak.

"It's as I told you before… You are on your own now."

"Thank you…for at least doing that much," Xera returned, but that didn't stop him from feeling anger begin to rise at how he treated his partner and 'disabled' her, or so he said.

"Don't be so upset, Stark. Be grateful all I ever had in mind was to prevent both her ability to move and yours. Had I any true intention to kill either of you…this would have gone very differently and would have ended far sooner."

Xera didn't know how many of those words he could believe, especially after the killing blows Dante attempted throughout the fight prior.

Responding wasn't worth the breath either for the phoenix.

"You don't believe me then? Well…that's fine then… Like I said before, it…matters not to me how you view me or my actions. I do what I must and what is required…"

"Not that I don't believe you..." Xera replied, deciding this to be worth the breath at least, "but your actions speak louder than words. You've still made mistakes so far, and you're still human, despite not biologically being so. You should learn to start caring about yourself more and how others see you. It's better that way, trust me, I know."

"If only you truly knew…"

"It doesn't take a Seer to know what you seek. This is only getting more in the way of that." Xera continued to try to heal Skyla, despite what Dante said about his Aura.

There had to be a way to speed up the process...

"Hmph… Now that I think about it… Kitsuki might be the only one to know then…"

"She's perceptive like that." Xera replied.

If there was anyone amongst them now to potentially see through another's actions, it was her.

"I still don't think you understand what I mean… But that's unimportant now… Stand up if you wish to Xera Stark, but I will only put you back down to the ground. You will cease this. One way or another."

"You should know by now…" Xera pushed himself onto his feet, standing in an almost exhausted, heavy stance as he eyed Dante with a smirk, "it almost impossible to truly ground a phoenix."

He wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand as he took up his sword, wings keeping himself steady as he stayed in front of Skyla's downed form.

Dante knew that simply because he was injured to the extent he was didn't mean he was going to give up, unfortunately. But he had to do his best to disable him too, prevent him from moving at all. He only ever came at them with the intent to kill, but never planned on doing so.

"You're wrong about him, Dante..." Xera tried to reason again.

If he was going this far to get that one point across, maybe he would at least give it a moment of thought to consider it actually being the truth.

"You're so naive… Just like-"

He stopped himself mid sentence and clenched his fist for a few moments before loosening his grip.

"No, nevermind. Come at me with what little you have left Stark. Even if it is meaningless."

Xera moved as quickly as he could towards Dante and swung down on him, hoping his attack would do something. But instead, it was only caught by Dante's bare hand.

The phoenix soon found the immortals foot firmly planted in his stomach, sending him back as he released his sword. He was dizzy and disoriented, and wouldn't be able to hang on much longer.

"Such a shame…"

Xera watched as Dante raised up Annivia's Talons, giving it a few quick taps of his fingers before raising up his right hand and chopping down on the base of the blade, completely shattering the weapon until all that remained was the hilt and handle.

"This is where foolishness lands you. Weak and defenseless." said the immortal as he tossed away the broken weapon, "You persist too long after your own defeat."

The phoenix weakly watched the handle of his only weapon clatter away, feeling a piece of himself suddenly disconnect from his soul as he glanced back to his partner behind him.

Her eyes were wide as she stared in the same direction he did, watching the handle bounce and slide over to the edge, nearly falling into the void. Then a soft gaze finally turned back up to Xera's own.

It was unfortunate, but necessary in order to make the phoenix stop persisting so strongly.

But even defenseless, he still pushed his wings into moving and gently picked himself up from the ground, hovering only just a few inches over the platform as he landed softly back on the ground a few feet away, repositioning himself again, directly between Dante and the throne.

"You can't be serious... You've just lost your weapon. And you still intend to keep at it?"

"I've already told you, this isn't some kind of trick or mind game… This is what I firmly believe to be real… And I'm going to stand here until you strike me with that sword again or actually find a way to believe me..." Xera replied quietly, letting his wings droop back down to the ground as it took all he had left just to stand there.

All Dante did next was stand in place and raise up his arms, as if he were freely inviting Xera to make his next move. Even if it would do nothing.

He would let Xera see that it was ultimately useless in trying to stop him from doing his duty.

But he did not move.

Why? Why was he just standing there?

If he wasn't going to move now, then there was only one way to get him moving. And Dante knew this would work guaranteed, especially since it was used on him many a time before.

He hated the idea, but there was simply no other way at the moment.

"You refuse to move? Very well then…" he said turning his head back to Skyla, "Perhaps I'll give you some motivation to attack me…"

Xera didn't even need a second to understand what the immortal intended to do. But he wouldn't allow it.

The phoenix found his legs quickly carrying him over towards Dante, even with the pain ripping through their muscles, fist emblazoned with glowing orange fire as Dante turned to meet him head on. And that was all he did. He stood still and took the punch to his chest, not being moved a single inch as Xera strained every muscle in his body to make the immortal move.

Then, the flames grew larger. It was then Dante's fox-like eyes widened momentarily, as if he just realized what he did was a mistake in allowing Xera to land a hit on him. And so he grabbed hold of Xera's arm and placed his other free hand on the side of the phoenix's face to push him away. But Xera remained unmoving despite Dante's efforts to push him away.

Xera slowly took another step forward to give him more leverage, the flames growing even larger until finally, he managed to extend his arm entirely, punching away Dante a small distance as he soon became consumed by the brilliant orange blaze of the phoenix's flames. The aura layering his skin cracked until his entire body soon became covered in cracks. And before he knew it, the form Dante had assumed shattered to pieces, reverting him to his original state while the flames continued rushing past him.

The flames died down shortly after, allowing Dante to stagger backwards as he took a few ragged breaths until final being able to lower his head back down to Xera.

"You...!" he said as he coughed up blood.

It was unbelievable... Inconceivable... What just happened..?

"What the hell did you do?!"

Xera gave no response, only standing his ground and readying himself.

"Answer me!" shouted the immortal as he dashed at Xera, fist ready to strike him.

But before his punch could even connect, Xera's hit first by planting itself in the side of Dante's jaw, making him reel backwards. But it was nothing for the immortal. It didn't hurt in the slightest. And because of that, he was able to immediately retaliate and land a punch directly in the center of Xera's face, making him reel back in a similar manner.

He did not give in.

Instead of falling to the ground, Xera retaliated by delivering a decently powerful round kick to Dante's side, but he only shook it off and delivered a jab to Xera's gut before delivering a round kick of his own into Xera's side. Although it broke nothing, the impact was still strong enough to do damage.

His persistence was unfathomable to the immortal as Xera quickly reared back his head and headbutted Dante, forcing him back slightly before the phoenix delivered a kick to Dante's chest to send him on his back. When Dante hit the floor, he quickly rolled out of the way from a punch to his face, swung his leg to sweep Xera's, and tackled the phoenix mid fall, causing the both of them to roll.

As they wrestled each other for control mid-roll, Xera managed to push off Dante, making sit flat on his back to allow the phoenix to quickly swing his heel down on Dante's throat. But before the heel could greet him, Dante managed to raise a hand up to his neck to block the powerful strike from the phoenix, now having a firm grasp of his leg.

While still on the floor, Dante raised Xera up into the air and slammed him back down into it. But just as the phoenix willed himself up slightly, he found himself pulled backwards by the same leg that was being held and spun around to face Dante, who was now upon.

"You damn idiot!" he said landing a blow to Xera's face, "You don't know anything! You don't understand anything at all about how things work!"

Blow after blow landed, and after a time, the immortal was more than certain Xera had been knocked out. But it was evident this was not the case when Xera grabbed hold of his next intended punch, effectively stopping him in place as he slowly raised himself up, forcing up Dante as he continued holding his fist. Before he could fully rise, Xera intercepted another punch and grasped it tightly, making sure to not let go.

He was sick of this. He wasn't going to have any of this.

The immortal angrily returned a headbutt from earlier and then delivered another powerful round kick to the exact same side he struck at before, but all he could feel was the tiniest of cracks, something that shouldn't have been possible given the force of his kick.

How was he taking all these hits?

Even so, the phoenix did not let up, and grabbed hold of Dante's leg to pull him in and deliver another punch straight to the center of his face. Only this punch was stronger than the rest, evidenced by how far back Dante was sent skidding on his heels.

"Just give up damn you!" Dante angrily shouted as he charged Xera, reared back his fist and let it fly.

The phoenix simply responded with a punch of his own, their fists collided with brutal force, only, more damage was dealt to Xera's immortal opponent as his fist was easily pushed back.

What he felt wasn't pain. But it was something else. Something he didn't understand.

No matter how much he tried to move his legs, Dante couldn't move them. They weren't allowing him to move. Yet Xera Stark pressed on to greet him a wicked punch to the immortals jaw, sending him on his back once more.

There was no pain... So why was it so difficult to stand back up?

All Dante managed was to take a knee, looking up only to see a devastating uppercut rise up directly beneath his chin, a decent cracking noise being made on impact as Dante flew back once more.

Damn it all… I don't understand you in the slightest… Why won't you stop…? You… are not right… When we first started this fight, you weren't opposing me… So what then? What have you been doing this entire time if not that?

Dante, on his knees once again, slowly looked up to see Xera stark running right at him with whatever strength he had left in his body, solely focused on ending this fight.

You know… I think I was wrong earlier when I said you were exactly like him from back then. If anything...you're more like…

From the immortal's perspective, Xera's charge moved slowly than normal But it didn't matter.

He managed to rise back up at last and staggered forwards slightly before moving into a full paced sprint.

When the two were close enough, both warriors had planted their front feet firmly into the ground, rotated their bodies, and let loose their arms.

Time seemingly moved even more agonizingly slower than it did; noise and sound became nonexistent for them both despite their roars filling the air. And their fists moved ever so slowly until finally…contact.

A loud, echoing thud sounded through the air, as all had watched, their eyes fixated at the two, now motionless warriors, their fists firmly planted into each others' jaws. And so it remained. Until one finally collapsed.

Unable to keep himself standing any further, Xera wobbled back and forth a bit until finally falling forwards, hitting the ground with a soft thud. All remained silent until Dante himself staggered back slightly and fell backwards on his rear, managing to keep himself propped up with his left arm as his right simply dangled in place.

"It's over…" Dante silently whispered as he took a deep breath and exhaled, taking a glance over at the barely conscious and moving Xera Stark.

He was impressed really. Even after all that…he still managed to stay conscious. That, and despite all his injuries, he was still trying to move.

All Dante did was close his eyes and let out a sigh as he stood back up.

"Give it up already…"

He had lost a lot of feeling in his right arm, barely being able to move it.

I can do this… Dakini no Hikari restored a lot of my Aura levels during that fight with Xera and Skyla… But…I still don't understand. HE forced me out of it. And even after forcing me out of it…I felt so weakened. What did he do to make that happen? Xera…you're not a normal phoenix. I don't know much about your kind, or your family specifically, but I'm not entirely sure you should have been able to do some of the things you did against me. And yet…

"Well… It looks as though you're the last one, Zeridul…" said Dante as he turned and faced the Dark Entity, "Make this easier for yourself and let me execute you. I've just about had it with the shenanigans and roundabouts by now."

"Even after all that…you still don't see it..." Zeridul replied, his voice a fresh, icy tone that swept over the tense silence of the ruined battlefield of his throne room.

He calmly stepped forward, down the stairs of his platform and moving toward Dante, where he still stood in challenge.

"I don't trust you in the slightest bit. You may have fooled them with whatever you did, but you're not going to fool me in the slightest. You are not innocent in any of this. So, you better make your move fast. Otherwise, your head will be rolling at my feet."

"I never claimed to be innocent…just…re-enlightened about the error of my ways." Zeridul returned, making his way forward before stopping in silence a few feet before Dante, "That Gem showed me what I could be, and how lost and stupidly naive I used to be before my time with Xera's brother. I used to crave energy…to devour it… Now I crave to create it."

"And yet the steps you took along the way clearly proves that all to be true." Dante replied, emphasising a word so rich in sarcasm it might as well had been venom, "Enough already. Draw your sword. Gem or no gem, I'm taking you down."

"I have no desire to draw a sword on a man who has no more ability to fight anymore." Zeridul said, waving his hand to the side and levitating the embedded gem by the stairs over to the two of them, "And you can have your Gem. It's yours to walk away with and do whatever you see fit of it… I no longer have a need for it now that I've sustained a place for me to exist outside of mister Stark's brother."

The softly humming Gem soon moved forward and grew dull, landing with a soft tap at Dante's feet as the magical ties it had with the realm around them suddenly shut off.

"You still don't get it, do you? Not only have you done the things you have, but you also used The Gem to make all of this. Using The Gem alone warrants death. Something like that should have been destroyed instead of kept around. But it's fine. This one is the last one after all. Either way, I'm not letting you walk away from all this. And trust me…I still have a lot left in me to keep going."

As Dante said this black and white Aura flowed from his body, its sheer pressure making the air rupture and quake violently.

"Time for talk is over. Just die." Dante said, swiping his sword out to his side.

"Don't fool yourself with what little energy you have left." the entity said, taking a step forward to lay two fingers onto Dante blazing sword and lower it, bringing it back down to Dante's leg again, "Save it for the trip home. I have a lot to atone for… Will you not allow me to right a blind past?"

"Death is your atonement for your actions."

Dante's sword flowed with obscene amounts of black and white Aura, prepping for one of his most powerful attacks as he raised the sword up into the air, the violent torrent of aura now flowing into the air, sounding like a low toned demonic growl as Dante held up his sword, ready to lower it at any moment.

"Death won't save lives, or create a home for those who seek retribution from their race." Zeridul quietly replied, taking his hand from Dante's sword and looking to the immortal's eyes.

If he swung…he wasn't going to stop it.

"Master, stop!"

Dante's eyes widened momentarily when he heard her voice behind him, prompting him to quickly turn his head to make sure he wasn't hearing things.

Apparently not.

"Inuba…?"

The torrent of Aura died down as Dante lowered his sword, still in a bit of disbelief.

It wasn't simply Dante's kitsune partner who was present now, but one other and… No… That couldn't be…

He was supposed to be out of commission…

Destiny had finally tore her eyes away from the fight, Weiss's exhausted form cradled in her arms as she looked to a pair of passing black boots and the drifting tail ends of its owner's trenchcoat.

His back was swordless, barren of its usual 6-foot claymore as she watched the new arrival pass by Ruby.

The small girl froze when she saw him walk by, in fact, everyone grew still as he made his way forward.

"You still need to heal. What are you doing walking around?" Zeridûl asked, turning his gaze to a pair of cerulean eyes as a calm stare fell back to his own.

"Figured I was needed..." he said, turning his eyes down to pass over Skyla on the ground… then eventually move over to Xera, who'd just now only managed to roll himself onto his back, "Looks like I was."

Without hesitation, he lowered one knee to the ground as he leaned down a placed a hand on the phoenix's shoulder, the sudden look on Xera's own face turning confused as everyone's focus followed the young man's movements.

"I don't know too much of what's been going on outside of the AoD, but I know one thing..." he said, turning his blue eyes back to Dante's own before glancing to the Dark Entity beside the immortal, "That man is the only reason why I'm even still alive… That, and the hope of at least seeing what's left of my family again before we both almost perished."

"Man…" Dante scoffed, "The only reason you're alive is because he needed to keep your body alive together as much as possible. He is, or at least used to be, a parasitic type. He needs a body to survive outside of whatever hole he crawled out from."

"And I offered it to him." the young man replied evenly, turning a critical eye back to Dante as he stood up from Xera on the ground, "You don't know this, none of you do, but after the fifth trial…I gave in. He was the sixth, and final entity they tried to force into me…and I was ready to die."

A cold, icy haze drifted around his pale fingers as he stared down at his hand, softly clasping it shut to dispel the drifting mist seeping from his palm.

"He had every opportunity to force me out and claim my body as his own, but he didn't."

That closed fist soon fell and loosened, returning to the young man's side as he brought his eyes back to the immortal's own.

"He told me in the very waking moment of his entry, to fight it. To stay alive long enough to get me out of the organization and back to my own life. And for the first three years…he sacrificed almost all of his energy just to sustain my bodily functions and keep me breathing, rather than take the open door and just take control."

"Dumb luck that he had less energy for total control really if he was even captured by humans here on Remnant. Still rather embarrassing for something of your caliber."

The new arrival smirked before continuing, "That's what I thought too…until he used his energy to destroy a Dremoha grimm I'd been fighting for a test. It was the first time I felt it and the first time I felt how incredibly vast it was. He wasn't captured while he was awake. He chose to lie dormant instead and enter a sleep stasis… That's how they managed to obtain him."

"You do realize that since you were compromised, your word is as useless to me as his is, right?" said Dante pointing back at Zeridul.

"It takes a long time understanding someone who used to be evil to every extent." he replied, unfazed by the comment returned to him, "I didn't believe him either. Nobody would've. But…after five years of living every minute of our lives together…I learned that his entire view of humanity had changed since he fell asleep. And from there, I started telling him about what the world was like; to be human and to have a family."

"Five years compared to ten. Who do you think knows more about this kind of situation, me or you?"

An earnest chuckle left the young man's lips as he shook his head, "You may know about his kind, but you don't know him. Out of everyone here, I know who and what he is better than all of you, and I know what his honest intentions are. It took me all those years to finally understand that."

"And out of everyone here, I know how easy it is to mess around with someone's memories and fabricate whatever the hell with someone's thoughts and feelings. You're not convincing me in the slightest."

"Then maybe this'll convince you." the man pulled out a simple black scroll, tossing it to Dante to let him have a look, "On that scroll are all video records of my trials and medical records of all aspects of my body, including mental fortitude, recognition, and integrity. Out of all of you…my brother's been the only one smart enough to actually look into them once he got ahold of the information."

If memory alteration occurred at any moment of the trials, or any mental damage at all, the entire experiment would've been shut down and restarted.

"Right, like science can clearly and accurately define magic. You gonna waste more of my time?"

"The AoD specializes in magic, believe it or not." he returned, "It's devoted its entire research base, for countless centuries since its founding, on the discovery, adaption, and learning of the oldest magic known to them. Something that was traced back to the literal beginning of existence. Affinities. And they've been studying this for far longer than any of our lifetimes combined. Their developments understand and read magic more than you do."

"Oooo, sorry, wrong again. Humans understanding and reading more about magic? Do you think realize how limited things are on Remnant in comparison to all other Worlds out there? Realities for that matter? Do you even know about half the stuff you're spouting? Obviously not."

He smirked again, "The universe is a lot bigger than you'd think, and jumping them to run parallel existences makes it vastly more expansive than you could ever imagine. And as for humans, they may be ignorant in your reality…but not here. Remnant is one of the oldest planets developed since the dawn of creation, and they've been digging up its mysteries since humans first inhabited the planet."

"You think I don't know that you idiot? I don't doubt human's capacity for knowledge, I admire and fear it. But here's the thing, there are pigeons that live in a higher plane of existence that have lived far longer and know much more than what you or humanity could possibly know. If you think that a bunch of humans killing others and messing around with things they shouldn't is a lot, then clearly you've no idea what you've stumbled upon. So, run back home and do whatever it is you do."

"I see…" the young man sighed, knowing when something was so helplessly askewed and unbacked, "No wonder why you couldn't even win a fistfight with a phoenix in your currently most powerful state. You drastically lack something that most others don't even see."

"First, I was powered down. And second, I'm sorry, who's taking a nap right now and who's the one still standing again? Remind me."

The man hummed amusedly as he looked around to everyone present, including Xera who still lay on his back, "I think you've missed the entire point of that bout. Winning was never about beating the other person into the ground, it was about proving a point. Believe it or not, you started to believe it yourself by the end there. Why don't you accept that? My brother may be on the ground, but his reasoning stands taller than anything you can dig up from whatever World you came from."

"His reasoning...is flawed and childishly naive… Something like that is flimsy and easily breakable…"

However painful it was at the moment, Dante extending his right hand towards Zerath as numerous black and white Aura Swords appeared around him, blade points close enough to almost pierce him.

"Master!" pleaded Inuba.

"Don't be so full of yourself…human…"

"I'm not the one who's full of myself." Zerath replied evenly, brushing the tip of a floating sword with his pale finger as those around him suddenly shattered into vanishing fragments.

Cerulean eyes glanced to Zeridûl for a moment, seeing a subtle flash in his crimson eyes as he recognized the Aura nullification field sweeping over the small area around him.

"And you…" said Dante turning back to Zeridul, "Don't be so arrogant enough to think I can't kill you without Aura."

"I'm not the one arguing with the one who's supposed to be resting and healing." Zeridûl replied, part of him noticeably worried while the rest of him retained the full composure he'd been displaying throughout the entire course of events.

"Humans are strong because they know death. It's through their weaknesses that they can excel far beyond anyone else out there. You can learn to respect them or you can continue to see them as nothing more than cannon fodder or ignorant worms infesting a spinning rock in space." Zerath continued, dismissing Zeridul's stern gaze and walking back over to Xera, "But I don't expect someone who has as much vast power as you do to ever sympathize with people who've lived with nothing."

You people at least started with something… I started with less than nothing...

"Nothing…you say… Hmph… You people really know nothing at all."

Out of all who were present, it seemed that only Inuba herself knew what exactly he spoke of at the moment. Which made this situation all the more difficult.

"People shouldn't misspeak when they know nothing about what they're talking about," Dante said casting his cold gaze to Zerath once more, "They might end up losing their tongue."

"Hypocritical and predictable too, I should've known." Zerath shook his head and reached down, pulling his brother up from where he lay and lifting his beaten form into his arms, "Don't assume you know us, and we won't assume we know you. You have no right to, and neither do we."

"I think you might be a little deaf or just downright stupid. Didn't you hear what I said? I told you don't be so full of yourself!"

Dante swung down his sword with enough force to make the earth rise in jagged formations of rock that traveled towards Zerath with great speed.

"Petty too…" Zerath noted, watching as the rising spines split from a piercing glow of lime green light and passed him by, his stride not so much as faltering as he began taking Xera toward the stairs, "Maybe I've been talking to a wall this whole time."

"And just who the hell are you douchey cowboy?"

"Just a guy passing through. Someone pulled me into your little childish debates and temper tantrums, and now I'm here," Niro stepped forward from the stairs and crushed the risen stone back into the ground with collapsing strands of his Aura, "And sorry princess, last I checked, Xera was my target. If anyone kills him, it'll be by my hand."

"It's finished Dante. You can still take what it is you came for and leave." spoke Zeridul.

Dante lowered his head slightly as he chuckled.

"You're right. I can still take what it is I came for." he spoke as his grip on his sword tightened, "Remember what I said? I don't need Aura to kill you."

His hand reached out and firmly grabbed hold of Zeridul's, yet the Dark Entity seemed unfazed by this action.

"Your life is mine."

All had stopped in their tracks, save for Zerath, but none would be able to move fast enough, not with how close he was. Zeridul was his.

He raised up his sword quickly, and-

"Master stop!"

His entire arm remained as still as stone when he heard her plea. Dante knew not why, but…

"Please… Enough…"

Dante growled slightly before he pushed away Zeridul, leaned over, and grabbed what it was that caused a large part of this mess.

"You know what this is…right?" said Dante raising up The Gem so that his partner could see it.

She shuddered slightly when her eyes fell upon it, but she shook her head to regain her senses.

"I do. But that alone shouldn't be enough to cause such feelings of mistrust and hatred towards-"

"Do you remember Adaryon? Was exactly the same as this guy and fed us practically the same old story they've been giving us the entire time. You remember what he up and did next after we put our trust in him, right?"

"I do. Which is why it was difficult for me to believe mr. Stark when he explained the situation to us on the way here."

Dante looked up from his partner and met Zerath's gaze for a few moments before the immortal turned his head away.

"Situations like these are understandably difficult to see through. And your skepticism is even more understandable given what we've seen and experienced so far throughout our life. It's true. They do not understand. They may very well never understand. But...we can't let our past fears and troubles cloud our judgement and confuse us. Otherwise...we'll make mistakes we can never take back."

Dante shut his eyes and tried to close his heart from her words, but he could never simply disregard her words.

"I know that it is trying and difficult… Such cases are never quite so simple or entirely clear. But please… I ask you to have faith in their words."

His grip only tightened.

"Having faith…is what got me where I am in the first place… I won't let the same mistake happen twice…"

"Then…"

Inuba took a few steps forward before folding her hands together and spoke.

"Please. Have faith in me."

His eyes widened upon hearing her words, his arm that held The Gem lowering to his side as he bowed his head.

"Have faith in me as I have faith in their word that Zeridul isn't as terrible as he seems."

His mind was terribly doubtful, but his heart… It told him to disregard his mind.

She never led him astray. And she always came through or was correct when she had asked for him to have faith in her. If she's strongly vouching for this...then…

Dante opened his eyes and raised his head slowly, meeting Zerath's once more before he finally turned to Zeridûl and gazed long and hard.

His heart was set on what he was to do.

Without word and without warning, Dante quickly brought up his sword and swung down, his strike cutting into the wall and throne and creating a smoke screen that obscured the view of everyone in the room.

Inuba gasped as she saw this, the majority of the others taking on a stance of concern as Zeridul's fate remain unknown currently. But when the smoke eventually cleared, it became clear as to the final result.

The kitsune was able to take a small sigh of relief when she saw what she did.

Dante did indeed strike at Zeridul…but stopped a literal centimeter away from the Dark Entities neck. The immortal and the new self proclaimed king kept their gazes sternly fixed upon one another, both not even taking the time to blink.

According to the general consensus...it was over.

Dante dislodged his sword from the horizontal cut he made in the throne of stone and lowered his weapon, sheathing it even. But shortly after, he grabbed hold of Zeridul's collar and brought him close.

"Listen and listen well. The only reason you're alive and still breathing right now is because of my partner. So you better be damn grateful to her that you get to keep your life."

"It's not every day one gets saved by a fox… I'll be sure to give my thanks." Zeridul replied evenly, still indifferent, despite coming so close to losing his head.

"The second I find anything off or out of order, I will be back to find you. Make sure you commit that to memory."

"You won't have to. But if you do…the doors will be open," the entity said with a smile, "Now leave, while people are still breathing. People need to heal."

His mind was screaming for him to not leave, to finish what he started. But…he valued his partner's words and their impact on his heart more than anything. And because of that, he let go of Zeridul's collar and stepped away slowly, soon reaching down to grab hold of The Gem.

He stared at it, and continued doing so as he descended the steps towards Inuba and the stranger. But...something felt off…

His mind was telling him constantly to turn around and go back, but the fact it was doing it so strongly… Something was very wrong.

His legs became weak and his head feeling very uncomfortable as he collapsed to his knees, holding onto his head while letting The Gem clatter to the ground near him. He was becoming weaker, and losing consciousness, but more importantly...he felt something was very wrong indeed.

Why exactly was he here again…? What had he been doing for the past few minutes or so..?

He could barely hear Inuba's words as they faded away. And shortly after, unconsciousness followed as he collapsed in Inuba's arms.

"Master?! Master!" she said shaking him slightly.

"Is he alright?" Destiny asked, Weiss too exhausted and Ruby still too stunned to speak.

"I-I don't know what's wrong with him!" she replied, fearful of what was happening to her Master.

"Take him out of the realm." Zeridul said, opening the rifts doors in the distance as he gestured down the stairs, "The realm's had a negative effect on his body and energy since his arrival… I'd advise he leave its proximity as soon as possible."

Inuba's fox ears perked up suddenly when she heard what Zeridul said.

"This World… It is made in similarity to the Dark World, is it not?" she quietly asked.

"It's built to house Dark Entities. In that way, it needed to carry over several similarities to my home World."

"It's…" she paused momentarily, making sure of her theory yet again before she said, "I don't think it's the realm that's causing this…condition of his..."

"Then what is?" Destiny asked, knowing that look in Inuba's eyes.

"I'm more than certain of it now… Despite strenuous or extremely stressful situations...Master is never this unreasonable… He would never just simply disregard someone's words or causes blatantly like has done so."

Destiny narrowed her eyes, Inuba still not answering her question if she knew for certain what was causing all this.

"When last we entered the Dark World in our Reality…there were no psychological changes or abnormalities in either of us. And that wasn't by simply entering at first. It was for the duration of our entire venture through it, even to the lowest Circle."

"Meaning?" questioned Zeridul.

"This Dark World, both the one here and in our Reality, is full of Darkness Essence. I have spent nearly all of my life in his presence, almost never leaving his side. And of all the times I've observed his interactions with Darkness Essence, it has never had mental effects on him. It only served to bolster his power considerably. I'm assuming he underwent a partial transformation as he entered?" she asked, looking towards the others for an answer.

The looks on their faces were the only answer she needed.

"And despite that, did he seem colder, but still acted reasonably until he reached the throne room?"

"That, and he was a huge prick about everything too." Destiny supplied.

"I see…" she said looking off to the side momentarily, "Please, hold him for me." she said quickly handing him off to stranger of the group, Niro.

The cowboy simply dropped Dante to the floor with a hard thud and stepped away, "He's your problem, not mine."

The only thing saving Dante's head from the fall was it landing roughly in Ruby's lap, the girl wincing slightly as the back of his head struck her thigh.

Inuba seemed almost more displeased with her Master's position rather than the fact Niro had intentionally dropped him…

She shook her head and focused her attention on The Gem she picked up from the floor, lifting up eye level to examine it closely.

She could hear its whispering, its desire to be used to fulfill her greatest desire. Doing so would be more than easy to accomplish with this in hand. She could finally have what she wanted most...

Inuba immediately shook her head and cast away the thoughts in her mind, casting her crimson eyes towards Zeridul.

"You could hear and feel it as well, yes? How it called to you constantly?" she asked him.

"I learned to block it out." Zeridul replied simply.

"Because you felt it more than wanted to grant your desires, but rather twist them? It is the main reason why you hastily wished to be rid of it after using it, yes?"

"For the most part." the entity said, but it went unsaid whatever other reasons he had for disconnecting the Gem from his realm.

"It's as I feared then..."

Inuba turned to face the others to explain her discovery.

"I don't believe my Master explained this to you…but this gem, A Gem of the Ancients, is a gem that makes your desires into a reality, be it power, wealth, or something else entirely. The Gem itself has no singular form of consciousness…but instead possess a plethora of them, all housed within this gem. And because of that, the gem more than anything desires to be used. It will do anything in order to make a person use it. Even influence a person's actions and amplify their want, their desires. It will even use someone's greatest fears to influence action of usage."

"So you mean…?"

"Yes… I strongly believe that this Gem was influencing my Master's thoughts and actions. Wasn't it strange to any of you? Someone perfectly sane and reasonable becoming the exact opposite suddenly with no reasonable explanation?"

"It was strange for all of us, but he was still a prick." Destiny said.

"We just thought it was the realm affecting him…" Ruby muttered quietly.

"He doesn't naturally act in such a manner. He can be rude with others at times, yes..." she said glancing at Destiny, "But he would never abandon reason for past fears. Never willingly. The Gem greatly affects those who have stronger desires…but…it also affects those with a multitude of fears, or those with numerous troubles."

"So…it had a stronger effect on him due to his past…" Destiny reasoned.

"Life has never been the easiest for him. But despite those troubles, he always rose to the challenge and went above and beyond. It, however, would not be a surprise that one would have many a trouble after the extensive exposure to all that is wrong and evil."

Inuba's gaze turned to Dante, who still remained unconscious, before she gazed sternly at the Gem.

"This is the last time you and your kind will plague another World. Be forever absent."

White flames crackled to life in Inuba's hands as The Gem seemingly shrilled quietly whilst the kitsune burned away its existence. Within a matter of seconds, the last of the three Gem of The Ancients became a puddle of slag at Inuba's hands, said puddle soon quickly evaporating into nothingness.

Inuba let out a sigh of relief as she approached Ruby Rose and took her Master into her arms once again.

"I'll close the rift once you're all out. It's best to keep it away from your World for now," Zeridul stated, his eyes casting out into the black sky beyond them as he gestured toward the exit, "You all should be able to make the return trip. The bridge will take you back to the island."

"Thank you for your kindness, even in the face of the situation. But please…do keep your word. Not only I, but we…have our faith in you that you will continue to do what is right." said Inuba bowing her head slightly.

"I suppose this'll just be the start of atoning for what I've done…" Zeridûl finished, glancing over momentarily to Zerath himself before turning around and making his way back to his throne, "I'll be seeing you, Zerath."

"No final goodbye?" the Stark brother asked, watching Zeridûl slowly pass him by as he still held his brother in his arms.

"None needed… An old friend can drop by from time to time, can he not?"

"Fair enough…" Zerath replied, turning away and making his way over to the stairs, "Just don't expect a welcome party every time."

"I won't." the entity returned, "But I will expect whiskey. I believe that was our favorite."

Zerath nodded, "Will do."

But his steps soon stopped beside Skyla on the ground, his gaze falling to her for a moment before cerulean eyes glanced up to Niro nearby.

"Think you can manage her?" he asked.

"Pity…she looked comfortable lying on the cold, hard ground like that." Niro replied, making his way and picking the girl up into his arms.

The small girl grimaced heavily from the movement to her body, glaring up at the one holding her as she was carried alongside Xera, "I swear, if you drop me-"

"I'll be sure to make sure it's on the stairs if I do." Niro replied evenly, flashing the girl a smirk as he followed Zerath down the steps and drew closer to the opening rift in the distance.

Inuba allowed the others to move ahead and knelt down next to the unconscious Dante, taking him into her arms.

"I'll handle him ms. Rose. Thank you for taking care of him."

"U-Uh, sure! No problem! Hehehe..."

The reaper in red quickly sat up and watched Inuba effortlessly pick up Dante, holding him tightly in her arms.

"Is he going to be alright? What exactly happened to him?" RUby asked.

"With some rest, he'll be just fine. As for ms. Xerious and mr. Stark, they too will be fine once we return and I treat them. For what caused him to collapse... The Gem exudes a sort of mental drain if someone under its influence refuses to make their desire granted. Usually, the drain is too great for someone to handle. But with the mental stress of the fight and the drain from The Gem... It proved a bit too much."

"That's...good. I mean, good that he'll be fine!" she corrected.

"It's quite alright. I knew what you meant."

Inuba and Ruby walked together, following close behind everyone else as they descended the steps towards the open rift that would take them home.

"I don't..."

Inuba turned her head towards the reaper as she cut herself off momentarily, taking a deep breath before looking towards Inuba once again.

"I don't blame him or anything. Even if he was confused because of that stupid Gem..."

"I see..." said Inuba smiling slightly.

"From the way it all sounded, he was trying to stop something bad from happening. He sounded...afraid almost. Not for himself, but for the rest of us."

"Things haven't been the easiest in our lives, Master's in particular. So much was filled with uncertainty and painful experiences despite all the good that's occurred. Mistakes that could have been prevented were made. And so if there's a potential tragedy in the making...one that he notices... He'll try to do what he can to prevent it. The Gem acted on hes desire to prevent the pain or future of others and made him unreasonable."

"I can understand that... Not wanting others to hurt... He really is a nice person. Not that I didn't think any different before!" said Ruby waving her hands innocently.

"He really is..." replied the kitsune as both she and Ruby finally passed through the rift.

I've already hit you all with a lot of words, so I'll spare the pain of more. Hopefully I can get right back on track with the scheduling, not being late and stuff I mean. Like I said, lot's of stuff back and forth and a lot of it unseen. Let's hope I don't get hit with more.

All that's left to say is that there's one more chapter to go before we get back on track and start tracing events in tandem with vol 4. Be ready for it.

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!