Hero of Remnant: Veil of the Aether

by Aetherveil

Following after the events of the Volume 3 Arc, Dante, and his partner Inuba travel across Remnant to make their way to Haven, searching for clues that will lead them to the real mastermind behind the attack on Vale 6 months prior. They will meet allies, both old and new, and face challenging new enemies on their journey. Secrets will be revealed. Continuation of Hero of Remnant.

69. Chapter 69: Fury of the Deep

Hey everyone!

Sorry it took so long. Between more traveling, relatives, exhaustion, etc, its been hard working on this chapter continuously and getting it done. So it took longer.

But, for as long as it did take to get this chapter out, this chapter will be longer than usual, so there's more to enjoy! Nice bonus, huh?

That aside, sorry again for taking so long. Hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 69: Fury of the Deep

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- Nearly two years ago -

"And that's the last one." Dante said, placing the last of the sixteen files on Anya's desk.

"Goodness… You were certainly eager." The girl said, setting aside her keyboard as she counted them, "You managed to clear the board for the week."

"Keyword being 'for the week'." The young man sighed.

"Wait… There was one more, wasn't there?"

Dante eye's trailed the ground briefly, a silent breath escaping him as he looked up with a serious stare.

The President of the Student Council looked at him with concern, "Dante?"

"Nothing… uh… Happened to anyone else of notable concern. Meaning I didn't clober someone like I usually do."

"Then..?"

"The case I was working on for the last week? The one involving the class rep from 3-3 that suddenly turned truant? I solved it and everything, but…"

"Just get it out." She said, her fists clenching up.

"It's not pretty. Especially midway. I… I frankly think you should just leave it be, you know? Just… take my word for it that I handled everything within my authority."

"Mr. Dante-"

"PLEASE, Prez." He said with a firmer tone, "Don't."

A part of her was hesitant to continue asking for the report, especially with how fiercely he was asking her not to. And yet…

She stretched her hand out, staring at him firmly, making the silent demand of him.

While he enjoyed her stubbornness that rivaled his, this was one of the times Dante wished she wasn't hardheaded.

Taking the file in hand, she flipped to the first page, eyes scanning the record slowly. She was relatively calm for the first three pages, reading through both Dante's observation reports and the evidence he collected as proof.

It wasn't until she reached the fifth page that her brow began to furrow, and on the sixth page, she bit into her lip a little. On the seventh page, she closed her eyes briefly, and moments later mustered the courage to read up to the ninth page.

"This… This is just…"

"Fucked. I know. Had a feeling from the get go it'd get bad, but… Even I didn't expect all that. A year missing practically where even your scout, Laura, couldn't find her, and all that shit…" he shook his head.

Anya gulped, closing the file and setting it on the desk, eyes glued to the cover.

"On the eighth page… You mentioned that she was…"

"Pregnant, yeah." Dante crossed his arms, "The guy she met eleven months ago hit on her, took her on a date… and then got… touchy with her using drugs. Unfortunately, she was none the wiser and though he was genuinely into her, so when her father raped her and her mother kicked her out because she thought her daughter came onto him, she stayed with him."

The President finally looked up, seeing Dante stare out the window.

"After that, you know the rest. Dropped out of school, drugs with boyfriend, prostitution to pay off her boyfriend's debts and to get more drugs, and eventually pregnancy, after which she got two abortions. After that, she got pregnant again and the boyfriend kicked her out when she lost their 'score', where she was living on the streets for the last three months. From her testimony, she was sexually assaulted a few more times before she sold herself to prostitution again, all to make money so she could get a place and job to support the baby she was planning to keep this time."

"And? How… did you find her?"

"Well… I quite literally carved a path through the city streets. There weren't too many abandoned locales or hotspots for homeless activity since the Government managed to put out a lot of programs to help people in need. After I clobbered the boyfriend and a few of his accomplices that had 'fun' with her, I eventually managed to track her down to one of the old subway stations where she supposedly lived. When I found her, she was beaten pretty badly by a bunch of loitering kids from another school that wanted to steal the money she saved up."

"I… can't help but notice you didn't mention what happened afterwards."

Dante was silent.

"Dante." She said firmly, standing up.

"After chasing off those assholes… I got her some medical attention, where miraculously, her baby survived and was delivered three nights ago. After talking it over with her, I asked my 'Princely' friend to expedite some documents for a new identity, and set her up in Springvale County. She's working a job with the legislature there that pays really well, enough so that she doesn't have to worry about money or supporting her child. For the sake of her privacy, I omitted everything I just told you, in case someone goes looking."

Anya sat back down, sighing a breath of relief as she covered her face with a hand.

"Perhaps you could have led with that!" She said a bit angrily.

"Well, I did tell you to leave it alone." He shrugged, Anya giving him an angry sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "Point still stands though. Shit was not pretty. And knowing how much of a bleeding heart you are, well… I thought I'd be nice and spare you the messy details."

She growled silently, making Dante smirk wider.

"Contrary to your opinion, I'm not some dainty maiden, mr. Dante."

"Sure sure." He waved off, "I'll believe it when I see it, Ms. Crybaby."

The President grabbed the folder and angrily placed it on top of the stack of folders, taking them away to the records room as Dante followed her.

"Admit it. You were about to cry, weren't you?"

"I was not!" She angrily huffed, rapidly putting the files away.

When she finished, she moved past him hurriedly, not so much as looking him in the eye until he stopped her by grabbing her hand.

"In hindsight, I maybe should have led with that. But like I said, you are a bit emotionally sensitive. Not because you're a girl or anything, but because you're the kind of person who'd likely pick up a lost puppy and care for it, since you're all 'good deeds' and 'fill the world with joy'."

Anya surprisingly escaped his grip when she pulled her hand away. He didn't have an all too powerful grip on her, but it was still strong enough to keep the average person in place.

"If you're quite finished…"

"I'm done." Dante backed away, keeping his smirk with his hands raised briefly.

She sat back down at her desk, typing away at her keyboard without so much as looking at the young man.

"I'll be going then." He said, making for the door.

"Are you free next week?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Because I'm assigning you to the Valentine's Day event this coming Friday."

"Seriously?" Dante complained.

"Seriously." She affirmed, "You did say you didn't have any prior engagements. Surprising really, since a decent majority of the girls here at school follow you around."

"More like stalk me..." The teen grimaced, "Low blow, Prez." He shook his head, smiling after, "I like it."

"I am surprised though."

"About?" He asked, feeling that she was referring to something different.

"Were you not dating someone recently? Filia, if I recall."

"We split." He quickly answered.

Anya looked up from her console, surprised, "I… I'm sorry."

"Don't be. We just… didn't see eye to eye on certain matters." He said, "It's in the past. In any case, I'm available. Just gotta get together some other guys, since my bundle of seven idiots all have girlfriends and are likely keen on spending their day with their significant other."

"Who did you have in mind?"

"Our illustrious Prince Blanc, Aiden, and Darwin."

"Alright then… And for future reference Mr. Dante, don't do what you did ever again.

"Got it." The teen waved, opening the door to exit.

Before he did however, he peeked his head out quickly.

"Bye bye, Ms. Crybaby."

He quickly pulled his head out and closed the door, hearing a book hit the wooden door with a heavy "thunk" that made it shake a little, which in turn made him laugh a little.

Dante had to admit that even if he didn't always see eye to eye with Anya, she was always fun or interesting to observe. There was never a single dull moment really, whether it was a simple conversation with her or teasing her. To some degree, she was his antithesis, solely for the fact that their "methods" of doing "good" were different.

Both more or less wanted to help others, but in their own way using their methods which they thought were correct. Which is why it was always interesting to clash with her on certain topics or ideas. Plus…

It was a rather scintillating change of pace to have someone equally hard-headed, yet also intelligent, face him head on without fear or worry.

"Yeah. She's pretty incredible."

He froze for a moment, eyes widening a bit before he closed them again and shook his head.

"What am I thinking…"

---

Cosmos and Noland traversed the dark corridor at a steady pace, the young man following behind his Blade.

"Don't skulk behind me like some common mongrel, my Wielder. Come. You have my permission to walk beside me."

"As you wish." He nodded, quickening his pace briefly to walk next to the blonde woman.

"Hmph… So far, I'm not really impressed with these… Dark Entities. True, the Lesser tiers do seem to be stronger and deadlier than the average rabble of Grimm, but…"

"They're weak simply because you are too powerful, my Queen." Noland stated, "The higher tiers will certainly present at least a brief moment of entertainment."

"I would hope so. Otherwise…" she said as she stopped and lifted Noland's chin, "I would have to punish you."

"I'll not disappoint you then." He said as the duo continued walking.

Not two paces forward and four small, circular rifts of silver that rippled like water formed above Cosmos' head. From them, bolts of silver shot out in multiple bursts for a few brief seconds.

As the dust settled, Noland brought up his cane to illuminate the corridor, seeing a pack of four Lesser Dark Entities skewered with a mass assortment of silver spears, swords and knives. Those very same weapons turned into particles of silver Aura, vanishing out of sight soon after.

The teen couldn't help but sweat a little, seeing her power up close again.

With a flick of her hand, the rifts around Cosmos vanished in an instant as she continued onwards with Noland.

"You've been silent for some time."

"I… simply was lost in thought, my Queen. About how I wish to ask you my questions."

"Oh? I'll allow these questions then. Go on."

"Do you know of The Old World?"

"Ho… I see you too have learned the twisted truth of this World and what used to be."

"Do you know of the Relics? Of Ozpin?"

"The Relics…" she scoffed, "But of course. There was a time I sought them myself to add them to my Void Treasury. And I did exactly that within a month. If 'Ozpin' is the name of that insufferable fool who had the audacity to reincarnate after I killed him, then yes, I do know of him."

"Y-You killed one of his incarnations?"

"Ha! The mongrel had the nerve to approach and make demands of me, telling me to 'give back the relics'. For his insolence in making demands of a Queen, I silenced him. Imagine my surprise when he arrived two months later and pleaded on his knees."

"And you returned them."

"For three reasons, really. The first, I took pity on the fool after spectacularly destroying him the first time. I mean really, the man was completely eviscerated. The second reason, while I was angered to see him return, I was also impressed, and then humbled by his pleas."

"And the third?" Noland asked.

"It was a whim."

The raven haired teen smirked, "In other words, you returned all four Relics back to Ozpin's custody simply because you can take them at any time if you wish."

"Precisely." Cosmos spoke with a wide smile.

"And The Old World? How did you come by this knowledge?"

"When the Old World had become extinct, few records managed to survive the fire and ash of Old Humanity. One such testament was written by a scribe who followed the fools who wished to 'end the Brother Gods'. Impressively, she documented everything from the departure to the very final moments she and everyone else became ash."

Cosmos snapped her fingers, a silver rift appearing above her hand as she pulled out two ornate silver cups and a fancifully embossed pitcher of wine, which she handed to Noland. As they walked, the teen poured the wine into the cups, the pitcher disappearing when he was done. The Silvered Queen was handed one of the cups, where both then began to drink as they walked.

She sighed, continuing her explanation, "It was from all the records of the Old World I gathered that I managed to create the first true civilization of the New World. With it came prosperity, a home to both Humanity and Faunus kind. After I gathered all the Relics, I only ever used the Relic of Creation to build and expand my glorious Kingdom, along with the Relic of Knowledge to confirm the scribe's records were true."

"And when Ozpin arrived, you returned the Relics to him after you killed one of his incarnations."

"Indeed. While I no longer had a use for them, I still thought it best to keep them in my custody. After all… Nobody in this World can pillage my Void Treasury."

The Void Treasury… A bottomless space that housed all sorts of weapons, tools, treasures, books, art… Whatever one could think of within the expanse of their imagination, Cosmos most certainly possessed it in her Treasury. Best of all… only she could access it. No magic or force in this World would be able to take from her.

When Noland asked her for the first time what was inside the Void Treasury, she simply answered "All of this World's treasures. Be they of the past, the present, or the future". And when asked how was this possible, she replied "What you see are either fakes or what already belongs to me".

She truly was both avaricious and immensely powerful, her power furthered by her Ascendant Wisdom.

"As you said before Noland, I returned the Relics on a whim. Whenever it pleases me, I can reclaim all four of the Relics at any time I desire."

"To bypass the magical vaults of the Huntsmen Academies…"

"Fwahahahaha! Those pitiful excuses of a security system?! I could easily dismantle them again like I did before!" Cosmos finished her drink at the same time Noland did, both of their cups turning into particles of silver Aura as they disappeared out of sight, "You should already know this, Noland. My True Power isn't only limited to my Void Treasury."

"I do indeed know, my Queen. Your power is simply too great to be described by mere words."

"Hmph. Indeed it is."

The duo stopped at the front of two large blackstone doors, decorated with bones, skulls and claws. On their way over, Cosmos had absolutely slaughtered anything in their way, even some of the larger Dark Entities. It was all so easy.

And it was concerning.

Behind this door was the massive cavern, and with it, the immense presence that rested within. The fact that there weren't any Soldiers, Knights, or at the very least a Lord guarding the way was what was concerning. Everything in their way was of the Lesser tier.

Either Cosmos was simply too powerful and culled all the strong enemies… or this enemy was powerful enough that it didn't need any protection.

Regardless of the reason, the Silvered Queen looked at the door with a scornful glare, making Noland sweat a little once again. The last time he saw her angry…

…

Just the memory alone sent shivers down his spine.

"Well then… I suppose we should knock."

Flicking her hand upwards, eight silver rifts appeared above Cosmos' head and shot out silver spears that ripped apart the door in a single volley, the Queen stepping through as Noland followed behind.

"Ho…" the Silvered Queen said, half impressed, "So this creature is the source of such a malevolent presence…"

Noland waved away some of the dust as he stepped through, looking around the room to see stone twisting together like vines all throughout the cave. Not only that, but the stone looked to be… alive. It wasn't until moments later he realized it wasn't stone he was looking at but hardened flesh.

The smells alone confirmed this.

At the center of the room was a throne, the only thing seemingly made of genuine black stone. The carvings looked like multitudes of bones fashioned together into such a massive throne.

In sat what likely seemed the leader of this… small invasion force.

This Dark Entity was shaped like a human, but had a massive body that had to have stood at twenty feet tall. It wore no clothing of any sort, but it's entire body was covered in thick, black roots that twisted around its massive body from head to toe, forming a sort of armor with clawed toes and fingers. It's face was covered for the most part, but it's mouth was partially exposed to show its maw of sharp teeth. It had yellow eyes that gave a faint glow, and black slit pupils like a serpent. Those very same eyes were looking down on the duo a good distance away.

Those black vines of flesh that ran about the room seemingly ran behind the throne and into the beast's body.

Was it… absorbing energy from somewhere.

…

…

That's why there were so many dead Grimm. The ones outside weren't collected. But the rest inside?

They were being fed to this abomination.

Grimm vanished in either seconds or minutes depending on their size and power, their black essence disappearing into the sky being the last thing most ever saw. But these were Dark Entities. Sin, evil, negativity, Darkness… They thrived off of such things and grew stronger from it, taking it into their bodies.

Perhaps they managed to prevent the Grimm corpses from disappearing just by their own presence or some form of magic. But seeing as there were no traces of humans anywhere, Noland was certain this creature and its minions were feeding off of the Grimm.

Imagine that… Creatures feasting on Grimm…

The teen forced a nervous smile at the irony of the situation.

"I see…" Cosmos spoke, glaring daggers at the Dark Entity as she crossed her arms, tapping her finger rapidly.

Noland inhaled sharply and took a few steps back.

"You dare look down upon me?! I'll have your head for insolence, mongrel!"

Ten silver rifts opened up above her head and immediately shot out an assortment of swords and daggers, sending out volley after volley. Each volley crashed with explosive force, creating massive clouds of fire and dust.

When the clouds settled, Cosmos' brow furrowed with even more frustration as she gritted her teeth, seeing that the creature had been completely unscathed.

As to how this occurred, it only took her a few moments to see a barrier wall in her way, one that was like smoothed out crystal.

"Tch… Very well then. I suppose this does call for usage of some of my stronger armaments."

Snapping her fingers, the wall of ten silver rifts vanished, only to reappear again with twenty rifts in a full diamond formation. From those rippling rifts of silver peeked out a variety of spears, all of which had faint shimmers of silver Aura coating them.

Instead of firing multiple volleys, the Queen fired off a single volley, smirking when she saw a crack in the barrier.

"Well then, monster. It would seem you're not untouchable."

Cosmos raised up both hands slightly this time, sixty rifts total now having been formed, all of which were in three sets of diamond formation.

"Prepare yourself, mongrel. You shall now feel my wrath as I pass my judgment upon you!"

---

Dante roamed the halls with a quickened pace, Navâra in hand as her blade gave off a faint white light in the dark. There were a few Lesser Dark entities in his way, twisted little creatures in the shape of humans with pruned black flesh, jagged claws and skeletal heads.

Along the way, as he killed a few he also saw numerous piles of black ash littered around the place.

If anything, it made it easier to navigate this maze.

~You seem on edge. More so than usual.~

That's because I am. Ever since I felt... whatever that shit was, my blood feels like it's been on fire, and I don't know why.

^Perhaps it's because you haven't had occasion for some time to fight one of these creatures.^

Maybe. But even against Raum and Scylix I never got this kind of feeling. This… It's like my own blood is screaming at me in rage.

*I know what you speak of, my Wielder. This sensation you feel is one felt by two souls forever at odds, destined to be mortal enemies until the other's soul has been obliterated.*

~How romantic.~

No, let her finish.

*This could be an individual you may very well know. Or this could simply be someone you have never met. Regardless of the circumstances, there comes a time when such people are within each other's vicinity. And it is there, in that moment, a powerful sensation will wash over the both of them. During my rule, there were multitudes of such individuals, lords who I knew full well were too preoccupied with their greed and selfishness. Just as much as they despised me, I too shared no love for them.*

Fated enemies, huh…

Such a thing wasn't so absurd. While Dante managed to make many friends and rivals throughout his life so far, there were few he could truly call his enemy. But what he was feeling now…

It was hate. Hatred born of a need for vengeance.

This had to be someone he knew.

As he walked forward, he suddenly felt himself halted, turning to see The Seeker had grabbed hold of his arm.

"What is it?"

She let go, bowing her apologetically as she took a few steps back.

"The foe you intend to face... 'Tis not of this World. The power this being wields 'tis much the same as the power thou wields. However…"

Her head tilted to Dante's left hand, prompting him to raise it up and look at the hollow, black diamond seal on his forearm.

"I can't draw out that power."

"Not entirely."

The teen looked back at the girl with confusion, seeing her hands tighten around her staff. He had known her for only a short time, but he could tell she was feeling reluctant.

"Thou do not need to draw out the entirety of thine dormant power."

"I don't understand-"

"I…"

She paused, bowing her head again.

"Look… You're saying whatever's down there has a power similar to my own. My… Darker power. Right now, you're fidgety not because of whatever's down there, but because you might have a solution to my problem." Dante reasoned, "Thing is, you're not sure as to whether you should give it. Not for lack of trust, since you've been following me around without reservation."

She felt his gaze on her, making her turn her head to avoid it.

"You're scared. Scared of your power, and..."

Dante held his tongue, and instead, slowly approached, gently grabbing hold of The Seeker's hand.

"I don't know what your reasons are, much less your circumstances. But… if you can help, then try to. Whatever power you wield… It's your power. Not anyone else's. The power you hold doesn't define you. You define it." He affirmed, "I might have three of the most amazing Blades ever, but who knows what it is I'm walking into down there. And I'm not keen on finding out unless I know for sure I can win. So… if you can help me in any way possible, I'd very much like that."

As usual, she was silent, but wordlessly nodded, Dante letting go of her hand.

"You said you can draw out some of my Dark power that's been sealed away. Are you able to undo the seal partially?"

She nodded.

"But the way you said it earlier… Your hesitation to do so… You mean to draw out some of that Dark power and add some of whatever you have to it. Am I right?"

Another nod.

"And I'm assuming you're hesitant because one of the risks involved could be death, regardless of how small the chance is."

The Seeker looked up at Dante, and nodded all the same.

"Do it."

"Are thou sure?" She spoke softly.

"I'm sure."

The girl approached slowly, placing a hand on Dante's shoulder and pressing down a little on it. This prompted him to kneel in front of her, like a Knight bowing before a Maiden.

"Don't worry about a thing, Seeker." He said with a smile before he bowed his head, "It is me, after all."

…

…

Words she had heard long ago. Though this time… she felt more at ease. Perhaps it was because…

…

She placed those thoughts in the back of her mind, lowering her staff as the white flame at the top flickered. The girl dragged the tip of her left index finger across the flame, making a small cut as a few droplets of her blood slowly dripped. The Seeker then moved her hand up his head, her droplets falling onto Dante's white hair. Strangely, they did not stain him, they just… seeped in and vanished.

"Soul of The Protector, key to Life's salvation…" she chanted, her voice echoing slightly as a faint glow of white emerged from her fingertip and droplets of blood, "Soul of The Valiant who hath surpassed all before thee… May thou be granted strength to mend this broken World. So that thou may make the World whole once more."

Immediately after finishing her chant, Dante's body was completely bathed in black flame. He felt no pain, no reason to cry out. The only thing the teen could feel was power surging through him, starting from his head and flowing throughout his veins like wildfire.

All the while, the black flames began to take on a different shape.

---

Cosmos had kept firing at the barrier nonstop. Not with everything she had however, because for her, in doing so, it would be similar to admitting this enemy was stronger than she was.

And there were none as powerful as she.

Yet progress was made.

After two minutes of repeated volleys of her enhanced silver weapons, the barrier had finally shattered to pieces. Her supposed final volley shot forward, ready to behead the scum that dared stand above her, but as it raised its hand, the weapons simply bounced away as soon as they touched his palm, leaving small cuts.

Before Cosmos made to attack once again, she had paused, seeing Noland falling from above after Tâz flew him up there. His cane had been positioned to plunge into the creature, but it never came to be. One of the fleshy black vines had struck his side and into the path of the Dark Entities massive hand, where it used the back of its hand to smack away the teen.

Noland hit the ground hard and rolled, coming to a stop only by the grace of Cosmos' foot.

"An admirable effort, Noland. Foolish, but admirable at the very least."

"I assumed he'd either be destroyed by you or distracted long enough for me to drop in and claim the final blow."

"Hmph. Seeing that 'cane' irks me, since it is the only treasure I do not truly possess."

"Untrue, my Queen." Noland spoke as he stood back up, "Since we are one, it too is as much yours as it is mine."

"I have no need of your generosity, boy. But, your sentiments have been broadcasted clearly. I will allow it."

He chuckled slightly, dusting himself off as the duo kept focused stares on the Dark Entity.

"You wounded him. Therefore we have the ability to kill him. The effort, however…"

"The effort is great. Even to just pierce that blasted shield of his. Still, it can't be helped since I've only just awoken in this World once more." Cosmos spoke, still keeping her calm.

"Are you so eager to throw away your lives?" The creature spoke in a hollow, whisper-like, distorted voice, "Weak creatures… You are both but a human and an abomination given form. And yet… You dare to challenge me?"

"Do not be so quick to set us aside, filth. After all… You've yet to see the full extent of my power and the boy's."

The Dark Entity scoffed, raising up his hand as the vines behind his throne began to lash about. Dozens of the thick vines of flesh with pointed ends like barbed spears glistened with murky, golden Aura, all of which were pointed at the duo.

Noland pulled out his Grimoire, flipping open a few pages as Cosmos summoned twenty silver rifts. The teen was going to have to play defense a little bit while his Blade fired back.

The vines shot forward, but before the duo could retaliate, they felt the ground tremor heavily, soon hearing a sort of screeching noise come through the ceiling with a massive, arcing wave of platinum Aura. Whatever vines did come close were cut apart, turning into black ash as a figure emerged from the dust.

His body was adorned in a dark platinum coat seemingly made of neatly arranged, arrowhead scales. The black lapels flared out in tattered ends, just like his split coattails that reached to the center of his calves. What was exposed of his chest was pitch black, resembling smooth, chiseled marble down to his waist. The cuffs of the long sleeves of his scaly, dark platinum coat were trimmed with black, and partially covered the back of his hand.

His hands looked smooth like pitch black marble, where his claw-like fingertips were like small blades. His legs were covered in thinner, dark platinum scales to form an almost smoother hide, three diagonal stripes running outwards across his thighs. His toes, like his hands, were black and claw-like.

Lastly was the head.

Tall, obsidian horns protruded from the forefront of his head, climbing in twin, straight curves up to two sharp points about two head lengths above. Two more horns jutted out from just above the base of his neck, smoothed flat on the inside as they curved forward and beset his jaw in a wide, dual-pointed crescent. Platinum light burned like embers between the two straight horns and inside the bend of the crescent horns, burning with an eternal depth in the cracks and ridges of the hard extremities.

Slit eye-holes showed his now black sclerae and white irises with black slit pupils. Condensed platinum light flowed just beneath the roots of the horns on his forehead, blazing above a furnace-like mouth emitting the same light through sharp teeth. His large jaw ran down into sharp horn-like points along the corners of it, just one beneath the mouth on his chin and two more at the far edges of his jawline, the shape wide almost to balance out the prominence of the horns engulfing his intimidating visage.

Noland smirked, "You certainly took your time."

The devil's head turned towards Noland, eyes narrowing slightly. Dante couldn't quite smile, but the raven haired teen knew he gave a brief one.

A laugh drew their attention towards the Dark Entity resting on his throne, who pushed himself up. The vines that ran through its chair began to break off, leaking with traces of black sludge that began to disintegrate.

It ignored Noland completely, it's gaze solely fixed on the transformed Dante as its grotesque maw of teeth twisted into a toothy smile under its root-like armor.

"So then…" It spoke, its distorted, echoing voice booming throughout the cavern, "The boy stands before me yet again… Now a man." It chuckled briefly, "It must be fate."

Dante's eyes widened once he heard it speak. Memories from a time not too long ago flooded his mind, and with them, the pure unbridled rage that he felt back then.

"Ogrânix..!"

The very name made his blood boil.

Noland looked back at Dante, also surprised.

"The Fourth Dark Entity King?!"

He read about this… 'thing' in his Grimoire.

Ogrânix was the first and last Dark Entity to have ascended to the rank of King Class instead of being born with such power. His methods and frequent invasions of the Human World were deemed too extreme, and as documented in the Grimoire, Lucifer himself temporarily left his Throne, defeated his "brother", and struck his name from all annals of history. The only surviving record was what was in this Grimoire.

His last invasion was two years ago on Primordial. Dante and his allies subsequently stopped the invasion force and Ogrânix's initial plan to destroy the World, which ended with the Dark Entities death.

Or so it was written.

Yet clearly, the infamous Fourth King, scorned by even his own kin, stood before them.

And Dante's rage was all too real for this to be some sort of illusion or trick.

"I do not see my 'daughter' with you. How strange... With how intimate you were with one another, I would have thought you inseparable."

Daughter..?

Noland had no idea what to make of that statement.

…

…

The girl in the picture… She..?

Looking back at Dante, Noland saw that he stood completely frozen, not having so much as moved an inch from place.

And then the creature laughed again, more heartily than the last time.

"I see. So she perished then, likely in an effort to save you from my… parting gift. I wonder… How did it feel? Knowing that she threw away her life for nothing?"

Eclypse instantly appeared in Dante's hand as he lifted her up and lashed out, loosing a jagged wave of platinum Aura that instantly closed in on Ogrânix. Instead of lopping off his head, the blast of Aura crashed into his massive hand, horribly disfiguring it with a cut apart palm and awkwardly broken fingers.

Those very same fingers twitched and spasmed violently moments after, twisting back into place as the rest of the King's hand healed.

"Heheheheh… It would seem even you are not at your full strength. The rumors of your exile and the loss of your power were true after all. Hmph. It's of little consequence." The Dark Entity shook his hand, "Soon enough my power will grow beyond your feeble limit yet again. And this time, boy… There will be no 'Queen' to save you, or these pathetic mortals. This World will be mine."

To think he would be standing before a King Class Dark Entity in this state… The idea made Noland shiver.

"What do we do?" He asked, looking to Dante.

"You're leaving."

"Pardon?"

"Get out of here, Noland."

"Dante…"

"Like how you've got beef with your old man… This bastard is mine to kill, and mine alone. Either way… You're looking pretty ragged. It'd be best for you to go on ahead and regroup with the others. I won't be long anyway."

The Fourth King snarled with amusement at his words.

"How audacious of you to send us away." Cosmos spoke, glaring at Dante, "Do you mean to say we would hold you back?"

"Lady, I don't know who you are. And right now, I don't care."

"You-!"

"My Queen!"

Cosmos snapped to Noland's voice, who looked at the Silvered Queen with a pleading look.

"He means no such thing. Just as we have our own battles to face, this too is his own battle. This is an enemy he himself must destroy for his own reasons."

"Hmph…"

Cosmos snapped her fingers, making the rifts above her disappear as she joined Noland's side, looking back at Dante.

"Mind your tongue next time, boy. Ally or not, you will suffer the wrath of my Treasury upon your next transgression of insolence." She warned, "Come along, Noland."

As Cosmos began leaving the cavern, Noland looked back a final time at Dante with a concerned look.

"Make sure you win."

The young devil scoffed, making the cane user smile as both he and Cosmos left the cavern.

"Are you sure, boy? The last time we fought, you needed the full force of your… little friends and my daughter. Do you really believe you can win this fight alone?"

Eclypse vanished from sight as Sêrythîl materialized in his hand, the young devil giving the spear a few rapid twirls and swings as platinum Aura trailed with each swing. When he paused, a brief pulse of his Aura burst outwards as the air tremored violently from the sheer pressure.

"Come then, boy. Have your resolution."

The King moved his right leg forward and stomped the ground, a burst of black and gold Aura tearing through the ground. Dante crouched low before leaping high up to the ceiling of the cavern, where he kicked off the wall to give himself a huge boost in momentum and lead with his spear.

Ogrânix stepped aside as the devil crashed into the ground, but the teen wasted no time in tearing Sêrythîl through the ground to launch numerous large shards of rock into the face of the King. He raised his palm up to block the stone, and immediately spun around to slam his fist into the ground.

Dante had already jumped up and landed on his fist, running up the arm of the King before he jumped again, briefly twirling his spear around as he stabbed his enemy's shoulder. He then twisted and churned the spear violently, sickening sounds of torn flesh echoing throughout the cavern as the King roared angrily.

He reached up quickly to pull Dante off him, but the transformed devil leapt out of the way, seeing the huge spear-like vines that dangled off his opponent wriggle to life. They soon shot forward with immense speed, chasing after the teen relentlessly around throughout the cavern. Dante quickly leapt onto a wall and ran up it with blinding speed, kicking off it and spinning around immediately.

As he brought Sêrythîl across his body, nine copies of the spear appeared around him and overhead. When he lashed the spear outwards, the copies shot forward at mach speed, startling sonic booms echoing throughout the cavern. The spear copies easily destroyed the spear-like vines as the destroyed the earth around the king, blinding him temporarily.

Using his massive hand, Ogrânix swept away the smoke, only to see Dante in a lowered stance, Sêrythîl reared back as she blazed with a precise, violent torrent of platinum Aura.

Instead of going on the attack, the Fourth King raised up his hand as a translucent barrier of his own black and gold Aura formed.

The ground cracked underneath Dante's feet as his body crackled with platinum Aura.

"ECLYPTIC..!" The teen shouted in a hollow, echoing voice as he reared back his spear a little more, "PIERCER!"

Like with the copies before, when Dante loosed his spear, a deafening "boom" echoed through the cavern as Sêrythîl was launched forward.

She was like a comet, briefly streaking through the cavern in a perfect line with a brilliant burst of platinum Aura, crashing into the barrier Ogrânix placed. A large explosion of Aura and torn stone shook the cavern violently as rubble and dust filled the cavern, smoke blowing past Dante as he stood perfectly still.

As the tremors settled, Dante unclenched his fist, Sêrythîl appearing in his right hand as he gave her a few triumphant twirls and firmly tapped the butt of the spear into the ground.

The young devil growled silently as his eyes narrowed on the impact zone, seeing that Ogrânix had survived, albeit with a missing left arm. However, that issue was immediately rectified as the vines from the throne pierced into the stump, regrowing his entire arm in seconds. When his flesh and bone had been restored, the vines embraced and covered his unprotected arm like armor.

"It would seem I underestimated you. You aren't the same weak child that stood before me long ago. But it matters not." The King spoke, lowering his arm, "The die has already been cast."

He waved his hand and the throne had split apart, shifting into horn-like columns that twisted inwards to form a sort of hollowed out oval. Black and gold Aura filled the space and crackled to life as gusts of wind seeped out.

"Running away?" Dante asked.

"Your unprecedented arrival is but a small setback in the tapestry that has been woven. Loathe as I am to admit it, more time is required until my plan comes to fruition. If I am to conquer the Worlds, I too must have my own place of Origin."

Origin… Like the Dark World? Does that mean he isn't planning on shattering Remnant like he tried with Primordial?

"The Kingdom of Atlas… A fine place to be the keystone of my new empire. After all… What could be a better location than this World's most prized kingdom, crushed under my heel with the hopes and dreams of this World's denizens?"

He's targeting Atlas?!

"Before I forget… I left a gift for you, boy. It would seem that there was a survivor among the Pantheon. He was… so eager to see you again that I couldn't help but allow him to follow me. I fear he is growing restless and may begin with your 'friends' if you do not hurry."

An unearthly growl escaped Dante as his eyes glowed more furiously, a translucent image of platinum Aura shaped liked his body flickering outwards.

Ogrânix chuckled as he walked towards his portal, "For your sake, boy… You should stay away... and hide while you still can."

Before the teen could move forward, his enemy had vanished inside, his throne shattering to pieces as the vines around the room began to whiter to a pale white.

"Damn it..! That bastard..!"

~Getting angry about it isn't going to change a thing. Ogrânix is back. That's just the reality we have to face now.~

^She's right. At the very least we know where he plans to strike. Fortunately, we too are heading to Atlas.^

*As such, we will have plenty of time to scour the kingdom for that vermin, my Wielder! So worry not!*

Everything they were saying was right. It only took him a few moments to calm down, his transformation undoing itself as he reverted to his normal form.

Dante glanced at his palm, clenching it tightly a few times as he watched the vestiges of his transformation recede and disappear.

Things are going to be different this time.

Ogrânix wasn't as powerful as he used to be, not by a large margin. Then again, he could have been holding back, hiding his true strength to lower Dante's guard.

No… The Fourth King was too proud and audacious for such trickery, which meant…

There was a real chance now. Especially with this "power" that The Seeker granted him.

Normally his power would've bounced off of whatever barrier Ogrânix put up. Whether it was because of The Seeker's gifted power or his own "mixed" power was something he didn't know. All he needed to know was that it worked, and it could bypass the Fourth King's defenses.

This time, the scum wouldn't have anything to hide behind or manipulate the field to his advantage.

---

Noland rested against the obsidian pillar outside, holding a dagger made of pure platinum Aura as he gave it a look over.

Light as a feather and seemingly fragile, like glass. But seeing these "Aura Blades" in action said otherwise.

He saw the blade pulse and immediately tossed it up, seeing Dante appear in place moments later with a rather annoyed look on his face.

"I assume he's escaped?" The raven haired teen asked.

"Unfortunately." The young devil said as he kept walking, Noland following behind, "Thankfully, he's not even close to being as strong as he used to."

"Which means we can kill him. Maybe not with ease, but… Whenever we encounter him again."

"It's not gonna be easy." Dante replied, "He may not be one for complex strategy, but Ogrânix is annoyingly good at putting shit in people's way to keep them occupied, and most importantly, away from whatever he's up to. I doubt it'll be as simple as us showing up in Atlas and nipping the problem in the bud then and there."

"Distractions then, until the moment he reveals himself."

"Exactly. Try as we might, we won't find him like we did this time since he knows we'll be coming for him. Especially not in a Kingdom with territory as large as Mantle and Atlas. We have no choice but to wait until he shows himself. But… we can do our best to prepare for him when we get there."

"Do you think the General will be keen to aid our efforts?"

"I don't know." The teen shook his head, "Frankly, I don't want to tell him. I imagine he has enough on his plate with what happened in Vale and defending Mantle and Atlas. We don't need to add any unnecessary stress."

"Should we tell him at the very least?"

"I feel like we should, but again…" Dante sighed, "I might tell him in the end, but work on the issue myself without him having to devote his resources."

"That way his forces won't be spread out too thin."

"In any case, we need to hurry back. I don't know what, but that bastard left something behind for us." The devil extended his hand, "Come on, we're warping back."

Noland did as instructed, grabbing Dante's wrist as they both vanished in streaks of platinum Aura.

When they materialized, they stood on a cliffside overlooking the town, seeing it under siege.

Numerous Griffons soared the skys and swooped down occasionally to attack the Atlesian soldier on the ground, and in the distance…

"Well now… That seems to be quite the large surprise." Noland pointed out with his cane.

He pointed towards the ocean, where the hard light barriers in place had shut down.

Passing through and currently in battle was a massive Leviathan Grimm half as tall as a skyscraper.

It was a bipedal, aquatic sea Grimm with four humanoid limbs and a long tail. It had four gills on each side of its neck and a collection of dorsal plates protruding from its back, with red webbing between each plate. It had a dolphin-like head with a mouth filled with sharp teeth and three yellow eyes on each side of the head. Like many other Grimm, it also had external ribs.

As to what it was battling aside from swarming airships...

"Ruby and Weiss..?!"

Before he could take another step, he felt three presences by the signal tower far into the forest.

"Blake, Yang…"

…

"Well well, there's a scumbag I haven't seen in a while."

Adam Taurus was with them.

"Noland, head out and help Weiss and Ruby. I'll be heading into town to help Inuba clear out stragglers."

"As you wish."

Tâz appeared in front of Noland and used his talons to grab the handle of Noland's cane, allowing him to carry the teen mid-flight.

"Eclypse?"

The girl appeared in front of Dante, dressed in her combat attire rather than her usual casual wear, her bits of black armor glistening under the sun as she crossed her arms.

"Do I really need to go?" She asked.

"Push comes to shove, I know you'll destroy whatever's in your way. That's why I want you to help Blake and Yang."

Eclypse sighed as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Fine. I guess it can't be helped, since I'm so reliable."

Dante smirked at his Blade's comment, thinking the response so typical of her as her body dematerialized into Aura and surged towards the radio tower, leaving behind faint streaks of platinum Aura.

"As for us… We're on cleanup for the time being."

^I'd much prefer we slay that giant beast first, but all in good time I suppose.^

*Lead the way, good Dante!*

"That's what I like to hear." The young devil smiled, "Seeker?"

As he called for her, the teen's shadow stretched outwards, and from it, The Seeker quickly merged, bowing her head to him.

"If it's within your ability… Would you be able to give me strength once more? If it's too much, then you don't have to-"

"I am here for thee and thee only, Umbral Star. Therefore… I shall do what is asked of me."

He scowled a little at the response. She was his ally, not his servant.

"Don't force yourself if you can't do it, and don't do it because you think you're required to. You're… a friend. Not some slave or servant. I'll ask you when I think it's necessary, but the decision is ultimately yours and yours alone. I'll never force you to do anything you can't do or don't want to do."

From what he's seen so far, The Seeker was never overly expressive, and it was difficult to see any form of emotion given the metallic blindfold she wore. But… even Dante, at that moment, could detect her surprise at his words.

She clutched her staff tightly, but nodded her head nonetheless, prompting Dante to kneel as The Seeker hovered her hand over his head and began her chant.

---

Yang skidded back on her heels, trying to maintain her balance until she finally stopped. Her Aura shimmered briefly before crackling away, her prosthetic hand twitching slightly as she slowly clenched her fingers to cease the spasms.

While built in Atlas, Dante had heavily modified it in Mistral to be more functional while looking more sleek and powerful, as if she were wearing an elegant Knight gauntlet. Above all, it was modified to last.

However, Adam Taurus was truly testing her arm's limit.

The blonde only had a few shells left, and her prosthetic arm had been heavily cut into across multiple sections. Not to mention, she and Blake had already been taking a heavy beating from Adam, but not without dealing him significant damage, as evidenced by the new scar on his already branded left eye.

I don't have much left in me… And Blake isn't better off either… How can he keeping going like this?!

~Giving up already, little dragon?~

Yang's eyes went wide, clearly having heard Eclypse but looked around to see her nowhere. When she and Blake glanced at each other, it was clear the cat faunus had heard her too.

~And here I thought you were the tougher one of the bunch. Was I wrong?~

Where are you?

~Close by. I've been watching for the last five minutes. A rather splendid showing so far.~

You were watching us and didn't think to help?!

~Why should I do that?~

Yang felt heat rising to her face, the girl getting angry with the Blade's words.

~This is Blake's fight and yours. It's not my place to interfere. After all, Dante and I can't be expected to solve all of your problems simply because we're stronger. Relying too much on a good thing makes you docile, makes you weak. That's why… more often than not, you should stand on your own two feet and solve your own problems to the best of your ability.~

How can we beat a psycho like him..?

~Obsession can drive people mad, so much so that they can transcend even pain. In this fool's case, his rage towards humanity, and his unrequited love for your love. Ironic really. It's like watching a lover's quarrel on the evening Soap Opera.~

Get to the point.

~Obsessive rage like his makes him powerful, but it also makes him blind. All mortals eventually tire, however.

Play smart and focus more on evading with a hint of hit and run then…

~Exactly. Perhaps I should award you then for your cleverness?~

Reward..?

~How about it? Do you and your girlfriend want a drop of my power? Enough to push you past your current limits?~

She's..!

Yang paused. This was no time for silly back and forths. She looked back to Blake, thinking she was having an entirely different conversation with Eclypse at the moment. But one thing was clear when their eyes met again.

Both of them knew they needed a small push to help them end this nightmare that's followed Blake relentlessly.

~Show me then what you two can do with a small portion of my power.~

Eclypse's words spoken, Yang suddenly felt her veins light aflame with a new form power as her more major wounds healed up, leaving smaller cuts and bruises alone. Feeling this foreign power in her… It was… otherworldly. It felt like something she wasn't meant to have, and yet it found its way into her hands.

And it felt good.

Is this how Dante feels when he armors up..?

Yang looked over to Blake, the two nodding at one another as both steadily stood back up and glared at Adam.

"Still getting back up? Can't you see how hopeless it is? I already beat the both of you once before, and now you're standing in your graves. All it'll take is one little push."

"A little push, huh? It'll take a lot more than that." Yang chuckled as she clenched her fingers again, "And with the little pep talk I just had… I'm feeling like I can finally kick anyone's ass right about now."

"Pep talk? Did I mess up your head that badly?" Adam scoffed.

"Nope. But now..." the blonde said as she raised up her arms, "You're gonna be in a world of hurt."

Yang smashed her fists together as a metallic "clang" echoed throughout the snowy forest, her yellow Aura flickering around her body. The flickers of Aura turned pitch black soon after, then blazed furiously like an inferno. As her black Aura blazed, it soon gained an outline of golden-yellow, then quickly began to cover both arms.

The black and gold Aura receded from her arms as she punched downwards, revealing twisted, sleek, black-plated armor that covered the entirety of her arms, her fingertips like the claws of a dragon. The edges of the armor and her pauldrons were trimmed in gold and jagged like flames, glowing ever so faintly.

When Yang opened her eyes, her sclerae were pitch black, while her irises remained a lilac color, now glowing faintly.

Unimpressed, Adam sheathed his sword as his body began to glow, then quickly drew and lashed out, unleashing an arcing wave of crimson red.

All the blonde did was slide a foot back, raise up her arms with her left higher and her right lower, and made her palms face each other. As the wave closed in, she brought her left hand down and pushed her right hand upwards, the wave of crimson Aura crashing into a thin, translucent barrier of black and gold Aura.

Yang then did the unthinkable, rotating the position of her hands while bringing them across her body, then pushed her hands outwards forcefully as a loud "boom" and a shockwave surged from her strike.

Adam was already stunned by the action he just witnessed, and barely saw the small blast of Aura in front of him. He raised up his sword as the Aura crashed into it his weapon, surging past the point of contact in a powerful burst that seemingly consumed him.

But when the dust settled, he still remained intact, albeit his clothes now had numerous cuts.

Worst of all, the sharp edge of his sword had been chipped.

That..! That was too much for me to absorb?! More importantly… did she just..?!

"What's wrong? I thought you said it was going to take a little push." Yang smirked.

Adam growled and was ready to charge in, but ceased midway when he saw a shadow looming over him. He turned around to see Gambol Shroud graze his cheek, his Aura protecting him from the cut before he was kicked in the side and sent skidding backwards.

When he stopped, he looked to his attacker, seeing Blake had changed as well.

The cat Faunus' sclerae were also pitch black, while her irises remained an amber color.

Her apparel had changed too.

Blake's discarded coat had reformed fully, only now it was pitch black, and constantly pulsing with a purple sheen. She now had a scarf of black Aura with a purple outline that dangled behind her, its edges jagged and dripping specks of Aura like burnt out embers from a fire.

Gambol Shroud's blade had been reformed, the previously snapped blade now had a pitch black, solid Aura blade in place, sharper than ever.

The ribbon of the weapon resembled her scarf, bristling with black Aura and trimmed with purple.

Adam went straight for Blake, and she dashed straight at him.

Within his expectations, she dodged his slash, leaving behind one of her shadow clones in the process. The angered Faunus initially ignored the clone, heading straight for the cat Faunus. When he saw her smirk as she moved out of his way, Adam's eyes went wide as he froze, spinning around just in time to block a blade.

To his shock, Blake's shadow clone had attacked him briefly before it vanished.

He spun around to see her rushing him this time, taking swings and pushing Adam on the defensive. But with each strike, a clone appeared and attacked a split second after Blake's own attacks, giving Adam no room to breath before he took a punch to his face, Blake and her brief clone striking the Faunus with incredible force that she didn't have before.

Stumbling backwards, Adam was panting heavily, looking between the two girls in utter awe at the situation.

I HAD them! How?! How did they get these new powers all of a sudden?!

His shock turned into an angry glare as he stared at the duo, their respective black Aura's burning brightly around their bodies.

His anger soon turned into fear as he broke out into a cold sweat.

Behind the two was some figure… A woman. Her entire being was pitch black and flickered ominously like a ghost. Then… the woman smiled a wide, toothy grin as she giggled ominously at him.

When Adam blinked, he no longer saw the apparition standing behind Blake and Yang.

What the hell is going on..?!

"I don't understand…"

"What don't you get, genius?"

Adam's eyes snapped to Yang.

Seeing her smile like that… Rage burned in him like an inferno. But the fear he felt earlier…

"In case you didn't get the notice… you've been dumped."

Yang's armored fist blazed with a sphere of flaming black and yellow Aura before she punched at Adam, releasing the ball of flaming Aura as a projectile. She continued peppering him those blasts repeatedly, flaming spheres of Aura shooting out with each punch she aimed at him.

Try as he did to deflect and absorb them, he couldn't. The Aura… It simply refused to be absorbed by his sword or his Semblance. And the more Yang shot at him, the more chips started to form on the edge of his sword.

Blake had already taken the opportunity to dash behind him quickly like a gust of wind, and began assaulting him to. He expected her shadow clones to appear each time, but they didn't. Sometimes they appeared moments after, sometimes they attacked ahead of Blake, and sometimes the cat Faunus feinted her attacks to allow her clones to slip in and strike.

Taking a step back, the cat Faunus quickly ran around Adam with blinding speed then leapt up, leaving four clones at once to dash in and take stabs at Adam. The Faunus only parried two strikes, the other two shadow blades striking him and further lowering his Aura Reserves.

Blake slashed downwards and Adam dodged, only for Yang to land a cracking punch to his jaw. Wild swings were all the confused Faunus swordsmen could do as the two girls mercilessly attacked him nonstop, effortlessly countering and evading him.

Soon enough he took a swing at Yang, only for the blonde to force her armored palm towards the blade point. As soon as they made contact, bit by bit, Adam's sword began to disintegrate from Yang's palm strike until nothing but the handle remained, that too eventually flying out of his hand.

Yang delivered another powerful punch to Adam's face, and Blake spun around to deliver a spinning back heel kick to his stomach, the duo shattering the Aura protecting him.

All he could do in the end was watch as the two grabbed hold of Gambol Shroud and drive it into his chest.

The Aura Blade that reformed Blake's weapon snapped off, stuck in Taurus' chest as he staggered backwards towards the waterfall behind him, gasping as he fell to his knees.

Yang and Blake let out exhausted sighs when they saw Adam lower his head, seemingly dead. In turn, they too staggered backwards and fell, Yang holding Blake in her arms as they hugged one another, their transformations coming undone.

"It's… It's over…" the blonde sighed in relief.

"Finally… It's… It's done…"

Blake slowly took a look at the motionless Adam, her expression twisting into sadness.

"He wasn't always like that… Adam… He just…" Blake began.

"He got too twisted up by the humans that hurt him…"

"And The White Fang was like his means of exacting 'righteous vengeance'... He just… couldn't let go of the pain…"

Their breathing calmed, they looked out into the distance, hearing gunfire and feeling the ground tremor ever so slightly.

"We gotta get back…" Yang said as she helped Blake up.

"Yeah… Let's-"

The duo felt a chill down their spines and spun around to see Adam about to strike them, holding the snapped off Aura Blade that was previously stuck in his chest. His target was clearly Blake with how he aimed to stab, so Yang moved the cat Faunus behind her.

The raven haired Faunus was about to cry out, but then she froze, as did Yang.

Adam's hand wouldn't budge any further, and when he looked to see what stopped him, he saw a black, plated gauntlet firmly staying his hand. He looked further to the side where the hand came from, seeing a girl he didn't recognize.

"E-Eclypse…" Blake managed to say.

"Dear me… It seems that you still haven't learned your lesson after my Master took your arm the first time. And here you are, at it again like some fool."

"Who… the hell are you..?"

"Me? I'm the proud Blade of the Master that took your arm."

Adam's eyes went wide with realization.

"Dan-!"

Before he could finish, the swordsman felt a harsh thud crash into his chest, looking down to see that Eclypse had stabbed him with a copy of herself in sword form, right where his heart was. Blood steadily seeped out from his wound, and shortly after, he vomited a considerable amount of blood.

"Poor Adam Taurus… Rejected by humanity and the seemingly the World itself. You were so caught up with taking revenge that you became nothing but an obsessed maniac. Worst of all, when you steadily pushed away the one person that showed any care for you, you just couldn't let go."

The Faunus weakly reached up in vain to try and remove the sword from his body.

"And what did you accomplish? Nothing. You achieved nothing. You reformed nothing. Worst of all… your wanton need for vengeance has only made you more alone than you were before. No wonder you're such a pathetic failure. And now…"

Eclypse faced Adam fully and lifted him up off his feet effortlessly like a skewered animal, steadily walking towards the waterfall while the Faunus hung limply on the blade.

His eyes were dull, but he still had a faint amount of life left in him, still trying to reach up at the platinum haired girl.

Then she stopped, dangling Adam over the edge.

"Now you can die a pathetic death fitting for a wretch like you."

Eclypse raised up her left hand and pushed Adam off her sword, watching him fall into the mist of the rapids below. For good measure, her blade brimmed with a small, violent flow of platinum Aura, and was then turned upside down before being harshly thrown down into the mist below. As she walked away, a startling boom echoed from below, making the ground tremor a brief moment as water rose up and splashed onto the cliffside behind the Blade.

"So, how-?"

"You didn't have to say all of that." Blake interrupted Eclypse

"Huh?"

"I said you didn't have to say all of that to him while he was-"

"Seriously, Kit Kat? Are you really that naive?"

"Hey, you don't have to-"

"Quiet." Eclypse spoke sharply with a brief glare, making Yang choke on her words as she remained frozen, "Maybe I didn't have to say what I said. Maybe I could have had a tea party with him instead." The girl scoffed with a shrug.

"How can you act like that?" Blake asked.

"Like what?"

"Cruel… Even when you-"

"Killed him?"

The cat Faunus shuddered at the word, despite having set her mind to the task a while ago, if it came to that.

"The whole of Creation can be cruel. Some are better off than others, and some are simply ruined from the start. In Worlds filled with agony and despair, it helps a little to be cruel with all the shit lying in wait out there. You don't always have to be cruel…" Eclypse shrugged, glancing at her sword copy as she swiped it outwards, cleaning it of Adam's blood, "But whenever necessary." She said, lowering her blade, "Let's face it Blake… No matter how far away you'd run, or whatever hole you'd dig yourself into, he would have gone after you until the day he died. And now… Well, he's dead. Problem solved."

The Blade moved towards the clearing, placing a hand on her hip.

"If you spend all your time worrying about looking perfect and pretty while trying to protect others or the World… you'll only die a lot quicker and a hell of a lot more miserable."

…

"Are things that messed up wherever you came from?" Yang asked.

"In a manner of speaking. While Humanity and the various sentient Entities managed to come together amicably, there were always more… powerful forces that plotted and schemed to upturn everything. Even the Angels, the good guys, weren't anywhere near as good as they'd have you believe. But like all things, there are a few that are an exception." Eclypse sighed, "In a World like the one we came from, cruelty can be an essential aspect to survival. But not so much that you become like an animal. No offense."

"None taken." Blake replied.

"Now if we're just about done, I need to evacuate you safely before I rejoin my Master. After all…" the Blade looked out into the distance, watching the battle near the shore, "Something big is on its way here."

---

"Okay kids! We're gonna go to the shelter and everything will be ok! And when it's over, Dante can pick you right up Kianna, so don't worry about it!"

Saphron was hurriedly walking down the street with Aiden and Kianna in her arms, her and the other civilians being escorted by a few soldiers from Atlas, as well as the local police. The perimeter at the shore had been breached, but the soldiers from the base were keeping them occupied, while a few detachments escorted civilians to safety.

Even with all this in mind, Saphron was still immensely nervous at the sight of Griffons flying up above close to the shore. They may not have been anywhere close, but… Just seeing them…

She may not have been running, but she quickened her pace all the more.

"Contact!"

Gunfire echoed throughout the street as the civilians spotted some Beowolves running down the street, the Atlesian soldiers picking them off one by one. Regardless of how many of them the soldiers killed, more came running, and eventually, a few Griffons from the swarm started to take an interest. The soldiers focused fire down the street and above them, two of them shepherding the civilians towards the street across them.

As the civilians shuffled by, more soldiers from the shelter across the street joined their allies, forming two protective lines as they gunned down the Grimm that dared come close to them or the civilians. Even with their effective killing, there were still too many.

As one soldier at a time was being carried away by a Griffon that swooped in, chaos erupted as the civilians began to push and shove each other out of the way to reach the shelter quickly.

It was in this chaotic frenzy for safety that Saphron had been knocked down. Even when she fell, she made sure Aiden and Kianna were safe by cradling their heads with both arms and landing more on her side. She was towards the rear of the group, so thankfully there weren't too many people around, even if the blonde mother was knocked around a bit.

She placed a hand to her head, seeing that she was bleeding slightly, but had her attention quickly pulled away by Kianna, who was tugging on her shirt and pointing towards one of the buildings.

"Aiden!" Saphron screamed, seeing her child had scrambled out of her arms.

The baby was crawling his way over to the building across the street, grabbing hold of a silver whistle that Dante had given him and Kianna to play with.

"Ma'am, we have to go!" One of the soldiers insisted, helping up the woman.

"I'm not leaving without my child!"

Amongst their arguing and the soldier trying to usher the mother away, Kianna wriggled free from Saphron's arms and landed on both feet, waddling over to Aiden as quickly as she could.

He was blowing on the whistle, or at least trying to, but could only manage a few faint whistles at best. It was then Kianna remembered something Dante had told her. She remembered him saying that if they were in trouble, Kianna was to blow on the whistle as hard as she could, then either Dante himself or Inuba would be there in an instant.

It would seem Aiden remembered this as well, considering he was doing his best to blow on it.

As soon as Kianna came over, she grabbed the whistle out of Aiden's hands, took a long, deep breath, and then blew on the whistle as hard as she could.

A small tuft of fire emerged from the whistle's gaps as a shrill, piercing whistling noise echoed throughout the streets continuously for about ten seconds. Kianna was breathing heavily, looking up to see that a few Beowolves had broken through the line of soldiers and was heading straight for them.

All she did was fix them a stern glare as she shielded Aiden by standing in front.

Before they reached her, a white katana blade pierced the skull of one as a scaly, dark platinum, foot smashed into the skull of the other, both of the Grimm forced away.

Inuba ripped her katana free of the Grimm she killed while Dante came to a skidding halt after using his Grimm's head as a skateboard, leaving barely anything left of its skull.

Kianna happily cooed at the sight of her two caretakers standing in front of them, and watched in complete awe as the duo began their next assault.

The transformed teen had Eclypse out in her handcannon form, firing off shots at the Beowolves down below. Inuba made a few strange hand-signs unknown to the little dragon girl, but was amazed once she saw a massive column of white fire erupt from her person, shooting up into the sky before splitting apart into numerous flaming tails that rapidly began tearing the Griffons apart.

Within a matter of seconds, the Grimm in the vicinity had been eliminated.

Inuba turned her blade upside down and pierced it into the asphalt of the street, surges of white flame quickly spreading outwards as numerous death cries of Grimm echoed throughout the streets. The flames reached up towards the start of the coast, quickly forming a massive wall that merged into the ceiling of hardlight shielding, completely blocking off the Grimm from town.

"Please continue to proceed with the evacuations unhindered!" Inuba instructed the soldiers.

Hearing Kianna's happy cries, the kitsune immediately rushed over and took the dragon girl into her arms along with Aiden, both of the young children happily hugging Inuba's head.

"Yes, I'm here!" She giggled happily as her fox ears flicked happily along with her nine white tails.

Saphron broke free of the soldier that held her back and rushed over, the kitsune immediately handing over Aiden.

"Thank you, Inuba! Thank you!"

"No need to thank me, really." The kitsune replied.

Both had their attention drawn by Kianna who was reaching out towards the Draconic Devil that stood a short distance away. Inuba tilted her head towards Kianna, prompting the transformed Dante, who was rather hesitant, to walk over. Even when he was close, Kianna was unafraid as she cooed in awe while staring at him, still keeping her hand out.

The young devil let out a slight chuckle, raising up his hand to high five the dragon girl.

"New suit?" Saphron asked jokingly.

"My Sunday best." The devil replied.

Tremors turned everyone's heads towards the coast.

"Get to the shelter. This'll be over soon enough." Dante said.

With a nod, Saphron quickly walked off towards the shelter as the last few civilians began to huddle inside.

"I'll take Kianna to the airship." Inuba said.

"What's the word on that Leviathan?" Dante asked.

"It's hide is too tough for conventional weapons fire. However, when fighting the mech unit piloted by Special Operative Cordovin, it seemingly suffered external damage. Noland mentioned he had a plan, but..."

"She had a Mecha?!" The young devil asked in an amazed tone.

"Focus. Please." Inuba said sharply.

"Yes ma'am…"

"Ruby's silver eyes affected the Leviathan and froze it temporarily, and while Cordovin left a large wound, she couldn't finish it off. After a brief recess to strategize, Noland came up with a plan to plant an ice based Dust Bomb into that wound once it's been opened up more. The method of delivery, Ruby and her Semblance."

"Use a person that's hard to pin down to deliver a bomb and freeze the body to make it more brittle to break apart… Good plan. I'm gonna help clear the way for her."

"Please be safe." Inuba said.

The kitsune leaned forward to plant a kiss on Dante's lips, but remembered he was transformed and awkwardly paused, unsure of how to proceed.

She couldn't see it, but she felt that her lover had given her an expectant quirk of his brow.

"Oh hush." She said, standing up on her toes to plant a quick kiss on his cheek.

"I didn't say anything."

"You thought it."

The teen chuckled before he quickly turned around and dashed off into the distance towards the Leviathan.

Inuba sighed, looking down to see Kianna smirking at her.

"Oh, you hush too." She said, pinching the dragon girl's nose gently.

---

"Ready?" Weiss asked.

"Yes. Remember, close in once we've opened the wound." Noland informed.

The heiress handed Ruby the cylindrical, makeshift ice bomb that was no bigger than her forearm as she squatted down low, ready to jump out the airship at any time. Shortly after, Noland jumped out of the airship, Tâz forming above and immediately grabbing hold of his cane to quickly fly him over to the massive Grimm that was still trying to swat airships out of the sky.

Looking behind him, he saw that Dante was surging forward from the coast, using the broken rubble and airships on the water as stepping stones.

Flying down low, Noland landed on the hull of one of the sinking ships that had long been evacuated, waiting for Dante to catch up. Tapping his cane on the water's surface a platform of stone rose from the water, allowing him to step onto it as Dante landed near him.

"Heard you had a plan."

"Indeed. But… I have need of your… abundant source of Aura."

The transformed teen looked over to Noland.

"Big Guy?"

A slow nod.

"Alright… Work your magic then, Noland."

The raven haired teen raised his cane up to his side, prompting Dante to grab hold of it. Wisps of his dark platinum Aura seeped into the cane as Noland's own black Aura blazed around him. Taking a deep breath, the Grimoire user raised up his left hand and snapped his fingers, a bolt of black shooting up into the sky past the clouds.

Sounds of thunder cascaded from the clouds as they parted in a circular shape. A large black comet burst through, quickly crashing into the waters just a short distance away from Noland and Dante.

And then the ocean began to tremble.

Both Dante and Noland began to steadily rise up, a colossal figure emerging from the ocean as the two teens found themselves riding on the shoulder of this creature.

Its body was pitch black, and it's arms looked thin but they were at least as thick as a bus, and spanned fifty feet for each limb. The main body had to be around one hundred feet tall overall to match the Leviathan's size as the new beast's titanic body rose from the ocean completely, its body thin as well, while its legs matched the same thin, almost skeletal nature of its arms.

It's blackened body was smooth, and gave off a slight shine along with the twisted, purple swirls that tattooed its entire body. It's face had no eyes or a nose, while purple markings swirled around its "face". The mouth sported a maw of dozens upon dozens of long, black, sharp teeth that were fused to the hide of its face. Lastly were its black horns, which were long and curved like an Ox's, the tips glowing with dark purple Aura.

When the beast opened its mouth to show the furnace of glowing, dark purple energy within, it let out a shrill, ear piercing roar that sounded like thousands of shards of broken glass scraping and crunching together.

"You have a Diabolica?!" Dante raised his voice, making sure Noland could hear him.

"A fortunate find in an abandoned Dust Mine in Anima. Of course, it was smaller and nearly dead!"

"So you just gave him a boost then?! What if's he not keen on taking orders?!"

"He knows full well who assisted him in continuing his existence! He'll do as I say! However, the main issue is that he takes too much Aura to summon! Let alone at this size!"

"Which is why you needed me and my 'abundant Aura', right?!"

Noland nodded his head.

"Alright then Godzilla, do your thing!"

"His name is Xilâk!"

"Are you seriously harping me about his name right now?!"

"Unless you want him to listen to you..!"

"Ugh!" The transformed Dante slapped his hand onto his armored forehead, dragging it down before he looked over to the giant and pointed at the Leviathan, "Xilâk!" He shouted, making the giant Grimm look down to its shoulder to see him, "Make like Gozilla and kick that thing's ass!"

The Diabolica looked back at the Leviathan, letting out a challenging, shrill roar. Xilâk then outstretched his arms at its equally titanic opponent and began wading through the waters hurriedly. The Leviathan did the same, letting out a challenging roar of its own as the airships surrounding it cleared out.

Both of the colossal creatures charged each other, and with mental feedback from Dante, Xilâk followed his instruction and hunched over to throw his shoulder into the Leviathan. An echoing crash that could only be described as two mountain crashing into one another echoed across coast as the ground quaked heavily, the Diabolica forcing its foe back a short distance.

Angered, the Leviathan quickly recovered as its mouth opened up, crackling with orange fire that shot out like a massive beam of concentrated flame. The beam almost reached the city, but Xilâk had grabbed the creature's throat while using the other to restrain his opponent's hand, quickly forcing it's head upwards so the beam of intense flame shot up into the sky instead.

When it ceased, the Diabolica pushed back his titanic other, almost toppling it over. As the Leviathan regained its balance, it spun around to slam its fist down, but Xilâk's longer arms gave him the advantage, as he had already raised up his massive hand and slammed it atop the Leviathan's to halt its attack.

The massive Grimm's next attack was an attempted grapple, to which the monolithic Diabolica responded in kind as their hands collided together. Both of the massive creatures pushed back as hard as they could, but despite its thin arms, Xilâk was the stronger beast, and slowly rotated the Leviathan's arms downwards to painfully force the underside of its forearms upwards.

With mental instruction from Dante, the Diabolica reared back its head and smashed its sharp edged forehead into the Leviathan's face, forcing it back whilst leaving a deep gash on its left eye.

With their opening, Noland and the transformed Dante slid down onto the raised hand of Xilâk, planting themselves on his backhand as he swung. The Leviathan, not intent on lying down, tried to retaliate, only to receive a crushing punch from the combined force of the Diabolica's sharp edged knuckles, and the two teens' weapons.

Lowering its hand, Xilâk let down Dante and Noland onto a platform the cane Wielder formed, the two looking to see the Leviathan still didn't have enough yet.

It's mouth brimmed with flames, charging up its beam attack as Noland's Diabolica hunched over, opening its maw wide as the purple energy within crackled and flooded outwards.

The Leviathan shot first, and Xilâk followed suit, orange flames and twisted black and purple energy colliding together, loosing a powerful shockwave that traveled across the coast. For a few short seconds, the collision of energies seemed even, but with more energy input from Dante, the Diabolica eventually pushed back its opponent's beam and forced its powerful, destructive energy down its throat, causing an explosion that blanketed the head of the Leviathan.

Triumphant, Xilâk let out a mighty, shrill roar as it titled its head back, its powerful cries sounding throughout all of Argus as its body became like black sludge and broke apart, falling into the ocean.

The smoke from the other colossal Grimm cleared, showing that the right side of its head and part of its mouth had been destroyed, but the beast was still keen on continuing the battle.

"You need to get closer and deepen the gash on its left shoulder!" Noland briefly pointed out for Dante, then dipping his cane into the waters as an icey rail began to form, "Go! I'll make the path for you!"

Without a word, the Draconic Devil leapt down onto the curving rail of ice, his momentum shooting him forward as his feet skated on the thin rail. Quickly approaching, the teen leap off the ice rail with great force, landing on the hand of the Leviathan as he readied Navâra. The teen then ran up the Grimm's arm, leaving deep cuts in its hide to leave it until it reached its shoulder, making the arm unusable.

With another mighty leap into the air, Dante shot up with an intense burst of speed, spinning around as he slowed down and began free-falling. Taking note of the teen, the Leviathan reared up its head and began taking pot shots at Dante with its flame beams, the young devil dodging and slashing through the blasts undeterred.

In a final effort, it let loose a continuous beam of flame, Dante bringing forth Eclypse as he too loosed a continuous beam of dark platinum Aura when he swung his sword.

With his diversion in place, the teen moved out of the way, Noland falling with him now after Tâz dropped him in from above. The duo quickly approached the gash in its shoulder and both sword and cane pierced deep into the Grimm's flesh, black and dark platinum Aura surging outwards in a powerful explosion that blanketed the area in smoke and wisps of Aura.

From the smoke emerged Dante, carrying Noland like a bundle of logs under his arm as they landed on a cliffside nearby.

Once he was let go, Noland quickly brought out his Scroll, panting heavily as Dante shot forward like a bolt of lightning back towards the gigantic Grimm.

"Now Ms. Rose!"

Taking his cue, Ruby jumped out from the airship with the makeshift Ice Dust Bomb, using her Semblance to propel herself through the air. She took brief pauses to land on nearby airships, using them as stepping stones as she zipped closer and closer to the monolithic Grimm.

Just as she landed on the last ship she needed as a boost and kicked off it, Ruby looked up just then in shock to see the Grimm's massive hand ready to swat her down into the ocean.

"ECLYPTIC EDGE!"

Ruby looked over to see Dante dashing through the air towards the side of the Leviathan's hand, his body rapidly spinning around three times as he brought his sword across his body, held it with both hands and swung outwards.

Instead of unleashing a wave of Aura from Eclypse, he contained the super densified Aura to his blade and used his body's strength to easily cut through the Leviathan's hand with a loud, metallic ring as he passed by. In one slash, he cut away the entire top half of its palm and fingers while leaving a blazing, glowing trail of dark platinum Aura as Ruby safely passed over its cut hand.

Using her Semblance, the reaper in red landed safely on the wounded section of its shoulder, quickly punching in a four digit code before she dropped the bomb into the hole fabricated in the creature's flesh.

As quickly as she arrived, Ruby zipped away back to the airship using her Semblance as a harsh blast echoed across the coast, the air becoming chilly soon after. The Leviathan let out pained cries as its body began to turn pale and freeze over, the waters below even turning to ice.

Its body completely frozen from the inside, Dante stood on a stone outcrop near the coast, Sêrythîl reared back and bursting with dark platinum Aura.

"ECLYPTIC..! PIERCER!"

Like a lightning bolt hurled by Zeus, Dante threw Sêrythîl with a thunderous "boom", instantly closing in on the frozen Grimm. When the spear collided, a powerful explosion of dark platinum Aura shook the area for a few moments. And when the dust and wisps of Aura cleared…

Nothing remained of the great Leviathan Grimm.

---

"Another legend added to your story." Noland spoke up, standing next to Dante.

"Shut up." The transformed teen said, slinging Sêrythîl over his shoulder, "I'm not in it for the fame."

"Which I find strange."

Dante turned his armored head towards the cane-user, who gave the young devil a shrug.

"Many start with the same lofty ideals as you and Ms. Rose. 'Become a hero and save others', and such. But when people realize just how much they can do with the title of a Huntsmen or a Huntress, the intended path begins to stray." Noland reasoned, "Then, their motivations either change to acquiring untold fame and glory, power, or obtaining great wealth. Such is the nature of sentient beings."

"Some, sentient beings."

"Like you?"

Dante shook his head, "While I understand the importance and necessity of money, I'll never consider wealth more important than people's lives. That's why whenever some schmuck thinks they can buy me off, I always break a few fingers."

"And the fame?"

"I could give less than two shits if I'm famous, infamous or whatever the hell else there is. I'm not not here to be a superstar, and I'm not here to go down in history. I just want to help people. That's all."

"If you don't value fame, titles, power, or wealth… then what do you value?" Noland asked.

"People, and my connections to them." Dante answered without hesitation, "The one thing I wanted in my life more than anything was to not be lonely. To have people around you that you can have a good time with together, laugh, cry… All that kind of stuff. That's why I'll always try my best to keep the people important to me safe."

"Foolishness…"

"For you maybe."

"Even so… While you may be foolish to an extent, at the very least you're honest and rather trustworthy."

"Was that a compliment?"

"Don't get used to it." The cane-user spoke.

"Personal stuff aside… We gotta talk about your Secret Weapon when we get the chance."

"I know. When we reach Atlas, I'll divulge this secret in full detail. That aside… You seem to be fixated on the waters."

Dante remembered the warning Ogrânix had given him.

"I'm not just sightseeing you know…"

"The Griffons have fled along with the other Grimm after the Leviathan was defeated."

"I know, but that bastard Ogrânix… He said something about a survivor of The Pantheon."

"The Pantheon?"

"Back in my World, we had this territory called Greece. In it were some Old Deities that were around a few hundreds years after Primordial's creation, and they were the one of the strongest bunch of Deities that roamed The World. A few years back, they and some Deities from other lands decided they want to step back in. Thing is, the talks weren't so amicable, since they wanted to take ownership of everything we had and wanted to rule over us."

"I assume negotiations broke down?"

"Without question. We argued that we didn't need them or their rulership since we were doing fine on our own. And we especially didn't want to fall under the rule of Deities. The 'Greek Gods', otherwise known as The Pantheon, didn't take kindly to our refusal of their 'godly generosity' and threatened to dominate us within a week's time if they came back and we still refused."

"I assume that didn't happen in the end?"

"You're damn right it didn't. After we made preparations, my allies and I attacked their precious mountain territory Olympus two days later. The short of it is that we left only four Deities alive based on who we knew didn't want any involvement at all, and one supporter. Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt. Demeter, the Goddess of Harvest and Fertility of the Earth. The only one who didn't give a shit at all… Hades, Ruler of the Underworld in the Greek Territory. And lastly… Heracles, the Half Deity of Strength and Perseverance."

"The rest you killed, then?" Noland asked.

"I did. They weren't as 'good' or 'noble' as they wanted us to believe. Even Athena, who was supposed to be more just, had her own plans of ruling over humanity." Dante let out a hollow, echoing sigh, "I didn't like Deities all that much before. But after kicking them out of our cities for the shit they were up to? And after the assault on Olympus? It only cemented a deep dislike for their kind."

"Now one of them has arrived on a promise of vengeance from a demonic usurper…"

"Standing here and lookin out at the ocean… I think I have a good idea as to who it might be."

Noland's eyes trailed the ocean, seeing that the waves were moving unnaturally, almost splitting apart down the middle as they approached the coast.

"What is..?"

"Get back to the ship, Noland."

"Wouldn't it be better if I stayed to assist you?"

"Normally? Yes." Dante said as he firmly grasped Sêrythîl, "But this isn't something you should risk your life for."

"And my life is any more significant than yours?"

"That's not what it's about. This guy's a survivor of The Pantheon. Which means his sole focus is gonna be on me. You shouldn't get caught up in this."

"I've already entangled you in my affairs. It's only fair that I should assist you." Noland explained.

"Suit yourself. But keep your distance."

With a nod, the cane-wielder summoned Tâz to grab hold of his cane, "Don't drown, pretty boy!" The Grimm spoke as he flew away with his summoner.

Dante only shook his head as he watched the splitting waves approach.

^Hmph… A Deity… It's been a while… So, what exactly are we walking into?^

And spoil the surprise?

^Cheeky brat…^

The transformed devil narrowed his eyes on the waves as they ceased their approach, the waves sinking on themselves as they began to part and create a stairway.

A figure emerged from the darkness of the parted sea, and while he wore different clothes, he was still very much the same.

He wore a deep blue, long sleeved top that fitted to his muscular figure, and completely exposed the center of his body down to his waist, showing his neck, his pectorals, his stomach, and a nasty large scar running diagonally from his waist to his chest. His long sleeves flowed into plated gold gauntlets that resembled waves meshing together. The man's pants were deep blue like his top, but were slightly puffy at the ends as they flowed into his gold plated greaves, sporting the same design similar to his gauntlets.

His face was still the same; quite young and handsome, skin slightly pale, chin length messy blond hair parted towards the left, and light blue eyes that faintly glowed and crackled with power. And of course… how could Dante forget the other scar he left the man, which ran down from his forehead, over the bridge of his nose and to the corner of his lip.

Most memorable of all was the trident the man held. The shaft was a mesh of gold silver, resembling the flowing waves of the ocean, the butt split open in eight crown tips. The trident blade, colored a deep blue with a faint glow, had two of the outer prongs curve inwards before curving outwards slightly, while the center remained completely straight. The tips were barbed, and the prongs sported small serrations, as if they were shark teeth.

"So…" The man spoke, his voice smooth with a faint, seductively sinister tone, "This is the World where the Failed Hero Dante has been hiding on. How quaint."

A brief, distorted hiss escaped the devil, "Triton… The Failure Son of Poseidon that never quite managed to make daddy proud… Drinking and whoring his way into a despicable reputation."

"I see you haven't dropped your nasty habit of insulting others superior to you."

"You? Superior?" Dante scoffed, "I must've scrambled your brain like an egg if you think that."

Triton snarled as he slammed the butt of his trident in the water, closing up the parted sea and completely stilling the waters as he stood atop them.

He's different. His Deific Soul, it's…

"You bastard… Did you really sink that low?" Dante asked.

The Son of Poseidon smirked, "I was quite damaged after our battle, you know? So much so that my body was constantly wracked with unending pain. A result of your… infernal residual Soul Energy, constantly gnawing at my flesh." He spoke, staring at his fist, "That pain only fueled my fury. But… NOTHING, was more painful than when you murdered my father!"

The seas reacted with his furious voice, a colossal circle forming around them and steadily rising up.

"Your father Poseidon, like you and the vast majority of The Pantheon, was nothing but a swine. A jealous thug that crushed anything and anyone that refused. A bastard that looked down on everyone and thought of people as his toys. A murder. A scumbag rapist. And you know what?" Dante spoke as he stepped forward, raising up his thumbs so Triton could see them, "It brought me so much joy when I butchered that pig and gouged his eyes out. And he didn't go easy, shit-heel. He screamed just as horribly as Zeus did when my thumbs broke through his skull."

Triton growled before he screamed, the waves rising with the rage his voice unleashed, the circle around them now complete and resembling a coliseum.

"Just because you've got daddy's trident doesn't mean you'll measure up the same, Fallen Deity."

"You'll eat those words once these waves devour you! And who knows… Maybe I'll have my way with that fox bitch of yours when she comes running to save you!"

Dante's dark platinum Aura flared up around his entire body in an intense burst as an unearthly growl escaped him, the air shaking violently from the incredible pressure.

"I'm going to take that trident you're so proud of, break it in half, and stab you in the neck with it. Then, I'm going to gouge your eyes out like how I did with your pig father."

"Do you really think I'm the slightest bit afraid of you? You're weaker than you once were! You can't-!"

In the midst of his boast, Triton received a bone crushing punch to the face, bloodying it with that one strike. When he looked back, he was shocked when he saw the transformed Dante standing in front of him. As if to rudely bring him back to his senses, the young devil simply raised up his palm and slapped the son of Poseidon in the face with enough force to spin him and make him fall to his knees.

"Yeah. That just happened, fish-fucker." He explained, extending his scaly hand to summon Eclypse to it, "Now get the hell up."

Triton angrily roared as he pushed himself back up and swung his trident, missing Dante's neck by a mere inch as the devil leaned back. The fallen Deity's attacks were quick and quite powerful with how they kept forcing Dante back with each strike. His strikes didn't have the same fluidity and precision his father Poseidon did, but they were fairly close.

Triton didn't just swing his father's trident around aimlessly; every few attacks, he scraped his weapon against the surface of the water, the slicing and piercing water following the trails the trident made with each swing and stab. The water was problematic with how the attacks were continuous, and often forced away Dante's blocks to allow Triton brief windows to attack with his trident.

Aura Swords would have been useless since they either would have been swallowed up or pierce through the water without stopping the attack. So instead, the Draconic Devil channeled a continuous burst of Aura into Eclypse, not making a continuous torrent of deadly energy, but keeping his power contained to the blade.

That gave him a much needed boost to directly overpower both Triton and his powerful waves of water, the Son of Poseidon eventually forced back by a powerful two handed swing from his foe. Needing a new strategy, he plunged the tip of his trident into the ocean, massive tendrils of water surging upwards like the tentacles of a kraken. To add more pressure to his attacks, Triton feed more power into his trident, which in turn fed into the tendrils and made their tips rotate violently like a drill.

Dante didn't allow the tendrils to get close, and as if to mock the fallen Sea Deity's son, began to unleash the contained dark platinum Aura into a flowing, wave-like whip. Minimal flicks of his wrist made the singular wave of Aura dance violently, cutting the waves continuously in rapid motions and preventing them from getting closer.

Frustrated, Triton stomped his foot atop the surface of the water, and when Dante looked down, he saw the water bubbling beneath him. Wasting no time, he dodged out of the way as a geyser like blast of water surged from where he last stood. But that wasn't the end, for wherever Dante landed on the water, more geyser blasts began to erupt from beneath, constantly forcing him to dodge and leap about, all while contending with the deadly tendrils Poseidon's son kept sending his way.

"I can do this all day Aetherveil! You're bound to tire eventually! So long as I'm in my element, my power is virtually limitless!"

As he boasted, Triton was too late to notice the large shard of ice dangling above the two warriors. When it dropped, it sank into the waters like a rock before the water around the son of Poseidon froze over, both ceasing his attacks and trapping his trident in the water. Using his power, the Fallen Deity accelerated the water's molecules to create heat and melt the ice, but by the time he freed himself, an arcing wave of dark platinum Aura came rushing at him.

He chuckled, confident that he'd be able to block Dante's large wave with his father's trident. But unaware, he was forcefully shoved from behind, throwing him off balance and pushing him forward. When he looked behind him, Triton gasped in utter shock when he saw the transformed Dante was the one who shoved him, his scream deafened by the screeching wave of Aura as it crashed into him and unleashed a continuous, explosive burst.

The young devil looked off into the distance towards the cliffside, throwing a thumbs up in that direction as he saw Noland return the gesture.

"Damn… you..!"

The teen turned his head back, seeing Triton had survived the attack, albeit with numerous cuts and deep gashes adorning his body, parts of his gauntlets, rent to pieces. His trident only had a few scratches on it.

"You're not… supposed to be this strong!"

"I told you, didn't I? Just because you have your father's trident doesn't mean you'll measure up the same." Dante explained, "That aside, do you really not get what's going on here?"

Poseidon's son remained silent, looking at the teen nervously with shuddering breaths.

Then the devil pointed to him, "You were left here as the sacrificial lamb."

The Deity's eyes widened.

"Yeah, that bastard might've given you some power to take 'revenge' on me, sure. But… Did you ever stop to consider why he himself isn't here to help you crush me? Or one of his other ugly ass servants?"

"Because I can-!"

"Kill me? Hah. Don't make me laugh, Triton. Sure you've got the drive, the fancy toy, and decent enough power. But a guy like you? A drunkard coddled by his father until he was thrown out? A fool that's barely been in any real fights? Face facts, man. You never stood a real chance. You were sent here to die so some dickhead could run and live another day."

"No."

Triton's voice was firm, the water beneath his feet bubbling slightly.

"I hold the power of my father, Poseidon. And I hold a fragment of that wretch's power." The Deity spoke, "I lived and prepared myself for this day for many moons. Unfortunately, I underestimated you a great deal, and relied on those rumors too much. If anything… your blade and your power is much sharper than it used to be. However…!"

The waves surged around the Deity, roaring loudly.

"I will not fall until I have your head! You will meet your pathetic end this day! Just like your 'Queen' did!"

Dante's eyes narrowed, fixing a harsh glare on the taunting Triton.

"Do I really need to repeat myself?" Dante spoke, his hollow, echoing voice more chilling than ever.

The moment Poseidon's son blinked, the Draconic Devil had completely vanished from sight. Feeling a firm tug on his father's trident, Triton spun around in horror, seeing the young Devil standing at his side.

Before he could make another move, the arm holding Poseidon's trident had been sliced clean off.

With a single fluid motion, Dante twirled around to Triton's front after grabbing his trident, cutting off the other arm before he spun around another time and harshly threw the trident into his foe's stomach, the head completely emerging from the other end as the Deity was launched a great distance.

Like a well thrown rock, Triton's body thrashed against the surface of the water numerous times until he crashed into an outcrop of rocks, shattering the small mound to pieces.

Makes me wonder who else that bastard brought with him… Maybe he knows I'd be thinking exactly that since he brought Triton. If so… that might mean he's here alone with the Lesser Entities he'll keep making. He's desperate. Finding Ogrânix made him accelerate his timetable. Now I just gotta-

The waters behind Dante exploded into a colossal geyser as the oceans trembled, cyan Aura emerging from the burst as the waters shot up further and took the shape of a Greek themed pillar.

At the top stood Triton, his top now completely torn from his person as his wounds became sealed, adding new scars. His light blonde hair was now pale, and had streaks of black running through, his sclerae now pitch black as his light blue eyes glowed faintly.

In place of the stumps that used to be his arms were fabricated arms made of his cyan Aura, glowing fiercely as he held his father's trident.

The skies began to darken, black clouds filtering in as rain steadily drizzled before pouring intensely.

"So you really did taint your Deific Soul with Dark Powers…"

"As I said before, I've been preparing myself for this day! I loathe the fact that I ruined my pristine being with such ugly power… But it was a necessary sacrifice in order to crush you beneath my heel and avenge my father! The entirety of my family whom you murdered!"

"Like I said… Swine and scoundrels. They deserved their bloody ends."

"Who the hell are you to judge us, abomination?! We were the greatest of the Deities! The godliest of Gods! And you slaughtered us! For what?! The safety and peace of those feeble mortals and wretched creatures?!"

"Those 'feeble mortals' you're so keen to look down on aren't nearly as feeble as you think. Yes, there is great weakness in them… but there is also great strength. Strength, which allows them to overcome odds, come together and find a way forward in the darkest of times. You should know this, since one of your cousins, a mortal, is Heracles."

"Don't you dare speak that traitor's name! That blasphemer that..!"

Triton fell silent, unclenching his fist as he looked up towards the sky, took a deep breath, and exhaled.

"He'll get his soon enough… But you… I will make you suffer by killing and enslaving those you hold dear."

"Kill me first. Then gloat about it later instead of daydreaming, fish-fucker."

Triton swiped his trident, and Dante was immediately assaulted with winding, torrential blasts of water. At first it was two, then five, then ten. The young devil was forced to switch to hit-and-run tactics, constantly on the move to avoid the violent, crushing torrents of water.

Noland threw as many ice-spear bomb spells as he could, but with how violently the waters twisted inwards constantly, and the sheer mass of the tendrils, he could only freeze a few at a time before they replaced each other.

At the very least, Dante was given some respite, but when he turned to face Triton, he growled in frustration.

An army of creatures stood on the waters before him. Their bodies were humanoid and made from water, but their heads were like serpents, hands shaped like scythe blades with thin plates of stone armoring portions of their bodies.

This was very much like the army Poseidon summoned against the devil long ago, only these troops were smaller, more numerous and not giant sized.

Wasting no time, Dante swapped Eclypse out for Navâra, her blade brimming with dark platinum Aura as he charged into the swarming crowd of enemies. Every quick swing killed dozens at a time with how his Aura lashed about wildly as he slashed. But only more continued to form from the depths with each dozen he slaughtered.

Triton watched on with glee as he watched his minions steadily overwhelm Dante, piling onto him and eventually swallowing him up within the mass of bodies.

A surge of dark platinum Aura shot out from the center and sliced down into crowds before spinning around wildly in a massive circle, letting out a continuously expanding spiral of energy that decimated the entire army of water soldiers in but a few seconds.

As quickly as he killed them, Dante was then subjected to intense currents of electricity that seized up his muscles. Regardless of how hard he tried to move, he could barely budge at all, watching as Triton landed in front of him, twirled his trident around and stabbed the devil in the stomach.

"Not so much a failure now, am I?! You were always so confident, so arrogant! So convinced that you are unable to be defeated! Immortal or not, your suffering will be great, so much so that your mind will break, leaving you as nothing but any empty husk!"

The son of Poseidon lifted up the skewered Dante with both hands, dangling him while continuously outputting an intense voltage of electricity to keep his muscles seized up.

The teen growled, but not once did he cry out in pain.

Triton spun around, using his momentum to fling the devil off of his trident high up into the air, then waved his weapon around to blast the Draconic Devil with a large, continuous torrent of water, sending him flying into the distance, crashing into the lower chest section of Cordovin's giant, fallen mech.

---

He was stuck inside the lower section of the hull, water dripping from the broken metal as electricity crackled from the split apart wires.

The intense shocks he suffered knocked him out cold. Now, he was deep in his mind, recalling a memory from a time long ago.

A memory of parting.

---

-Ashes COMPLETE[Both versions, from PROMARE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK]-

He stood in the white void, opening his eyes slowly as he stood back up, looking around. Large, transparent walls of white light surrounded him, the blackness of space waiting outside with the small glimmers of light from the stars.

"It seems like you made it… That's good…"

He spun around at the sound of the girls voice, seeing she had taken her human shape once more. A black, translucent dress adorned her beautiful figure, her blonde hair fluttering about slowly as she approached, her light blue eyes ever so lovingly focused on him as she smiled.

"Sure, but… Now what? How do we get out of here?" Dante asked.

"You'll be leaving here soon enough."

The teen spun back around to face her, looking at the girl with a questioning glance.

(0:20)

"I'm not going to be able to go back…" Satannya spoke, her lip quivering as she spoke, trying to keep her smile, "I used everything I had to make sure both you and our home below would be safe. And it was quite literally everything." She laughed holding up a hand.

The teen reached out to grasp her hand, and to his horror, watched as his hand phased through hers. Satannya's arm started to becoming transparent glittering gently with white light as the rest of her slowly became transparent.

"No… No! It's..! It's alright! We'll go back together and-!"

"Not this time, sweet devil. I'm afraid… you'll be the only one to go home this time…"

He knew what was happening. He just didn't want to accept it.

By now, the barriers of light began to recede, and the two were floating, Dante desperately grabbing hold of Satannya's other hand, using his Soul's energy to hold on to her slowly disappearing form.

(0:59)

"I... I was supposed to take care of you…" his voice breaking as he held his head low.

"We were supposed to take care of each other." She smiled again, "And we did just that…" The girl told him, tears beginning to stream down her face.

"I am not leaving here without you!" He spoke firmly.

"It's already done…"

The barriers had almost disappeared compeltely, and with them, Satannya almost was gone as well, leaving only her top half now.

"Don't cry, my precious devil. Our time together… It was the best year of my life..! Memories that'll always be precious to me..! And for that… I can't thank you enough for being a part of my life..!"

Tears began welling up at the corners of his eyes, unable to speak another word as his voice wouldn't emerge.

"Please Dante… Please keep our dream alive… A dream of peace for all…"

He tried to pull her towards him, but she couldn't be moved.

"And remember… Don't be afraid to show others your 'true self'… The 'true you' I've come to love so very dearly…"

Only her torso remained as she willed herself to be able to hold onto him a bit longer.

"Farewell… My sweet devil…"

Having spoken her final words, the rest of her disappeared in glittering starlight, Dante now beginning to slowly fall back down towards Primoridal as he screamed out his beloved's name.

(1:57)

---

His body slowly creaked back to life, the dull eye sockets now glowing with a powerful flare of dark platinum Aura.

(2:03)

Up above in the control center, Cordovin panicked as she looked around her, finding her standard issue pistol and raising it up against the three, water-based monsters that were growling, almost laughing at her.

Two of them were suddenly eviscerated by a blitz of eight dark platinum Aura swords, leaving only the one in the center as it froze.

"If this is a horde of the Damned… then it's only natural that a Devil stands against them." A hollow, echoing voice calmly spoke as heavy, metallic footsteps tread past Cordovin.

The transformed Dante stood at the front, stopping only when the water creature extended its stone scythe-hands to impale his chest. It giggled with glee, ever so sure it had slain it's enemy. But the creature let out a confused noise as it retracted its arms, noticing its blades had shattered.

(2:17)

The uninjured Devil narrowed his eyes, as if looking down on a pathetic creature. His skull-like maw of sharp teeth cracked apart slowly as wisps of dark platinum Aura emerged from within his mouth, a silent, otherworldly growl escaping from within, the kind that would send the coldest shiver down your spine, and would seemingly freeze fire itself.

It was a growl that would make any creature, alive or dead, twist with utter despair.

(2:23)

All Cordovin saw was Dante lowering his head, a sickening, metallic, crunching noise echoing from his position as he tossed his head to the side, the bitten off head of the creature landing near the Devil as he crushed it underneath his heel.

"Stay among the living, Special Officer. The World needs more people like you."

Having spoken his words, the woman watched in awe as his body blurred out of sight, leaving brief streaks of dark platinum Aura.

When he appeared again in a burst of his Aura, he stood upon the waters in front of Cordovin's mech, standing guard in front of the city of Argus to face Triton and his creatures of the Deep on the vast ocean.

(2:37)

"And here I thought I'd have to start picking off your precious humans one by one to get you to come back out."

The son of Poseidon stood proudly atop his podium, his army of hundreds replenished as they hungrily growled.

Dante summoned Eclypse to his hand, slowly raising her up before he twirled her around upside down, holding her in the air.

"Domain Expansion… Unending Midnight."

Speaking his words, the Devil dropped his sword, but instead of simply dropping into the water, Eclypse seemingly merged with the area around Dante.

(2:56)

A blackened void emerged from Dante's Aura, swallowing up the entire area in front of him. Triton watched the World darken in the Devil's presence, but could still see that the area around him had faint light, as if he was under moonlight in a clear night sky.

(3:06)

When the Fallen Deity looked back at Dante, he could only see the Draconic Devil slowly raise up his right hand, palm facing the sky. In but a few moments, the young Devil was surrounded by monolithic swords made from his dark platinum Aura, numbering well past fifty.

Triton was too taken aback by the sight to so much as move.

(3:15)

Dante quickly brought down his hand and pointed it towards the son of Poseidon and his pitiful creatures, his colossal Aura Blades jettisoning four at a time towards the army of monsters.

Dozens of monstrous, agonizing death cries echoed throughout the blackened World, the explosive impacts of the massive Aura Blades completely obliterating the masses of creatures.

The whole World seemed to tremble violently with quakes from such an intense display of power.

Triton was beyond terrified as he motionlessly watched his entire army of sea monsters ceasing to exist within mere moments. The waves around the Fallen Deity were roaring louder than he could have ever commanded them to.

When he blinked, Dante was now but a few paces away, the waves seemingly parting to make way for him out of fear as he approached his intended prey, Eclypse appearing in his right hand as he brought the blade across his body.

(3:55)

The Fallen Deity made to turn and run away, hearing a brief, terrifying, warbling hum accompanied with a metallic ringing noise. He fell forward atop the water, his power keeping him on the surface. Looking back, Triton screamed once he saw his legs had been severed. He pitifully tried to crawl, panicked cries and breaths escaping him as he made a wave to carry him away.

A large, spectral arm of dark platinum Aura, shaped after Dante's own arm, tightly grabbed hold of Triton's legs, the Fallen Deity screaming in panic as he tried to wriggle free. No matter how hard he tried, the waters would not push Dante away, and instead, fled from his very presence as he raised up his sword.

(4:15)

Triton let out a scream that echoed across the ocean, his cries soon deafened by a massive blast of dark platinum Aura.

As the blast settled, the pitch black void consuming the ocean began to steadily break apart into streaks, vanishing up into the air.

(End)

---

I did not raise you from the ashes of Olympus and grant you power simply to die like trash, Triton.

RISE.

Rise once more as my puppet to exact vengeance on Dante Aetherveil.

---

~I think he's pretty dead.~

No. I see what's left him of him or watch him disappear entirely. I'm not leaving until either or both conditions are met. Besides… did you already forget?

~Oh right… The chance of a Death Knell…~

^I understand the terminology, but what sort of ability is this?^

A Death Knell is a sort of Last Stand. When their bodies are destroyed, or heavily damaged beyond repair, Dark Entities of the Lord or King class can use the power of their Dark Soul to manifest a temporary corporeal body in order to survive. This either allows the person in question to escape or have the opportunity to kill their foe.

~Just as much as this is a benefit, it's a double edged sword. They're literally exposing their Soul in the process. Destroy their temporary body during a Death Knell, and they get put down for good. No resurrection, no coming back.~

*And this Fallen Deity can perform such an action?*

It's highly likely. Given he's the son of a Greater Deity, is using the power of his father's trident, and tainted his Deific Soul with Dark Energies of an actual King Class, he's definitely got the potential.

~And a big enough grudge. That's the key factor.~

^Like a Wraith or vengeful spirit… These Dark Entities are quite problematic indeed…^

Like I said, not all of them are scumbags wishing death to anyone other than themselves.

…

…

Come on you bastard… I know you're taking your time under there… Just come out already…

The water trembled with a brief pulse, and the dark clouds began to pour rain even harder than before as the wind swept through the area fiercely.

(Greatest Battle Music OF All Times: This Day And Never Again)

Dante took a few steps back, watching the ocean water a few yards away bubble like boiling water until it exploded. From the cloudburst of water shout out eight tendrils of blackened water, layered with bits of stone as armor. When the devil looked closer, he could clearly see that the tendrils were undergoing enlargement, and the tips began to change.

They were necks.

Serpentine heads formed, each roaring loudly while thrashing their heads about violently. The rest of the gigantic monster emerged from the ocean, its body like a massive komodo dragon that stood on four legs. Deep within the massive water creature's thicker neck, where all eight necks sprouted from, was a black gem the size of a car.

Within it, the Fallen Deity resided inside, his roars of anger and hate becoming one with the terrible creature he formed.

(0:48)

The Hydra-esque monster attacked relentlessly, its heads either weaving around or through one another to try and swallow the Draconic Devil, or blast him with bursts of high pressure water that tore through rocks.

He didn't have the luxury of conserving energy, despite how dizzy he was feeling. A drawback from The Seeker's power to be sure, but a necessary sacrifice to slay this foe.

Reaching a high enough point in the air after running and leaping across necks and heads, Dante brought Eclypse across his body, charged with dark platinum Aura and swung.

The arcing wave of destructive Aura severed all heads in one fell swoop, but it didn't take long for them to begin regrowing, like in the actual legend of the Hydra.

(1:27)

I can cut him apart all day and still he'll keep regenerating..! I need to destroy the whole thing in one go or take out the core. But even if he's driving that thing purely on rage, he'll be sensible enough to keep himself protected in that massive body. But…

Dante landed on an outcrop of rocks, soon looking down to his hand to see it shaking. Not out of fear, but weariness. He used an incredible amount of Aura today as it was.

(1:40)

Umbral Star…

He heard The Seeker's voice in his head, looking up towards the sky.

If more power is what thou seeketh… Then I shall grant it to you.

This is gonna take a good deal out of me, isn't it?

Yes. Dost thou have faith in me?

You haven't given me a reason not to trust you. Help me. In whatever way you can.

Raise up your sword then, Umbral Star.

(2:01)

Dante did as instructed, grasping Eclypse as he held her in front of him.

The blackened skies began to flourish with the sounds of thunder and bolts of lightning, meshing and weaving together into a vortex of intense elements above the young devil. That very same vortex began to funnel down like a tornado, Dante raising his sword even higher into the air as the funnel of elements converged to his sword, completely encompassing it while within the darkness of the black vortex flickered bursts of light.

(2:20)

The vortex of Darkness instantly expanded outwards and dissipated, revealing a colossal beam of dark platinum Aura that reached far past the clouds in the sky, dimly illuminating the whole of Argus that lay in the Dark.

The Hydra charged in all too late.

"ECLYPTIC..! EDGE!"

(2:34)

Dante's hollow, echoing voice rang out through the coast fiercely as he swung his blade down.

The colossal blast of Aura made not a single sound as the super densified energy cleaved through the ocean, the massive wall of Aura reaching past the clouds as it tore through the ocean for miles on end, the World seemingly turning pitch black.

Within moments, the cleaving wall of Aura broke apart into streaks that sank back into skies, a faint hum accompanying their departure as color and noise returned to the World.

Panting heavily, Dante saw the ocean had been parted for miles on end, the waters quickly sinking back into each other to rectify this abnormality.

Where the Hydra once stood was simply Triton, his arms and legs reformed with his Aura as he charged the Draconic Devil with blind rage, his father's trident tearing through the ocean as the Fallen Deity dragged it behind him.

(3:12)

Even though he got close enough, he was stopped by Dante, who simply reached out with his left hand and caught the trident trying to pierce his flesh. With a swift slash, the once glorious trident of Poseidon had been cut in half, the devil grabbing hold of the separated tip before he twirled it into a downwards position and pushed forward.

Like he promised, the trident tip was now buried deep within Triton's neck, the Fallen Deity gasping for air as he choked on his own blood. True to the second part of his word, Dante made Eclypse vanish, using one hand to hold the back of his enemy's head as he thrusted his other hand forward, two of his clawed fingers digging deep into Triton's eye sockets.

The Fallen Deity was screaming, but his cries were deafened by bloody gurgles.

(End)

---

Dante allowed the son of Poseidon to fall to his knees as he moved behind him, summoning Eclypse to his hand once more.

"The Pantheon, for all their greatness, innovations, and intelligence… Were nothing but a bunch of animals really. Animals, that when they didn't get what they wanted, hurt others for selfish reasons. No wonder your brethren's time came to an end."

More bloodied gurgles escaped the dying Triton, his fake hands trembling as they desperately grasped at the trident stuck in his neck.

"Normally I'd ask you if you have any dying words, but… Seeing as you're no longer able to speak, and that I frankly despise you, I don't really care for manners, politeness or honor this time around."

Without another word, Dante swiftly stabbed Triton and pierced his heart, the Fallen Deity gasping his last breath as he slumped over. For good measure, the Draconic Devil quickly ripped his blade free, then cut off Triton's head, watching it soar across the air as it turned to black dust and vanished.

Soon after, his corpse began to crumble apart into black dust, flying away in the ocean breeze.

A sigh escaped Dante as his transformation undid itself, leaving him in but his normal clothes of a black long-sleeved shirt, grey jeans and his usual black running shoes with white soles.

His Aura was barely keeping him standing atop of the water's surface, and the devil himself was beginning to topple over with how weak he was feeling.

Instead of toppling over into the ocean, black plated gauntlets caught him, gently embracing the teen from behind.

"You're supposed to make me wet, not the other way around."

Dante coughed a little, still managing a chuckle at his Blade's lewd joke.

"He's… He's done for…"

"So it seems." Eclypse spoke.

She took a deep breath and swept the teen off his feet, princess-carrying him in her arms.

"You're obsessed with doing that… you know..?"

"I can't help it. It's just so… exciting..!"

*No fair, my Senior! That's something I wanted to do myself!*

^Pleasantries and jokes aside… Well done, Master. You've proven yourself worthy yet again.^

"Happy to be... the kind of girl you bring home… to meet your parents…"

"Come on." Eclypse smirked, "We're getting out of here."

---

Eclypse appeared in the cargo bay of the ship with Dante in tow, setting him down on a bench as Ruby, Inuba and Blaire surrounded him.

"Are you alright? Let me look you over." The kitsune said.

"I'm alright… Just tired…"

"But you're injured!"

"Not a whole lot… I'll heal up in a few minutes…"

"No buts." Inuba said, bringing out a paper talisman as she rolled up his sleeve and stuck it to his forearm, "This has some of my Aura in it, so it'll accelerate in restoring some of yours while healing your wounds."

"Thanks…"

"So… Looks like Triton was still alive." Blaire said, the redhead crossing her arms, "Seems like you 'didn't handle it' like you said you did back then."

"Well… I handled it now…" he replied, "Besides, I was just as surprised as you were."

"Think there'll be more?"

"Doubt it." Dante waved off, "But we do have a bigger problem. Ogrânix came back."

Inuba and Blaire froze at hearing the name, Ruby looking concerned.

"Ogrânix… Wait, isn't that-?!"

"Yeah." The devil answered the reaper, "He's the bastard I took down ages ago. Problem is… I didn't destroy his Dark Soul when I last fought him. And I didn't learn about needing to do that until much later."

"Doesn't matter what you did or didn't do back then." Eclypse spoke up, "What matters is how we deal with him now." She said, looking to Ruby, "You might've heard the story, but hearing a story and knowing how to deal with it are two seperate things. Which is why when we get to Atlas, we need to prep you and everyone else."

"Is it-?"

"It's not gonna be anywhere near as bad as what happened to us. I guarantee it." Dante said, holding Ruby's hand.

"I mean, if you're gonna prep us then I won't really need to worry all too much." She smiled.

"Just rest for now. We'll discuss more after we settle in Atlas." Inuba said.

The Kitsune, Ruby, and Blaire moved further up the cabin to let Dante rest, the teen sighing in relief as he felt the strain on his body steadily vanishing due to Inuba's talisman.

I gotta say… She's been getting creative with her talismans recently…

Dante lifted his head up, seeing Eclypse sitting near his feet.

"What's up?"

"I should be asking you that." She replied, "The last few days, your head's been up in the clouds sometimes. What's wrong?"

"I don't-"

"You should know better than to lie to me by now. We're connected, remember?" The Blade spoke, tapping the side of her head, "I can feel the anxiety and uneasiness you feel. I can feel the 'pain' you do."

Dante exhaled sharply, looking at the ceiling of the airship.

"To be honest, I've been finding myself thinking about 'that time' more and more as of late. Maybe because I've started to truly 'feel' again, but… That aside, seeing that bastard again, much less hearing his voice… It's been setting my teeth on edge, and dredging up some memories I'd rather not think about."

"Understandably. But, it'll be no issue once we see him again. After all, we know now to destroy the Soul. As it so happens, our power is perfect for such a thing."

"Even so… I can't even begin to imagine how he got here, much less what he's after."

"Uh, world domination and conquest?"

"That's the obvious answer." Dante said, "But I've got to wonder… What else is he after? He chose Atlas for a reason instead of Vale or anywhere else."

"Maybe because of the large Dust deposits? He could be in need of large amounts of energy."

"He's unlikely to go with the same plan again and try to blow up Remnant like he tried with Primordial. Still, that's a good point about needing energy. But what for? Damn… Just thinking about what he might be up to pisses me off…"

"Again, does it really matter?" Dante looked up to Eclypse, who gave the young devil a fiendish smirk as she dragged her finger across her throat, "The next time we see him, he'll be dead no matter what."

"Let's hope that'll be the case." The teen said, setting his head back down.

…

…

I'm not gonna let things go his way again. No matter what…

He recalled the scene from earlier in his mind. Everything from 'her' smile, to how she disappeared, and…

A vow only ever spoken between the two.

I'll continue to keep our dream alive. I promise.

---

Ogrânix, the terrifying Fourth Dark Entity King has remerged a few years after his supposed death. While his terrifying power hasn't returned to its fullest extent, he still isn't one to be taken lightly. Surely he has plans of his own.

But what greater scheme could he be part of?

That aside... What kind of power does The Seeker hold exactly to have granted Dante a new form? To be continued, and so on.

That's all I've got for you now. So with that...

If you have questions, ask them anytime. I will try to answer them without spoiling anything.

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! Your support genuinely matters.

With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend, and a Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year! And for those that don't celebrate Christmas, peace to you all the same in the hopes of a better year!

Remember... be kind and excellent to one another, stay safe, and stay healthy.