Chapter 78 – The Wrong Hero
Metal screeched throughout the room. Weapons clashed, causing black flames to spread out in all directions.
Dante's blade met with Takt's for a moment. The younger man switched out his weapon to a thick broadsword, one that matched the other heroes' weapons with their black flames. The grin on his face looked to be one of both excitement and hate.
The moment passed. Dante pushed him back to divert a strike from Motoyasu's spear. When the tip hit the ground, more black flames surrounded them. The fleshy rock beneath them looked to take on a curse for a moment before healing itself, curtesy of the Spirit Tortoise's power.
The Spear Hero snarled at him. "It's your fault!" He'd said that a few times since they began clashing. The most Dante got from him was that someone died, though he didn't know who. The enraged hero didn't give any names.
Dante hoped the two of them would be fighting Takt more, but the boy was a step ahead. He'd quickly positioned himself so Dante was in the middle and had done his best to keep things that way. Fighting two cursed heroes wasn't what Takt wanted. Dante knew that. He was doing that right now and was struggling.
"Hah!" Takt swiped at Dante before he could break away, earning another cut on his side. Thankfully, it wasn't deep. His stats had flipped, but that didn't mean his defense wasn't high. It just wasn't as high as before. He still had some of the effects of his original Wrath curse, namely the stats.
With a swing of his axe, Dante knocked Takt back once more. Despite facing off against a Holy Weapon, the Vassal Axe had strength and attack to spare.
"Come on! Where's all that fight you had before?" Takt taunted.
Easier said than done. Dante didn't want to kill Motoyasu if he could help it. Plus, the energy he put into doing that was effort he couldn't spend on Takt.
"Chaos Spear V!" Motoyasu repeatedly thrust his spear at Dante.
All that meant was it was time for another counter.
"Axe Sweep IV!"
The Axe became longer and wider, coming at the incoming spear thrusts in a large arc. It was able to block most of the spear strikes and deflect the rest. This was a skill transferred over from the Stout Axe. The damage wasn't great, but it looked to be best for defensive maneuvers and creating distance. Motoyasu skid back a few feet from the impact the Axe made against his body.
Like most skills he gained from the Axe, this one was partially improved. Any that had a comparable skill from the Shield—basically, they came from a weapon form unlocked by the same thing—took about half the points applied with the Gauntlet's power up method from the original skill. It made his skills a little weaker, but gave him a wider variety.
"Gah!" Dante grunted, swinging his axe around. The size returned to normal as it struck Takt's blade, which had a fresh smear of blood that was quickly burning away.
"You're too open!" The fake hero continued to taunt, having just stuck Dante's side with his sword.
Dante merely gave another grunt as he gave the boy a greater share of his attention. A few more heavy swings, a few more clashes, and more black fire spreading all around.
"Come on! Put on a good show for your family!" Takt whirled the sword around and smashed it against the axe head.
Two people watched as the three heroes fought with cursed weapons. Sadeena and Atla stood far back, not participating in the battle. How could they? Though strong, neither would be able to handle a fully powered up hero, let alone two. Takt would absorb any spell Sadeena tried to cast and use it to his advantage. That wasn't even mentioning the cursed weapons. With all the cursed fire being spread around, they'd fare far worse than Dante.
And so, they waited.
Keel and Fohl had already left the room, seeing as there was nothing they could do to help. It wasn't hard to figure out it was the Holy Bow that was suspended in the air above the mound. Takt made no move to stop them when they had tried to remove it, so there was likely little they could do about it. Instead, they set out to deal with the heart. The shaking of the ground increased in frequency, but the battling heroes payed it little mind.
"Shooting Star Sword X!"
"Shooting Star Axe V!"
The two skills shot out, but with very different effects. While dozens of lights flared up with a swing of Takt's sword, a single energy slash came from the Axe. It was similar to the Claw's Air Strike Slash, but far more potent. It broke through the lights made by the Sword and continued on, forcing Takt duck out of the way.
That gave Dante a chance to attack. "Titanic Charge V!"
He activated his skill, one that was the same with both versions of the weapons it was from. With a rush, Dante was next to Takt and slammed the Axe down. He was only able to partially block the attack, enough to make what would have been a deep cut much shallower.
"Brionac X!" Motoyasu leveled his spear at the two.
"Chain Bind!" Takt's skill held Dante in place as he quickly jumped back, his wound starting to heal.
As he was, Dante didn't know how well he'd fair against such an attack. He had to make a switch, his weapon quickly glowing and changing shape. In place of the demonic looking axe was a large black and red shield that easily covered his body.
"Tower Shield IV!" Dante's enlarged shield took on the powerful energy attack. With the difference in points applied to skills, he did suffer some damage, but his Wrath Shield III wasn't to be underestimated.
"Spiral Spear II!" Motoyasu launched himself at Dante immediately after his attack.
When the spear struck it, black flames shot out, coating Motoyasu. The Spear Hero roared with pain, but it was short lived. Dante still had a healing ability from some shield forms, but Motoyasu's was much stronger.
Dante wasn't left unscathed by the attack. Since it did about the same amount of damage as Brionac, it was likely a defense ignoring attack. Even lost in a rage, the skill choice was clear against a giant shield.
"Shield Prison III!" With his skill dismissed, Dante surrounded Motoyasu with another. It would only give him a few seconds, but it was long enough to grab the sphere and hurl it at Takt.
The temporary barrier burst open, leaving Takt to deal with Motoyasu for a little. It gave Dante time to rip away the chains around him.
The first thing Dante wanted to do was remove Motoyasu from the fight. He couldn't count on the berserk hero to keep fighting Takt forever. Sooner or later, it would be back to Dante fending off the two of them.
With Stat Allocation, Dante transferred a bit of his MP into his HP. The curse damage wasn't as severe as he thought it'd be, so he was at least able to heal himself that much. In no way was he going to be able to keep up with those two.
Really, he wished either Raphtalia or Ruft were here. They might be able to do something about Motoyasu or Takt, but he wasn't sure. Raphtalia had the Vassal Hammer and Ruft wasn't exactly trained to suppress heroes. His Sakura Stone katana would help, but Dante didn't think he'd be able to disable either of them.
No, what Dante needed was to wait for Motoyasu to get worn down first. Unlike Takt, Dante kept more away instead of keeping Takt between them. It was working, the minor cuts the two were making on each other were adding up. Ideally, Motoyasu would kill Takt and then Dante would try to subdue him. The souls from the Spirit Tortoise tilted the scales in Takt's favor, so he didn't see that happening. All he need to do was wait, until…
Another opportunity presented itself.
Motoyasu missed a swipe with his spear, allowing Takt to pierce his stomach. Even as Motoyasu tried to reel back, Takt pursued, keeping the blade embedded in him.
Now was the time to strike.
"Titanic Charge V!" He launched himself at the struggling pair.
Seeing the attack coming, Takt moved Motoyasu slightly before retrieving his weapon and backing off. The cursed Spear Hero was right in Dante's path. Right where he wanted the man.
"Drifa Firestorm X! Combo Skill! Exploding Axe!"
Using his Curse of Greed to grant him magical aptitude, Dante combined his spell and a skill in a way that was far too difficult otherwise, especially under the circumstances. When the head of the Axe connected to Motoyasu's side, the resulting explosion sent both of them flying. Dante was able to right himself, but Motoyasu skid across the ground toward Atla and Sadeena.
"Take him!" Dante quickly called out.
With Motoyasu far separated and heavily wounded, they should be able to finish knocking him out. That only left one person to fight.
"Clever." Takt swung his sword to the side. "But that won't work twice."
Dante believed him. Takt may have been watching for a spell from Sadeena, but not him. Dante didn't think he'd be able to use the same trick again. But, he didn't think he needed to.
Skills were easier to say, almost as if by instinct. Still, Dante said the words.
"Your brother mewled helplessly as I gutted him."
That got a reaction out of Takt. He charged, swinging wildly with his blade.
"Don't you dare talk about him!" Takt roared. Cursed flames spewed out when their weapons met.
It wasn't as easy to block with an axe, as obvious as that was. It was still the better choice. The amount of fire from the Wrath Shield could overcome Takt's regeneration, but Takt only needed to not attack for it to stop. Not to mention the fact that Takt could easily switch to attacking Sadeena and Atla.
Dante wouldn't have it.
So, he fought back. He slashed and hacked with the Axe, gaining at least as many cuts on Takt as he was inflicting on him. Despite having the power of all those souls, Takt wasn't nearly as skilled in combat. Sooner or later, he would be overwhelmed.
After blocking another strike, Dante gave a quick kick to Takt's chest. The boy stumbled back, allowing Dante to raise his weapon high. He would cleave his head in two—
"Dante!" The sudden change in voice and appearance caused Dante to hesitate. A quick slash from the shape-changed Takt was the cost.
"You like that?!" Takt jeered in a voice that wasn't his own.
Dante held his newest wound for a moment before he charged in again. He wanted to kill this boy, who dared to take on the appearance of Dante's closest friend, the man he called a brother.
As they danced around each other, Dante took a quick peek at the fight with Motoyasu. He could barely hear over the sound of clashing with Takt and the heavy beating of his own heart, but his eyes confirmed it. Motoyasu was already on the ground. The wound Dante gave him was enough to help them put him down.
He refocused on Takt, who decided another appearance was needed. Now, he looked just like Gloria. Except, Dante never saw Gloria with an expression like that. He hated that look.
"Straight out of a memory, isn't it?" Takt taunted, continuing to spew forth black flames.
Dante didn't answer. He didn't need to. He only needed to kill this arrogant prick.
The Axe was swung wildly. It didn't connect as often, but the flames from when it did felt hotter than before. All it would take was one misstep from Takt and that'd be it. With the occasional rumble of the ground from the heart likely being repeatedly destroyed, that was entirely likely.
Takt jumped back again. Dante was ready to charge him with his skill.
"Don't hurt me!" The voice of a young girl made him falter.
Seeing the image of his goddaughter before him was enough to make him pause. That was all Takt needed, grinning with Mary's face as his weapon changed. A spiked ball shot out at Dante, stabbing him in his stomach. The flaming chain it was attached to wrapped around him and pulled taut. With a grunt, Takt whirled him around and threw him into the nearby wall.
Dante had enough. He broke himself from the rock he was thrown into as Takt changed his weapon back. "Titanic Charge V!" Gripping his axe with both hands, he launched himself at Takt.
Flaming sword met flaming axe, black fire bursting from the impact. One hero snarled while the other growled. Their weapons came back, ready.
"Air Strike Chop IV/Bash!" Black flames washed over the clashing pair.
"Second Chop IV/Bash!" Their bodies were singed by the fires as they spread further.
"Dritte Chop IV/Bash!" The cursed fire covered the floor, nearly reaching to where Sadeena and Atla stood with Motoyasu.
A swipe from Dante's axe clipped Takt's shoulder, forcing him back. Before he could follow up, another rumble of the floor caught him off balance. With a grunt, Takt lifted his blade in the air.
"Flashing Blade!" The skill let out a blinding light, forcing Dante to shield his eyes. "I win!"
With a laugh, Takt lunged forward. His cursed flaming sword ran Dante through, black flames spilling out the exit wound. There was pain, a greater amount than most, except for this past week.
Takt looked slightly up at him, a crazed grin on his face. His teeth were on display, the points of his canines showing. Eyes filled with hate and satisfaction stared into Dante. He opened his mouth slightly, as if to speak. But, no words came out.
Slowly, Takt's expression began to deflate. His eyes drifted down. His breathing became louder, more difficult. He took in a chocking breath as his head swiveled from side to side. Then, his view landed lower, slightly to the left of his front.
It was on the haft of the Vassal Axe. The head of said weapon was buried deep within Takt's torso. He'd been cut cleanly inches from his neck down past his abdomen. Only a few inches further and he would have been completely cut in half.
Dante removed his left hand from his weapon and wrapped it around Takt's hand. Slowly, he pulled the Holy sword from his stomach. Once it was out, he felt the blade pull down, the end of it falling to the ground with the hilt still in Takt's hand, if barely.
"Not…again…" Takt slowly breathed out. His illusion slowly dissipated, revealing the sandy blond man from before. "I won't stop…until I see…you dead…"
Dante breathed in, letting the healing abilities of his unlocked forms plus minor help from his curse do their job.
"You should have kept using your guns. You'd have stood a better chance that way." Dante said.
"Bast—!" Takt spat before coughing. Blood splattered against Dante's ruined shirt.
"You aren't immune to the curse's emotional effects, are you?" Dante asked, forcing Takt to his knees with the Axe. "Maybe you are to some degree. But the form you chose was a poor one. Wrath is powerful, but you lose control. You lose perception."
That was true for Dante before, and to an extent here. Speaking during the fight may have been more difficult, but his mind was still mostly his own. And after all the pain he went through, he was more than used to the feeling of pure hate.
The Vassal Axe stayed lodged inside Takt. Whatever healing he was receiving form the Spirit Tortoise wasn't enough to overcome the cursed flames burning him from the inside.
"If you kept using the other sword form, maybe you would have seen through my trick." It was a half-truth. Dante might not have been aware of it at the start, but seeing his dead family didn't sting as much.
Takt's eye twitched. "You…Don't you care!?" More blood spewed from his mouth for his effort. "I looked like your family…I know I did…so why…?"
Dante leaned forward, resting a hand just above Takt's wound. "It's taken three months, the love of those around me, and the words from a man in a somewhat similar situation to me for me to understand. My old family is gone, and I…have moved on."
His right hand slid up the shaft of the Axe, pressing up against the side of the head. His other hand lowered into Takt's horrendous wound, causing the man to wince in pain.
"You should have too."
With that, Dante threw his arms to his sides. A horrid tearing sound echoed in the room as Takt was torn in half. His face was twisted into a silent scream as blood leaked from his lower half.
"I will do what I must to protect my new family here. If that means risking my life to protect this world, then that is what I'll do. And to do that," Dante opened his status and applied the effect from the Soul Eater Axe to his Wrath Axe III, "I'll make sure you can never come back.
Takt's face slowly relaxed as he leered up at Dante. His breathing became more labored as he slowly spoke.
"Any world…that has you as a hero…deserves to die…"
With those final words, Dante sunk the Axe into Takt's head. The effect was immediate, as he saw everyone with his slave seal gain XP. A few gained a level from it. The Axe glowed for a moment before dimming, likely the soul being devoured by the weapon.
What Dante said to Takt held some truth, but it contained lies as well. He didn't want to think about it, he didn't want to accept it, but the first fight with the Spirit Tortoise really opened his eyes to things. Things were just going to keep getting worse, the battles getting far more perilous. And now, seeing that two of the Holy Heroes were dead, there was little hope they could save the world as they were.
He had to accept his wish would not be granted.
And…he was strangely okay with it.
As for Takt's weapon, it let off a bright light before splitting up. On the ground was now the Projectile and Sword, both in their base forms. The Sword, however, seemed duller than it was before. Likely, it was little more than an empty husk, only what remained after a Holy Hero's death.
Dante looked over at the pair of women, the concern etched on their faces slowly turning to relief.
"It's over." He said, pulling the Axe from Takt's skull. It still burned with cursed fire, but he held it away from them as they approached. "He's dead."
"I knew you could do it, Mister Dante!" Atla yelled as she wrapped her arms around his chest. Dante brought up his hand and lay it on her head.
"Drifa Healing Waters!" Sadeena finished casting her spell, providing Dante with some relief. She placed her hand on the sides of his face. "Don't ever do something like that again."
"I'll try." Dante said with a soft smile.
Sadeena smiled in return. "So, this is what you looked like before."
"Mostly." He replied. His hair was a bit longer than earlier, certainly longer than when last in his old world.
Sensing his thoughts, Sadeena weaved a hand through his hair. "As much as I'd love to relax, we have a bit of cleaning up to do. Not to mention…"
Dante nodded, his focus turning to Elvira, or what remained of her. The cursed fire had not been kind to her remains. Her body was reduced to ash, as with most of her equipment. The armor was badly damaged, but the cursed whip from Idol was still intact.
"First thing's first." Dante said, pulling back from Atla. "We need to finish this fight."
~The Wrong Hero~
With no one controlling the Spirit Tortoise, the rest was handled with relative ease. The first step was removing the Bow from whatever was holding it in place. Without Takt to absorb spells or distract them, it was a simple matter for Dante to smash the mound it was held over. The Bow also seemed to lose its shine, just like the Sword.
The next step was to defeat the Spirit Tortoise. Without its amplification, the heart was far less of a threat. Even before then, there were no casualties. Jaralis, of all people, was part of the first reinforcements group the shadow found, along with Rhubaldt. They were able to destroy it time and again thanks in large part to the strength of those two. Others had trickled in after Dante, Sadeena, and Atla arrived, including the rest of their party. With JoJo and directions from a shadow, Dante made his way outside.
It was easy to defeat the Spirit Tortoise now. With the familiars Dante had made for his party, he knew the second the heart was destroyed and decapitated the Spirit Tortoise with the Wrath Axe. It stayed down after that.
Dante didn't even want to look at the devastation caused by the Spirit Tortoise. More than half the army was wiped out in the battle. Mirellia, Aultcray, and the Siltvelt leadership made it, at least.
There were likely to be many questions about what happened inside, including how Dante now wielded the Seven Star Axe. Some of those could be answered, but they didn't have all the information. However, they knew someone who could possibly give them that.
"Ready?" Dante asked as he stood before Shildina.
With the army making their way outside, Motoyasu included on a stretcher, Dante and his party stood in the hourglass chamber of the Spirit Tortoise. Of all the places they could have done this, this seemed like the best spot. After all, it was pertinent to their current situation.
"Ready." Shildina confirmed with a nod.
Whatever was to happen, they were ready for it. Dante gave everyone but Shildina a casting of Liberation Aura X. They had four Vassal Heroes present, everyone who could transform had done so, and everyone was healed up from the fight. Even the damage Dante sustained from the cursed flames was diminished, though he wasn't entirely sure why. Another question to be answered.
Shildina slowly placed her hand on the shaft of the Axe and closed her eyes. When she opened them, her eyes glowed red once more. Then…
"HOLY SHIT, SWITCH OUT THAT WEAPON FORM ALREADY!"
They were bombarded with the loudest yell they ever heard. The same distorted voice from before boomed throughout the room.
"How the hell haven't you suffered a heart attack yet!? Are you trying to have a heart attack!? Because that's how you have a heart attack! Switch to a different Axe!" The so-called goddess continued to yell.
"Alright, geez…" Dante did as he was 'requested'. With a thought, the form of the weapon changed to the Small Axe.
Shildina let out a sigh. "Better."
This was already going pear shaped. Admittedly, Dante did feel his body relax a little.
"We have a lot of questions." Dante began, looking to the blue hourglass. "But one is more urgent."
"No shit." Shildina gazed at it as well. "Of all the things to screw with…"
"What did they do?" Dante asked.
"I have no idea." Shildina gave a tug on the Axe. "Bring this over there."
Dante gave her a hard look.
"What?" She continued to pull.
"Do you really think we're just going to do whatever you say?" He asked, ignoring the fact he did just that a moment ago.
Shildina raised an eyebrow. "How exactly do you think I could possibly make the situation worse? I know you know what's happening."
Dante wanted to argue, but she had a point. Part of the reason they decided to hold this little meeting inside the Spirit Tortoise was because everyone was already there. It was the quickest place they could meet up at, and they didn't have a lot of time to spare.
After all, Othil's Wave was to arrive about one hour from now.
That wasn't supposed to happen. This wasn't even book knowledge, it was corroborated with Glass and them. After the death or sealing of a Guardian Beast, the souls collected would stave off the Waves for a time. A new timer would appear for when the next Guardian Beast would awaken.
Instead, all the Wave timers got reduced. Othil's Wave was supposed to be about three days after Cal Mira's. The other Waves Dante participated in were more spread out than when he first registered to their hourglasses, but now Siltvelt's was tomorrow and Zeltoble's was the day after.
As for the timer on the Spirit Phoenix, they had one month. Dante couldn't even guess how many souls were used by Takt and Balmus.
With a grumble, Dante gave her a nod. The pair walked over to the hourglass. Everyone else kept their weapons trained on the two as they walked with them in a circle.
"I'm going to let go." Shildina said. "Just walk into the hourglass, it's basically an image. With my connection to you more cemented, I'll be able to take in the information that'll pass through you."
"We need to talk about that next." Dante told her.
"Yes, we do." She responded, a visible twitch in her eye. "I'll let you know when I'm done."
With that, Shildina let go of the Axe. Her head hung for a moment before she shook herself out.
"Do we trust her?" Sadeena asked, setting a hand on her sister's shoulder. Ruft was on the other side, supporting her.
"No." Dante said without hesitation. "But…she's right. It's hard for things to get much worse than they already are."
Knock on wood.
With that, Dante passed through the image of the hourglass. The gem on his axe began to shine. Aside from that, nothing happened. Whatever this 'goddess' was doing, he couldn't see.
Nothing appeared in his status. No streams of numbers or codes. No change in the timers for…
The Spirit Phoenix. The time was going down.
"Shit!" Dante yelled. He was about to jump out of the hourglass, but he caught sight of something else. The timers on all the other Waves were increasing. Some were changing more than others. It took about a minute before they slowed. Once they stopped, the Phoenix timer had three weeks left. Othil would be tomorrow, with a day break before Siltvelt and another day before Zeltoble, just like when Dante first registered to them.
The gem on the Axe began to flash, likely the signal from the goddess. Dante stepped from the hourglass to look at his party. From the looks of the heroes, they saw the same thing.
"Alright." Dante held the Axe up to Shildina once more. "Let's hear what she has to say."
With a nod, Shildina grabbed it once more.
"That should help." She said, the moment her eyes turned red. "You're welcome, by the way."
Dante grunted. "I'm sure this makes up for the countless times you tried to kill me."
"Twice." The goddess said through Shildina. "I only tried to kill you twice."
"You sent three people after me." Dante informed her.
"No, I didn't." Shildina said with a sigh. "I only sent Duke and Iaoth to kill you. Mordigan was supposed to stop those fools from using the Guardian Beast. Either by killing them or waking it up before they could use it."
"You'll forgive us if we don't believe you." Sadeena stepped into view, though her weapon was much lower than before.
"Mordigan killed Fitoria, someone who could have helped us." Dante added.
Shildina clicked her tongue. "That blind bird shouldn't have been there. She wouldn't listen."
"We've had three different Vassal Heroes come during a Wave looking for a fight, two of which work for you." Dante said. "Why would this one be any different?"
Shildina glared at him. "Because I didn't know my enemy already had a champion of his own here!"
There it was again. That word. She'd called Dante her champion before.
"Explain." Dante commanded. "Who is this 'champion'?" He wanted that information before dealing with whoever her enemy was.
"You should already know." Shildina put her free hand on her hip. "You tore him in half not that long ago."
"Him?" Dante raised an eyebrow. Then again, the kid did say something about his god helping him to fight Dante. "How was he brought here? I thought you people reincarnated others to fight for you."
"Most of us do." Shildina said with a nod. "Well, the ones who want to affect the worlds, at least. It's the easiest way. Unless, of course…" She tapped the head of the Axe.
"Unless you've already stolen a Vassal Weapon somehow." Dante said.
"Stolen?" Shildina's face quirked into a smile. "The Vassal Axe volunteered to fight for me."
"It…what?" That was the most ludicrous thing Dante had ever heard. Sure, there was something similar in the light novels, but the situation was far different. It must be.
"I don't know what you think of me, child, but I'm not here to destroy the world. Far from it. I want all the worlds to keep on living."
Dante scoffed at that. "And you trying to kill a Holy Hero helps?"
Shildina's eye twitched again. "That's because the Shield Spirit stole you from me. And, because you have something of mine in you. My power!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Dante asked.
"Didn't you find it odd how you could use the curse series so easily?" She asked. "How it didn't affect you like you thought it would? I may not have always been watching, but I pieced together that much."
Dante didn't say anything. He knew that was strange the moment he saw the curse pop up in his status.
"It's the same reason you and that kid were able to use cursed weapons freely while the Spear Hero couldn't. I already blessed you when I tried to summon you. But, no, of course someone else decided not to allow that!" Shildina spat. "That arrogant spirit decided to interfere. It had no business doing that. No one even tried to summon the heroes until weeks later. There was still plenty of time—"
"Back up. What?" Dante could feel something was off. "What do you mean? You tried to summon me earlier?"
"Yes." Shildina gave another sigh. "It was…two weeks? I think that's when I saw you dying normally. It was rather convenient, actually, since that's one of the easier ways to summon a hero. You would have had enough time to prepare for Faubrey's first Wave. But, of course, the Shield Spirit somehow caught wind of it and interfered, causing you to live. Doing that caused a shockwave that my enemy no doubt felt. He probably started watching both you and this world to see what the best…"
Dante couldn't hear her anymore. A ringing in his ears started to grow louder and louder as she spoke. His breathing started to become labored. His hand shook as his eyes trailed down to the Axe.
No. It wasn't the Axe he was looking at. It was the other form.
"Little Dante?" Sadeena reached out and placed her hand on his shivering shoulder. "Are you—"
"AAAAUGH!"
The Axe was ripped away from Shildina before turning into the Wrath Shield. Dante gripped it in both hands as he slammed it into the ground. Raphtalia and Keel quickly jump away as flames threatened to spill out of it. Dante lifted it up and slammed it to the ground again.
"It's all your fault!" His voice cracked at the sheer volume of it. "I had to watch my family die because of you! I had to watch my sister die in my arms because of you! I spent two weeks with my heart torn from my chest because of you! That stupid brat was here because of you! This is all your fault!"
Every sentence was punctuated with another indent on the rocky flesh that made up the ground. He continued to slam the Shield down after he finished speaking, instead crying out in pain.
"Little Dante!" Two thick arms wrapped around him from behind stopped him from smashing the Shield into the ground again. "Please, calm down!"
"Let go!" He demanded, but Sadeena held firm.
"No!" She pulled him closer. "I'm not going to sit by and watch you be in pain like this again!"
"This shield has done nothing but cause me pain! All it did was paint a target on my back for that stupid brat to aim for! It hasn't helped me do anything!"
"That's not true!" Raphtalia held one of his arms. "You saved us, remember? You saved Rifana and me!"
The weasel woman reached up and grabbed his shirt from the front. "We'd be dead right now without you! No one would have found us until it was far too late!"
Dante grit his teeth. "But…"
"And Eclair." Raphtalia continued, but her voice was more subdued. "If you didn't decide to go to Ronota, we wouldn't have found her. She'd still be getting…tortured by those mercenaries. Even if it was only for a few months, you helped save her from a terrible life."
Dante turned his head away.
Sadeena pulled him closer. "I know it doesn't make up for what you lost. I know it doesn't change what you went through." Her arms reached across his chest, her hands resting on his opposing shoulders. "And I know it's selfish of me to say this, but please, stop focusing so much on the past. Look to our future."
Dante didn't want to think about the future. All he wanted…he didn't even know. He came to terms with his family being dead, even with the fact that he played a part in that. But something he never considered was not having to witness their deaths himself. If he'd left their home not even a minute later, he would've died with them.
Slowly, his body moved to the ground. His energy quickly left him, his breathing normalizing. Sadeena held tight all the while, with Raphtalia and Rifana keeping a claw or paw on him. Before he realized it, he passed out from the latest ordeal his mind was put through, the exhaustion from the day catching up to him.
Author's Notes:
I'm still not that good at writing big fight scenes. Most of it was written yesterday. I really struggled to work on this chapter, mostly because I couldn't figure out how it would go. I had the end of the fight thought out, just not the meat of it.
Reiterated from what this goddess mentioned before, but with a crucial piece of information. The reason Dante became so damaged in the first place was because he survived something he wasn't supposed to.
I would like to once again plug my other story, Forging Legends. It's part of the Many Worlds Project where a bunch of authors create one-hero worlds with their own weapons, magic, monsters, demi-humans, and so on. I promise nothing, but I'll try to have the next chapter out today, or the next few days. Once I finish with The Wrong Hero, it will be the next weekly-updated story.