[Realm: Álfheimr]

[Location: Outskirts]

The Fire Cerberus saw the moment Dante's weight shifted, claws digging into the earth as Dante broke into a charge. The distance between them collapsed rapidly, boots hammering against the ground. Heat rolled off the hound, the air growing distorted as Dante closed in.

The Fire Cerberus did not retreat. It merely roared. The sound alone battered the plains, a concussive bellow that rattled bone and shook loose debris from distant ridges. Its jaws split wide, black fire blooming within, then it exhaled.

An enormous wave of flame erupted forward.

It was a heavy and viscous fire. Blackened and rolling across the ground in a thick surge, devouring everything in its path. Stone liquefied as the earth burned. The plains were rewritten in an instant, left as glowing slag.

Dante did not slow.

At the last possible moment, he bent his knees and launched. The ground detonated beneath him as he propelled himself upward in a burst of force. The wave of black fire thundered beneath him, roaring forward, its heat clawing at his boots and coat as it passed. Even airborne, the intensity licked at him, searing the air from his lungs—but he rose above it, body cutting cleanly through the superheated turbulence.

Below, the fire continued its march of devastation, tearing across the landscape with unstoppable momentum.

Above the Fire Cerberus followed as it leapt.

The power of the jump fractured the ground where it had stood, sending shards of burnt earth flying as its massive form surged into the air to meet him. Its claws ignited mid-leap, flames wrapping tightly around one forelimb until it resembled a burning blade.

The hound swung.

Dante twisted.

Mid-air, his body contorted with ease, spine arching as he narrowly slipped past the descending claw. Heat screamed past his form, flames ripping through the space he had occupied a fraction of a second earlier.

He retaliated instantly.

His leg snapped out in a kick landing square against the Fire Cerberus's flank. The impact thundered outward, the force rippling through flame and flesh alike. Fire exploded away from the point of contact as the hound was hurled sideways, its massive body spinning violently before it slammed into the ground far below, skidding across earth in a trail of scorched debris.

Dante was still falling.

His descent slowed only by instinctual adjustments, air rushing past as he assessed the plains below.

That was when he felt it.

A shift from Echidna.

His gaze snapped toward her just as the other Cerberus forms leapt back, withdrawing in unison. That alone was warning enough.

Echidna raised her hand and water stirred.

At first it was small—tiny tremors beneath the surface, droplets shivering free from puddles and stone. Then the moisture began to rise. Pellets of water lifted from the ground, dozens, then hundreds, then thousands, gathering around Echidna's outstretched hand.

They formed orbs.

Small at first, no larger than a clenched fist, each sphere perfectly smooth, suspended in the air. They multiplied rapidly, forming a constellation of hovering water as pressure built within. Dante felt it even before they moved. A deep, oppressive weight pressed against his senses, the air growing dense.

Echidna's eyes turned towards him, then her fingers twitched.

The orbs launched.

They did not fly like projectiles. They fell sideways through the air, accelerating instantly to impossible speeds. Dante reacted on instinct, twisting mid-air, contorting his body to slip between them as they streaked past.

One passed so close he felt its wake tear at his coat.

Another grazed the air beside his shoulder—

—and detonated.

The explosion was catastrophic as the water sphere collapsed inward and outward simultaneously, releasing a shockwave of force that tore the air apart. The ground in the distance imploded, stone and earth vanishing in an eruption that sent debris rocketing skyward. Tremors rolled across the plains, the shock reverberating through Dante's bones even from afar.

Another orb struck moments later.

Another detonation as the land screamed.

Dante weaved between them, narrowly avoiding each impact as explosions chained across the plains. Each missed strike carved new scars into the earth, leaving behind massive craters filled with boiling water and steam.

He hit the ground hard, boots skidding across slick stone as he landed. He absorbed the impact smoothly, knees bending, momentum rolling through his frame as he regained balance.

There was no pause.

The Lightning Cerberus was already upon him.

It lunged from his blind side, jaws crackling with bursts of black lightning. Dante leaned back instinctively, the hound's teeth snapping shut exactly where his head had been a heartbeat earlier. Lightning slammed into the ground behind him as the bite missed, blasting a crater into the earth.

Dante pivoted away, boots splashing through shallow water as he moved—but the Ice Cerberus did not give him space. A massive chunk of ice tore free from the ground beneath its paws, shaped instantly into a projectile larger than a tree trunk. With a thunderous snarl, the hound hurled it forward.

Dante leapt.

The frozen mass smashed into the ground where he had stood, the impact freezing everything outward in a surge. Ice raced across the earth, encasing stone and water alike in an instant, spires erupting skyward as the ground was claimed by it.

Dante landed beyond it, boots sliding as he touched down on uneven terrain.

The three Cerberus forms spread out again, encircling him once more.

Echidna slithered forward with confidence, her massive form positioning itself between the ice and fire Cerberus. The separated hounds loomed behind her, each breathing in a different rhythm.

"You're pacing yourself again," Echidna idly mused, her voice smooth but filled with slight irritation. "I am curious as to why. With the venom expunged from your system, you could very well do more damage than this."

Dante did not answer immediately. He shifted his weight just enough for the wet ground to sigh beneath his boots.

"And what of you?" Dante merely questioned. "The scale of that attack just now was much smaller." His helmet tilted a fraction, lenses lifting to meet her gaze. "Seems to me you're frightful that you might actually lose control to Arielle."

For a brief moment—so brief it could have been missed—Echidna's expression tightened. Then she clicked her tongue sharply, a sound of dismissal that echoed strangely in the hollowed plains.

"Hmph. She is nothing but a vestige," Echidna said, folding one arm across her torso while the other gestured lazily. "The state her corporeal form was in when descending to this realm was not pretty. She cannot even create a physical body. She has no hope of wresting control from me."

Dante regarded her for a few moments.

"So you say." He glanced up at her fully now, the angle of his helmet sharp. "Then why not use her power to its fullest? She was, after all, the Goddess of the sea, depths and freedom." His pause allowed the question to linger longer. "Why not use that aspect?"

Echidna scoffed, though her eyes narrowed. "Power over the sea is more than enough to deal with you, human," she replied coolly. "And after all, my Cerberus remains whole." One of the forms growled softly in agreement. "I do not need much of this little Goddess's power." Her lips curled up. "And… what good would the concept of freedom do in battle?"

Dante exhaled through his nose, the sound almost a laugh—but stripped of humor. His fingers flexed inside his gauntlets.

"Hmph. Little wonder a monster would not know," he said with certainty in his own words. "Tell me, Mother of Monsters—" his head inclined slightly, respectful and condemning all at once, "—is anything in the realms truly free?"

Echidna's brows furrowed despite herself. "What?" she asked, the word sharper than she intended.

"Freedom is not a physical aspect," Dante continued evenly. "Yet it represents many things. Be that choice, defiance or refusal." He took a slow step forward, boots crunching over the frozen ground. "Yet none are truly free. Even those who find themselves free of fate have a higher power governing them—be they Gods or man."

One Cerberus shifted uneasily behind Echidna, claws scraping against the ground.

"It is the capacity for one's self-determination," Dante went on. "You, however, are merely a slave preordained to a set path." His voice hardened, "That is why you shall lose. My strength need not be taken into consideration."

Echidna stared at him, then laughed softly—an amused, dangerous sound. "What a neat little philosophy," she mused, folding her arms fully now. "I'll lose because I'm not truly free?" Her head tilted. "But following your own logic… would you not be a slave to something as well?"

Dante answered without hesitation.

"I very well am," he admitted readily. "Be that my goal, my convictions, or my sense of self."

There was no shame in it or any defensiveness. Only acceptance.

"And then," Echidna pressed, eyes narrowed further, "what would make you so superior to me, human?"

A beat passed.

"Mine are merely superior," Dante bluntly stated.

For a moment, Echidna said nothing. Then her grin widened, sharp and delighted, something feral creeping into her expression.

"That sounds like another challenge to me, human," she said softly. "We never finished our little battle of convictions after all." Her gaze turned briefly to a form of Cerberus, then back to Dante. "Then I'll seize 'freedom.' My path may be preordained… but simply because it is the only path I seek to walk—" her smile hardened, "—should it be in shackles, then so be it. That is my conviction."

She raised a hand slowly.

The three forms of Cerberus stirred once more with ice crackling, fire surging and lightning snapping across blackened fur.

Within her mind, an unspoken yet absolute thought rang.

("I shall return to my home, whatever the price. Even should it be a false freedom. Even should I be weighed by chains. I shall return.")

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