The team was shattered.

Rina, their heart, was dead. Cut in half.

Eric, their wall, was dead. His head at Dante's feet.

They were not just defeated. They had been destroyed.

For a long, horrible moment, they were frozen. Statues of shock.

Their minds unable to process what had just happened.

Masha's face was pale. Bloodless. Horror in her eyes.

Jin's sword arm hung limp. Eyes wide and empty.

They were broken.

Then the shock shattered.

What was left was pure, burning rage.

---

The first to move was Lana.

A sound tore from her throat. Low. Rough. Not a scream of fear.

A snarl of pure fury.

She had been crawling. Wounded. Broken.

But now she rose.

She used her staff as a crutch. Her shattered knee screaming. But she got to her feet.

Her wild amethyst eyes, once filled with desperate pleas, now burned.

More terrifying than any dragon's fire.

Lucien, still enjoying his victory, still toying with Dante's trapped body, made a mistake.

He turned his back on her.

Lana roared. Pure madness.

She launched herself forward.

No longer a wounded girl. A storm. A whirlwind of rage.

She swung her Verdant Iron Staff like a berserker. A single, two-handed strike aimed at Lucien's head.

BOOM!

The blow connected like a thunderclap.

Lucien flew. Tumbling through the air. Crashing into a pile of dragon bones with enough force to shatter them.

CRASH!

---

Erica, who had been on her knees, tear-streaked and shocked, now rose.

Her eyes no longer human. Burning with fury.

"YOU!" she shrieked. Her voice like tearing metal.

A massive fireball erupted from her hand. The size of a boulder.

FWOOSH!

The boy with vine tattoos, Riven, stepped forward. Bored expression.

He slammed his hand on the ground.

A thick, thorny wall of vines erupted. Intercepting the fireball.

BOOM!

The explosion was huge. The vines charred and burned. But didn't break.

Lucien climbed from the rubble. Blood trickling from his mouth.

His manic smile gone. Replaced by furious disbelief.

He had been hit. He had been hurt.

Erica and Lana didn't give him time to recover.

They charged. Fire and fury. Their only thought to protect Dante. To avenge him.

They became a wall between him and his tormentors.

That was the signal. The war began.

---

Masha's face was a pale mask of cold fury. Her eyes locked on Riven.

"You," she whispered.

The ground around him began to freeze. The cold so intense it cracked the stone.

CRACK! CRACK!

The two assassins—Draven with predator's eyes, and Garron who could form bone armor moved to intercept.

But Talia was already there. A ghost emerging from shadows.

Her Viper's Kiss daggers a blur of poisoned steel aimed at Draven.

Jin, with a roar for his fallen brother, met Garron's charge head-on.

His gauntlets and sword a storm of fury.

CLANG! CLANG!

The last of their team, a wild-looking boy named Thorne, charged toward Kael who was barely standing after gaining consciousness.

The battlefield became chaos.

A desperate, final battle for survival.

---

And Dante... he was still trapped.

The vines held him fast. His magic sealed.

'I can't move. Can't summon. Can't do anything. They're dying for me and I can't do ANYTHING!'

But in the chaos, as Lucien's team split their attention, he felt something.

A flicker.

The heavy weight crushing his magic seemed to weaken. To lose focus.

The silver-haired boy, Veyrion, was backing away from the fight. Concentrating.

But it was clear his skill required intense focus. A focus now shattered by the all-out war.

'This is my chance. My only chance. I need to call Edgar. Analyze them. Find a weakness.'

He closed his eyes. Ignored the searing pain in his shoulder.

Reached for the one summon he knew he could call.

"Edgar," he whispered.

This time, it worked.

The connection sparked to life.

The dark silhouette of his loyal analyst appeared beside him. Form wavering but present.

'Thank god. Thank god. Edgar, I need you.'

"Appraise them," he commanded. "All of them. Now."

The data flooded his mind.

---

|Veyrion - The Anti-Mage|

Silver hair. Calm grey eyes. Standing back from the fight.

His skill was called Arcane Silence.

He could block someone's magic completely. For five minutes. Then he needed time to recharge.

'So that's why I couldn't summon. He shut me down completely. But now he's distracted. I have a window.'

---

|Lucien - The Blood Manipulator|

The leader. Cruel intelligent eyes. Bleeding from Lana's hit.

His skill was Sanguine Dominion.

He could control blood. Form it into weapons. Sharp. Deadly. Could change direction mid-flight.

'He made a sword from my blood. That's how he cut off my arm. He will pay for it.'

---

|Thorne - The Beast Eater|

Wild-looking. Fighting Kael with savage fury.

His skill was Feast of the Beast.

If he ate part of a dead monster, he gained its traits. For thirty seconds. Couldn't stack different powers.

'He's probably eaten drake meat. That's why he's so strong right now. Time limit. We can outlast it.'

---

|Riven - The Plant Controller|

Vine tattoos up his arms. Fighting Masha with plant walls.

His skill was Verdant Grasp.

He could summon vines, roots, branches from the ground. Control the battlefield.

'He's the one trapping me. If I can break free, I can move. But those vines are strong.'

---

|Draven - The Perfect Assassin|

Predator's eyes. Moving with inhuman speed against Talia.

His skill was Predator's Eye.

He could boost his reflexes and perception. For perfect strikes or dodges. Short duration.

'Talia's matched against someone with better reflexes than her. She's in danger.'

---

|Garron - The Living Fortress|

Bone armor covering his body. Taking Jin's hits without flinching.

His skill was Ironbone Mantle.

He could form bone armor over his body. Reduce incoming damage massively.

'Jin can't hurt him. His armor is too thick. We need a different approach.'

---

Dante looked at their skills. At the perfect teamwork.

An anti-mage. A blood manipulator. A berserker. A terrain controller. A reflex master. A walking fortress.

They were not just a team. They were a weapon. Each part designed to work with the others.

'They're cheats. All of them. And we're injured. Exhausted. Outmatched.'

'We should be dead. We should run. We should surrender.'

But his team was fighting.

Fighting with the fury of the damned. With the courage of those who had nothing left to lose.

'They're fighting for me. Even after everything. Even knowing what I am. They're dying for me.'

He looked at his body. At the vines holding him. At the stump where his arm used to be.

He looked at his severed arm on the ground. Fingers still wrapped around Soul-Drinker's hilt.

Then he looked at the battle raging around him.

---

Lana and Erica were a storm. Their combined power forcing Lucien onto the defensive.

His blood-sword a desperate shield against their attacks.

'Keep him busy. Don't let him focus. Good.'

Masha was ice and fury. Her cold clashing with Riven's vines.

A battle of nature's forces.

'She's holding him. But she's exhausted. How long can she last?'

Talia was a ghost. Her poisoned daggers a blur against Draven's fast reflexes.

A duel of perfect assassins.

'He's faster. But she's more experienced. It's even. For now.'

Jin was a roaring fortress. Hammering against Garron's bone armor.

Each blow a thunderclap of defiance.

CLANG! BOOM! CLANG!

'He can't break through. But he's keeping Garron occupied. That's enough.'

Kael, having copied Jin's strength, was locked in brutal combat with Thorne.

'Thorne's beast power will fade. Kael just needs to survive.'

They were fighting. They were dying. But they were fighting.

'For me. They're doing this for me.'

Something twisted in his chest. Not calculation. Not strategy.

Genuine emotion. Unwanted. Undeniable.

'I've manipulated them. Used them. Lied to them. And they're still fighting for me.'

'Lana could run. She's fast enough. But she's attacking Lucien to protect me.'

'Masha could freeze a path and escape. But she's fighting Riven to keep him away from me.'

'They're all... they're all choosing to stay. Choosing to die. For me.'

The realization hit him like a physical blow.

'I don't deserve this. I don't deserve any of them. But I'll be damned if I let them die for nothing.'

He looked at the vines holding him. At the battlefield. At his severed arm.

'I'm their leader. Their commander. The one they follow. And I will NOT just lie here and watch them die.'

He had a promise to keep. A happy end to claim.

And he would carve a path to it through anyone who stood in his way.

But first, he needed to get free.

'Edgar. The vines. Analyze them. Find me a weakness.'

His analyst's voice echoed in his mind. "The vines are organic. Living plant matter. They respond to Riven's will. But they have a weakness."

'What is it?'

"Fire."

Dante looked at the battlefield. At Erica fighting Lucien.

At the flames erupting from her hands.

'Fire. Of course. But I need to get her attention without alerting them. Need to be subtle.'

He looked at Edgar. At his ghostly, translucent form.

Almost invisible unless you were looking for it.

'Edgar. Go to Erica. Tell her to burn these vines. She'll understand.'

The analyst nodded. Dissolved. Reformed beside Erica.

Whispered in her ear.

She didn't look at Dante. Didn't give anything away.

But her next fireball went wide. Missing Lucien.

Hitting the ground near Dante instead.

"Careful!" Lucien laughed. "You almost hit your own comrade!"

But the flames spread. Touched the vines.

They shrieked. A high-pitched plant scream.

And began to burn.

The thorns loosened. Just slightly. But enough.

Dante pulled. Hard.

SNAP!

His remaining arm broke free.

Pain. Burning pain as thorns tore through his flesh.

But he was free.

He collapsed forward. Caught himself with his one good hand.

Looked at his severed arm. At Soul-Drinker still clutched in its dead fingers.

'I need that sword. I need my weapon. Even with one arm. Even dying. I need it.'

He crawled. Inches. Agonizing. Every movement sending shockwaves of pain through his body.

His fingers closed around Soul-Drinker's hilt.

Pulled it from his dead hand's grip.

The blade hummed. Recognizing its master.

Even with one arm. Even broken. Even dying.

Dante was armed again.

And that changed everything.

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