The world was chaos.

From his prison of burned vines, hurt and powerless, Dante watched.

A war he could not command. A battle he could not fight.

Each duel was desperate. Each fighter was dying.

And all he could do was watch.

The center of the storm was Lana and Erica versus Lucien.

Fire and iron and blood.

"Is this all you've got?" Lucien taunted. His voice smooth. Mocking.

He moved with predatory grace. The blood-red sword in his hand.

Dante's own blood. Forged into a weapon to kill them.

He wasn't just fighting. He was dancing. Toying with them. Enjoying their desperation.

Lana limped forward. Her shattered knee a point of searing pain.

She swung her Verdant Iron Staff. Not with skill. Wildly. Like a cornered beast.

"I'll kill you!" she screamed. Her staff whistling through air.

WHOOSH!

Lucien laughed. Didn't even block.

He flicked his wrist. A whip of shimmering red blood erupted from the pool around Dante's severed arm and other bodies situated there Eric and Rina.

FWOOSH!

It moved like a striking snake. Wrapping around Lana's staff. Wrenching it from her grasp.

YANK!

Two more tendrils shot from the ground. Wrapping around her ankles. Sending her crashing to stone.

THUD.

"You were always clumsy when angry, Lana," he said. Shaking his head. Fake disappointment.

'No. Lana, get up. Get up. Don't let him—'

Before Lucien could finish her, Erica was upon him.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

She unleashed a flood of plasma. Not focused. A wide, roaring wave of white-hot destruction.

Lucien met it with the blood-sword.

He didn't block. He split it.

The blade moved in an impossible arc. The fire parted around him like water around a rock.

Untouched. Smile never wavering. His playful gaze went from Erica to Lana

"All this passion," he said. His eyes glinting. "All for him? That pathetic boy who never looked at you?"

"He doesn't love you. He doesn't even see you."

Erica gathered his attention towards herself.

"SHUT UP!" Erica screamed. Her control shattering.

She charged. Fists covered in fire. Movements reckless. Full of openings.

Lucien's skill was perfect for this.

He didn't move. The blood-soaked ground was his weapon.

Spikes of hardened black blood erupted at Erica's feet. Forcing her to stop.

Whips of red lashed out. Striking the Sunstone Shard on her chest.

CRACK!

She cried out in pain.

'He's taking them apart. Piece by piece. And making sure I watch every moment.'

Lucien's gaze kept flicking back to Dante. Making sure he saw. Making sure he suffered.

'I need to do something. Anything. But what? I can barely move. My arm is gone. My magic is weak. What can I possibly—'

---

Across the battlefield, Kael was locked in battle with Thorne.

The wild warrior was a whirlwind of savage force. Eyes wide with hunter's glee.

He looked from Kael to the mountain of dragon corpses. A hungry grin spreading across his face.

"Look at this feast!" Thorne laughed. Dodging a lightning bolt. "You gathered a wonderful meal for me!"

He sprinted to the nearest Void Drake corpse.

Didn't hesitate. Plunged his hands into a gaping wound. Ripped out a chunk of raw, steaming black meat.

And began to eat it. Blood and guts running down his chin.

Kael watched. Face a mask of disgust and shock.

The change was quick. Horrible.

Thorne's body shook. His muscles swelled. Skin hardening. Taking on a scaly look.

His nails grew into wicked black claws. Teeth sharpening into fangs.

His eyes began to glow. Yellow. Hateful. Like the Sun-Eater Wyverns.

He let out a roar. No longer human. A beast's sound of pure power.

His skill, Feast of the Beast, was active.

He charged Kael. Speed now terrifying. Inhuman blur.

No longer a brawler. A monster. Human cunning mixed with dragon savagery.

Kael had no chance.

He used Warpstep to dodge the first claw-swipe.

CRASH!

The claws shattered stone where he'd been standing.

He fired another lightning bolt. It sparked harmlessly against Thorne's hardened hide.

'Kael is going to die. His current skills are useless against this. He needs to adapt. Or he'll be torn to pieces.'

Kael seemed to realize it too.

He teleported to a safe distance. Chest heaving. Mind racing.

He looked at transformed Thorne. Then at the dragon corpses. Then at his own hands.

A look of grim determination settled on his face.

He closed his eyes.

'He's erasing one of his skill as he is using his copying skill. He's going to copy Thorne's skill. But that means...'

With a visible shudder of disgust, Kael ran to the same Void Drake corpse.

He hesitated for only a moment. Then plunged his hands into the gore. Ripped out a piece of flesh.

He squeezed his eyes shut. Forced himself to eat it.

His body reacted violently. He cried out. Doubling over as his muscles spasmed and reformed.

His skin hardened. Nails sharpened. Eyes glowing with the same yellow light.

When he looked up, he was a beast.

'He did it. He sacrificed part of himself to match his enemy. That's... that takes courage.'

Thorne stopped. Head tilted. A look of surprised respect on his monstrous face.

"Well, well," he growled. Voice low and rough. "You've got guts."

Kael didn't answer. He let out a roar that mirrored Thorne's.

And charged.

No longer a fight between boy and monster.

A duel between two savage beasts. A whirlwind of claws and fangs under the dying sky.

SLASH! ROAR! CRASH!

---

The third duel was Masha versus Riven.

Ice against plants. Winter against green.

Thick thorny vines erupted from cracks in stone. Trying to trap Masha's feet.

Roots, thick as iron, coiled around her ice walls. Crushing them with slow, unstoppable force.

CRACK! SNAP!

Riven stood calmly in the center. Hands resting on the ground. Calm focus on his face.

"You cannot win," he said. Voice steady. "The stone itself is my ally. Every crack is a doorway for my power."

"Your ice is just a temporary shield."

He was right.

Masha was on the defensive. Her S-rank core draining as she constantly created new barriers. New frozen ground.

Only to see them overwhelmed by Riven's grasping plants.

She was losing.

But Masha was not just a powerhouse. She was a strategist.

She had been watching Dante. Learning from him.

She stopped creating walls. Stopped freezing the surface.

She closed her eyes. Her grimoire floating before her. Pages flipping wildly.

She placed both hands on the stone floor.

And instead of pushing her power out, she pushed it down.

GROOOAN.

A deep groaning sound came from deep within the floating island.

The ground around Riven began to turn white. Deep frost.

The vines snaking toward Masha shriveled. Died. The water inside them freezing solid.

The roots crushing her walls became brittle. Snapped.

SNAP! CRACK!

Riven's eyes widened. Shock.

"What are you doing?"

"You said the stone was your ally," Masha said. Her voice a low, chilling whisper. Breath turning to mist.

"So I'm taking your ally away."

She wasn't just freezing the surface anymore.

She was freezing the entire island. Driving her ice magic deep into the rock. Killing his plants at their source.

It was draining. But her S-rank core gave her the energy she needed.

Riven's calm expression broke.

No longer a master of his territory. A gardener whose world was being plunged into killing winter.

He was forced to pour more energy into just keeping his vines alive.

His attacks became desperate defense.

The battle was not over. But the scales had been balanced.

---

Dante watched all of this. His mind racing.

'They're adapting. Fighting smart. Kael copied the enemy's skill. Masha changed her strategy. They're learning.'

'But they're still losing. Slowly. Inevitably.'

'Lana and Erica can't break through Lucien's blood manipulation. Kael and Thorne are evenly matched but Kael will tire first. Masha is draining herself to freeze the island.'

'And I'm here. Useless. Watching them die for me.'

He looked at Soul-Drinker in his remaining hand. At his severed arm on the ground.

At the battlefield covered in blood and fire and ice.

'I need to get up. I need to fight. But how? My mana is still weak. I can summon Edgar but not the others. Not yet.'

And in that moment he spotted him the Anti-Magic user, he was siting by the side of a corpse- a wyvern and absorbing its core hiding from everyone even his own teammate.

Dante smiled. 'Greed huh. And this greed of his will become his death '

Dante with whatever strength he got put it all in his silent walk.

he made his way towards that slightly altitude terrain and as he reached close enough to kill him.

He swung his sword in his weak hand, he knew he needed a fatal blow to kill in single strike which doesnt need too much strength and thus he had targeted the throat.

As the metal blade met flash his opponent didnt utter a single word, he was dying with some stupid voices that Dante enjoyed, he looked all the blood dripping from his neck even he had placed a hand as if it would stop.

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