11.3

Dante was frightened as he watched the bodies of different creatures rise up and all looked in the same direction, between their hands. They seemed to share his mother's thoughts. Still, the little wolf hid his new acquisition behind his back, he was eager to test how sharp the blade of his catana was and what better test subject than a real enemy. With the new weapon, Dante believed himself even more invincible, so much so that he ignored the elder's display of power and was convinced that he couldn't miss the opportunity to try to escape to avoid their punishment. "With the size they are, they wouldn't be able to see me escape," thought the wolf cub. "If with this catana I can make everything possible, now, the only drawback are the shadows that mother has created. They won't let me leave...". Dante turned around and fixed his gaze in the distance. "Between Katherine and Mijan lies the perfect spot. The trees are still intact and they reached all the way to the Ever-Changing Forest... I only ask for one last chance," said the wolf cub, as if armed with courage and boldness.

As if it was a divine sign at Dante's whispered request to the wind, another gigantic armored creature fell on the barrier and, at the same time with its claws, tried to break through it to crush the old man. More and more beasts appeared on the spot, all around, above and below, causing the elders and the guards to triple their efforts. And the path became visible.

Rey saw the look on his brother's face and could deduce what was next. As when you open the door of a bird's cage, it could not resist the call of freedom. But could a bird that in all its life had had safety, food and guaranteed water survive in the face of the cruel freedom it did not know existed out there? "The cruelest place is the place where everyone is free to be," Rey said.

Dante, after taking a deep breath, as if inhaling courage, clenched his fists, held his catana and sent himself running, calling out to his feline companion with a cry of "now or never!". Jhades was forced to follow the wolf cub, as if he had been taken by surprise. Already his white-eyed brother was shadowing Dante. With only a difference of seconds in their reaction period, the enemies were swarming the only clear path. However, Jhades was able to slip away and jump where his brothers and the felines jumped. From the tip of the cliff towards the void, the blue eyes witnessed a whole place ruled by chaos.

The Great Wise Wizard broadened the smile on his face. As the armored giant charged at him and Maryam's shadows defended the barrier.

...

In free fall, the three little ones turned their bodies using the best means they could find in order not to end up crashing to the ground. Dante positioned his hands and legs first to cushion the impact. Jhades opened the feathered wings that had been sleeping on his back, allowing himself to fall gracefully. Rey also spread his wings for a second to land on his feet and hide them, leaving only a pair of black feathers swaying in the air. Unharmed, the brothers looked up and sharpened their instincts in search of threats.

Although nearly a dozen giants were fighting on the sides, the violent stormy forest at the foot of the cliff promised shelter to the little ones who listened to a whole orchestra of war cries, explosions and thunder. Not only flying beasts that seemed to transform into a rain of blood, but also burning balls and blocks of ice were scattered about the place. Still, no matter how much blood, organs, dismembered bodies, fire, ice and poison there was, Paradise did not lose its divine glow.

For fear of losing the lead, the wolfling whose senses were more alert than usual, brought the hilt of his unsheathed catanna to his mouth. Making sure to bury his four claws in the ground to ensure the grip that a powerful tear away needed. Dante ran on all fours, straight into the thicket provided by hundreds of trees whipping at each other from the endless storm of explosions. Jhades, taking a deep breath and with a bitter face, followed his brother, regretting the promise he had made to his mother to protect him just because he wanted to make a good impression. Rey waited for White to finish his descent. Noticing the poor muscular performance of the other two little ligers, he could not leave without first preventing them from losing their lives in a crash to the ground.

In the path of the boy who was in first place and saw the world as a predator, some individuals appeared who were labeled as enemies just by the clothes they were wearing. Dante's fierce eyes stabbed the target before the claws or sword in his teeth. Enraged as a storm, the wolf cub for a moment felt what it meant to become an adult, the weight of killing, which led him to think:

"This is war. Death is justified. This is my escape route... on the other side is the Ever-Changing Forest, which I must reach. It is no use telling who is good from who is bad. I don't know their faces. Nor their clothes, but something else is giving me the answer. They smell of the same thing I smell now: blood. They are just like me. No, I didn't become just like them. No longer a child, I am now a predator. Their eyes show murderous intentions, like my brother. Also airs of superiority, as in Jhades... Now I am like them, and even if I am not first or in mother's lap, I feel I cannot help but feel in danger, I cannot control, feel threatened, feel afraid. Father is wrong...". Between screams and rage, the wolf cub added. "The fear that runs through my veins is the force that drives me! It manipulates my movements, makes me faster, more adaptable, more lethal, more... invincible!... Father is wrong! The fear in me represents the intentions I have to live... to destroy...!".

The garments that the wolf cub wore, created by Mijan, protected him from all the cuts of any object that tried to penetrate him, which were many, but not from the blows or the stumbles. Dante was fighting against people who also adapted to the situation and had the ability to defend themselves or at least give a last attack before perishing. About to slow down in the face of adversity, Dante continued:

"I must hold my ground and keep moving forward. Let each blow I take ignite my fury and fade the pain...feel wilder. More free... more lethal. Die!"

The agitated wolverine began to lose his human form, as well as the logics that encapsulated the fighting styles of the same species. It was no longer with his catanna, but with his teeth and mouth already protruding, Dante bit the neck of any opponent and ripped his head off, then used his body and jumped in the direction of the next one.

Given the fight that the giants were carrying out, the trees of the place, which lashed everywhere, became detached from the ground. Violently uprooted, the trunks flew out of the ground. Even so, the three little ones advanced rapidly, ignoring the conditions of the forest and at the same time killing anyone who got in their way. Confusion among the aggressors turned to panic, for they faced a beast in rage, driven by fear of the unknown.

Under the protection of Rey, snarling, biting, or clawing with his huge claws, Dragonids (the guardian of Paradise belonging to Dante), Regres, (the feline guardian accompanying Jhades) and White behaved no differently than the young man with the surname Lobato. They were finishing off the enemies who, dying, were left after getting in the way of the one who was in the lead.

Rey was being cautious, leaving someone alive who could attack them from the rear would be the worst mistake anyone could make.

Jhades, who was in the middle, was forced to slow down and even stop relying on his wings to keep moving forward. The splashes of blood and limbs that Dante sent flying in his wake were more violent than the gusts of wind and energy caused by the elders. The flesh of the shredded enemies came to hit him and, unlike the leaves, branches, dirt and stones, this one smeared his clothes that he was so careful not to soil.

Coldly, opined the boy who saw the world in the same way that expressed the color of the eyes he wore:

"Disgusting."

Using his forearm, the vampire wiped his face after tasting the flavor of the red liquid.

"To stoop to such behavior is simply disgusting. If father behaves this way when he fights, I would be ashamed of him. The form of our bodies has two purposes, to create and to feel, if you turn into another organism for the purpose of being stronger, you are simply showing your weakness, your inability to not know how to create "the destroy" of something.

Dante's fur and clothing became insufficient covering for the edge of the objects that sought to harm him. Rationally crazy behavior brought him consequences and, with this, carelessness almost lethal to his own life.

Rey, finally, set out to absorb the blood of the enemies and try to imitate his mother's skills while analyzing the situation. He noticed that the enemies were getting stronger and stronger as they advanced, as if those in front were simply cannon fodder, sacrificial pawns. Between an exchange of glances with his companion, with one leap White took the lead and with his front claws cut into nine pieces an opponent that fell on Dante's blind spot.

On the other hand, Dante was even more out of it, to the point that he had even forgotten how to speak and only roared for every time he was saved. Exhaustion made him careless.

"Why don't you order your damn garter to get out of my way! I don't need any help! I've got it all under control," he growled the next words to Rey as who wanted to prove that they still maintain superiority in combat.

Jhades couldn't keep quiet and threw his opinion into the air:

"Don't get agitated. Far from finding safety, we could find ourselves in more danger. Something far more powerful than these beings, who serve only to soil the ground with blood and for you to degrade your pride, could be waiting for us ahead."

"Pride? You're wrong... You don't eat pride. Such a thing lives in your head, it doesn't cover you from the cold, much less help you when you're on the verge of death" Dante vociferated even more angrily. "What, without pride there is only dishonor left? Don't make me angry anymore, fine boy. Living is justification enough to credit the means."

Almost walking, the white-eyed boy with the strange symbol in the middle realized that he could neither imitate his mother's skills nor create a blood slave. It was not yet his time nor did he have the necessary skills. Giving up trying, Rey still kept his distance so that his brothers would not realize that he was only using the situation to seek to become stronger.

Rey shook off the blood that had accumulated in the palm of his hand, and then he analyzed in depth the behavior of his brothers in a battle, whom he had not seen in such a long time. Practically, two strangers with whom for a short time he had once interacted. They were trained by different masters, so, to survive so far and pass the training, they had to have at least one decent move. Something easy to learn in a short time, a move that could turn the tables.