Chapter 123

Dante

It only took about 15 seconds to close the distance between Thabo and me. A jungle of stone emerged before me and sent me flipping back before I reached him. Moment of Sage and Demon Evade activated nanoseconds before the jump, and I whipped out Rebellion and Ebony, firing at a pair of mages who'd generated a field that neutralized Angel Evade.

They turned to Red Orbs as I landed, and I threw myself forward, unshackling the skill. I slipped through the stone blockade with contemptuous ease, and Thabo gripped his staff feverishly as he started to chant.

I emerged before he could finish his spell, or so I thought, Osiris in full swing.

Every muscle in my body seized before my blade touched him, and I found myself gasping in shock as Thabo's lips parted in a devilish smile.

"Blood Constrictor, one of the firstborn's originals. I'm going to make you wish you'd died to one of my stone spells."

Thabo twisted his staff, and my body wrenched in pain. I refused the asshole the satisfaction of an actual scream.

"That's light work, Thabo," I said. "I've had scratches that hurt worse than that."

"Then let me educate you!" he snarled as he twisted his staff, snapping both of my kneecaps. I muffled down a scream as I glared up at him.

An explosion went off above us. It was so violent that it shook the tower to its foundation. In the corner of my vision, I spotted somebody leaping out moments before a torrent of White fire poured out a top floor. My breath hitched as I recognized that shade of fire.

Pietro tumbled to the ground, covered in third-degree burns, panting. He let out a desperate cough, hand raised in my direction before he collapsed.

Thabo's face stretched into a sadistic grin. "The prodigal sister returns," he laughed. Isha irks me to no end, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I will enjoy watching her burn you to the bone."

I activated my Weapon's Vault skill, retrieved one of my demonic bombs from it, and crushed it with what little control I had in my right hand.

"Too bad you won't be around to see it."

The bomb went off with a bang, and Nether Fire bathed us. Thabo's control slipped immediately as we were bombarded with debris and kinetic energy. Lucky for me, I had a kick-ass resistance skill that let me shrug it off and retain enough mental clarity to summon Ophion, heal myself with Angel Energy, and drag Thabo back into the thick of the fire when he tried to escape with some Earth-assisted spell.

I saw the fear in his broiling white eyes as I shoved my Infernal Katana into one of them, killing him. It earned me another 5000 Red Orbs and gave me enough time to Angel Evade out of the way of a stomping White Fire attack. It came close enough that Moment of the Sage activated, as did Demon Evade, Burst, and Gust.

I practically teleported across the battlefield, stopping next to Pietro, whose breathing was slowing down. I bit down a string of expletives as I fed him a healing potion instead of a Stim. It was cheaper, and I didn't need him fresh for what came next.

From his battered mind, I learned what had happened. Creel had absorbed Vibranium, of all things, making him practically invincible. He rooted himself in the climbing Elevator while Pietro battered him at extreme speeds floor after floor. At some point, Creel called Domina to ask for reinforcement because he feared he'd not make it to the extraction point. And that was when a masked swordsman appeared, accompanying Isha. Pietro was no doubt faster than her, but she kept him at bay by raising the temperature sky-high.

Only after the swordsman and Creel disappeared did she unleash a storm of fire. He tried to run, but the fire was too quick.

"I'm sorry," Pietro managed slowly.

"Run," I said to him. No sooner had I spoken than Isha attacked. A thick bar of White fire struck, but instead of cremating me and the young Speedster, I Angel Evaded with him, vaulting to the left. Isha predictably appeared behind me, where a Thunderer shot awaited her. It clipped her in the stomach, pushing her fiery a few dozen feet back.

With Thunderer on my shoulder, I sent her a victorious smirk: "You didn't really think that would work again, did you?" Isha floated above me with her wing spread wide and white fire dancing across her body. She had a murderous look yet had the patience not to charge me.

"I should've turned you to ash the moment I laid my eyes on you," she said. "I will make you pay for what you did to them!"

"What did you expect?" I snorted, "That'd I'd go easy on the assholes sent here to kill me?"

"They were Cambion!" She snarled. "Royalty!"

"They were fodder!" I yelled and waved my hand dismissively.

"You dare!" The sky shone white as heat poured off her, but I folded my hand and huffed. "If you're looking for your window to run, this is it," I said to Pietro, and the Speedster climbed to his feet, covered in sweat.

"I won't forget this," he said before he sped off.

"You better not," I said. Saving Pietro's ass cost me a shit ton of Orbs and a pinch of my soul. Best believe I was going to collect. I just haven't figured out what I wanted yet. Turning back to Isha, I activated my Telepathy and connected it to her mind.

"The meager power you've managed to scrape together since our fight has certainly made you bold," she said.

"Meager?" I chuckled. "Your dead siblings and Domina would disagree. Why has she sent you here instead of facing me herself? I've read all about your sister. She's a master manipulator and glory hog. She either expects you to die, soften me up so that she can land the final blow, or she's working an angle even I can't see. Do you really want to fight me on your sister's terms?"

HP: 1720/1800

SP: 1500/1860

AE: 1140/1400

DE: 850/1440

I summoned two storage balls full of demon and angel energy, each containing 200 energy points, and began to siphon.

+10AE

+20DE

The act alone should've been enough to send her over the edge, but my words were getting to her. Reading her mind confirmed it.

Isha happened to be in the room when Kreel's SOS call came in. Desperate to help her siblings and get revenge, she'd begged Domina to join the fight.

'I'll let you fight him,' Domina had said, 'but this is your fight alone. No help is coming.'

Despite the unfavorable stakes, Isha's mind seemed made up. She puffed the feathers of her Golden, white-hot wings and pointed them at me.

"You're not half as clever as you think, Dante Sparda. History repeats itself. You prattle on, trying to buy time to recover while I entertain your foolishness. The outcome will be the same as last time: my claws around your neck. Nobody will save you this time."

"Who says I'm the one who needs saving?"

White-hot pinions blanketed the afternoon sky as Isha rained down fire and destruction. My lips curled to a smirk as I activated Fire Cloak. Nether Fire exploded out of every pore of my skin and blanketed my Red Armor.

My Cloak roared fiercely and then vanished without a pip as I used Angel Evade and Burst. My fist materialized inches from her face. She barely shifted out of the way of Eryx and exploded in a conflagration of White Fire. I formed two Bursts on the palms of my overextended gauntleted fist and another on the knuckles and detonated. My hand whirred around so fast my vision blurred, and I swatted her. She was tens of feet away, mid-skip, when I righted myself.

I flung out a storm of Round trips, all angling at her.

Even dazed and disoriented, Isha fought with the grace of a veteran. She sped up her body with wind, committing to her next dive, dodging the first set of Round trips. Isha spun around to fire a wave of pinions that accurately snipped nine of the ten remaining round trips. She banked hard with her wings, arresting her momentum just in time to twirl and dodge the final one, all while still having the foresight to fire dozens of pinions at where she thought I'd be.

She didn't see the fiery Axe head to the chest coming. Four Wind Blades followed from my infernal shortswords a breath later, causing a conflagration of purple fire that lasted for the briefest moments, but it might as well have been a lifetime for her.

Her surprised scream ripped through the air.

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