Everyone stared at Tekio.
It made sense — his aura was overwhelming, unique, as if it held every emotion in the world at once. A new sun seemed to rise there, incandescent and uncontrollable. For the first time in ages, Dante faced the unknown.
He, the Crimson King, who until now had seemed invincible and all-powerful, didn't know what to expect. He was simply… tense. His body trusted its own strength, but his mind sank into an ocean of uncertainty.
Tekio rose slowly. His aura bubbled, mirroring agony, courage, fear and rage — a living quilt of emotions that resonated with the world. His eyes, almost divine, pierced Dante like blades of silent lightning.
Dante felt it. It was like standing before an abyss. The air pressed on him as if the ocean itself were above his head. The creature he had dismissed as a mere boy had become something else.
Down below, everyone watched in disbelief. The world seemed warped, like a house swallowed by the flames of a single match. The sky darkened. Time hesitated. A supernatural, almost divine presence descended upon the earth. It felt as if that presence held everyone in its own hands.
Tekio's energy condensed. Dante felt it. An attack was coming. Something would happen.
But in a fraction of a second… everything changed.
The aura died. Silence. Nothing. Tekio's eyes returned to their brown. The tension dissipated like smoke.
Vernasha broke into a cold sweat. What had that been? She couldn't tell if it had ended or if it had merely begun. Something was wrong. Something eluded her read.
Dante remained motionless. For the first time since his resurrection, he felt fear. Then he laughed. He laughed like he hadn't in centuries.
— Ah… that was unexpected, — he said between muffled laughs. — Every so often this happens. When the heart screams and the soul bursts… the body answers. A latent power awakens. A flash of transcendence. Some warriors do transcend in moments of extreme stress. Rare, but possible.
He looked at Tekio with a mix of respect and scorn.
— For a moment I thought you were going to… awaken. But, fortunately, you didn't. That would've been an annoyance.
Dante walked slowly toward Tekio, who barely kept himself upright. His body hurt. He was numb, trying to breathe.
"What was that?"Tekio thought. Then he pushed the thought away. It didn't matter. He only had to keep going. Recover. Fight. He couldn't watch Dan be destroyed.
— You know, this plan was crafted years ago, — Dante said, voice low and heavy. — Before you or any of your friends ever dreamed of existing. I was there. I built every piece. And you… you nearly ruined everything.
Dante stopped before him and smiled arrogantly.
— Nearly. But not. Congratulations. Your failure made me laugh like I haven't in a long time. And for that… I will kill you quickly.
Tekio forced himself to stand. His legs trembled. But something in his chest still burned. He still felt.
Down below, Vernasha relaxed slightly. Yet something bothered her — the aura of Mei. It pulsed: sometimes controlled, sometimes explosive. "Is she seeing what I see?"she wondered.
Isha moved toward Aisha and Akira with calm, almost gentle steps.
— Dante said only one thing: don't touch him, — he murmured, removing Akira from Aisha's body.
Akira couldn't scream anymore. He was unconscious, moved only by pure will. Isha summoned a black scythe. He looked at Aisha with something like tenderness.
— You will be my most beautiful weapon. Thank you for that. My weapon will absorb your unusual energy and I promise to make good use of it — your life and your death will not be in vain.
Aisha barely moved. Eyeless, bones broken, death slowly reaching for her. Isha would hasten the end.
But as he raised the scythe to finish her, Akira — still unconscious — moved his hands. He grabbed Isha's feet. A useless gesture, but he tried.
Then the eastern gate exploded.
The detonation sounded like thunder. Everyone turned. Kian emerged through the dust — the Sif Tekio had met minutes earlier.
— THE SIFS WILL NOT LOSE! NOT TODAY! — his voice tore through the air.
Behind him a battalion appeared, faces covered but auras intense, weapons drawn. The Sifs had returned.
Dante sighed.
— It doesn't matter. After you, Tekio, I will kill them all.
Tekio, injured and dizzy, still stood.
Kaze laughed.
— I admire the determination of these fools.
Jouki only watched the soldiers, eyes like black blades. Vernasha snapped words of futility. Isha narrowed his eyes under his mask, calculating.
Why such an explosion?
Why be that showy?
It made no sense.
Then they understood.
Akira and Aisha's bodies had vanished.
— A distraction… — Dante growled.
Kaze and Jouki reacted, launching wind and shadow projectiles at the soldiers. But it was already too late. There were no dead Sifs. No attack. Nothing. It had all been an illusion.
Up above, Tekio apologized in his head — to Aisha, to Akira, to Dan, to Stella, to Mei, to Tenklyn.
Maybe he was not strong. Maybe he was neither destruction nor salvation. Maybe he was just... nothing.
But he would not die without a fight.
Without energy, without technique, without aura, Tekio stepped forward. A human punch toward Dante's face.
Dante blocked easily, smiling.
— Ridiculous.
But when his hand touched Tekio's skin… something occurred.
A voice.
"IMPURE."
Dante froze.
His vision dimmed. His internal pressure fell. And then…
he fell.
Sitting, disoriented, he looked at his own hand. Unknown energy spread across his body.
— AAAAAAAHHHHHH! — He screamed. For the first time, he screamed. As if something invisible consumed him.
Below, everyone stopped. Dante's screams cut the sky.
Vernasha felt it. That sensation returned. The sense that something in the plane was wrong. Something… unpredictable.
Dante writhed. Tekio, exhausted, could barely see. He collapsed to the ground slowly. His vision blurred.
From Dante's own mouth came another voice:
— GET OUT OF MY BODY!
It was Dan. His living soul. Screaming. Struggling.
Dante's vision darkened. Before he lost consciousness, he saw a silhouette.
A woman. Black hair. White eyes like snow. One eye's iris diagonally split.
— It was you… — he murmured.
Then darkness.
Kaze flew to the top quickly, but what he saw left him groundless.
Tekio and Dan… were gone.
Two bodies remained: Hazau, unconscious, and another body — naked, familiar.
Kaze fell to his knees.
— It can't be...
He would recognize that body in any age.
It was Dante. In his original form. His true flesh.
From below came the question:
— Kaze, what happened?
Jouki saw that no Sif had died. There had been no attack. Only silence.
Vernasha ground her teeth.
— It does not matter. They will die. One by one.
Kaze returned carrying the body.
Vernasha saw, and froze.
— Dante...
Isha and Jouki stood still.
Kaze, grave, said:
— Get clothes for him.
The King… had returned. In his pure form.
The barrier was weakening.
The streets were chaos.
From this moment on, the world entered, for real, a new era.
Tô Be Continued...