Mei took a deep breath, observing the three presences before her. The conclusion came quickly, coldly: the Princes, alone, were weaker. Their debility was clear. If she concentrated her barrier on a single point, she could amplify its power of nullification and weakening—perhaps enough to take them down swiftly.
But Dante was there. And that space… was not ordinary.
The dimension seemed like a box reflecting the Abyss itself, sustaining the Princes' existence and strengthening their abilities. If she destroyed or nullified that place, the benefit would be immediate.
On the other side, Dante thought in silence. "Soon… soon I will have enough energy to bring forth the Veil. Inside here, it will be perfect. The space is already delimited, I just need to expand the reach until it fills the entire box. And with the Princes here, I won't need to worry as much…"
A discreet smile. But it soon faded.
"But against Mei… every step must be measured."
Mei sighed. Then she advanced.
She didn't waste energy aiming for the Princes. She went straight for Dante. The impact, however, was contained—the male Prince appeared before her, blocking the blow and dragging her into direct combat.
Mei assessed while exchanging rapid attacks.
"Instinctive, then… even the woman tried to stop me, but her weakness didn't allow it. They defend him without thinking."
Her eyes shone. Perhaps Dante is the thread holding this connection. If I cut it… these two fall with him.
The male Prince conjured black weapons, distorting space to trap her. He almost succeeded, but Mei's barrier expanded, exploding the trap before it could close.
Seizing the opening, Mei ignored the Prince and shot toward Dante. The man was left behind. The woman tried to block, but too slowly. Mei reached Dante and the two exchanged direct blows. Fast, precise, destroying the ground beneath their feet.
Dante held his ground, and the male Prince managed to reach Mei and pull her away from the King.
But Dante sensed something wrong. Mei wasn't fighting to win… she was preparing something. Her feet were trapped—ethereal chains had been placed around her legs, sealing her movement.
"Damn her, she did that when we exchanged blows..." Dante thought.
And in the midst of the exchange, Mei ignored the Prince and murmured:
— Massive Nebula.
The blow exploded, directed at the trapped Dante. He raised a defensive technique, but his energy was still unstable since the attack on his navel. The execution was flawed. The barrier cracked, and the blow passed through.
At the last instant, the woman appeared. Her fragile body intercepted the energy, absorbing part of the destruction.
Mei watched her, her gaze narrow, cold.
— "Instinct…"
She had confirmed it.
The Princes were linked pieces. Reflections of Dante's will and the Abyss itself.
And now, she knew where to strike.
"This place…" — Mei thought, dodging another barrage. — "It's anchored by Dante. But it doesn't depend on the stability of his energy… If it did, he never could have summoned something like this. Not yet. So perhaps… the portal? Or the very existence of these three beings? Perhaps they protect Dante only because he was the one who summoned them…"
Mei had no time to conclude. The male Prince vibrated in purple hues and, in an instant, his energy increased. The blows grew heavier, faster, forcing Mei to move at near-automatic levels of defense. The woman, in contrast, glowed in ethereal blue and vanished. In seconds, she was beside Mei, unleashing a rain of invisible fragments.
Mei dodged some—until a single fragment struck her.
Nothing happened. No cut, no wound… But suddenly, her entire body froze. The invisible prison blocked her as if it were part of space itself.
The man did not hesitate. His fist came down with brutality, exploding against Mei and hurling her dozens of cosmic meters backward, the impact echoing through the starry void.
Dante watched in silence. His eyes didn't blink, they only calculated.
"How much longer?… The Veil must be almost ready."
He felt the balance returning within him. The cancer Mei had implanted in his cells and energy was neutralized; energy flowed again. He was stable.
Mei rose. Her broken body regenerated in a rapid, grotesque spectacle of flesh and bones returning to place. She wiped the blood from her lips and smiled.
— You are strong… — her voice came out low, almost amused. — But I'm tired of having to hold back from killing.
She cracked her neck. — Let's play.
— Pulse.
And she vanished.
The speed was absurd. Mei appeared and disappeared, striking both Princes simultaneously. With every punch, every impact, her energy seemed to burn—but also recover as if it were inexhaustible. Clones emerged amid the combat, different techniques collided in synchrony, and space bent to her fury.
Dante watched from afar, his expression growing more serious. Mei, however, just smiled as she fought.
"She's not just fighting… She's plotting something."
And she was.
Mei spun her body mid-leap, her eyes shining.
— Perhaps you're almost ready with your energy, Dante… — she murmured, smiling. — Then it's time to test something.
Suddenly, a black point opened in the center of the space. A miniature black hole, but with terrifying power. Gravity pulled everything around it, condensing, crushing. The Princes were dragged almost instantly into that point, their bodies deforming as they resisted the collapse.
And then Mei shouted:
— Planetary Nebula!
A familiar name, but the execution… different. It wasn't the technique Dante knew. She orbited the black hole, dancing around it, accumulating energy, exploiting the perfect condition: trapped summons, divergent energy. Demons and Princes were ideal prey for it.
And when destruction seemed inevitable, Mei did not finish it.
She launched herself at Dante.
He met her head-on, arms open, ready for the clash. The collision echoed like thunder in the void. Dante felt every impact, every vibration, but what bothered him most wasn't the blows.
It was the smile.
Mei never stopped smiling, even amidst the fury of the clashes.
"That smile…"Dante gritted his teeth, blocking another attack. "What is this damned woman plotting now?"
And, for the first time in a long while, he wasn't sure if he was one step ahead or several steps behind.
The Princes screamed in silence. Their bodies, even made of Abyssal matter, were being crushed and burned by the black hole Mei maintained. The man roared, trying to tear fissures in space to escape, but every crack was swallowed by the insane gravity. The woman trembled, condensing purple energy into ethereal fragments, but even they were pulled and torn apart before fully forming.
— I-impossible… — her voice echoed in distortions. — A mortal should not… possess this power!.
The man clenched his teeth. — We need… the portal to expand further. Only then will we regain our true strength!
But, even in their weakness, they were Princes of the Abyss. And yet… that woman treated them as if they were children being crushed by invisible hands.
The black hole grew, grinding the space, corroding the edges of the reflection-dimension they were in. Mei, while maintaining the technique, exchanged blows with Dante as if she had infinite energy. Her eyes never left him.
— Well? — she smiled, dodging a shadow blade and kicking Dante back. — Not going to do anything to save them?
Each word was a mental jab. — They seem to need you… but what about you, Dante? Could it be that you're the one who needs them? Weren't you the one who brought them here?
Dante blocked, counterattacked, defended. But he was pressured. His body was fast, his energy stable, but… something was missing. He needed a spark. A stroke of luck. An opening.
— Just going to stand there? — Mei spun, delivering an elbow strike that nearly pierced Dante's guard. — If you do nothing, they will die screaming.
Her smile was cruel. But it wasn't an empty smile—it was calculation. She was testing. Forcing.
And then…
Space trembled.
A wave coursed through the entire cosmos, shaking constellations and making the stars pulse like hearts about to explode. The celestial figures shone intensely, and the power of the Abyss exploded with them.
The Princes began to glow.
Their voices, once weak, reverberated with authority.
The pressure that was crushing them now became fuel. The black hole burned them, but they used the very gravity as a source, absorbing every fragment, every wave, every drop.
The man drove his fist into the void and space shattered into plates, absorbing part of the technique.
The woman stretched out her hands, sucking in the energy that had been tearing her apart.
The impossible began to reverse.
The black hole weakened. Mei's technique was slowly being nullified.
And for the first time, her smile vanished.
— The Abyssal energy had… a spike? — she retreated, eyes fixed on the growing brilliance. — In such a short time… This isn't natural. It's exponential. If this continues… soon the Abyss will prevail on Earth.
Tension crossed her face. Mei shot toward the Princes, trying to stop their regeneration before it was too late. But behind her, a voice she never wanted to hear echoed, clear and triumphant:
— Veil of the Abyss.
Mei stopped. The blood froze in her veins.
And Dante laughed.
A deep, bitter, triumphant laugh.
The ground shook, the city shook, space shook.
Even the constellations flickered as if about to go out.
And then, the Veil began to open.
To be continued…