Dante was already tracking all the small traces of Sara's scent in the forest when something caught his attention.
He was still transformed into a three-headed dog but felt a slight imbalance... "Another Root," he thought, approaching a tree that was... Contaminated, so to speak. "Consume..." He thought as he began to swallow all the demonic energy, but before finishing, he identified something... an entrance to a cave.
Calmly, he walked, using his keen sense of smell to sniff the area, and finally... "This scent..." He thought.
A mix of different smells filled the cave; initially, he thought there were only two scents, but he detected a third...
"Lyrianna and Sara..." He thought, the scent of both resembling water, a neutral smell but sweet, mainly due to the cherry trees and oriental perfumes they often used. And the third scent...
"Disgusting," Dante said, using even more demonic energy to enhance his senses and finally understanding the scent: a King-level Demon.
Many things raced through Dante's mind now as he used his sharp vision to see in the darkness, identifying several battle marks, mainly... melted shards. "Lyrianna fought here... she pushed him and he hit the wall, but... how was she caught?" He questioned, sensing something sinister in the air. "Even I feel repulsed...
it seems this demon is not ordinary," he thought and left the cave. "They're not far," he said, but before he could return, he heard footsteps and abruptly turned...
"W-what are you doing here?" Dante quickly transformed into his humanoid form and ran to the woman who had fallen to the ground. "H-help me," she whispered. Dante quickly grabbed her...
"World Tree..." Dante murmured, seeing the representation of the World Tree's body completely distorted; it seemed full of cracks, and one of its hands was as red as blood...
"What happened, Fey?" Dante questioned; the woman was still in pain, so he tried something... "Consume." He began to draw in energy from her arm, trying to relieve her pain. Fortunately, her arm started returning to normal. "Tell me what happened," he said seriously as the woman recovered; she said nothing, only placing her hand on her head.
For a second, Dante felt the whole world, seeing things he never wished to see. "They..." He murmured, feeling so much demonic energy. "What is this..." Dante saw with horror as several forests were consumed and lost their lives.
"This happened a few hours ago; I felt nothing, and suddenly the whole world turned like this..." Fey said, now recovered. "They're trying to connect me with my sister... to open a portal to Hell," Fey said. Dante observed the situation closely, and his body filled with even more anger.
Now it wasn't just about little Sara and her mother; now it involved all his wives who were in the human world.
Fey looked at the tree, desperation evident on her face. "You need to destroy its core. It's at the top, where all the veins converge. But be careful, the negative energy there is... immeasurable."
"Furthermore... I'm sensing positive energy inside the tree..." Fey murmured. Dante's heart stopped for a moment... Once again, a pillar of negative energy surged from his body, releasing all the pent-up fury. "The forest will suffer a bit, forgive me," Dante said, and Fey didn't have time to nod or respond; Dante wasted no more time. With a roar, he launched himself towards the tree.
He reached the highest speed he could muster, his wings shattered from the impact of leaving the ground, his fury fueling his velocity. As he neared, the air around him seemed to vibrate with the sheer intensity of his rage.
"I'm coming, Sara..." he murmured to himself, his voice a whisper full of promises. "Nothing will stop me from saving you."
The gigantic tree seemed to react to his approach. The veins pulsed more violently, and a rain of red lightning bolts began to descend from the sky, as if hell itself were trying to block his path, but he wouldn't stop. His body began to be struck by numerous bolts, but nothing affected him; he continued flying towards the tree.
"Consume!" he roared, summoning a whirlwind of darkness around him. The negative energy emanating from the bolts began to be sucked into him, as if he were a devouring vortex of demonic power.
The impact was immediate. Dante crashed into the base of the tree, its veins pulsating uncontrollably as they launched attacks at Dante, who hadn't yet recovered from the impact.
"Disappear," Dante said, and the veins recoiled as they were drained away... "Look who we have here... the Demon King has come for a visit?" Dante raised his gaze, seeing a matured demon appear, mounted on a demonic horse.
"Demon on a horse... I find it hard to believe that's the best you can send," Dante replied, his voice dripping with disdain. Even as he spoke, he felt the overwhelming pressure of the new adversary's presence.
This demon wasn't an ordinary opponent; he exuded an aura of power and malevolence that made even the shadows around tremble.
The demon chuckled, a guttural sound that reverberated through the clearing where the tree trunk stood—a considerably large area, about five football fields in size; indeed, it was a large trunk.
"You underestimate my strength, Demon King. I am Valthor, a commander of Lucifer, and you will not pass through me." The demonic horse snorted, its nostrils spewing flames as it took a menacing step forward.
Dante narrowed his eyes, feeling the fury bubble up inside him once more. "Lucifer's under... so it's this damn son of a bitch who ordered my wife's capture?" He questioned, a cold air settling over the area. "My master chose the easiest target, after all.
It would have been difficult to attack Joan of Arc; we only had two virtues we knew, and the beautiful Sara was perfect for it," he said with complete contempt...
"I understand..." Dante murmured... The cold in the air was completely consumed by an aura of black flames that burned everything around him... "So I don't need to hold back..."