"Dante's scream reverberated throughout the world of Elysium, a primal roar like that of a beast... The scream was so loud that certain parts of the world felt tremors, and those who heard it felt a deep fear coursing through their bodies, a spine-chilling sensation capable of making many faint.
As if the heavens were punishing them in some way—well, that's how some saw it. But for those truly strong individuals, reality was different...
"Ah, finally." Aaralyn heard a murmur and turned to see her beloved adoptive mother emerging from a crimson-red portal, completely covered in sand and other debris. "There's sand in places where it shouldn't even be," she muttered, visibly bothered. Just as Aaralyn was about to laugh at the sight of the woman covered in dirt...
"Lucifer!!"
The cry echoed as demons continued to emerge, exploding from the waves of energy emanating from the voice.
"Dante," Aaralyn said, turning after nearly extinguishing that furious, massive tree of black and shadowy rage from its shadows. The women around her looked in the direction from which the cry came, directly towards the Empire of Lyrianna.
"Is that... Dante?" Nagasawa questioned, helping Kaalindra to her feet. She had fallen after passing through the red portal. "Are you alright? Where's Valentina?" Nagasawa asked. "We seem to have many issues here," Kaalindra replied, seeing that this place was no different.
"My mistress was ambushed by an army of demons... I tried to stay and help, but she sent me flying away, ordering me to return... Damn it..." Kaalindra said, clenching her fists. She felt useless, yet...
"Something is happening, something has happened to Sara," Velryna said, looking in the direction from which the roar of fury had come. "Someone has provoked a being they shouldn't have," she said.
From the castle rubble, a woman wielding a huge axe emerged, slashing through all remaining veins. "My husband..." Adria murmured, "What's happening to him?" She asked Evangeline, who was absorbing demonic energy for herself. "I don't know," she said, "The Master is so strong that I'm being repelled," she said, trying to see what was happening on the other side of the sea.
It wasn't just them feeling strange... Voralith, Vex, and Eldrax who were in that place...
"What's happening up there?" Vex said, noticing that demons began to explode after Dante's scream.
"Hey! Can you see what happened up there?!" Vex shouted, calling Voralith and Eldrax, who began to land after seeing demons being killed instantly.
"Dante... I don't know," Voralith murmured as her body enveloped in light returned to its humanoid form. "Eldrax feels very powerful," Eldrax murmured.
"What happened..." Vex murmured, if not even these two could know, but something was wrong...
"The end point of a Progenitor, understanding one's own power, one's own motivation, and one's ego," the voice interrupted the tense silence, causing the three to turn abruptly, ready for battle.
In calm steps, the woman began to approach all three women, her aura... "Superior Demon..." Voralith murmured, preparing for combat.
"H-how... how did he snag a demon goddess?" Voralith still couldn't understand this man...
...
"Calm down, Dante... think straight... direct your fury... first... defeat Lyrianna... then heal Sara...
Breathe..." He murmured to himself, as a way to hold this fury in his chest...
"I can't fight to kill... Just incapacitate her... yes, that's the best course..." He continued with his eyes closed, trying in every way to calm himself...
"Dante, Dante, Dante... You've come this far, and there's nothing for you." Lyrianna said, her eyes focused on him, like a true Succubus, Dante could already see her pink heart-shaped eyes trying to permeate his being. She was no longer a common demon...
"Herald of Lust?" Dante questioned, as he appeared in front of her and grabbed her neck in a quick attack. "Maybe a part of her," Lyrianna said with a mischievous smile...
Cough-Cough
She coughed feeling her neck being crushed, but she continued to speak as Dante pressed harder, as if she didn't care.
"You know, you're a very capable man, did you know that? The mighty Demon King of Devastation, stealing the title of devastation from his mother, growing up as a strong boy, to the point of undergoing a resurrection." She began to dictate the battle, just with words. "But deep down, you're just a lonely little girl who keeps seeking more and more people to fill your existential void."
"Little girl? Hahaha." Dante tightened his grip on Lyrianna's neck, his gaze fixed on hers as she spoke, trying not to be distracted by the Succubus's cutting words. His expression remained impassive, but inside, he felt fury bubbling, threatening to break any control he tried to maintain.
"Is all of this just an attempt to distract me, Lyrianna?" Dante replied with his eyes ablaze, though his voice carried an icy intensity. He adjusted his grip on her neck, reminding himself of the promise he made to himself: incapacitate, not kill.
Lyrianna let out a raspy laugh, a sound that echoed challengingly through the tense atmosphere. "You've always been so clever, Dante. But make no mistake, the emptiness you feel inside is real. You can fight, conquer, but you'll never fill that void with power or achievements."
Her words hit their mark, piercing deep into his consciousness. It was true that Dante had always felt a void, a longing for something more, something he could never quite define. But now was not the time for deep reflections; he was in the midst of a crucial battle, with Sara in danger and Lyrianna as an immediate threat.
"You're not being controlled," Dante said, reading the woman's eyes. It was something far worse than mere mind control, much worse... "So this is it, isn't it? You're reading my soul and my desires, seeing my memories, even from past lives," he said with a smile on his face...
"It'll be a great acquisition, stealing your existence for me, great representative of the Seven Deadly Sins, Asmodeus of Lust."
Dante's eyes merged with the darkness completely, only a pair of rubies could be seen in that immense black void.