Taking the manâs words as reasonable, the crowd silently watched as Dante summoned a miniature sun, its bright golden rays dispelling the gloomy fog that had surrounded him, the fog giving an audible
hisssss,
as the sunâs rays touched them...
They watched in fascination as his already massive frame grew even taller, bulkier and more imposing..
His growth not stopping until he was of a similar height to the hulking knight...
The golden tint his skin took, the golden highlights in his hair and the liquid magma flowing within his eyes gave him the disposition of a
flame god...
"It really is their ability!!" Someone exclaimed...
"How does he have the
Calder familyâs
trademark ability? Is he somehow related to them?" Another man asked, confusion coloring his features..
They couldnât understand how someone was using the bloodline abilities of another family despite having not shown any characteristics linking them to such.
They could only surmise that he was an illegitimate child, it wasnât so far fetched after all...
*********
"Ahh, so he was of the bloodline of the
eastern domainâs overlord family
after all" a supervisor sighed audibly, almost relieved that heâd finally solved the mystery behind the strength Dante has been displaying...
"If you believe so, then why hasnât that young man, Thaddeus, was it? Why hasnât he made it that far yet?" Valenâs voice cut the manâs relief short..
He was right.
Thaddeus Calder, a true bonafide
<Solar Essence>
bloodline wielder was still being waylaid on the 30th floors, yet Dante had already cleared the 69th floor, now facing something incomprehensible..
"This... but why does he now have their signature ability?" The supervisor asked once more.
It didnât make any sense no matter from which angle one looked at it..
Valen didnât bother answering, he himself was still actively trying to understand how any of this could be possible..
Yet before their shock could subside, Danteâs voice resounded within the area once again...
"
Stormâs Descent!!"...
This time around, their wasnât a star, there was only fury. Fury akin to that of the gods..
The entirety of those watching went slack jawed when the skies above the floor tore open and then rain, lightning and wind became a storm of catastrophic proportions..
They watched as lightning, thicker than pillars thundered down, threatening to unmake everything, winds sharper than the finest blades tearing through whatever was unlucky enough to stand in their paths and rain heavy enough to create craters wherever it felt..
It looked like the end of the world and it had all been summoned by one person..
"Damn... heâs been playing around all this while?????" Someone yelled from the crowd, voice hard..
"How is this even possible? How can there be a sun and a storm existing in the same sky? What ungodly amount of energy does this young man have?" And expert analyzed in shock..
He could tell that these two phenomena werenât coming cheap.
They probably cost an arm and a leg, yet Dante seemed fine pulling it off..
Next came the scales, thick golden scales with vein like patterns looking like living circuits within...
The moment his transformations ended, the crowed stood awed at the being before them..
Golden storm forged scales coating the majority of his body, a thick flaming aura surrounding his massive frame and the very storm ahead churning and swirling as if awaiting his commands..
He looked less like a man and more like a
god...
The clash between Dante and the knight shook the entire floor, the viewing orb rocking violently as if on the verge of collapse..
"Damn... that thing just wonât go down huh?" A man commented from his couch as he watched Dante and the knight clash, over and over again, neither willing to give the other an edge...
*********
"Go down..go down..go down.." the crowd muttered anxiously as they watched with bated breaths Dante clashing with the hulking death metal..
This was probably the only time theyâd ever felt anxious about one of his encounters..
It was nerve wracking yet exciting..
Donât get it wrong, watching Dante one punch everything was fun, but watching him actually fight? Showcase his true prowess? That was pure gold, even if most of them only saw blurring flashes of light, whilst only the true experts could make out the figures....
Boooooommmm!!!!!!
Another deafening clash ensued as the figures of Dante and the knight reappeared, storm blade in Danteâs hands clashing fiercely with the dark sword the knight wielded..
It seemed to be another deadlock until..
"
Rraaaaaghhhhhhhh"
Dante overpowered the knight with a manic roar, his blade finding purchase..
Boooooommmm!!!!!
The knight got blasted backwards as the crowd screamed..
YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!
"Hahahaha... take that you dumb looking brute, howâs that taste."
"I knew it... my idol wouldnât be held down for long.."
"Hahaha... in the end, itâs still the white haired wonder that comes out on top"..
They were already rejoicing..
Their moods being lifted after seeing Dante gain the upper hand, all that seemed to be left was for him to press the advantage and take that win..
That was the thought until a disbelieving yell shattered that illusion..
"IMPOSSIBLE!!!!"..
The crowd turned to the screamer, but his attention wasnât on them, it was fixed on the display, looking at the same thing Dante was currently looking at with a grim expression..
Slowly, the crowd turned their sights to the display,
"How..how can that be?"
"Impossible... that canât be possible"
What greeted them was the image of Mormon Du Mont, uninjured and fully stable...
"Hahaha... that was a close one, you seem to still be getting stronger" he cranked his metallic neck..
"I guess Iâll have to get a bit serious too"
"
Alright little one, time for round two"..
The moment the audience heard that, their vision went black again, the screen seemed to have been devoured by an unearthly darkness..
"What is happening..."
"I canât see anything.."
The confusion was maddening, first they thought the hulking knight was done for, now they were back to seeing nothing but darkness..
Luckily, it didnât last long this time around, yet the moment their sight resumed, they were greeted with the sight of a Dante that was as pale as a ghost, his breathing hectic, his body trembling...
The death knight ahead of him seemed to have been stunned by something..
"Heâs back!!!"
Their focus shifted instantly, nobody willing to miss any moment of the intense action, this was the highlight of the entire trials for them, and theyâd be damned if they didnât see it through...
"
Stormâs Descent"
Danteâs voice resounded once more, calling out a technique theyâd seen him use before.
Yet this time, he didnât utilize it the way heâd done last time, as immediately the furious storm appeared, a darkened sky hung above it, consuming it entirely..
They watched as the color finally returned to Danteâs face..
The knight after getting over his shock, attacked furiously, only for Danteâs voice to freeze him, "
Void pressure"...
The space surrounding the death knight collapsed inward, an explosion rocking the entire floor once more as the collapsed space exploded outward..
The moment the damage cleared, the sight of the knight that greeted the viewers sent a surge of relief through them..
Its battered form with both arms and a leg gone meant the creature was surely out of commission..
"Oh no you donât..
SNAPP!!"
The snapping of his fingers seemed to have had some effect as the knight suddenly froze...
Yet their joy seemed half lived as the dullahan that had been silent till now suddenly moved..
Their hearts lurching into their throats..
"No..not now... just stay put.."
"Come on.. this isnât fair.. itâs one man vs two monsters... boooooo!!!!"
"Booooooo.....boooooo"
Resounding boos echoed as the audience finally couldnât stand the tower bullying their favorite participant..
The matter only seemed to worsen as the death fog thatâd been cleared earlier suddenly returned..
Dante seemed surrounded on all sides, the crowdâs mind finally registering that maybe, just maybe they were going to lose such a bright talent to an ancient landmarkâs pettiness...
Yet before despair could fully settle in..
CRAAAACKKKKK!!!!!!!
A thunderous crack shut it down...
Their gazes snapped toward the display as they watched, incredulously as the sky seemed on the verge of collapsing..
Not in a metaphorical sense..
No, the sky was literally collapsing, they could see it falling with a righteous indignation...
Itâs devastating collapse consuming everything beneath it..
The knights, the fog, even Dante himself..
Everything vanished, the display going blank...
They stood breathless, none willing to move, their eyes turning toward the leaderboards..
The only thing to let them know if a bright spark had just been snuffed out early...
....
....
Dante Draven- 6,900 points
...
...
Dante Draven- 7,000 points...
...
"He...did it.." a whisper...
"He did it..." the voices were louder this time..
"HE FUCKING DID ITTTTTTT!!!"
OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
**********
A/N: now, a Chapter like this soothes my mind. I actually enjoyed this one, like all the others, yesterdayâs own was something else..
**********
Thanks for reading...