[Dante!] As he felt the sting on his chest, Dante heard Volcan’s panicked voice. Time seemed to slow down significantly. Shards from the translucent Aether Shield scattered in the air, slowly disintegrating. The rabid beast, its fur crimson with blood, had its right arm reaching for the floor, the claws at its end drawing illusory red arcs through the air.
A short distance away, the blue demons activated their sorcerous arts, launched another salvo of air missiles in his direction. The heroes didn’t seem to be doing anything, but the cloaked one had an arrow ready to launch, and the cold one was surrounded by floating ice shards, each one glowing a faint blue.
Thoughts raced in Dante’s mind and the chaos rampaging through it only got worse. His inner voice mocked, forcefully pulling his focus back to the fact that his arrogance and greed were what caused him to end up in this situation.
He had become too full of himself after killing those three heroes, and that caused him to drop the caution he should have maintained at all costs.
Though he had missed the best chance to retreat, he still had an opening. He could still get out now and escape while the damage he suffered was minimal. That was the right choice. That was what he had to do. That was the way to survive.
As the thought silenced the chaos in his mind, a different one shattered it the next instant. An incinerating fire ignited in the depths of Dante’s heart, turning the entire world red.
The marble armor disintegrated into countless light threads as more erupted from the circle on his chest. Rearranging themselves in an instant to create something entirely different.
Still consumed by rage and bloodlust, Werewolf twisted his body, whipping his left arm as it slashed upward. His claws ripped through the world, tracing red lines as they sought to sever the glowing figure in front of him. A powerful gale followed the motion, kicking a large cloud of dust.
Standing still for a moment, he lowered his arm and gazed at the deep gash lining it. Ignoring the blood streaming from the fresh wound, he turned his head in a certain direction, his glowing red eyes narrowing into a vicious glare.
Something spawned a short distance away. It appeared vaguely humanoid, but the shapes defining its form were strangely thin and angular. Its dark colors contrasted with the white mansion behind it, and for a moment, it appeared like a black silhouette with no discernible features. That was when a red dot lit up at the center of its oddly shaped head, and the next instant, the strange figure vanished without a trace.
Werewolf twitched then whipped his head to the left, only to see dirt scattering into the air. Turning in a different direction, he saw the same thing once more, and when he turned a third time, his eyes snapped wide open. A line appeared on his neck, barely visible through his blood-soaked fur. An instant later, a crimson shower erupted from it, spraying the surroundings with his blood.
It was as if a trigger had been pulled and his demented mind forced him into action. Another cut appeared on his left arm just as the first one closed, the blood erupting from it made worse by his every muscle contracting. Three more appeared simultaneously, only to close without spilling a single drop.
With his jaws clenched, the beast lowered his posture and kicked the ground, his crimson figure blurring before it vanished entirely.
Having watched the scene from the sides, Cryonis and the other members of Team Silver Wind were lost for words. Their confusion only got worse when loud impacts began to echo through their surroundings, but whatever caused those sounds seemed to vanish before they could check, leaving them baffled.
As she reflexively turned to the source of another one of those impacts, Night Gale felt the hair on her neck stand, and although she couldn’t see the dark blade looking to sever it, the terror that gripped her heart left her too stunned to move.
Something exploded behind her at that moment and the blast tossed her and the others into the frost-covered ground. Jumping back to her feet, she finally saw what had been causing all the sharp clashing sounds.
Werewolf was there, his twisted expression showing that he was still out of control. He was snarling as he pushed something with his claws, and though the red energy coating them caught her attention, Night Gale’s eyes were locked on the thing he was struggling against.
A steel monstrosity painted entirely in black. Its form was sharp and angular, covered in segmented plating with well-defined edges, looking like a series of strangely shaped blades linked together to create whatever that thing was. Its arms didn’t just have the appearance of blades—each one had a long edge stretching from the elbow joint and to the side of its clawed hands.
On its back, long triangles pointed up like stretched wings. At their center, a number of cones lined the creature’s spine, each one resembling miniature rocket thrusters roaring as they blasted blue flames into the air. An ominous red circle glowed in the depths of its head, like the single eye of a murderous monster locked on a target chosen for elimination.
The clash lasted only a couple of seconds, and before she could take in its appearance, the steel monstrosity vanished with a single motion. Werewolf disappeared next, leaving Night Gale standing there completely stunned, and a moment later, the loud impacts returned.
"What the-" White Arrow tried to speak, only to be silenced by a nearby clash.
"Move it!" Cryonis suddenly shouted. "We need to get out of here before-"
Something flashed behind the cold hero, robbing him of the rest of his words. There was no clash, however. Werewolf appeared an instant later but vanished without offering them as much as a glance.
The air blasted by his sudden movement movement washed over the heroes, but while everyone else strained their bodies to withstand it, Cryonis stood allowed it to push him without resisting, and as a red line appeared on his pale blue winter coat, one of his arms fell to the frozen ground below him, followed by the other, then the upper half of his torso.