Chapter 32: Attacks and counterattacks

"Oh no!" Cindela suddenly cried.

Cirella turned.

"What now, Cin...?" Her shoulders dropped as an exasperated gasp escaped her. "You’ve got to be kidding me."

Right ahead of them, the spot where Sarah and Zuru had once lain was empty. Only the thick metallic ropes that had been used to bind them remained.

Zuru had taken advantage of the little opportunity they had. The rope binding him had been connected to the hand of the Davonchi, which Star, in his bloody slaughter earlier, had ripped apart as well.

All Zuru had to do was pull the hand towards himself. He studied the glove carefully, making sure to avoid the button at the centre of its palm that caused electrocution. He spotted another button between the index finger and thumb, and when he pressed it, the ropes around him loosened. He went ahead and freed Sarah, and as quickly and quietly as possible, they crawled away.

King Dante, however, was feeling much more awake. His frantic breathing had become more regular, and his complexion had improved considerably.

He turned towards the two ladies. "You two, go after them. They couldn’t have gone far." He turned towards his beast and Vehitoshi, who were locked in fierce battle. "I can feel my essence returning. Soon, I will get this over with."

Meanwhile, Vehitoshi burst violently out of the broken house he had crashed into, sending broken timber tumbling from his shoulders. His body was bruised and shredded in several places, and blood stained what remained of his clothing.

But very quickly, his flesh began knitting itself together.

’Using my mind to call my techniques cost me a lot of energy. I wasn’t even able to pull my arm out of a stomach. How pathetic."

He rolled his shoulders, his expression darkening. ’And I fell right into his trap. He kept me talking while he silently summoned his beast. Damn it!’ He flexed his shoulders again, and almost immediately, fresh flesh began to form where his arm had been torn away. Within seconds, a new arm had grown in its place, strong and whole.

The beast, on the other hand, was just as relentless. Its golden feathers were beautiful and peaceful to behold, but the fury in its eyes was anything but. It let out a thunderous Phoenix cry that shook the air around it as it flew higher and hung in the air above Vehitoshi.

Just then, its golden feathers began to shine like a setting sun. Then, with a violent beat of its wings, it scattered golden feathers in every direction. At first, they drifted down lightly like ordinary feathers, but before long, each one caught fire.

The flames grew hotter, and the feathers began expanding as they descended, some merging into one another to form even larger, blazing projectiles.

Vehitoshi frowned. "Blazing Feathers? Seriously?"

"Voom!*

The enormous flaming feathers came hurtling down with tremendous force, their blazing trails tearing through the air as they descended towards Vehitoshi.

The heat spread ahead of them, scorching the ground beneath their path.

"Fuck!"

He yelled as he dived out of the way of one enormous feather that slammed into the spot where he had been standing.

Fortunately, he could cover considerable distances with his jumps, which allowed him to escape the worst of the impact. The surrounding ground, however, wasn’t so lucky. The explosion spread across a wide area, setting the already ruined surroundings ablaze and sending burning debris flying in every direction.

He barely had time to recover before another flaming feather came crashing down on him.

*Vdoom!*

But he managed to get out of the way just in time. He sighed, only for yet another feather to descend, followed by another. The enormous flames forced him into a series of frantic dodges, leaving him barely any breathing space between attacks.

He looked up and saw that there were many more.

’I can’t keep going like this... I’ll run out of breath.’

He leapt away from the spot where he had landed only seconds earlier as a massive inferno crashed down, shaking the earth beneath him.

’That’s it.’

"Demonic Rites..." he began.

’If I only use Void, these Phoenix flames will burn through it just like it had done earlier, so I’m just as good as defenceless if I use it.’

"Second Manifestation; Void..."

As he spoke, two enormous flaming feathers merged together and came hurtling down towards him with terrifying force.

"Void Edicts; Four..."

The flames were already upon him.

"Inter-Spatial Points!"

BOOM!

The ground shook as flames roared upwards, engulfing the area in a furious inferno.

Hope flickered in Dante’s eyes. The flames had engulfed the spot where Vehitoshi had stood, illuminating the entire area with their fierce glow. Yet when the fire began to subside, there was no sign of him.

’My Phoenix flames can’t possibly have burned him to ashes that easily,’ Dante thought.

As though responding to his suspicion, Vehitoshi casually emerged from a patch of darkness some distance away. It was as if he had simply stepped out of the blackness itself. Without the surrounding flames illuminating the area, Dante might not even have noticed his appearance.

"Damn it! He completed the technique before the flames could reach him," Dante muttered, clenching his teeth in frustration.

He glanced down at himself. ’Come on. I need to heal and recover my powers so that I can put an end to this nonsense.’

However, the moment Vehitoshi stepped out of the darkness, another torrent of flames came roaring down at him.

BOOM!

But Vehitoshi was already gone.

He appeared elsewhere, emerging from another patch of blackness just as casually as before.

Another torrent of flames came crashing towards him, but before it could land, he vanished again, only to emerge from the darkness at yet another location.

BOOM!

Another explosion rocked the area.

Dante’s entire body stiffened with frustration as he watched Vehitoshi effortlessly evade every attack his beast unleashed from above. Even the Golden Phoenix seemed to be growing frustrated.

After another futile attempt, it finally ceased its assault.

When the last torrent of flames struck the ground, Vehitoshi looked up and realized that no more attacks were coming. His smile slowly returned.

"Oh, have you decided to stop?" he murmured.

He gently lowered one knee to the ground, his gaze fixed on the Phoenix.

"Very well, then. I think it’s time you experienced the wrath of my own attacks."

He raised the index finger of his right hand in front of his eyes.

His expression grew more focused, and then, in a deep, commanding voice, he called out,

"Demonic Rites...

First Manifestation...

Space Manipulation...

Space Manipulation Edicts, Three...!"

However, as he called out his technique, the Golden Phoenix was already diving towards him. It had no intention of giving him the chance to finish whatever technique he was preparing.

As a beast with natural wisdom, it had already realized that if it continued its dive, Vehitoshi would complete his technique before it could reach him.

Therefore, as it descended through the air, it channelled almost all its momentum into its wings.

Then, leaning forward, it brought both wings down in a mighty flap, sending a thick mass of compressed air sweeping towards Vehitoshi.

The compressed air carried raging flames, forming a blazing, crescent-shaped blade that tore through the air with a tremendous force.

Vehitoshi didn’t even move. He remained where he stood, watching the flames roar towards him. In fact, a smile had even carved its way onto his face as the attack drew closer.

But just before the flames made contact, his body turned into blackness and vanished.

Dante’s eyes widened at once as he witnessed what had just happened.

’The Inter-Spatial Points technique was still active!’ His body trembled violently as the terrifying realization dawned on him.

"No," he murmured.

And just then, his greatest fear came to pass.

Vehitoshi stepped right out of the darkness in midair, directly behind the Golden Phoenix. His eyes blazed with darkness as he stared down at the legendary beast.

Dante watched in horror.

’It had all been an act. Vehitoshi had never fully concentrated his energy when calling out those techniques. He had remained in his Second Manifestation, still using Void, which explained why his eyes were still blazing black. Had he switched to his First Manifestation, the Inter-Spatial Points technique would not have remained active, and the colour of his eyes would have changed.’

’It had all been a deception to fool his beast.’

Dante’s heart plummeted even further as he watched Vehitoshi position himself behind the Golden Phoenix. Without the slightest hesitation, Vehitoshi stretched out both palms and planted them firmly against the beast’s back before it could even react.

This time, he channelled an enormous amount of energy into his technique. He knew the beast wasn’t ordinary. It was a legendary creature, one whose power no ordinary beast could ever hope to rival. However, he wasn’t an ordinary demon either.

"Demonic Rites..." His voice this time was somehow subtle, low. But it carried a commanding edge that seemed to bend the air around him.

"Second Manifestation; Void...

Void Edicts; Ten..." His eyes burned blacker.

"ETERNAL VOID!"

Blackness immediately began rippling out from his palms, spreading across the Golden Phoenix’s golden feathers.

The beast let out a deafening cry as its body jerked violently.

Its wings thrashed, sending powerful gusts of wind sweeping through the air.

It fought desperately against the spreading darkness, its flames surging in an attempt to overwhelm the blackness consuming its body.

But Vehitoshi held on firmly, pouring even more energy into his technique.

The darkness spread further, swallowing the golden light inch by inch.

The Phoenix struggled harder - its entire body trembling as its flames flared wildly - but the blackness continued to spread, covering more and more of its magnificent golden feathers.

Vehitoshi gritted his teeth and let out a strained scream as he poured the last of his strength into the technique. The darkness finally overwhelmed the remaining light, engulfing the Golden Phoenix completely.

’...’

In an instant, the legendary beast vanished.

There was no explosion, no scattering of feathers, and no final burst of flames. The enormous creature simply disappeared into the darkness, leaving nothing behind but the fading ripples of black energy in the air.

Vehitoshi’s body suddenly went limp.

He dropped from the sky and crashed towards the ground, barely managing to brace himself before landing on his knees. A violent wave of nausea surged through him, forcing him to bend forward as he spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Ah!" he groaned. "This body is still not very compatible with using such a high-level technique," he mumbled, wiping the blood from his mouth.

But then a smile curved onto his face.

"Yes, but at least I’ve temporarily put that beast away in the Internal Void. Now I’m left with this one standing in front of me." He slowly raised his head towards Dante. "At least it’s fairer now. No beasts. Just a man-to-man fight."

"Huh?"

Dante was now standing firmly where he was, his eyes blazing golden as flames swirled around his body. A tremendous amount of energy had gathered in both his arms, where the flames burned thicker and more fiercely.

Vehitoshi slowly blinked.

"Oh, so your powers are functional again," he sneered. "Good for you."

However, Dante was breathing erratically now, fury blazing across his features. He raised both hands and brought his index fingers together before closing his eyes.

"Fire and Ice..."

"Aspect Six...;"

"FLAMING FISTS OF FURY!"