Chapter 33: Fist-to-fist

McCoy and his boys had been in a very fierce fight with the soldiers of Nethros. They had stepped out of his mansion only to discover that it had been surrounded by them.

"You have been ordered to remain inside your house by His Lordship," one of the soldiers, seemingly the captain, bellowed at McCoy.

"And why is that?" McCoy retorted gently.

"It’s not safe, sir."

"The hell is not safe?" McCoy chuckled inaudibly. ’That son of a bitch knew I wasn’t on his side anymore.’ The realization ached his heart, but he still put on a bright smile.

"Well..." he mused, spreading his arms. "All I can say is... try bringing guns next time."

He clenched his fists, and loud bangs erupted as his boys opened fire, their guns roaring in quick succession.

Bullets ripped through skulls, hearts, stomachs, and even limbs, sending blood and internal organs flying through the air.

Chaos instantly broke out among Dante’s men, throwing their formation into disarray as soldiers scattered in different directions, desperately searching for cover.

"Soldiers on me!" the captain yelled.

A few brave soldiers quickly rushed towards him, assembling shoulder to shoulder as they raised their shields and locked them together, forming a protective wall in front of them.

The bullets struck hard against the shields, sending sharp metallic clangs through the air. However, one unlucky soldier was still hit by a bullet that somehow found its way through an opening in their formation.

"Hold!" the captain yelled, raising his voice above the deafening gunfire. Then he lowered his voice. "Get ready. When they reload, we attack."

That, however, became a huge problem. McCoy’s boys barely stopped firing long enough to reload, and the captain’s men had clear opportunity to launch their attack.

Spears started flying, and every spear that was thrown found a victim. Panic spread through McCoy’s men, making reloading a huge problem as well. Their hands were shaking, some became sweaty, and, worst of all, they were still heavily outnumbered.

When Dante’s soldiers finally got within close range, it became a completely different story. McCoy had already given up hope. All he could see was the blood of his boys flying everywhere, and all he could hear were their screams. Now, all he could do was wait for someone to come and kill him too.

Unfortunately, the captain spotted him. At that moment, McCoy knew all hope was lost. The captain, however, didn’t hesitate. He raised his spear, preparing to throw it at him, but...

*GRAAAAAA!*

A piercing roar tore through the chaos. The captain was still trying to look up towards the source of the sound when a torrent of ice swept over him and his soldiers, turning them into a collection of frozen figures.

"Run!" one of them yelled, but he didn’t even get the chance to escape. The dark beast released another torrent of ice at him and the others, freezing them as well. The icy attack spread beyond the soldiers, covering many of the surrounding houses in thick layers of ice.

The few remaining soldiers didn’t wait to see what the beast would do next. They fled in every direction, abandoning their fallen comrades and whatever remained of their formation.

On seeing this, the dark beast circled around and flew towards McCoy. He remained rooted where he stood, but not courageously. His soul had long left his body in pure fear.

Surprisingly, when Skar reached him, it landed gently in front of him, the air from its wings washing over McCoy. Then it lowered its body towards the ground in a calm invitation.

McCoy frowned skeptically, wondering whether he was being rescued or simply being given a more convenient place to die. But in the next moment, his eyes lit up.

"Of course!" he said. "I’m now a friend of the young prince. You came to rescue me, buddy, didn’t you?"

The beast let out a calm snort, chilly breath oozing from its mouth.

"Good boy!" McCoy said as he approached, though caution was still very much on his mind.

Slowly, he stretched out his hand and touched the beast. It closed its eyes, and McCoy let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding all this while.

He looked down at the corpses of his boys. None of them had survived.

"Well, rest in peace, my boys," he said as he mounted the beast’s flat back and held on tightly to its now-dark fur.

He looked ahead and saw that the king and the already-transformed young prince were still locked in fierce battle.

"Alright," he sneered. "Time to finish this."

...

King Dante’s venomous glare was fixed on Vehitoshi.

’The boy is wise, and Vehitoshi himself is very cunning. Both minds fused into one will undoubtedly spell chaos. Not to mention that Vehitoshi has two manifestations of demonic powers.

He might be the only demon to have unlocked such a great feat, which could put him somewhere at the top of the demonic ranks... But I seriously doubt the boy’s body can handle it.’

His fingers curled into fists. ’And that’s where my advantage comes from.’

"Fire and Ice,

Aspect Three...

Flaming Fists of Fury!"

With a loud boom, Dante surged towards him, the ground beneath his feet becoming charred from the surge of flames that engulfed him.

"Now that’s more like it," Vehitoshi muttered with a dark smirk. "Hihihi! Finally, some fist-to-fist fighting. Aw, my hands have been in chains for so long. I long to stretch them now... Come on, King. Don’t bore me."

"Demonic Rites:

First Manifestation..."

His eyes, which had once been burning black, now changed to a deep purple glow, with purple cracks spreading across the skin around them.

"Space Manipulation!"

"Space Manipulation Edicts...;

One..."

"Convergence of Fists!"

Vehitoshi sped towards him, his long dark hair whipping behind him, his fist raised and his mind ready.

The two surged towards each other with their fists raised. Dante’s fist blazed like a comet, while Vehitoshi’s was strong and thick. The ground shook beneath them, and the air warped around them as the distance between them closed in the blink of an eye.

BOOM!

Their fists collided.

The sound shook the air, and an enormous shock wave erupted from the point of impact, so powerful that it shattered the surrounding houses. The force itself, impacted a tremendous backward force on the two, but neither refused to be shaken. It was to the extent that their feet dug into the ground.

Vehitoshi didn’t even let the force fully register before his second fist was already moving at such speed that King Dante only managed to counter it at the very last second. Even then, another fist came hurtling towards him. He defended against it, then another fist came, and another, and another. They moved so fast that it was as though Vehitoshi had grown extra hands.

However, Dante was doing a very good job of defending against all of them, his flaming fists appearing like blurs of raging golden light. The force behind Vehitoshi’s punches was so violent that they whistled through the air, and every time Dante blocked one, the impact carried a shock wave that shook the space around them. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

"Hi, hi, HI, HI, HI, HIIII!" Vehitoshi laughed maniacally, the veins in his eyes bulging out the more. "You’re doing well, King... This is more like it!"

His fists moved even faster, forcing Dante further onto the defensive. It was as though a hundred fists were attacking him all at once, yet Dante continued countering them efficiently. All that could be seen was a blur of fists, followed by the devastating impacts they left on the surrounding environment.

McCoy, who was flying towards them, quickly pulled on Skar’s fur, forcing it to change course.

"Universe! I don’t think I can compete with that!"

’With my beast away, I think the power I can harness is limited.’ King Dante’s mind scrambled as he continued defending against Vehitoshi’s attacks with astonishing speed. ’Then again, this is only Edict One of his First Manifestation, which is weaker than his Second Manifestation, yet it’s this powerful. No, I can’t be struggling against just his First Manifestation.’

"GAAH!"

Dante poured more energy into his fists, increasing his speed and agility. However, at that very moment, Vehitoshi had been busy with his own plans of attack.

’This body isn’t compatible enough, but its hatred for this man is feeding me. Yes! YES! I guess I can still use the First Manifestation without saying it out loud. That way, I’ll get this over with. Hihihi!’

Of course, Vehitoshi knew that attempting another silent technique would weigh heavily on his body, not to mention that he was already expending an enormous amount of energy while fighting. He considered the risk, however, and decided it wasn’t too great.

’Demonic Rites.’

’Mm.’

He felt the weight bearing down on him as his mind threatened to fracture. Silent techniques required maximum focus and attention, but he refused to fail.

’First Manifestation; Space Manipulation.’

’Space Manipulation Edicts...;

Eight.’

’Mmmmmm!’ He felt his energy drop drastically, and his attacks slowed considerably. Meanwhile, Dante was now faster and fiercer and with Vehitoshi’s attacks losing speed, he was finally able to break out of his defensive position. He immediately spotted an opening in Vehitoshi’s slowed-down movements and seized the opportunity to launch an attack without hesitation.

His flaming fist roared towards Vehitoshi’s lower abdomen and landed a bone-cracking blow. Vehitoshi’s body folded around the punch, and the tremendous impact sent blood forcefully out of his mouth before his body flew backwards violently.

He landed heavily on the ground and skidded across the earth and through the remains of broken houses before finally coming to a halt.

Dante straightened up, satisfaction clear on his face. Despite the overwhelming barrage of attacks, he had still been the first to land a punch.

"Maybe I was right after all. Your body is still too fragile to handle you."

Vehitoshi rose into a kneeling position, both hands planted on the ground for support.

"Or maybe..." he replied, spitting out more blood. "I sacrificed that first punch for something more... interesting."

He raised his head and looked directly into Dante’s eyes.

"ECHO!" he yelled, completing the summoning he had begun in his mind.

The word echoed through the air before gradually fading away. Dante felt his gut tighten as he wondered what power he was about to face, but, disappointingly, nothing happened.

Dante exhaled in relief, then began to laugh.

"Haha..."

THUM!

A powerful blow landed on his face, wiping the laughter from it. Yet Vehitoshi hadn’t even moved a muscle. He remained kneeling where he was.

Dante was still trying to make sense of what had happened when another blow struck his abdomen, causing him to bend forward in pain.

However, bending down gave the third blow a perfect opening, and it crashed straight into his jaw. Blood and spit tore from his mouth as he flew high into the air before crashing back down with a heavy thud.

He groaned in deep pain as he remembered the first three attack patterns. They were the same patterns Vehitoshi had used when they first collided with each other earlier. Which meant all his previous attacks were somehow echoing, repeating themselves all over again.

Before the realization could even settle in Dante’s mind, more invisible blows began raining down on him. Before he could recover from one blow, another was already crashing into him, snapping his head from side to side and tossing his body around like a rag doll.

He tried desperately to defend himself, but how could he defend against something he couldn’t even see? Worse still, the strikes were coming so quickly.

’What kind of technique is this?’ Dante thought, gritting his teeth as another invisible blow crashed into his abdomen. ’ARGH! And to think he activated it without saying a word... this only proves how wrong my theory was all along.’ His thoughts returned to the moment he had punched Star and watched blood spill from the boy’s mouth.

’Wait... that blood he spat out when I struck him. What if it wasn’t entirely because of my punch? What if his body had already been affected by the strain of trying to use that silent technique again?’

His expression tightened as another blow sent his shoulder jerking backwards. ’But even then, he’s still ridiculously strong. No, that’s an understatement. This is unbelievable!’

’Come on, Golden Phoenix,’ he urged desperately, struggling to remain upright beneath the unseen barrage. ’It’s time you came out of that Void. I need you!’

Vehitoshi, however, had already knelt forward slightly, a demonic smile spreading across his face as the red veins branching through his glowing purple eyes became more pronounced.

With every passing second, his smile widened. ’Yes... I love that hatred. I love the way it burns inside me. I love it!’ His shoulders trembled with excitement. ’It strengthens me. It makes me stronger!’

"Hihihihhihi!" His laughter rang across the battlefield, wild and unrestrained. Even though his body was already weakened from overusing his powers, another surge of energy was coursing through him and it was all thanks to the hatred burning deep within him, the very hatred Dante had helped nurture with his own hands.

"Ah, yes..." Vehitoshi murmured, his smile growing as he savoured the newfound strength flowing through his body. "I can feel it now. And I think... I can finally do this."

Just then, the aura surrounding him began to change.

The familiar darkness that had clung to his body shifted as another form of energy surged outwards, wrapping around him in a strange, ominous glow.

It wasn’t the usual purple energy, nor was it the dark aura that had accompanied his previous manifestations. This time, the energy was green, threaded with streaks of black lightning that crackled violently around his body.

His glowing purple eyes suddenly shifted to green, as Vehitoshi slowly raised his head and looked towards Dante whose body had been battered beyond recognition.

"Ah... now, let’s finish this once and for all."

The amusements vanished entirely from his face.

"Demonic Rites;"

"Third Manifestation...:"

"Soul Reaper!!!."