"Did he just..."

"That... shouldn’t be possible."

"....."

The three spectators, Dakota, Tian and Raven, all stood shell shocked as they watched the flying arm of Valen...

"How..." Tian’s jaws had widened enough in disbelief that an egg could be fit into it..

Both Dakota and Raven, the two lovestruck women, were equally stunned silent..

"How did he do that? It shouldn’t be possible." Tian reaffirmed..

"He shouldn’t even be able to break through valen’s passive law fields, so how?"

.....

..

There was a beat of silence, until.

"It is possible." Dakota finally spoke up..

"Indeed." Raven’s disbelieving voice echoed hers.

"You guys... you couldn’t possibly be suggesting..."

"It’s the only reason I can think of, otherwise this makes no sense." Dakota shook her head..

"EVEN THAT TOO MAKES NO SENSE!!!" Tian yelled..

"Then explain to me what we just witnessed. What do you think could possibly allow a B-rank mortal to even dare lay a scratch on valen? Let alone take an arm? It doesn’t matter how unprepared he was, it should never be possible unless.."

"Unless Dante has already comprehended a Supreme Law to the embodiment stage." Dakota completed Raven’s words..

Another wave of silence settled upon the group as they watched in increasing surprise, valen’s dismembered arm unravel and break down in real time...

"Monster... an absolute monster..."

"Even if as you ladies say, he has comprehended a Supreme law to such absurd levels.. just what type of law did he comprehend to be able to do... that?" He pointed at the last vestiges of the dismembered arm that were being erased...

The two beauties didn’t answer, or rather, they couldn’t answer, for they themselves, didn’t know..

"Interesting.." Valen’s indifferent voice snapped the trio from their shock as their focus returned to the two combatants..

"Time and time again, I seem to underestimate your rate of growth." His words came out slow, intentional, as he surveyed his severed limb.

"So much so, that I’d even placed you on the same pedestal your father was on, yet even then.." he shook his head, chuckling.

"You put to shame the title of genius, boy!" His arm grew back in an instant, as he stretched it outwards, "so, allow me to give you the treatment someone of your caliber deserves." A massive, 12-foot long broadsword wrapped tightly in white bandages, materialized slowly in a cloud of crimson fog, the entire atmosphere turning a crimson red, the smell of blood and death filling the air.

"I apologize for my previous actions, I shall underestimate you no longer." Valen’s words ended as he brought both hands to the hilt of the bandaged sword..

"He.. he’s not going to.." Tian’s eyes widened in horror the moment he saw Valen’s stance.

Dakota and Raven paling instantly..

"The Art Of Massacre, First Form..."

"Fuck! He’s really going to use that.. on him?"

"Dead at the gates..."

Before the words could even leave his mouth, Dante’s head had already left his body...

""NOOOOOO!!!!"" Both women shrieked, bodies already primed for movement when reality glitched and Dante’s figure reappeared, whole..

"Second form...." Not giving the young man any time to catch his breath, valen’s voice echoed like the decree of a death god once more.

One moment he was before Dante, the next, he was behind him, Dante’s body cleanly cleaved in two...

""STOP ITTT!!"" Raven and Dakota were losing their minds, their auras were exploding outwards yet..

"Stop!" Tian stopped them..

"He needs this."

Reality glitched once more as Dante’s figure reformed, still whole, yet this time, he was visibly sweating, breathing haggard, his form hunched...

"OLD FOOL!!! MOVE!!!!" Dakota roared!!!

"Third Form..."

"Shit!!!" Tian cussed, multicolored scales appearing all over his body as he immediately sent out a devastating punch..

BOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!

Dakota’s figure being stopped dead in its tracks..

"Move...."

"Dakota... do not interfere..." Tian’s voice had gone cold, "the young man needs this.."

"I. Said...."

"Endless Death...."

Valen’s silent decree immediately made her expression go deathly white..

"No..." she whispered in dread, and then..

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" A heart wrenching cry of pain tore through the entire clearing...

Her eyes turned towards Dante’s figure as her heart shattered audibly, blood tears leaking from her eyes as she saw the scene before her...

Dante... was dying!

Not once.

Not twice.

But over and over and over again.

His body reformed only to get diced apart, the punishment never ending.

But she knew, this move, this nightmarish attack from valen, it wasn’t something of just a physical death.

It was a spiritual death.

A True Death.

Anyone struck by this move, wasn’t just killed in body, no, they were killed in both body and soul and everything in between.

Any hopes of revival being snuffed out by the never ending nature of the attack.

Once struck! Forever struck!

So right now, Dante wasn’t just suffering death, no, he was suffering True Death, over and over again.

Every instinct screamed that Dante should already be gone.

Yet he kept returning.

Again.

And Again.

And Again.

Dakota couldn’t understand it.

She didn’t care to understand it.

All she knew was that every time he returned, he suffered the nightmare anew.

"I have to get to him!" She scrambled up from her collapsed state.

"Tian! Move!"

"I can’t do that, Dakota, the young man needs this."

"He’s dying! That old bastard is killing him!"

"That’s valen!" Tian yelled back, "That’s fucking Valen! He cares about that boy just as much as anyone of us, I dare say even more so!"

"Do you truly believe he will watch his own godchild die by his hands? So listen to me for once and just... STAY!" His voice was almost pleading at the end..

Dakota’s expression wavered at Tian’s words, he was right.

She knew he was right.

Valen wouldn’t hurt Dante for no reason.

He wouldn’t let him die.

She was already preparing to stand down when,

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Dante’s soul wrenching cry immediately snuffed out that thought..

A crimson aura exploded out of her as her fangs elongated, bat-like wings sprouted from her back, her skin taking on a paler hue..

"Tian. Move." She ordered coldly.

"Haa... Dakota, don’t make me have to stop you with force." The old dragon sighed as his multicolored hair began floating wildly, his horns lighting up as a suffocating pressure fell upon Dakota, her expression turning grim..

"Ravena, are you just going to stand there? We need to stop this madness before Dante gets truly hurt." Dakota solicited help from her "friend"

.....

...

"Ravena, didn’t you hear what I just.." her words were cut short as she turned towards raven, finally seeing the sorry state the woman was in.

Her beautiful face had been stained by bloody tears that didn’t seem to have an end, her nails had dug deep into her palms, blood dripping down slowly.

She had bitten her lips so hard they were bleeding profusely, and her presence, the sheer potency of her murderous intent had turned the area around her into a matter less void.

Her eyes were fixed on the scene ahead of her, on the wailing figure of Dante, of his breaking body, she didn’t speak.

She couldn’t speak.

She was afraid.

Afraid that if she opened her mouth, then all of valen’s work would be ruined.

So, she kept silent, and just watched as her heart shattered time and time again...

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"

Dante’s broken cry echoed through the deathly silence that had suddenly engulfed the entire place one last time before..

SCPLAT!!!!

His figure burst apart into a rain of blood..

""NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!""

***********

A/N: I know some people have complained about having to read the same thing twice, but you have to understand, it’s from different perspectives, I couldn’t well show both in one Chapter so I have to do it this way, I apologize in advance, but as always..

***********

Thanks for reading...