Red.

That was all I saw.

Not the regular ominous kind I’d come to associate with the demon continent, but a bloody crimson that filled my entire vision.

The stench of blood filled the entire atmosphere as I could hear the literal bubbling of blood all around me.

"I am blood." The voice of the demon Duke echoed all around yet his figure was nowhere to be seen.

SWIIIISH!!!

My body sidestepped instinctively as a crimson lance tore through the air, almost impaling me.

Swish!!

Another one shot right past my ear.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

An uncountable number of blood spears materialized and shot straight at me, their numbers overwhelming enough that there was no space to hide or escape to..

"CONDENSE...." The air warped around my fist as I clenched it hard.

BOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!

The air detonated as I set the fist loose, the innumerable number of spears instantly being blasted to bits, a visible hole being punched right through the crimson cloud that had formed overhead.

"FUTILE!"

Swishhhhh!

The spears reformed, raining down on me in furious intensity.

BOOOM! BOOOM!! BOOOMM!!!

My fists were a blur of motion as the atmosphere kept detonating, the spears unable to cause any actual harm as they were immediately torn apart faster than they could even form.

"ENOUGH OF THIS!!"

"Absolute series..."

Rooooooarrrrrr!!!!!

Elira immediately materialized in my hands as I raised her, swinging down decisively,

"Cleave!"

Shiiiiinnng!!!!! The entire crimson cloud parted apart and came undone.

"IMPOSSIBLE!!!!" The demon’s disbelieving roar echoed all around, as its form reappeared, an arm having been cut clean off.

I could see the demon try to regenerate it’s torn limb, its eyes widening in slow horror as the realization finally set in,

"You.. what.. what have you done to me?" The demon stuttered as the arm failed to recover.

"Are you ready to talk? Or shall I continue?" I wasn’t in the mood for any form of conversation that didn’t involve getting the answers I needed.

"HUMAN!!!!!!"

The demon suddenly swelled, its form bloating until eventually,

BANG!

It exploded!

My surprise at the the sudden move lasted only a few seconds before the demon’s form reformed, this time, there were four of them.

""""You shall pay for that too."""" All four figures spoke simultaneously..

...

Silence was the only answer this thing was getting from me, not until it was ready to tell me what I needed to know.

"DIEEEEE!!!!" The demon’s forms roared as they launched toward me, their forms materializing in a mist of blood right before me as their claws attacked me from all angles, essentially boxing me in.

My eyes flashed, the world turning into nothing but structural lines, Collapse vision.

"Cleave!" Elira swung down, hitting precisely a nexus point, and then,

PSSSSHHHHHHHHH!!!!

All four forms of the demon Duke were immediately split down the middle, the demon’s eyes widening in sheer disbelief.

"Art of massacre: Third form,"

The world seemed to hold its breath as I finally brandished the art I’d gotten from the old man,

"Endless Deaths..."

ZIIIIING!!!!

Elira came down hard on one of the demon’s forms and all four exploded into blood mist.

The demon reformed, 8 figures...

BANG!!!!

16 figures...

BANG!!!

32 figures...

BANG!!!

He no longer had time to speak.

Each rebirth lasted less than the last.

Every new body opened its eyes only to immediately die.

Over and over and over again, the demon tried to cheat death, but she was a devout lover.

I had taken out the intent of True Death, from the strike since I merely wanted to break the demon enough to get answers and not kill him outright.

So I slung Elira over my shoulder as I watched the demon get killed, over and over again, its multiplying forms proving futile against the attack after all,

Once struck! Forever struck!

"ROOOOOOOOARRRRRRRRR!!! ENOUGH!!!" The demon suddenly roared, breaking free from the attack momentarily before,

BANG!!!

It exploded into pieces once more.

"ZONE!!!!" The moment it reformed, the first words that came out its mouth were ones I recognized quite well,

HUUUMMMMMMMM!!!!!

A crimson light flashed into the sky, blinking continuously, almost as if it were waiting, and then,

"Sanguine paradise!"

Fwooooooshhhhhhhh!!!!!!

The light expanded, a crimson veil falling over the entire place.

Whereever the veil passed, the land turned into blood, with blood demons being raised from within.

Tens.

Hundreds.

Thousands.

The veil kept expanding and with it, the army of blood demons.

HONG!!!! The entire landscape shook, a tremor traveling through it as the veil finally met the ground, a crimson dome enveloping both me and the demon.

"Human! Welcome to your inevitable demise."

......

...

"ZONE!"

The moment the demon’s words left his lips, Khalifa’s head snapped up immediately, her eyes widening in terror.

"No! Dante! Get away!" It was too late.

"Sanguine paradise!

Fwoooooshhhh!!!!!

The crimson veil exploded outwards as it began expanding, covering the entire landscape, wherever it passed, the land turned into blood as demons emerged from it.

"Alright. Time to leave." The clone watching over Khalifa immediately grabbed hold of her, taking a step as their figures disappeared, appearing outside the city.

"What are you doing??? We need to get him out of there!!" Khalifa yelled at the clone, struggling to get out of his hands.

"Hey! Calm down! It’s still me you know?"

"You are not Dante! Never assume such a thing in my presence, now let me go!" Her voice immediately turned cold as she turned towards the clone.

"Sheesh. Feisty much?"

She didn’t answer, merely readying herself as she began walking toward the city, not minding the chaos that had erupted as demons scrambled to escape the expanding paradise.

"You’ll just be a burden if you go, you know that right?" The clone’s voice immediately stopped her cold.

"You should understand Dante enough by now to know that he is fine. He wouldn’t let something like this hold him if he wasn’t assured of his victory." The clone decided to wisely not address himself as Dante, better to avoid another confrontation.

"But.. that’s a Law zone. The only way to escape one is with an equally powerful zone or overwhelming force." She replied, eyes still trained on the expanding veil.

"Heh!" The clone scoffed, "then I guess you have even less of a need to worry then, cause that bastard has got everything in spades, just sit back and watch your man work."

HONG!!!!

The veil finally touched the ground as a crimson dome enveloped the entire city.

Khalifa’s worry so much that she hadn’t even registered the words the clone had spoken.

"Please Dante... be safe.." her hands folded nervously over her chest as she watched, fear and hope churning violently through her body.

.....

...

I looked around.

Demons.

Everywhere.

The cries and screams of the citizens within this city was clear to my ears as it seemed it wasn’t only here that was being affected.

"Human! How do you like my sanguine paradise, I believe this should be your first time coming in contact with a law zone."

"You should be honored, for pushing time till this point, it is your greatest joy to perish at my greatest achievement."

...

....

I simply looked at the demon parading around, and only one word came to mind.

"Pathetic."

"Wha.. what? WHAT DID YOU SAY????" I ignored the demon’s furious response.

Putting Elira away as,

CLAP!

I clapped my hands together, as a malevolent aura began gathering within them.

"You shall pay for your insolence!"

"Kill him!!"

Ruuumblllleeeee!!!!

The army of blood demons immediately charged at me, blood weapons raised, spears and arrows being launched from a disatance as I was instantly submerged in a furious assault, yet I remained utterly calm, as my arms finally parted apart slowly, a grey point of light forming within them,

"INVERSE POINT.." my voice came out as nothing but a whisper as,

SWOOOOOOOOSHHHHH....

The entire zone began trembling, its form collapsing and getting sucked into the singularity before me.

"No... no... no.. IMPOSSIBLE!!!!" The demon’s eyes widened in sheer terror and disbelief as it watched incredulously, its prized achievement get sucked Into the singularity in mere moments.

Clap!

I clasped the ball of unstable light within my hand as I pulled the arm back.

"Catch!"

The ball appeared right within the demon’s body, inevitability making sure the attack was already a forgone conclusion..

"What... are you?"

Was all the demon could get out before,

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!

The singularity imploded, releasing all the unstable energies within it, trearing the demon’s body apart on a structural level, its existence being snuffed out instantly.

"Fuck!!!!" My eyes widened as I’d unconsciously used a too powerful attack, killing the demon I was hoping would answer my questions, yet before I could act to stop whatever was happening, a last ditch attempt I knew was useless,

HUMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!

A heavy and powerful presence fell upon the entire area, this one infinitely more powerful than whatever the demon had, my face went solemn...

"Tsk tsk tsk.. I had told sanguinus not to underestimate you and go all out, but who would’ve thought that even then, I was still somewhat looking down on you?"

A deep and powerful voice echoed all round the city, its voice alone sending the entire place into pandemonium as I could feel my own body being affected, it was marginal, but that said more than enough.

Blink!

A pair of deep blue eyes opened up in the crimson skies, looking down on us like a god would mere mortals.

"I guess I should say as expected from his son, after all, a dragon could never give birth to a dog, isn’t that right, little Dante..."

**********

A/N: and the plot thickens....

It’s just one thing after the other, man, I’m getting curious now....

Anyhoo....

**********

Thanks for reading....