"Think you can hurt me with that weak lance?" Ethan asked as he broke Dante's lance with his own teeth.
"Well, I've never fought to win in this form," Dante commented with a smile while deflecting Ethan's punches with his bare hands.
"Ahrgt, this is getting tiresome now, how long until that energy ball drops to the ground?" Dante said as he backed away.
"More than half of my strength has been drained, that just proves my theory. I was at least several times stronger than Ethan in his base form, before Greed lent him power."
"How long can you endure my attacks?" Ethan questioned with a daring smile, appearing superior, but even his folly prevented him from recognizing what was in front of him, a man who had already lost more than half of his power was completely unscathed, but his greed prevented him from seeing that.
"Greed will be your downfall," Dante said, throwing a punch that sent him flying. He was panting, and parts of his body were no longer regenerating as they should, he was completely broken inside, his powers had been partially stolen, and his brute strength was starting to fail.
"I've hit all the vital points, yet it wasn't enough to incapacitate him, that means he no longer has the weaknesses of a human cultivator," Dante thought.
Dante looked directly at the sky and saw the huge wave of green demonic energy approaching, he had been expecting something like this and wanted to steal it all for himself. However, the demonic bodies were too far away for him to use all at once.
"Damn it, Sara," he thought and then began to turn in a direction where he could be thrown.
His plan was simple, to have Ethan hit him with a blow that would send him flying, at that moment, he would absorb all the demonic energy and use it to fully awaken.
"A storm is brewing in the skies, the atmosphere can't handle so much demonic energy," Dante said, watching black clouds forming and releasing green lightning.
"Is this a cataclysm?" On the Witches' Continent, Alice and some of her witches watched this happen. "No, it's a clash between true demons," Alice replied to one of her subordinates.
"But mistress, demons shouldn't possess bodies, how can a true demon be fighting in this way?" Another questioned. "He's someone different, I'd say he's one of the Demon Kings," she commented.
It was no different on the other continents, even Vlad, watching this, wanted to understand the situation, after all, the demons were indeed possessing bodies but... fighting among themselves? This was different.
"Father, that man... I feel like I've seen him before," Elizabeth commented, Vlad, on the other hand, felt the same. "Hahaha that boy... after ten years," he said, after all, despite being far away, he was still a Progenitor and of course he would sense the others, especially... someone who has a connection with souls.
"Boy?" Kaalindra questioned and the cube in her hand trembled again, this time fiercely as if it was about to self-destruct. "Mistress..." she murmured. "Don't worry, your mistress will be very happy when she is freed," Vlad said. "After all, it seems your beloved has returned to life."
"Hey, that doesn't seem to be..." Aren said, she had a good connection with spirits and a good eye for people. "A Demon King, and not just any demon king," Katarina affirmed with a smile, after all, her perception was incredible, and her instinct was superior.
Everyone watched the scene with enthusiasm, it was the first time two demons fought with everything, and this was an opportunity to learn how to deal with these beings, every second was important, and every move or technique of theirs was noted and stored for the future, the whole world watched this.
However, the fight was still terrifying. Dante and Ethan fought non-stop as the massive energy descended from the skies.
Dante didn't understand the delay for this energy to drop, but he realized it was because of the barrier the Emperor had placed.
Despite the delay, he finally got what he wanted.
BOOOM!
A sonic punch hit his chest, sending him many meters ahead, causing him to fall into one of the palace gardens, specifically the Empress's Garden where Sara and Nagasawa were, he wanted to fall close, but it was enough.
"Come on, you piece of crap!" Dante shouted provokingly, and Ethan fell. "I'm going to kill you!" He shouted, leaping towards Dante.
"Then kill me," he said, opening his arms and letting the blow hit his heart squarely.
"The world is very cruel, isn't it, old friend?" Dante questioned as Ethan's arm once again pierced him. They locked eyes, and Ethan felt fear.
His whole body ran a fear so deep that he again saw that man, the most frightening man he had ever known, and quickly moved away from Dante.
"Seven hearts, six were destroyed by you," Dante said as he placed his hands on his chest, "But you see... you forgot one." Dante spoke and plunged his hands into his chest, removing the seventh heart.
"Look, it's beautiful, isn't it?" Dante said showing his heart, he was already pale and in a deplorable state, more than half of his body was already decaying, his organs were not regenerating or reacting to mana, after all, it was completely drained.
Dante at his 100% could probably recover any limb from his head. But the current Dante, had only 10% of his power, after being completely absorbed by Ethan.
"Is that all you can do, Greed of the Seven Deadly Sins?" Dante questioned with a smile, his madness was already leaking out and his power was slowly fading. "In the end, it's just this that you can do."
"Come on, Ethan, show all your hatred for me, it will be a pleasure," Dante said and then, raising his destroyed heart, he positioned it over his mouth and... swallowed it.
"It's now," Alter-Dante said as the imminent collision began, gravity slowly began to be reversed, everything started to be sucked towards Dante, the bodies, the demonic energies, even the thoughts of those who were lightly contaminated.
Everything went to him.
Everything began to tremble as Dante's body rose slightly, several holes in his chest with his destroyed hearts, his body had almost no regeneration left, however, only one thing was marked on the face of all who saw that scene...
Dante's smile.
"Ah, it's good that the world knows I'm back."