(N.A.: So… About [Devil EX-Calibur], I found it more interesting to give this weapon a unique name, which would be the "Corrupted Excalibur." I've been leaving this aside for a while, so I'll try to be clearer in these kinds of situations.)
"I understand..." Dante muttered... The cold in the air was completely consumed by an aura of black flames that burned everything around him... "Then I don't need to hold back..."
Dante saw the Knight pull a long spear from his back and look directly at him.
"Well, well… he's got a big needle, gonna poke me?" Dante mocked as he began to draw the [Devil EX-Calibur].
Dante sharpened his eyes, heightened all his senses to the maximum; his fury was used as fuel, a fury bubbling inside him. He really wasn't playing anymore; when it involved his wife, nothing else mattered but her.
"Come on, boy, that pony won't win you a fight," Dante said, waving his hand. "Come at me, you bastard," he growled, the darkness around him intensifying.
The Knight, named Valthor, smiled at him, and in a swift motion, he summoned a strange spear, adorned with skulls and demonic symbols.
With a rapid movement, Valthor threw the spear towards Dante. It cut through the air with impressive speed, enveloped in dark flames. Dante dodged it by a hair's breadth, the spear piercing the ground where he had been moments before, exploding in an eruption of negative energy.
"Whew! That was close!" Dante mocked again before casting a furious glance at Valthor. "But you're gonna need more than that."
Dante charged forward, channeling the energy he had absorbed from the tree's veins. His hands glowed with a dark aura as he formed spheres of pure demonic power, launching them at Valthor.
Valthor raised his shield, blocking the attack with an impact that made the ground tremble.
"You're strong, Dante, but brute force won't save you." He continued to appear superior to Dante, but he had no idea what awaited him.
The demon horse neighed, leaping forward. Dante braced for the impact, but at the last moment, the horse vanished, reappearing behind him. He quickly retreated, but Valthor attacked, his spear cutting through the air, impaling Dante and lifting him...
"My king was right; you're just a child who got Lilith's blessing," Valthor said, looking at Dante's seemingly lifeless body.
"Sometimes, I think people have too much self-esteem in thinking they can beat me, you know? Gosh, it's been like this since I was a kid..." Dante said, lifting his head and looking at him. "But in the end… They all ended the same way, you know?" When Dante finished speaking, his body melted into flames and reappeared in front of Valthor again.
Valthor grew impatient and attacked Dante with the same strategy; the horse neighed and disappeared, and he came from behind with his spear slicing through the air, but this time… Dante spun around, raising an arm to block the blow. Even so, the spear cut through part of his flesh, a trickle of blood flowed, but Dante just smiled at him.
"I admire whoever created this Spear; it's really strong," Dante said as he began to stretch his shoulders. "But you know… I don't like people who try to attack me," Dante said, holding Devil Ex-Calibur in his hands, which began to be bathed in the black flames he cultivated in his body.
"Domain," Knight Valthor said, and the ground completely changed to an area of red grass, "You cannot beat me, Dante. This is my domain, and here, I'm invincible."
"That's so funny..." Dante murmured and launched a slash of flames towards the horse, which disappeared again. "So it's really teleportation... that's good," Dante murmured. He was quite irritated, but for some reason, he was enjoying that moment… "Damn Scarlet Blood." He thought, realizing it was awakening his battle-obsessed side... like Valentina.
"You know, buddy… I don't feel like fighting you for long, so let's be quick, okay?" Dante said as his body began to grow slightly.
His horns turned completely ebony, a striking black curved shape, his shirt began to tear as he grew, his skin tone darkened slightly, and his hair spiked back, making room for a golden aura to form tattoos on his arms. "Really, I should use this form more often," Dante thought as he prepared to fight seriously.
He checked his fists and placed his sword behind his shoulder, "Come at me," he gestured with his hand.
Valthor smiled, his eyes gleaming with malice. "You cannot defeat me, Dante. This is my domain, and here, I am invincible." He threw the words into the wind. "Invincible is just a word," Dante said as he teleported in front of him. "And nothing more."
BOOOOOMMM
Dante punched the Knight's shield with extreme force, sending him flying backward. The punch caused cracks to form in the shield, but it didn't break. The horse neighed and disappeared, but it was no longer a fair fight. "So you wanted to do this again, pony?" Dante said, sensing the presence reappearing.
"King's Spears," Dante said, and several miasma spears covered the ground, shooting upward, piercing everything.
Even invisible, the horse was narrowly hit. It jumped into the air, and Dante saw exactly where it was. "Look what we have here, a wounded pony," Dante said, appearing above them and thrusting his sword downward.
The deafening sound of the blade cutting the shield was the only thing heard, a screeching noise that would make anyone cover their ears, desperate for it to end. But all the while, Dante just smiled. "Oh, what a pity... the poor little knight's shield is broken in half... Gonna cry?" Dante taunted.
"Come on, where's that superior tone of 'I'm invincible in my domain'?" Dante said, after all... he had already taken over the entire domain.
And he hadn't even used his Domain to do it. It was a simple matter that none of them could foresee, and that matter? Dante is the King, or rather, the Supreme Regent. He can control demonic energy in the best possible way, and destroying the Domain of a contracted Demon was too easy.
"What have you done!" Valthor shouted in fury, feeling all his power being negated. His Domain's function was simply to increase his strength. It was simple, proving that he was indeed a strong Demon, but he didn't come close to truly superior demons. "Hm? I didn't do anything, I guess the universe just wanted to play too much with you," Dante smiled, deeply irritating Valthor.
"DAMN YOU!" Valthor, with a furious shout, channeled all the demonic energy in his body into his Spear.
"Look, he's angry," Dante said. He had already finished the fight and was just toying with his prey. The horse teleported again, but this time...
"Goodbye," Dante said, disappearing along with the horse. "The problem with Invisibility Skills is that it doesn't make you intangible or completely silent; your breathing can still be heard," Dante said, appearing in front of the Horse. "Goodbye, little friend."
Valthor raised the spear to block, but Dante was faster. The flaming sword sliced through, penetrating his armor and cutting through the horse's body. The poor horse became just a dead body, cut in two horizontally.
"Bastard!" Valthor screamed, the pain twisting his face into a contorted mask of agony. "Ah, so that's why... the Horse was an extension of your body, how intriguing..." Dante said with a creepy smile. He didn't know that lesser Demons, below him, could have extended bodies. He had his in the form of Cerberus, and this one before him had a horse. It was really...
"Curious," he thought.
"This... this is impossible..." Valthor murmured, having fallen from his mount.
Dante approached, his gaze fixed on the fallen demon. "Get up, champion, my expansion is Invincible. I'm waiting for the invincible superior being to appear." Dante made a face, looking around...
"How pathetic." Dante thought as he saw that the great knight could no longer move. "You disgust me," Dante said. With one final gesture, he channeled the remaining energy, disintegrating Valthor in an explosion of shadows and flames. Valthor gave one last look at Dante before disappearing into a cloud of smoke.
Dante stood there, watching the scene, his hands trembling as the demonic energy dissipated. "Binding Vow... damn it, he tied his strength with the horse's in a single life," he thought and turned... "What an idiot..." he murmured, feeling someone approaching.
Fey approached cautiously, observing Valthor's lifeless body. "You... crushed him like a bug," she murmured, her eyes wide with a mix of strange sensations. "But the Root is still active. It's very dense; I won't be able to consume it," he commented.
"First, disconnect the roots of the tree; that will delay things a lot," she said, and Dante just nodded silently, walking ahead.
"Rest in Peace," Fey said to the charred remains of the demons. "An experiment with divine Binding magic... what did you do to that girl?" she murmured.