Asmodeus felt the creature's claws touching her skin, a glacial cold that burned. Her breath caught in her throat, absolute terror suffocating her. The three heads of Cerberus growled, and she knew she was doomed.
Slowly, the claws began to pierce her skin, the excruciating pain feeling like swords stabbing into her body. Her throat was completely ravaged with the scream that followed.
"AHHHHHHHHH! STOP!" Asmodeus screamed, her flesh being torn slowly. But it wasn't just her flesh suffering; she knew physical pain, but this was different. It was a pain so deep and primal that it felt like it was tearing at her very existence.
Every movement of Cerberus' claws seemed to shred not only her body but also her soul. The pain was a living entity, a parasite feeding on her screams, relishing in her suffering. Cerberus grinned, seeing how its beautiful prey was reacting—fear, dread for her life—it was a divine feast bestowed by its master.
Asmodeus couldn't stop feeling that horrible sensation; she felt as if her essence were being shredded, layer by layer, cell by cell, exposing a vulnerability she never knew existed. Was she really this weak? No... she just had the misfortune of tangling with a being as powerful as him.
The ground beneath her seemed to melt into an abyss of shadows, each of her breaths echoing like an eternal lament—she was yielding, bit by bit.
She raised her face gently, seeking her assailant, and came face to face with Dante's eyes gleaming with sadistic pleasure, feeding off Asmodeus' torment.
"P-please... I'm sorry," she pleaded, seeing the man's unhappy face—it was her punishment, her death sentence, her existence itself was no longer relevant.
Dante, with a cruel smile, watched his victim. "Saying sorry won't save you, Asmodeus. You demons didn't want to start this? You will endure well..." he said, his voice as cold as steel.
"Your pain is just the beginning, and when it ends, I'll revive you, again and again, every day, every night, for weeks, months, even years, I will make you go through my hell every day while bitterly remembering the day you touched my precious wife and her mother."
Cerberus' claws continued to penetrate her flesh slowly; the pain was a living flame, burning her from within. Asmodeus felt every cell in her body shattering, an agony so deep it transcended the physical. The sensation of being torn to her very soul was unbearable.
"She is all yours," Dante said; she saw Dante's shadow move, and the darkness around her seemed to close even more. The air became unbreathable, heavy with the smell of blood and despair. "H-help me..." Each of her laments was a silent plea, a desperate attempt to find an exit that didn't exist.
The command given to Cerberus was obeyed, and it advanced even further, its claws penetrating deeply, and Asmodeus screamed.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH! PLEASE!" It was a sound that didn't seem human, a cry of pure agony and despair. Her mind was fracturing, reality becoming a blur of relentless pain.
Cerberus' heads lifted, eyes gleaming with unimaginable hunger. The jaws opened, drooling a bit, revealing rows of teeth sharp as blades. The first head bit into her arm, pain exploding in her mind as the teeth pierced flesh and shattered bones. Blood gushed, staining the ground red.
The second head bit into her shoulder, tearing pieces of flesh with brutal force. The pain was unbearable, and she couldn't scream anymore—her brain couldn't think of anything other than the pain and couldn't send messages in cerebral waves to her throat, and so it began... each bite a new wave of agony. Asmodeus tried to fight, but her strength was draining, every second an endless torment.
WOOOF!
The third head, with a wild roar, bit into her torso, tearing her skin and crushing her ribs as it opened a hole in her chest. The sound of breaking bones echoed through the space, every fragment of her existence consumed by the beast. Cerberus' claws continued to pierce her flesh, tearing it to shreds as blood flowed.
Asmodeus could feel his life draining away, his body being torn apart and devoured. His vision started to darken, the world around him becoming a mist of pain and despair.
But suddenly, his body began to heal, and a distorted voice reached his ears. "You will stay here, reliving this moment forever. Ancient Lust," Dante said as Asmodeus began to vomit a black liquid onto himself, followed by a small sphere the size of a tennis ball forcibly coming out of his mouth.
BLLEHH!
She vomited again, this time blood, and the sphere flew out. "Thank you for returning another of the Sins to me," Dante said, disappearing completely from that world as Asmodeus remained trapped forever in that cycle...
Dante then exited that illusion, after all... Now he held the authority of Lust with him, and he imprisoned Asmodeus in her own infinite cycle.
"It's a shame I don't have a good soul to give this authority to, can't create demons like I did with Evangeline without a strong soul," Dante said, reappearing in his normal body, which had undergone some mutations; his wings had permanently become those of a fallen angel, despite him not being one.
The scenery was normal, the same arena atop the tree, pulsating while he was in that dream world. In front of him lay the unconscious body of Lyrianna Vortex.
"Fortunately, you're not a demon... Sara would kill me," Dante thought as he approached the woman's body, which didn't seem as well as it should. He calmly knelt beside Lyrianna and checked her vital signs, which thankfully... "Are normal, huh..." he murmured, sighing; it seemed nothing was wrong, and he had much work to do.
Dante turned his gaze to where Sara still was; he advanced and appeared in front of her, swiftly wielding Rebellion in his hands, he cut what held her by the hands, and she fell to one side as he cut the other.
"Dante..." She murmured, her voice hoarse and hurt, she had fought hard, and her vocal cords were somewhat damaged from the screams she must have given trying to escape.
Dante's expression wasn't the best... his face was entirely black. It was the first time he had been in such a situation. He couldn't remember a single time when he had seen the person he loved in this brutal way. Even when he and Nagasawa were injured in the dungeon, when he found Vex, and when he first met Eldrax...
he didn't have strong bonds at that time, so he hadn't felt the pain of that, but with this woman... no... this was different...
"It's okay now," Dante said, his gentle voice contrasting with the brutality of the scene he had just witnessed. Holding her carefully to avoid causing more pain. "You're safe," he said, putting her close to his chest while carrying her like a princess. She couldn't see Dante's eyes, which were being covered by part of his hair, but she felt something... something very bad.
"You don't have to look at me like that, I'm not an enemy," Dante said, and Sara was surprised, "Not even? Lilith." Dante said, looking at the woman in the distance, sitting on one of the vines just watching the scene.
"Well... you knew?" She questioned, jumping forward him, he continued to walk in the direction of Lyrianna. "I've felt you for a long time," Dante said as he placed Sara on the ground next to Lyrianna, "I'll heal her soon, but you... I don't think I'm capable, your blood is pure divine energy," Dante said, "T-It's fine." Sara said as she lay down beside Lyrianna.
"Why are you here?" Dante questioned as he prepared to try to heal Lyrianna. "I wouldn't advise it," she said in a serious tone. "Why?" Dante asked in sequence. "Do you want to kill her? Then inject demonic energy." Lilith said, not as a mischievous demon, but as an honest and serious woman.
"Tsk." Dante bit his tongue, "You didn't tell me what happened, why are you here Lilith?" Dante questioned again as the woman approached him, she stood very close as she pointed her finger at his well-defined chest muscles, slowly descending, trying to tempt him in some way, seducing him.
"I lost the battle in hell," she said, "All my subordinates were 'condemned,' by something with Lucifer, even Paimon, I lost her, and she was captured."
"Asmodeus," Dante said without hesitation, "this damned demon... has been bothering me for some time, and it's clear he's behind this," he saw no other way. "I thought the same..." Lilith murmured as she hugged Dante very calmly.
"Lilith, step back," Dante said seriously. "Huh?? I thought I could have you just a little..." She pouted sadly, but she saw Dante's face looking up. "It's not because of that... looks like we have a little lovebird approaching," Dante said, seeing miles above, the celestial aura of someone...
"Michael," Dante thought, seeing it was an archangel approaching. In a few seconds, a golden light came from the sky... "M-Michael?" Sara questioned, looking at the being forming from the light.
A beautiful angel, with six white feathered wings, appeared.