The problem with knowing too many facts about his previous life is that stories often get mixed up. Dante already knew that his biblical and mythological knowledge would help him, but it often hindered him, creating small assumptions, like Lilith.
Lilith is the First Primordial Human, someone created from Adam's rib, the First Human Progenitor. In the case of this Lilith, many questions were questionable: how did she become a demon? How did she live in the human world as a goddess? Was she a goddess?
Dante was slightly confused. Despite finding his reincarnation strange from the start, Dante already knew two mythological figures, Arthur Pendragon and Merlin. He was confused about how this world worked. After all, if the virtues exist, then the God of Creation from the Bible also exists. Gungnir belongs to Odin, so he must exist too, but something was a little off.
Lilith was the Demon-Goddess, but why did she always seem to be at the mercy of others' evilness? She was expelled from Heaven for not being devout to her partner. This generated internal anger that was never quenched. She probably loved Adam, but God banished her for not being what he expected.
Just as she was banished from the very tree of the world, wandering as someone without a home, and thus became a demon.
"A victim," Dante said, looking at the faceless image of the woman. He was feeling some strange emotions, but didn't let himself be shaken.
He approached the painting of Lilith and placed his hands on the murals depicting Lilith's arrival in Hell, as well as her sovereignty upon becoming the Regent, the Demon Empress, the Demon Progenitor, the Demon Goddess.
"I don't understand this place. It's a shrine that tells Lilith's story, but there's nothing else... We descended all this way to know the stupid story of a woman banished by God? What a tasteless joke," he commented as he looked around.
"Just records of Lilith, nothing related to the Infernal Trinity, the Dukes, and the Demon Kings. Just Lilith and Lilith. This woman... She must already have control over Lucifer, Astaroth, and Beelzebub," Dante commented and turned to leave the place.
"This was a waste of time. I don't have the energy to destroy those strange crystals, so we're stuck here. I need to finish the preparations, or Nagasawa will die soon," Dante was already thinking about the next steps.
"I am bathed in demonic energy. I need to purify myself to get rid of this thing, but I can't do that here." When Dante was snapping out of his reverie and almost crossing the door...
BOOM.
The door slammed shut suddenly, and Dante raised his eyebrows. "Damn foul mouth, who's it this time? Lilith? Damn it, just summon Baal, Beelzebub, and Lucifer so I can beat you all up and end this farce," he cursed as he turned around with the Nunchakos in his hands and Durandal on his back.
He turned around and saw only a magic circle on the floor, from which emerged another strange creature, it was a strange humanoid, it was a man by his looks, but his eyes were completely neon red, his body was all black and scaly, and he had two gigantic horns protruding from his forehead backward, two wings as black as night, and his mouth was wide open, drooling incessantly.
"Berserk," he remarked, and before any movement, he received a punch so strong that he lost his arm.
"AHR!" He screamed in pain as the Demon advanced relentlessly.
HA! AH! HA! AH!
Dante began to defend himself, but couldn't. The demon's punches started to sink Dante into the wall.
"I hate this damn life!" He shouted and managed to kick the crazed demon away.
"Hey, scumbag, I'm going to kill you!" Dante said and advanced on him as his arm quickly regenerated.
"I HATE THIS SHITTY LIFE!" He screamed as he slammed the Demon into the ground and broke both of its arms.
But the demon didn't let up. With a roar, it struck Dante even with its two broken arms, or rather... regenerated ones.
"Ha, really?" Dante questioned seeing that the Nunchakos didn't do real damage to him.
"Damn, you're useless!" Dante cursed and stowed away the Nunchakos and drew Durandal.
"She's powerless. I fear her becoming corrupted with the demonic energy of this place, but I have no choice."
"Holy weapons will give me an advantage, but I can't rely on the energy within Durandal without Sara to replenish the contract, it's a mess. I need to use it only when landing an attack, I need to manipulate the energy to use at crucial moments. If I falter... I could die and end up taking Nagasawa with me."
His heart pounded with a mix of anticipation and determination, his red eyes glowed with the intensity of an inner fire. He knew this battle would be different from any he had ever faced. This demon was more powerful, more cunning, more dangerous than any other adversary he had encountered before.
A slip-up... and Dante would die.
Dante wielded Durandal in a different stance, gripping it firmly in his hand and feeling the full weight of the greatsword, he advanced on the demon, Dante's vision focused on only one thing.
Survival.
A deafening roar was heard. The demon charged with unrestrained fury due to its Berserk state. Its scales as black as coal and its eyes neon red burning like embers. It began to emanate an aura much larger than before, all of its power was being slightly awakened. Its claws sharpened, and its fangs bared as drool dripped. It was berserk.
Dante quickly retreated when he saw the demon's intent. It wanted to bite Dante by the side of his heart, but he didn't allow it.
As he dodged, Durandal gleamed like sunlight, cutting through the air with a sharp buzz as Dante retaliated at the demon's right side. The attack hit him squarely and burned him slightly. Durandal ceased to glow the moment it exited the demon's body.
The demon let out another roar of anger as it tried to heal the damaged part, but to no avail. It abandoned its regeneration and began attacking Dante with more frantic and desperate strikes.
Perhaps the person who designed this trap didn't account for someone bringing a legendary holy weapon. This, in any case, was an advantage, but Durandal wouldn't last much longer.
In a frenzy of action and adrenaline, the two facing off caused small earthquakes. The ground trembled beneath their feet, the air resonated with the sound of steel, and the smell of blood and sulfur permeated the battlefield.
For a moment, it seemed like victory would belong to the Demon. Its overwhelming power was already pressing Dante, who was tired. But he didn't give in. "Come on... an opening," he thought, as he defended himself from the Berserk Demon in front of him, which burst into frenzy.
Dante, while defending, sought a way to break through the opponent's guard, but couldn't think of anything. He tried to attack, but the Demon threw Durandal away in a reflexive act.
Dante was cornered.
The demon didn't let Dante breathe or run for the sword. Whenever Dante made any move, he received a kick in the solar plexus, sending him flying and crashing into the wall, demolishing the mural of Lilith.
The Demon kicked Durandal to the other side of the room and ran toward Dante, landing another kick, but this time Dante managed to hold on.
He held on, but to no avail. Next, he received a devastating punch to his chin, nearly knocking him out. Even dazed, he still tried to defend himself while receiving numerous blows to the face.
"Fuck! This hurts like hell!" He inwardly groaned as he protected his head with his arms, but the punches abruptly stopped.
Dante felt something holding his arms... then, his left arm was ripped off.
"AHHHHHHHHHR!"
He screamed in pain. Did he have regeneration and pain resistance? Yes, but now he was already very tired. The place was conducive to it. Since passing the tenth floor, his core has suffered greatly from mana exhaustion. He has constantly had his mana drained by the environment.
Dante realized this might be the end for him now. He had no way to win this anymore... The hero's power didn't work, his flames didn't affect the demon due to its kind of body armor, and Durandal was far from him. If only he had a contract with her, he could summon her.
Dante slowly closed his eyes, and the demon was preparing its final blow.
It shot a punch directly at his chest.
But before hitting Dante, Nagasawa threw herself in the path of the attack. Her mist-covered body appeared before Dante to take all the damage. Dante saw fear in Nagasawa's eyes as she stepped in front of the blow. It all happened in a matter of 1 second.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" She shouted, her voice echoing throughout the battle area, then a poison mist exploded over the demon.
Dante didn't have time to react. He was too shocked by what had just happened. His instincts screamed to protect her, but before he could react, the demon's blow struck her full on, hurling her backward with overwhelming force.
The devastating impact caused Nagasawa to fall to the ground, her body motionless and nearly lifeless.
Dante clenched his teeth and ran to her, horrified to see Nagasawa's entire body stained with blood, flowing from her chest wound.
"NAGA!" Dante cried, his eyes filled with tears as he knelt beside her, but it was already too late. Nagasawa looked at Dante, a trembling smile on her lips. "I... did what... I had to do..." she murmured, her voice weak and faltering.
For a moment, Dante had a surge of anger, but he didn't express it. Instead, he held Nagasawa's hand, his mind turbulent but determined not to let her die.
"You're a fool," he said with a broken smile on his face.
Nagasawa merely shook her head weakly. "I couldn't... let you die...", she said, her words growing weaker.
The demon was starting to move again as it tried to clear its eyes, which were severely injured by the poison Nagasawa exploded in its face.
"It seems I'm finally going to muster the courage to do this," Dante thought as he poured several liters of blood into his mouth.
"I'll force myself to evolve with the blood," he thought and began ingesting all the blood he had been storing and refining over the past month.
"Now is the right moment," he said and bit into Nagasawa's