Chapter 7: The Angel of Death

Honestly, I do not even know where I am any more: sneaking from alleyway to alleyway while attempting to evade the ever-incoming surge of black and white cars became much easier after the first couple of minutes, but I eventually lost my sense of direction and am now left wondering aimlessly in a city I do not know... just like yesterday night. Moreover, I cannot remember what the name of the street Lepris lives at is, so I cannot even ask the people around me for directions... although they do not look like they would be happy to give them out anyway.

When I first arrived in this new district, I thought for one second I had finally reached the one my friend lives at; sadly, that was not the case. The buildings around here are bigger, shinier and even more richly decorated than the ones I saw up until now, both inside and outside: I suspect all these houses and edifices belong to nobles, perhaps even wealthy businessmen... though that would not explain why, overall, they all look quite the same and are only different in such small things as wall colouring and the likes. Human architects are quite boring, I thought, if this is all they can produce; dragon architects, on the other hand, are quite rare and skilled and are renowned in the entire world for their beautiful works of art: they are charged with building the private housings of the aristocracy of all kingdoms, a task which they fulfil quickly and perfectly. Sometimes the results are... arguable, but that depends solely on the horrible tastes of their buyers; thankfully, that kind of... eccentricity is extremely rare within the minds of my courtesans.

As I wondered what to do and where to go next, I found another one of those 'news' buildings right next to a densely populated intersection... and decided to check it out, since I had nothing better to do at the moment. That four-story tall edifice, surprisingly enough, was quite different from the other buildings in the area and piqued my interest from the moment I saw it: its three upper floors were each smaller than the previous one, forming a pyramid-like structure just slightly tilted to the left, probably more for artistic purposes than actual necessity to have it that way; although there is a building very similar to that one in the capital of my kingdom, I was still relieved to see humans do possess some shred of creativity. The walls were all practically made of clean azure glass, which would have allowed everyone outside to view what stood inside if it were not for the myriad of blue curtains that blocked the visual. The words 'InstaNews', along with a few others of trivial importance, were finely painted on all facades of the edifice, forcibly reminding everyone passing by who this place belonged to... for whatever reason.

A reasonably large portion of the front wall was covered by another one of those moving screens: this one was much bigger than the previous one I saw, and so was the crowd standing in front of it. The humans kept murmuring their thoughts to one another, quite preoccupied by the facts the same woman from before was telling them in a very alarmed tone; before I could reach the crowd and listen to whatever she had to say, however, she suddenly began talking about human foreign politics... a topic that is not of particular concern to me, at least for the moment.

As everyone prepared to leave the area, I approached a random man that seemed friendly enough and inquired, hopeful he may refer to me whatever the lady just spoke about “Excuse me sir, but I am afraid I could not listen to whatever that lady had to say: could you please tell me what could possibly be enough important to gather such a big crowd?” at first the human eyed me suspicious, most likely because he was not expecting me to begin talking to him in the first place, but then decided to answer “It was a news report on those explosions from half-an-hour ago-”

“Wait, explosions? As in... more than one?” I stopped him as panic and guilt consumed me whole “That... that cannot be true... were there any casualties?” I asked, holding on to what little hope I still had.

“Some people survived, but... most were sent to the hospital in critical condition, and others straight-out died. Why, did you lose anyone important?” I wanted to answer 'my confidence'... but, instead, I said nothing. Maybe Lepris is right, and it was fate that prevented me from saving those lives... but that only makes me feel worse for not having been able to help them. In the end, I failed.

My name... is Red. I am a fire dragon, and the only survivor of the massive surprise attack that completely destroyed the capital of my kingdom. After a long time spent exploring the city, I finally learned a bit more about the world around me and about my new friend Lepris, who turned out to be a much more troubled individual than I originally thought; unfortunately, we got separated after saving some humans in distress... now I am alone, and it seems I will have to stay this way for some time at least...

I learned a lot more about the recent happenings from the man afterwards: he explained to me the explosions were caused by 'bombs' that detonated from within the buildings... and that a mysterious organization called 'Anteros' was responsible for all of them. The leader of this so-called organization, whose name is unknown to all, released a message right after the attacks hit, explaining what they hope to accomplish with these acts of cowardice: to instil fear within the hearts of the population, to remind them that they exist... and that there is no way to stop them. They claim they will return the entire world to the way it once was: under their direct, total control; needless to say, these people are delusional megalomaniacs who, I learned, never had any control whatsoever on the world prior to the creation of their organization. He called these people 'terrorists', but back in Draconia we know them as 'bandits': hopeless, goalless idiots who believe to be above law, above honour, above all else... I personally slew many of these criminals, and I silently vowed to do the same with these cowardly anarchists. Soon, I will make them pay for the lives they took, for the pain they have caused, for every single sin they committed.

For now, however, I cannot do any of that: the only thing I can do is wander around the city like the foreigner I am, desperately searching for my comrade.. although. ten minutes or so have already passed since I spoke to that man, and I still feel like I am just as far away from my goal as I was when I began my quest. If fate truly does guide me, now would be a good time to point me the way...

Actually, maybe I should not have asked for it: the enchanted black ring on my right index finger shines of an unsettling black as all the humans I can see quickly fade from existence and the light around me melds into a garbled, shining mass... that can only mean one thing, and I am definitely not ready to deal with the chaos that is about to ensue.

[1-02 – Alternative Battle – “Clutterfunk Part 2” by Waterflame (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFrimAIrU8I)]

Creatures of darkness spawn from the obscure corners of the alleyways around me, from under the unmoving cars parked at the edge of the street, from everywhere the light of the Sun cannot reach... their number appears to exceed one-hundred, and that only counts the 'F.E.A.R.'s in front of me: far more are coming from the flanks and from behind, dead-set on stealing my life essence... I cannot possibly hope to defeat all of them at once, alone at least! And yet, retreat is not a plausible option: a true warrior never backs down from a fight, as he keeps fighting for what he believes in or dies trying... that said, though, my code of honour does not prevent me from moving to a better fighting position, which is exactly what I am going to do right now.

I propel myself upwards and attempt flying away from the now crowded street, but am immediately attacked by a swarm of sharply-clawed avians soon afterwards: I do my best to kill as many of them as I can in mid-air with my sword, meanwhile looking for a better arena to fight these monsters in... I have to choose carefully where to engage, as most likely I only have one chance to find a suitable arena before I am stuck in one I cannot win in. The best location I can see at the moment is a rather large four-way intersection that is for the most part empty apart from a few coloured cars and an outstandingly large vehicle with a ramp hanging behind it, which I guess could prove useful... somehow: I drop down elegantly and turn on the incoming monsters, who are stupid enough to attack me directly even though I have all the time in the world to blast them all away with one of my spells. “Volcanic Barrage!” I shout as my flaming body shoots out a great number of fireballs that disintegrate most, although not all, of the flying 'F.E.A.R.'s; those pests have not become any smarter since our last encounter, it seems, although the ones that did survive are currently falling back and regrouping, presumably preparing themselves for another assault later on... at least they are not completely dumb: that would ruin the thrill of the challenge.

I realize the main ground battalion is approaching my position quickly, so I take a look to assess its composition: as far as I can see, just like the creatures that attacked me yesterday evening, these monsters as well resemble small goblins, their only weapons being their sharp fangs and edged claws... now that I decimated the flying menace, I reason, I can strike them from above and get rid of them before they even have a chance to touch me; an excellent plan, which I am ready to execute right away. I jump high up in the air just like I did before and prepare to rain death on these puny weaklings... only to realize I fell right into their trap: in-between the uncoordinated ranks of the savage beasts lie a fair number of smaller, more ingenious-looking imps with very short, almost non-existent wings; they all hold within their small hands an impressively long empty barrel pointed right at me, and that cannot be good at all...

It does not take long for me to understand I am in grave danger, and attempt to fly away before they can use those seemingly innocuous devices against me... unfortunately for me, I am too late: I hear a loud banging noise as dozens of spiked spheres made out of a black burning material are shot out of the barrels at great speed before bursting in somewhat small venomous fumes that simultaneously block my visual and consume my lungs from inside... I begin to suffocate helplessly and immediately lose the strength in my wings, which in turn transforms my brave flight into a desperate fall; the 'F.E.A.R.'s are surely accumulating below me, I presume, and will no doubt tear me to pieces as soon as I hit the ground... assuming I survive the impact. However, if I give up now, if I give in to weakness now, everything is lost: I cannot give up, I have to stay determined... I have to win this battle, no matter what!

“Heat Wave!” I manage to shout while coughing just before reaching the ground, as my body releases a powerful blast of blazing fire that incinerates some of the enemies below me and nearby: my descent cannot be stopped and eventually I crash onto the cold hard stone that paves the streets, the pain coursing through my entire body indicating I am somehow still alive; the fire I spread around me will keep the monsters away from me for a couple of seconds at least, which I desperately needed at least to clean my lungs that got completely infested by that horrible gas... but the fire dies out a moment afterwards, before I have a chance to recover entirely. I immediately find the horde of malevolent creatures ready to attack me from both the front and the sides, although they are hesitating to do so for some reason... perhaps they want to take a good look at me before they reap my life, but I cannot be sure. Unless I run away, something that I cannot do without breaking my honour code, I am doomed... and I have no intention of living knowing I broke my own law, so I rule that option out; I can still put up a semi-decent fight but, unless a miracle happens in this precise moment, my odds of surviving are overall null...

Wait, what is this noise I hear? It sounds just like the sound a car makes while moving, but is at least twice or thrice more powerful... and it is becoming more and more loud by the second! I turn around, to face the source of this noise, only to see a... vehicle coming this way, clearly interested in this conflict: it is definitely skinnier, although slightly longer, than a normal car... and, from what I can see, it also runs on two wheels instead of four, despite being far faster than anything else I have seen so far. The vehicle is as black as the night, just as the figure that is riding it... but I cannot quite describe them from this angle apart from the long black robe they are wearing that hovers in the air behind them, suspended by the wind and the intense velocity the figure's running at.

The figure and its mount suddenly turn to face the long ramp behind the immobile white transport parked a good twenty feet away from me and use it to fly in the air above me, seemingly without reason... until the figure unbelievably jumps out of its vehicle and kicks it towards the enemies that stand before me, missing me by mere luck and mowing the vast majority of them down under its weight while sliding before finally exploding right in the middle of the monsters' forces after emitting sparkles for a few seconds. The figure then elegantly touches the ground a few feet ahead of me and silently observes their work, admiring the devastation they have caused... at least I think they are, since I cannot quite see their face from here.

“I hope I didn't ruin this little party of yours...” this voice I hear is that of a male, but it is so grave and dark I am surprised he is even alive to use it “...You looked like you could've used some help, so I figured I'd pass by.” the man turns around so I can see his visage: the appearance is definitely that of a human, but... I can sense something obscure, something evil, emanating from within him.. a presence of sorts that I cannot quite identify. The man's physique almost perfectly matches my own and he himself appears to be somewhat older than Lepris, although not too much; his face is as white and pure as light itself, perhaps even too white to be human, and the short spiked black hair above it veers sharply towards the left side of his face, almost covering his left eye which is already shielded by a pair of... oh, I cannot remember what's the term Lepris used... ah, yes, 'sunglasses'! Yes, I cannot see his eyes because they are covered by this big round ornament that supposedly shields from excessive sunlight... though his expression is quite clear and shows, at least from my point of view, either utmost seriousness or immense hatred. He wears a long black leather robe that covers his body entirely and that he prefers to keep open, allowing me to see he is also wearing an anonymous grey shirt and a pair of long black trousers beneath it; he is also wearing a golden necklace with a black ebony cross attached to it and black leather gloves. Overall, this man looks rather intimidating... it is also very important to notice he has also entered the 'Astra-grid' alongside me, although whether he was attacked by 'F.E.A.R.'s as well or somehow got inside of his own volition remains unknown.

“I do not know who you are, or what you want from me...” I make a few steps towards him, but he does not react to it whatsoever “...But you saved my life, and I am immensely grateful for that. I hope I can reciprocate the favour, one day.”

[10-01 – Eliminating all Threats – 'Enemy Approaching Yellow' from Undertale Yellow by MyNewSoundtrack, originally 'Enemy Approaching' from Undertale by Toby Fox (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpM8CGyy4TI)]

“Don't thank me: I didn't save you.” he replies, almost imperceptibly offended by my gratitude; a few of the goblin-like creatures ambush us by lunging at us from the roof of a car nearby, but the human is faster then them and immediately moves between me and my assailants: he then proceeds to summon an enormous black scythe from thin air and uses it to get rid of all the incoming enemies with a single slash.

If what I saw is correct, the weapon he just... created appears, at least at first sight to be made out of black-painted bone or a similar material... but that is not true, as it is actually made out of a strange black substance the man can manipulate that looks quite similar to the one that makes up the bodies of the 'F.E.A.R.'s, except it is aeriform unlike the monsters 'blood' of sorts that has a gooey composition; the scythe's blade is quite jagged and unbalanced and, just like the rest of the weapon, it is unclear whether it has been purposefully created this way or if time eroded its... no, wait, what am I saying? This man just created a weapon out of nowhere: nothing regarding that weapon makes sense! If this is magic, it is a kind I never witnessed or even heard of before in my entire life...

“I'll take care of them: you focus on recovering, and fast.” he advises as he reaps (literally) an inbound wave of monsters that was threatening us with their presence; upon noticing two fleeing members of said group, probably running away to unite with another small pod of enemies, he cuts the air in two, causing the scythe's blade to... detach from its base and fly towards the nearest of the two fiends, chained to the main body by a seemingly endless 'iron' chain before piercing the chest of the creature and subsequently retracting backwards: as this happens, the human rotates once, along with the incoming blade, before shooting the monster towards its own kin by halting the blade in mid-air and allowing the centrifugal force to do the rest... needless to say, both the 'F.E.A.R.'s instantaneously shatter into semi-liquid pieces as soon as the impact takes place, demonstrating how powerful the man I am witnessing truly is.

Noticing the rest of our enemies are too far away for him to attack properly with his current weapon, the man uses his powers to turn his scythe into black mist before shifting it again into two... smaller weapons of some sort: I find describing them rather difficult, as they are unlike anything I have ever seen before... but they appear to be weapons since the man is pointing them both at his opponents in a menacing way, holding them from a rather small hilt located in the weapons' lower sections; by using his index fingers to move a minuscule switch also located below the weapons' main bodies, he causes a flurry of incredibly tiny projectiles, which are far too small and far too many to be a variant of arrows, to come out of the weapons' short barrels at incredible speed and fly towards the far away enemies, riddling their bodies with holes and annihilating them all before they can even become a threat.

As I observe how quickly and efficiently the human dispatches the incoming monsters, I notice a few of those barrel-wielding imps positioning behind some cars on the other side of the road and setting up to launch more of those poisonous explosives: before the man can even notice them, I once again use my 'Volcanic Barrage' spell to destroy them all before they can do anything; unfortunately, they manage to shoot us before my fireballs can obliterate them, but thankfully enough all their venomous spheres are blown up by my own flaming projectiles, resulting in a huge cloud of smoke spreading all over that area.

“You missed one.” the human comments as he points at one lone imp preparing to shoot from atop another distant car; without warning, he vanishes from my sight, leaving behind only a mantle of black mist... and reappears one instant later mere inches away from the monster, his edged scythe already in hand: I can feel the creature's pain myself as I witness the 'F.E.A.R.'s head being cut off roughly by the man's weapon, evaporating into dark goo soon afterwards.

“Alright, why are you helping me?” the human asks almost angrily as he reappears right in front of me, emanating more samples of that obscure mist in the process “Instead of blasting off those weaklings, you could've attacked me instead: do you really think they're your biggest problem right now?”

“Are you perhaps implying you have come here to slay me as well?” I shout as I point my sword at him “I helped you because I hate being cut off from a battle that was mine to begin with, but I am ready to take you on as well if that is what you wish... however, I am not a rogue or an assassin: I am a warrior, so do not shame me by suggesting me to strike you while you are not looking!” although his expression has not changed in the least, I can clearly see he is pondering on the words I just used... instead of replying, he turns around and points at the swarm of winged 'F.E.A.R.'s, who managed both to reorganize and to expand their numbers “Alright, we'll settle this later: in the meantime, feel free to give me a hand if that's what you want, but I don't really care...”

And so, after a few more minutes of intense fighting, the enemy horde is finally reduced to nothingness: admitting it kind of embarrasses me, but the human eliminated most of the creatures by himself, thanks to both his outstanding arsenal of weapons and his inhuman capability to be everywhere on the battlefield in any moment. Truly, this man is a force to reckon... and that may not be a good thing for me after all...

“Thank you.” I thank him, and add before he can inquire me the meaning to my gratitude “You showed me a completely new way of battling, an entirely different technique than the one I am habituated to... and I no doubt have learned many things from this encounter: so, before we can talk about anything else, please let me thank you for fighting alongside me.” for the first time ever since I met him, the man makes something somewhat resemblant of a smile and chuckles, before responding “Yeah, I suppose you weren't half-bad yourself... you're much better than most people I've seen recently, and that's no small feat. I hope you've yet to show me your true potential... or else I'd be really disappointed.” how eerie and mysterious... maybe it would be best to change the subject before he says or does anything that might lead to another battle.

“You have not told me your name yet.” I point out, and the man immediately responds “You tell me yours, and maybe I'll tell you my own.” quite pretentious of him... but I cannot see how the order our names are spoken would matter, so I agree to his proposition “My name is Red Blaze; may I ask for yours now?”

My answer appears to have unsettled him quite a lot, as he is now frowning slightly “Really now? But you don't seem like... oh, well...” he then turns around and teleports a fair distance, before announcing “Look man, I'm really sorry for what I'm about to say... at least, I think I am, given that I just saved your life and all, but...” he turns towards me and takes off his sunglasses: his eyes are as sharp as my blade itself, as menacing as a demon's and as red as the blood that courses through my veins... these are the eyes of a cold, relentless killer; the gems inserted in my sword's blade shine their pure lights as the human utters, slowly and coldly “...I was told to kill you, and that's exactly what I'm about to do: try not to take it too personal, alright?”

[10-03 – Bullet Hell - "Dynami" by Coffe K, originally "Heartache; Megalovania" from Undertale by Toby Fox (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q9pcUkU4_s)]

Before I can even say or do anything, the man teleports once again before me, scythe already in hand, and attempts to tear me to pieces in a single hit: I only have to thank the readiness of my reflexes for blocking that point-blank hit, else I would have perished for sure. Multiple attacks similar to that one follow soon after, with him teleporting everywhere around me and even in the air above me, seeking to end the battle as quickly as possible... unluckily for him, though, I am more than enough trained to deal with his quick blows thanks to countless training sessions spent parrying the attacks of several enemies at once; it may be true that this is the first time I put that empiric lesson into practice, but it appears as though I am holding my own just fine.

“Are you really going to fight me without telling me your name first?” I ask the man in a rare moment in which he hesitated to teleport after our blades clashed “It might sound trivial, but knowing the name of your adversary is considered a must back where I am from...” he suddenly tilts the clash in his favour and his scythe comes mere inches away from my face “I'll tell you what: if you can survive this battle, I'll tell you my name... but only if you can survive.” by using all the strength I have in my arms, I regain the upper hand and reply “Very well, if this is the game you wish to play... then prepare yourself to lose it!” before I can finally hit him he disappears once again and reappears a dozen feet away from me, yet again holding those two strange weapons in his hands “Let's see if you can defend yourself from this!” he then unleashes an endless stream of projectiles, which would surely end my life right away were they to hit me... for once, attacking might not be the best defence. “Fire Wall!” I shout as a circular barrier made out of pure flame envelops my near surroundings, incinerating the incoming pellets before they can hit me... and, possibly, stopping my attacker from using those weapons altogether.

“Really? Is this your tactic?” I hear the human's voice coming from right above me, and immediately turn my head upwards to face him, scared I might have made a mistake: I spot him hovering a dozen feet above me, holding with both of his hands a strange barrel-like device similar to the ones those imps were carrying, but bigger and rectangular in shape... I did not just commit an error, I fell right into his trap! “Surprise!” he grimly shouts as a rhomboidal object is fired out of the barrel, obviously aimed for me; unless I breathe fire on that incoming projectile, which could potentially be explosive for all I know and therefore could prove not to be a wise course of action, there is nothing I can do apart from running away, which is what my instinct advises me to do. By running through the fire I myself created, which does not hurt me since my own magic protects me from itself, I somehow manage to avoid the object's impact, which results in a rather large explosion that my barrier luckily contains before expiring and returning to ashes.

“Not bad... not bad at all...” the man chuckles from the other side of the road, still holding that heavy weapon over his left shoulder “You can dodge one missile... but can you dodge a dozen?” his weapon then fires a vast amount of 'missiles', one after another at almost supersonic speed... I cannot exactly be sure, but that looks more than just 'a dozen'; still, I cannot allow him to beat me with sheer numbers alone: if he wants to fight me with quantity, then I shall reply with quantity as well! “Volcanic Barrage!” I shout as my body catches on fire and multiple fireballs spawn from it, directed towards the incoming explosives: either by skill or by miracle, all of the missiles are intercepted by my fireballs and explode in a colossal cloud of smoke, which would have reduced this intersection to dust were we not in the 'Astra-grid'...

“Well then, I suppose you're somewhat decent after all...” the man chuckles as he reappears a few feet away from me, strangely weaponless “You could be better, but nobody's perfect after all...” he then adds, seemingly entertained by my rising anger; “If that is meant to be an insult, then I recommend you to stop this instant: I am not a toy to be played with, human!” I yell as I attempt to pierce the man, in vain: he disappears in a thick black mist before materializing behind me, his eyes even redder than before “Oh, so you're done playing around? That's alright, I was getting kind of tired too... well then: whether you survive or not this next attack, the battle's over.”

“Void Rift!” he shouts as darkness envelops my eyes, preventing me from seeing anything; I initially believed he somehow blinded me with another strange weapon of his... but that does not appear to be the case: I am literally trapped in a dome of obscurity, all senses perfectly awake apart from sight. To be honest, I am quite scared: if the man decides to attack me now, I am done for no matter what... I managed to defend myself before, but I doubt I will be able to now that I cannot see one inch away from my nose. And yet, there's still hope: the sacred gemstones shine yet again, allowing me to faintly see in this eternal darkness... which lets me miraculously block an incoming slash from up front. “Impressive...” the human remarks as he materializes behind me, but is blocked yet again by my unbreakable sword: not only can I see much better with the help of the gems, but I can also... feel the man's presence around me, permitting me to locate him whenever he moves around with his teleport ability. Right, left, above, left, front, right, behind... for a while, the only sound I can hear is that of our blades clashing and the faint sound of his body turning to black mist and reforming soon afterwards: after a whole minute spent dancing like dramatic artists, the blackness around me fades into nothingness as I regain full use of my eyes... I want to believe I finally won this tiresome duel, but maybe that is not the case; the human does finally cease attacking... and instead applauds me from a short distance, almost mockingly “Well done, well done... I didn't expect you to survive this long. You truly are an entertaining one... frankly, it's been a long time since I fought someone so stubborn...” stubborn, he says? I do not like the sound of that.

“You said after that attack, the battle would have ended no matter what, am I correct?” I inquire, at my limit “Does that mean I won?”

“Not quite...” he says as his eyes flash red, meaning the danger has yet to subside “Yes, I told you the battle would've ended... and you're correct: it's about time I ended this charade, once and for all!” he then summons his scythe and throws the chained blade towards me, catching me by surprise: instead of using this opportunity to kill me, however, he juggles his weapon to envelop my sword's own blade and then, with a swift movement of his arm, snags it away from my hands and throws it backwards; Justice lands on the ground ungracefully, but thankfully unscathed... however, that sword is the last of my problems at the moment.

“Can't you see? I had you right from the beginning.” the blood in my vein freezes simply by hearing his grim chuckle “Don't get me wrong, you fought admirably... but I'm a whole lot of levels ahead of you, and you should've realized it sooner.” before I can retaliate in any way, the man teleports right in front of me and slashes me with his weapon vertically, sending me flying backwards as pain fills my entire body...

Surprisingly enough, I am still alive: I am not bleeding, there are no cuts in my skin, my bones and internal organs are perfectly fine... it feels exactly as though I got hit by a 'F.E.A.R.', except I am not proving simulated fear, but simulated pain... and yet, this pain I am feeling hurts too much to be fake. I try to get up, to keep on fighting for my life, but my body refuses: I could most likely stand up if I wanted to, but I doubt I would be able to actually stay up for more than a few seconds...

“Honestly, I kind of feel bad for you.” I see the man approach me, holding my sword in his gloved right hand as if it were a mere stick... which sparks the question: how powerful is he again? There's no way anyone could lift that sword without the aid of both of their hands... and, even then, the weight of the weapon would certainly prohibit them from carrying it around so casually!

“If you had surrendered from the beginning, maybe I wouldn't have gone so rough on you... I get carried away far too easily for my own good.” he sighs, sparkling more rage within me.

“Never...” I painfully utter “I will... never surrender... never...” I somehow manage to get up on my knees, still too weak to actually stand up “I will... keep on fighting... if that's the last thing I do...”

“Oh, really? Maybe I underestimated you after all...” he mumbles as he looks at my sword and exclaims “This is a nice sword you got here... would be a shame if I were to take it!” more of that dark substance begins pouring out of the man's glove as it covers the hilt of my sword, slowly making its way from top to bottom, threatening to envelop it all in its cold embrace... I cannot understand what the man is doing, but I will not allow him to do it anyway... at least, I would not allow him were I in condition to take him on: it's quite painful to admit, even more painful than the pain that is coursing through my body like a poison, but... I am weak, too weak to stop him.

And yet, just before the man can assimilate the first of the gemstones into that disgusting goo, another miracle occurs: the gems light up once again, producing a powerful light that blinds us both... and afterwards, following no coherent logic whatsoever, the man's right arm explodes in dark goo as the sword drops to the ground, clean of that horrible substance; I do not know what just happened, but I do know that if there's one good moment to strike, it's this one. I get up and run towards the sword, grab it with all the strength I have left in my body and pierce my opponent's chest, seemingly ending his life “Game over... I won...”

“Yeah, I suppose you did.” he chuckles, oblivious to the pain I just inflicted him: only now I realize this man has not reacted to the loss of his arm in any way whatsoever, and his current expression does not indicate any sort of pain either... in fact, he could not care less about the sword currently stuck between his ribs!

He then dissolves in black mist and reappears a moment later a few feet ahead of me, as if nothing ever happened at all: moreover, both his right arm and the clothing that got damaged in the explosion are as good as new... not only can he teleport around at will, he can also regenerate his body!? What kind of monster am I facing!?

“Well, I guess you won.” he says as he once again applauds, this time seriously, and puts his sunglasses back on: all traces of irony and sadism have faded from his face... and yet, it feels too good to be true.

“Is that it? Are you seriously going to surrender now? For no reason at all?” I inquire, to which he immediately answers “I'm not surrendering: if I didn't have my... powers, that would've been the end right there. You won, fair and square... perhaps underestimating you and your weapon was a mistake after all...” well, that actually makes some sense... however, it is clear that if this man truly wanted to kill me, he would have done so a thousand times over already.

“Anyway, my name's Dante.” he offers me his hand to shake “Nice to meet you, Red.” I grab his hand and attempt to shake it, while replying “It is a pleasure to meet you too, Dante... if I may ask, what is it that you hoped to accomplish by battling me?”

“At first, to kill you: what else?” I gulp, and silently hope that he did not notice me; he then adds immediately afterwards “That's what that pest ordered me to do after all... but you clearly aren't one of the bad guys, so I stopped taking it seriously right from the beginning. I can see it in your eyes... and in your soul as well: you may resort to violence a whole lot, but you only do so to help those you hold dearest... and your virtues and dedication are too admirable to be ignored. You truly are one of a kind... of that, at least I'm sure.” he then moves away and shouts aloud, probably not referring to me “Speaking of despicable pests: I need to speak with you right now, you darn cat!” is he perhaps referring to-

“Oh, come on! You can't handle a troll, mister 'sunglasses-all-the-time'?” the almost human cat Karma appears out of nowhere next to the man, an ironic grin already printed on their face “Don't tell me you got mad! It's just a prank, bro! A social experiment!”

“You call 'ordering me to kill an innocent man' a social experiment?” Dante inquires inquisitive in return, slightly unsettling the bi-coloured cat “Hey, cheer up! Nobody died, right? I knew you would've figured it out before you did any serious damage... besides, both of you wanted a real challenge, right? This way, I satisfied both your desires at once!” well, they are technically correct: it has been a long while since I fought someone as skilled as Dante, and I was growing tired of fighting the same enemies over and over again... I needed this slap in the face, I truly did. I believe this loss taught me quite a lot of things, actually.

“Alright, fair enough.” the man then faces the other direction and pretends to leave the cat alone... but then turns around and executes a perfect uppercut, an uppercut so powerful in fact it sends the man's 'friend' of sorts flying into the sky, until they are reduced to a small dot in the firmament; while this happens, I hear the cat yell “Karma, blasting off at the speed of light...!” or something like that, but I pay it no mind since it makes no sense at all.

“So, you made a contract with that little devil?” as I answer positively, I wonder whether I should inquire whether he was serious when he referred to Karma as a devil, but in the end I decide not to “Heh, I don't want to imagine what reason you would have to trust that monster... or what in the world he promised you in exchange for 'entertainment'...” I attempt to explain it to him, but he immediately cuts me off “Look, you can spare me the details for another time: right now, there's something more important I need to tell you.” I widen my ears as I welcome his advice “I am listening to you.”

“If you've got doubts they aren't going to keep their promise, then trust me: they will. They'll make sure everything goes according to plan, that you get your wish precisely as you envisioned it... if you get lucky, it might be even better too.” I would like to be relieved by his words, but his expression clearly foretells that this is not everything he has to tell me “However, know that, to get to where you want to arrive, you'll need to suffer... and a whole lot. Not just you, but everyone around you as well: everyone you involve in your quest will suffer, and it will only be your fault...” he then turns around and adds, before disappearing in yet another black smoke “Nevertheless, not all evil comes to hurt... especially if it makes you grow up as an individual. We'll see each other soon, Red.”

As soon as Dante leaves the 'Astra-grid', the place itself falls apart rather quickly: I barely have the time to get out of the main road before I am squashed by an incoming car, which does not forget to remind me of my luck with its signature loud noise. As I recover my breath and test my arms and legs to see if they are still hurt, I think about everything that's happened to me in the past hour: to be honest, there's a lot I still do not know about both Karma and his other 'associate' Dante, but, assuming what the latter said is true, then putting my faith in the cat was not a bad idea after all... except for Lepris, and for everyone else that might be involved with me as a result of my actions. Now that I think about it, Lepris's whole mental breakdown of an hour ago might have been the result of this contract I made after all! There's no denying the possibility everything bad that might happen to my friend could be a direct consequence of my actions... is that a price I can afford to pay, I wonder?

I silently wander away as I think and rethink about that, all my other problems looking like trivial issues in comparison...