Jurian frowned.
"Photon Lance."
Two spheres of blinding light materialized beside him—one to his left, one to his right. They radiated an oppressive brilliance, dense enough that merely looking at them caused weaker observers to instinctively avert their eyes.
Even Dante spared them a glance.
Then... two identical spheres appeared beside him. Unlike Jurian's golden lances, Dante's shimmered with intertwined orange and gold, revolving around one another like a pair of celestial bodies.
Jurian's pupils contracted.
He copied it...? No... he improved it.
Without warning—
The four spheres shot forward. Jurian's Photon Lances accelerated first, streaking through the air like falling stars.
At almost the same instant, Dante's own spheres intercepted them.
The collision never happened.
Instead... the two opposing attacks met with such precision that Jurian's momentum simply stopped. The speed vanished. The power didn't.
The orange-gold spheres continued forward almost untouched.
Jurian's instincts screamed. He bent backward. A beam of condensed light skimmed across his forehead, missing by barely an inch before obliterating the mountain behind him.
The entire peak disappeared.
Jurian's eyes widened.
It overpowered mine...?
He looked up—
—and his expression froze.
One. Two. Three. Four. Six more spheres floated around Dante. Each one pulsed with terrifying destructive power.
Jurian's scalp tingled.
No...
Without hesitation—
"Radiant Dash!"
His body erupted into light. He vanished. This time his speed climbed even higher. To everyone else, he had ceased to exist.
Even Dante's eyes only barely tracked the movement. A grin spread across his face.
Now I see. So that's how you defeated him.
Speaking of him...
Dante casually flicked a finger. The six spheres changed direction. They didn't pursue Jurian. They didn't target Aishwani.
Instead... they shot toward the distant mountain range behind Vexion and the others. More accurately... toward an isolated cliff overlooking the battlefield.
Standing atop that cliff... Qwarian quietly watched the battle unfold. His expression remained calm until the six lances abruptly altered course.
His smile twitched.
"So... they noticed me."
A spatial distortion quietly unfolded beneath his feet. Before the attacks reached him, he stepped into it.
"Alright, alright. I get it. No visitors."
The portal closed.
An instant later—
The six beams struck.
BOOOOOOM!!
The entire mountain disappeared. The attack didn't stop. It carved straight through a second mountain. Then a third. Then a fourth. Only after crossing several kilometers did the beams finally disperse.
Silence.
Back on the battlefield... nobody understood why Dante had fired into empty space. Jurian certainly didn't—he was far too occupied trying to survive. Neither was Aishwani. Their attention never left Dante.
The spectators were no different.
Gorgon simply stared at the annihilated mountain range. Amber swallowed nervously. Elric frowned. Even Eliosphere looked completely confused.
Only one person laughed quietly.
Vexion.
She looked toward the destroyed mountains before returning her attention to the battle with complete confidence.
Lexa noticed.
"...V? What was that?"
Vexion smiled.
"We had a visitor. Master chased him away."
Amber blinked.
"...Where?"
Elric narrowed his eyes.
"I didn't sense anyone."
Neither did Gorgon. Nor Eliosphere.
Vexion merely shrugged.
"I said... Master chased him away."
Elisphere looked even more confused.
"...How do you know there was someone there?"
For several seconds... nobody answered.
Then realization slowly spread across Lexa's face. A tiny smile of embarrassment appeared. She had been watching the fight. Watching every movement. Every exchange.
And only now... had she understood.
Vexion glanced sideways at her with a smug grin.
"You're not going to answer?"
Lexa sighed.
"...Master never wastes an attack."
Everyone turned toward her.
She continued quietly.
"Every strike. Every movement. Every step. They all have purpose. If Master fired something that powerful... and it didn't hit either Jurian or Aishwani... then it wasn't meant for them."
Silence settled over the group.
Amber slowly looked toward the ruined horizon.
"...So... there really was someone?"
Vexion smiled proudly.
"I told you. Master chased them away."
For some reason... that explanation unsettled everyone even more.
Because none of them—not even Lexa—had sensed anyone watching.
Yet Dante had.
And he had done so... while effortlessly overwhelming two Mythical Beings at the same time.
Silence settled over the group.
No one spoke. Not because the explanation was complicated... but because it was so simple.
Vexion had noticed the moment Dante altered the trajectory of his attack. Lexa had realized it only after thinking it through.
Neither Jurian nor Aishwani had noticed. Nor Gorgon. Nor Elisphere. Nor Elric. Nor Amber.
The difference wasn't talent.
It was familiarity.
Vexion had spent years beside Dante. Every movement. Every habit. Every meaningless-looking gesture. She had been trained by him, fought beside him, lived beside him.
To her... Dante never acted without purpose.
If he threw a punch, there was a reason. If he took a step, there was a reason. If he smiled... there was usually a reason for that as well.
She understood him almost instinctively.
Lexa wasn't quite at that level.
But after years fighting alongside both of them, she had gradually learned to see the battlefield through the same lens.
It wasn't simply trust.
It was understanding.
An understanding forged through countless battles.