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Dante pulled Rebellion from his back, the blade humming with power. "Be careful," he warned sharply. "That's the host of the right arm. He can bend space."
The moment the words left his mouth, he charged forward without hesitation, boots pounding the ground as he closed the distance between him and the corrupted host. X-23 was right behind him, claws out, silent and focused.
Dante swung his sword in a clean arc aimed at the host's midsection. The host responded in an instant, his massive crimson axe clashing with Rebellion in a thunderous blow. Sparks flew, and for a split second, they seemed evenly matched—Dante might've even had the edge in raw strength.
But that second ended fast.
Suddenly, the world felt like it shifted sideways. Gravity twisted. The axe grew heavier, like it was being pulled by invisible chains, and Dante's balance faltered.
"Damn it—he's bending space!"
The host twisted the blade, warping the gravity around it. Dante immediately disengaged, sliding back across the ground to make space between them.
Laura came in from the right, aiming straight for the host's arm. She slashed, targeting the corrupted limb, but her claws stopped inches short—caught by the distortion field.
"What the—!?" she snapped.
"He's using space to stop your claws from reaching him!" Dante shouted.
The host turned, his hand twitching. A sudden pulse of warped energy blasted Laura backward.
Dante's eyes widened. "Laura!"
He rushed forward and caught her before she hit the ground. She landed on her feet with his support and pulled away immediately.
"You shouldn't have helped me."
"Right. Sorry," Dante muttered, slightly thrown off by her tone. I know she's got a healing factor, but letting her eat a hit like that feels a little heartless…
He shook it off. No time for doubts.
The host was already on the move again, axe in hand. His ability to manipulate space made him faster, stronger, harder to hit—and nearly impossible to break through.
"How the hell do we beat that?" Dante growled, charging again.
"Test him!" Laura shouted as she ran beside him. "Look for a weakness!"
"Fine!" Dante pulled out Ebony and Ivory and fired a volley of shots.
The host raised his arm, prepping a wide arc. The bullets stopped midair, caught in a field of warped gravity, and then dropped harmlessly to the ground.
The axe swung.
A warped slash of space cut horizontally through the battlefield, rippling like a scythe through reality.
Dante reacted fast. He used his double jump, leaping off a summoned platform and flipping above the attack. Laura ducked low and slid beneath the wave, claws forward.
The host struck at her. She grabbed the axe handle with her right hand, halting the swing just enough to keep it from splitting her in two. Gritting her teeth, she used her left hand to try and stab him—straight toward the chest.
But her strike stopped short again. Warped space. Blocked.
"He can't use enhanced strength and defense at the same time!" she realized aloud, still holding the axe off with her full weight. "If he had, he would've taken my arm off!"
Dante landed behind the host and didn't hesitate. He leveled both guns, and the barrels began to glow as he channeled energy into the shots.
"Let's see you block this—" he fired.
The bullets crashed into the host's side. He growled, recoiling slightly. The force shook him just enough that he lost grip on the axe and instinctively threw Laura off him.
He turned fast, swinging his right arm in a wide arc—but he didn't realize his left side was exposed.
Dante charged again. The host raised his right arm to shield himself, expecting the same bullet barrage.
Instead, Dante lunged left.
The shot hit.
A chunk of the host's shoulder—on his left side—was blown apart, sending corrupted flesh and demonic energy splattering onto the dirt.
Dante grinned. "It's his right arm," he shouted. "That's the one that bends space!"
"He can only use defense on that side!"
The moment X-23 heard Dante's call, she sprang back into action, her boots slamming against the dirt as she darted toward the host with brutal intent.
The host, reeling from the damage to his left side, grabbed his axe in his off-hand—the left arm. He barely had time to reset his stance before Laura closed the distance.
She slashed toward his right side, forcing him to raise his right arm—the space-bending one—to block.
But she wasn't done.
At the same time, she slashed across to his left, and while the axe managed to deflect the hit, she spun with a follow-up—a vicious kick to his injured flank. As her foot made contact, her foot claw popped out with a metallic shnk and buried itself deep into the exposed flesh.
"GZAZAZAAGGHH—!" the host let out an eerie, distorted scream that echoed through the trees like static over a broken speaker.
In retaliation, a warped shockwave exploded from his body, blasting Laura backward again with enough force to crack the ground beneath her.
Before she even hit the dirt, Dante was already moving. He sprinted in from behind the host, calculating every step. The host twisted, trying to keep his right arm forward, defensive, while keeping his injured left away from Dante's blade.
Dante leapt into the air—clearly on the host's right side.
The host reacted exactly as expected.
He swung hard, aiming to catch Dante midair. But like Laura warned before—the host wasn't exactly smart. Predictable. Easy to bait.
Dante's feet slammed down onto an air platform mid-leap, and in one swift motion, he flipped directions in midair using a double jump, landing squarely on the host's left side.
Rebellion came down hard, slicing across the already damaged shoulder.
The host let out another high-pitched scream of pain.
"Sorry, man," Dante muttered, landing beside him. "But you're gonna have to endure this a bit more."
Before the host could fully recover, X-23 came charging again—this time moving in unpredictable zigzag patterns, constantly shifting direction with speed and precision. The host tried to release another wave of warped shockwaves, but they all missed—his reactions slower now, every movement sluggish due to the heavy injuries on his left side.
He tried to swing his axe to force distance—but Laura jumped.
With perfect timing, she landed on the axe head, the force and surprise of it knocking the weapon clean from his grip. The heavy metal dropped to the ground with a solid clang.
"Now!" she shouted.
Dante didn't hesitate. He grabbed the host from behind and unleashed a powerful burst of blue flames from his demon arm. The Flames of Life ignited violently, enveloping the host in a swirling vortex of light and heat.
For a second, the host's entire body was consumed.
Then—a blinding flash of red light erupted from within, forcing both Dante and Laura to shield their eyes.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!!" Dante screamed, overwhelmed by the demonic energy backlash.
But X-23 had already been told about this.
She lunged toward him and tackled him to the ground, holding him firmly with both arms as the energy raged around them.
"Breathe. Focus," she said, voice steady.
"I'm fine—I'm fine," Dante grunted after a few seconds, the glow fading from his eyes. "Let me go."
She released him, and he got to his feet, taking a deep breath as he looked at the body of the corrupted host.
Only now, he didn't look corrupted. He looked… normal. An ordinary boy, unconscious and breathing weakly.
Without a word, Dante walked over and picked him up, slinging him over his back.
They headed straight for the aircraft and carefully secured him inside.
But after getting him settled… they didn't take off right away.
There was still something else to check.
The humanoid dragon, the one the host had been fighting when they arrived, was still out there.
And it wasn't moving.