Dante unleashed his daggers, their power intensifying until Ingrid could feel the pressure rolling off them like a storm.
"This is…" she whispered, eyes widening.
Dante spun the twin blades, the metal humming. His grin—sharp, cocky, overconfident—stretched wider.
"My compliments to the current King of the Dragon Clan."
He remembered the moment before his journey. King Giang had descended from the clouds in his massive dragon form, wings folding as he landed before Dante.
"Here, boy. You exceeded my expectations. I still can't believe you wanted me to forge it."
"Hehe… it's just a prototype for now, Your Majesty. Sorry if it caused trouble."
"Nonsense, Dante. It's the least I can do after your contribution during the Academy Invasion."
That memory flickered out as Dante unsheathed the blades fully. Sparks cracked along them, lightning snapping across the edges.
Ingrid threw her cloak aside and shifted instantly into her half-dragon form. Scales burst across her body. Her frame expanded—bigger, thicker, more muscular.
Her purple horns lengthened with a crunching sound; her fangs sharpened, black-violet claws ripped out from her fingers. A sleek, powerful tail tore from her lower back as steam curled from her glowing golden eyes.
SWOOSH.
Both of them vanished from sight—two streaks in the wind—and reappeared beside Zhe Ha, striking from opposite directions.
The dust cleared to reveal Zhe Ha standing calmly, holding both of their blades with his bare hands crosed each side.
Blood dripped between his fingers where the edges had cut him, yet he grinned—wide, twisted, unsettling—as he muttered through clenched teeth:
"How amusing…"
Dante flicked his gaze toward Ingrid.
"Let's show him what monsters we are. Ingrid!"
"Mm!" she growled, her smirk feral as her eyes blazed.
They launched again, their clash booming from mountain to mountain. Each impact shattered stone and sent shockwaves tearing across the temple grounds.
Zhe Ha's foot snapped out, kicking Ingrid so hard she smashed through an entire cliffside.
Dante surged forward, red-purple energy flaring around his daggers, colliding with Zhe Ha's spear in a blur of metal. Sparks exploded with each strike—clang after clang—so fast the air screamed from the force.
Ingrid teleported behind Zhe Ha, but he twisted instantly, catching her entire head in his grip and slamming her face-first into the ground. Blood sprayed. Bone cracked.
He caught Dante's wrist next, yanking him forward and clamping a hand around his throat. With monstrous strength he spun, using both of them as weapons, hurling them into the debris.
Zhe Ha conjured a chain of energy and whipped it around Ingrid, dragging her upward and shoving her into the air like a captured beast.
But Dante's spatial ability activated—a ripple in reality.
In an instant, Ingrid vanished and reappeared behind Zhe Ha, the chain now wrapping him instead.
"What the—!" Zhe Ha snarled, shocked.
"Ingrid! Now!" Dante roared.
"RAAAGGHH!!"
Ingrid yanked the chain downward with all her monstrous strength. Zhe Ha's body plummeted, smashing into the mountain floor of the temple with an impact so violent the ground cratered and split apart.
Zhe Ha burst upward from the rubble, his fist tearing through the air. He struck Dante in the chest—but Dante only grinned, blood running down his lips.
Zhe Ha's eyes widened as he sensed movement behind him.
Ingrid was there.
Her blade stabbed through Dante's back—piercing clean through—impaling Zhe Ha's chest at the same time.
"PUHAA—!" Zhe Ha vomited blood, thick and dark, splattering against the broken stone. He struggled, ribs cracking under the pressure, but Dante grabbed his neck, holding him in place.
"Go all in!" Dante bellowed.
"RAAAGGHH!!"
Ingrid drove her blade deeper. Flesh tore. Bone split. A violent burst of energy erupted—an atomic explosion of purple-black dragon force.
The mountain shattered.
The hills crumbled like a collapsing iceberg. Debris, stone, and dust roared outward in a massive wave as the world itself seemed to break under the force of their combined strike.
Zhe Ha burst out of the rubble, conjuring a massive sphere of wind that exploded outward and shredded the ruins into a flat wasteland of dust. He scanned the silent field.
"Tch. Amusing yet bold to leave."
"Says who, N-word!"
Zhe Ha's head snapped toward the voice. Dante hovered behind him, levitating high above, then slammed a colossal boulder down onto Zhe Ha with earth-shattering force. Stone cracked, dust blasted outward, and the ground split beneath the weight.
Zhe Ha erupted from beneath the boulder in a violent burst, but before he could react, Ingrid von Balmung appeared behind him in a blink. Her blade flashed once, then twice, then faster than sight. Zhe Ha's arms and limbs were sliced clean off, blood spraying in long arcs as flesh hit the ground in twitching chunks.
Dante summoned his daggers, spinning them in both hands. He ripped through Zhe Ha's torso and legs, carving him into minced, flailing pieces.
"Arrogants!" Zhe Ha roared, voice distorted through a shredded throat.
His body reformed in an instant. Bones cracked back into place. Muscle wrapped and knit. New arms burst from the bloody stumps with sickening snaps.
"Fools! I cannot die by land, sky, inside, outside my home, by any weapon living or dead. No mere being can kill me!"
Mana swelled around him, igniting the air. Zhe Ha gathered a gigantic cluster of energy, turning it into a swirling pit of hellfire. The wasteland lit up in a crimson whirlpool as the ground melted into scorching magma.
"RRAAAGGHH!!!"
Zhe Ha detonated the cluster. A massive infernal bomb erupted outward, consuming the entire field. Mountains trembled. Trees disintegrated. Every living being within the radius was vaporized in an instant.
When the dust finally settled, Zhe Ha stood alone, huffing and panting. Magma crackled along his hands. His skin steamed. He scanned the destruction and spotted Ingrid's torn purple cloak, burnt at the edges, and a broken fragment of Dante's dagger lying in the ash.
"Hehehe…"
"Hahaha…"
"HAHAHAHA!!!"
His laughter grew heavier and more unhinged as he stared at their belongings, certain they were dead.
"I am finally the strongest!" Zhe Ha screamed into the empty wasteland. His voice echoed like a mad king claiming his throne.
He calmed, breathing steadily.
"Son, I have avenged you."
He referred to the hero Dante killed. Satisfied, he vanished into the air, convinced Dante Ruthwilfer and Ingrid von Balmung were gone.
But deep in the forest, far from the explosion, Dante and Ingrid materialized in a flash before collapsing onto the grass.
Both were coughing, burned, bleeding, and drained. Their limbs trembled from the infernal cluster blast.
"Well… that took a turn," Dante muttered as he stared up at the sky.
"You think?" Ingrid replied with a deadpan glare.
They lay side by side, staring upward until Ingrid forced herself to sit. "It is impossible to kill him. And also, he is my target. I get to kill him."
"Hey, I called dibs first."
"I have had dibs on Zhe Ha long before you, boy."
"Says the old hag who was naked in my tent at the onsen."
They glared at each other, rage simmering, both ready to put a blade to the other's throat. Then they scoffed and turned away with a synchronized "hmph."
"Cannot believe I am quarreling with a child," Ingrid muttered.
"Oh yeah. Real mature, lady," Dante muttered back.
They forced themselves upright and began walking through the forest on unsteady legs.
"Where the hell did you teleport us, boy?" Ingrid snapped.
"Will you ever shut up?" Dante snorted.
They walked for a while before Dante spoke again.
"So… who are you really?"
"Do not push it, boy."
"Just small talk. Geez, lighten up a little."
"For once, shut up and walk wherever you are going."
"And your reason for following me, Ingrid?"
"We both took a heavy blow. We lost nearly all our mana."
"Fair enough."
Eventually, they reached a secluded clearing.
"Nya?! Master!"
Kaen dashed from the trees, leaping at Dante and tackling him with a desperate hug. Her tail flicked anxiously as she clung to him.
"Hehe, alright, kitty."
"Nya?"
Kaen looked past him and instantly shifted into a fierce stance. Her ears flattened, claws extended, and her eyes locked on Ingrid.
"Master, get behind me, nya!"
"Calm yourself, Kaen."
Dante rubbed her head, trying to ease her tension. But Kaen remained tense, glaring at Ingrid von Balmung like she was a predator stalking her prey.
"Who is she, Dante?"
"Long story. But where are Erona and her father?"
"Over there at the cave, nya."
Dante hurried toward the cave to check on Ronald.
"Where's Erona, Kaen?"
"She went to gather herbs in the forest, nya. I stayed behind to guard. She is nearby, nya."
Ronald looked up when Dante entered the cave. His breathing was heavy and shallow. His hand trembled as he reached for Dante.
"Please… take my daughter far away from here, Dante."
"Ronald… she is Alderman."
"You too are one."
"Dammit…"
Dante stood abruptly and sprinted into the forest. His heart pounded with urgency as he searched for Erona—the fifteen-year-old belly dancer with her mother's grace and her father's gentle eyes.
He found her just in time, cornered by a slime already pulsing for its mating season.
"Dammit. Mating season already?"
Dante lunged and slashed the slime apart before it could grab her.
"Maladeva?" Erona gasped.
She turned and threw herself into his arms. Dante held her tight before gently pulling her away.
"You should've waited."
"My mother was a herbalist," Erona said as she opened her shawl. "She taught me medicine… all the traditional ones. Look!"
Dante examined the herbs, roots, crushed powders, and wrapped medicinal bundles held in her shawl.
"Kid… these ingredients… they're Alderman knowledge."
Kilamahi's voice echoed inside Dante's mind.
"Then we might save him."
"Might?" Erona asked, eyes widening. "What do you mean might?"
"Your old man sustained a heavy blow and deep cuts. That battered hero didn't hold back. He was trying to kill him."
They hurried back toward the cave. Kaen stood guard, tail stiff and ears perked. Nearby, Ingrid von Balmung sat beneath a tree, meditating as she slowly replenished her mana. Her presence alone felt like a storm at rest.
Erona whispered, "Who's that, Maladeva?"
"Talk later. Right now, I'll try my best to save your father."
Dante prepared the items on a stone slab. Then he walked toward Ingrid.
"Let me guess. You want my help," she said without opening her eyes.
"Wow. Prediction? Or did you actually just guess that?"
"Save it, boy. It is not my problem."
"For the love of all things, what is your problem? The war ended thousands of years ago."
"You do not know us, boy."
"I know you're a traitor to your kind."
"Heh."
Ingrid scoffed and rose slowly, levitating as dust curled beneath her feet. She pointed a mocking finger at Dante.
"Let me set that thick, puny mortal skull of yours straight, Dante Ruthwilfer. I do not care about a human like you. You are the traitors."
"I know."
"Ha! See, I told you! And—what?"
Her expression faltered when Dante didn't react the way she expected.
"I heard your quarrel during your one-on-one battle against Zhe Ha earlier," Dante said calmly. "Before I made my entry. But listen carefully."
He stepped closer. Ingrid noticed his eyes—their red glow shifting, mist-like, flowing inside like drifting embers or swimming particles.
"I am not a king. I am not a god. I am not a tool. I am not a mockery. I am not a fool. I am not a patriarch."
His voice rose, shaking the cave walls.
"I AM ONLY HUMAN! AND WE HUMANS CHERISH OUR 100 YEARS LIVES WHETHER IF IT GOOD OR BAD!!!"
The force of his shout made Erona flinch and Kaen jump to her feet, both staring at the confrontation.
Dante stepped forward again, stopping eye to eye with Ingrid.
"Now tell me, Ingrid von Balmung. Traitor of the Dragon Clan. Former Sovereign of the Dragons. Former leader of the deceased Ten Commandments."
His voice dropped into a low whisper—calm, yet edged with warning.
"Will you help me heal my friend's father? Or shall I put another gigantic hole in the demon realm like last time?"
The air tightened around them.
Ingrid stared at him—truly stared—as she felt his presence wash over her. His mana was unstable, wild, unpredictable… yet controlled. Human, yet monstrous.
For the first time, she smirked. Not out of mockery, but acknowledgment.
Dante Ruthwilfer… intimidated her.
And she liked it.
---
Chapter 45 — End.