Previously, our friends arrived at the thresholds of a towering Mayan pyramid standing approximately fifty meters high. Positioned directly before the entrance of this imposing monument, they plot their next move—well aware of a battalion of ten formidable Jaguar Warriors guarding the gates.
MALEKIN: This structure is impossibly tall...
ELENA: Indeed... it must be around fifty meters in height.
DANTE HERALDI: This place resembles the Temple of Kukulcán, but it features a colossal gate with no way to bypass it—flanked entirely by mountains on both sides.
QUETZALCÓATL: Yes, there is only a single entrance, and it's glaringly obvious we are meant to go through there.
ISAMU: There is no alternative. This is unequivocally a trap.
REX: You think so, Isamu?
QUETZALCÓATL: Without a doubt, it is a trap. That wretched being is expecting us.
DANTE HERALDI: Analyzing it gets us nowhere. We attack. Wait for me—I will settle this in an instant.
As the words leave his lips, a pitch-black aura erupts around DANTE, charging the atmosphere with suffocating tension that leaves everyone stunned. Channeling "Wolf Speed" alongside "Dark mantle", DANTE manifests instantly in front of the defenders. The Jaguar Warriors stare in shock at his sudden appearance, but DANTE grants them no respite. Drawing his katana Kusanagi, he dices the entire squad into a thousand pieces in a single heartbeat. Blood sprays through the air, splattering the stone floor in a nightmarish spectacle. The party watches DANTE's overwhelming prowess in awe as they close the distance.
QUETZALCÓATL: Excellent work, Dante. Your strength continues to grow exponentially. Let us head inside immediately.
REX: Buddy... are you alright? You're acting a bit... terrifying.
DANTE's eyes widen in shock at REX's words. Turning his gaze toward ELENA, he catches her visibly shaken expression.
DANTE HERALDI: (ashamed) E-Elena... are you alright?
ELENA: (Nervous) Yes... I'm fine. It's just... you frightened me a little.
DANTE HERALDI: ...I am sorry. I let myself get carried away.
MALEKIN: Young man, you were merciless just now... you resembled a true demon.
ISAMU: Dante is simply executing what must be done. Spare him further criticism.
Feeling a pang of regret, the group offers apologies to DANTE, who likewise apologizes and promises to keep his instincts in check. Stepping through the threshold of the pyramid, countless torches ignite automatically, bathing the cavernous interior in flickering light and bringing the space to life. The grand hall of the first level was monumental in scale; far off in the distance stood a massive staircase ascending to the second floor. Shadowing the base of the staircase sat an obscured throne, where a mysterious figure remained seated.
Most striking were the stone heads carved throughout the chamber, depicting distinct beastly forms—jaguars, crocodiles, and various others, alongside more ominous figures shaped like demons and dragons. The ambient air reeked heavily of fresh blood.
Advancing cautiously through the silent hall, the uneasy quiet puts everyone on edge.
DANTE HERALDI: This place is bizarre: Mayan pyramids, an Aztec deity, and Inca ornamental designs... Everything is meshed together. It's surreal... and that smell feels as if Death itself were trailing right behind us.
QUETZALCÓATL: These relics look familiar to me, yet something feels deeply out of place.
ELENA: I am well-versed in divine mythology, and Dante is correct—it is a complete blend of cultures.
REX: Look over there! Who is that guy?
After traversing the expanse of the hall, our companions reach the vicinity of the seated figure. The moment he locks eyes on them, he rises to his feet.
MYSTERIOUS FIGURE: (Gravelly voice) At last... The Lord of Mictlan foretold that certain pests would infiltrate these chambers. Allow me to introduce myself: I am one of the guardians of this pyramid. My name is TEMICTLI, and I am your personal executioner.
Completing his declaration, the Jaguar Warrior stands tall, clad in exquisite, vibrant armor. Standing approximately two meters tall, he wore a mask-like helmet concealing most of his face, crowned with a sweeping crest of abundant feathers that draped down his back like a majestic cape, covering his entire spine. Most striking were his broad, shield-shaped pauldrons guarding his shoulders—a magnificent warrior in every sense. For a brief second, Dante felt as though he were standing before a living legend... and that deeply irritated him.
TEMICTLI: Prepare yourselves for this slaughter.
REX: You really think you can take us down, pal? You're completely outnumbered.
Our friends, oozing confidence, take up their battle positions.
QUETZALCÓATL: Hold on... something isn't right.
A menacing smirk spreads across TEMICTLI's face. Dropping to one knee, he slams his palm onto the stone floor, causing the entire hall to shudder violently. The group snaps onto high alert. Realizing the guardian is channeling a technique, ISAMU leaps without hesitation to strike him down. Just as his blade descends, a massive creature drops from the ceiling, taking the brunt of ISAMU's sword with its rocky body.
Sensing the dense defense, ISAMU leaps back to regroup. Everyone watches in shock as countless stone golems burst forth from the walls, their faces carved into the image of ancient stone totems.
Within seconds, the party finds themselves completely swarmed, igniting a ferocious melee. QUETZALCÓATL pulverizes incoming golems with her bare fists; MALEKIN coats his purple barrier in raw energy, obliterating entire clusters upon contact; REX, fully transformed in his hybrid state, tears through the stone constructs; and ELENA unleashes a continuous barrage of elemental magic to crumble them to dust.
Meanwhile, DANTE activates Wolf Speed and draws his katana Kusanagi, surging toward TEMICTLI at blinding speed. TEMICTLI sidesteps the incoming strike with terrifying agility, catching DANTE squarely by the throat mid-dash. DANTE's mind races in frustration—this warrior's raw reaction speed is staggering.
TEMICTLI: Pathetic... Is this the extent of human power? (Tightening his iron grip on Dante's throat).
Noticing DANTE in peril, ELENA teleports right beside them, unleashing a dense bolt of lightning from her hands. The shockwave blasts TEMICTLI backward, forcing him to release DANTE as he crashes into the stone wall. ELENA quickly pulls a coughing DANTE to his feet.
ELENA: Are you alright?!
DANTE HERALDI: Cough, cough... Yeah... I'm fine. That wretched creature is absurdly strong—we can't afford to hold back.
TEMICTLI casually emerges from the rubble, dusting off his ornate robes as DANTE and ELENA glare at him, sweat glistening on their brows.
TEMICTLI: Is that all? That mortal female packs more punch than you, brat.
ELENA: (Sweating) Impossible... My magic barely scratched him!
DANTE HERALDI: Elena, fall back! Focus on clearing those golems... I won't drop my guard again.
ELENA: (Sweating) Understood...
With a flash of disappointment in her eyes—knowing she risks becoming a liability in close combat—ELENA teleports back to REX's side to destroy the remaining golems. TEMICTLI stares in quiet intrigue at the spatial magic she wielded.
TEMICTLI: Hmm... No wonder she closed the distance so quickly. That mobility is troubling. I shall finish you swiftly and eliminate her next.
DANTE HERALDI: What are you muttering under your breath, you overgrown beast?
TEMICTLI: (Slightly agitated) I am an intelligent sentient, not a beast. Do not equate me with mindless scum, trash.
DANTE HERALDI: You're just a massive feral cat... Looks like I'll have to break you in.
TEMICTLI: It seems you harbor a burning desire to die.
DANTE HERALDI: Now that I've gauged your strength... I'm going all out.
A dense, pitch-black aura erupts from DANTE's body, catching TEMICTLI off guard. TEMICTLI's expression turns deadly serious as DANTE stacks his powers simultaneously: Wolf Speed, Dark Cloak, and Domination.
Unsheathing a massive steel longsword, TEMICTLI barely draws his weapon before DANTE is already upon him. With feline reflexes, TEMICTLI parries DANTE's opening strike, shoving him back.
TEMICTLI launches a relentless counter-offensive. Though DANTE blocks every incoming swing, the sheer physical impact forces him backward, shattering several golems in his wake. As they exchange high-speed blows across the battlefield, their companions are forced to dodge out of the path of these two juggernauts.
Spotting a microscopic opening, TEMICTLI drives a heavy knee flush into DANTE's stomach, sending him flying across the room and smashing through a giant golem—leaving his allies stunned. Before DANTE can recover, TEMICTLI grabs him by the head, hoisting him high before slamming him violently onto the floor, carving a deep crater in the bedrock.
In the blink of an eye, TEMICTLI drops down with a crushing knee, but DANTE recovers his footing just in time, vaulting back to evade the crushing strike. Channeling his dark essence into Kusanagi's edge, the divine steel blazes with a shadowy aura as DANTE fires a rapid succession of Shadow Slashes.
TEMICTLI weaves through the dark arcs. Seeing his ranged attacks dodged, DANTE begins flash-stepping across the cavern at erratic angles, blurring so fast it resembles instantaneous teleportation—leaving TEMICTLI genuinely astonished.
TEMICTLI: (In his mind) What in the world is happening?! He's moving across short distances, but I can't predict his trajectory... It's as if he's teleporting out of thin air!
DANTE HERALDI: (In his mind) What a relief... My speed has improved so much that I've unlocked a new skill: Flash Step. Too bad it only lets me blink around six meters from my position for now, but I'll master it soon enough. If I mess this up, it's over for me... but if I time it right, I'll carve out an opening to end this.
DANTE's erratic high-speed teleportation leaves TEMICTLI utterly bewildered, struggling in vain to track his movements. Out of nowhere, DANTE fires a volley of Shadow Slashes from every angle imaginable. TEMICTLI vaults into the air to evade the barrage, gripping his massive longsword with both hands to unleash a violent horizontal cleave with such raw force that he spins mid-air and smashes into the floor. The impact shatters the stone terrain, throwing DANTE and his companions off balance while sending nearby golems tumbling to the ground.
Seizing the opening created by the tremors, TEMICTLI lunges toward the staggering DANTE, swinging his blade to decapitate him. In a flash, DANTE unsheathes the Abyssal Sword, parrying TEMICTLI's lethal swing. Now dual-wielding both legendary blades, DANTE locks eyes with his opponent.
Regaining their footing amidst the destruction, the rest of the group watches in awe as DANTE glares down the guardian.
DANTE HERALDI: You know... I think it's time to bring this to an end.
TEMICTLI: On that, we are in complete agreement.
DANTE HERALDI: Hold on a second.
DANTE drives Kusanagi into the ground and gestures in mid-air, opening a interface invisible to TEMICTLI. Retrieving his blade with a smirk, DANTE locks eyes with the guardian once more.
TEMICTLI: What on earth did you just do?
DANTE responds with silence, breaking into a sprint toward TEMICTLI with speed far surpassing his previous limit. Surpassing even his allies' expectations, DANTE forces TEMICTLI into a frantic, desperate parry. Following through instantly, DANTE fires a point-blank Shadow Slash that cracks TEMICTLI's steel blade. Armed with heightened stats, DANTE channels Flash Step continuously, dancing around the guardian and delivering strikes from every side. TEMICTLI deflects what he can, but his weapon is pushed well past its breaking point.
After enduring a few seconds of DANTE's relentless assault, TEMICTLI's sword shatters into pieces. In the next breath, the Abyssal Sword pierces clean through his torso. Releasing the embedded blade, DANTE draws Kusanagi and brutally cleaves TEMICTLI in two, leaving the guardian collapsing into a pool of his own blood, wondering how his opponent's power had surged so drastically in an instant.
Writhing on the floor in defeat, TEMICTLI speaks with ragged breath.
TEMICTLI: (Dying) You... what in the world did you do...?
DANTE HERALDI: Just die already... You don't need to know. (In his mind) Heh, good thing I kept those unassigned stat points every time I leveled up. I only needed to invest 30% of my reserve points to overwhelm this guy; I'll hoard the rest for what lies ahead.
TEMICTLI: (Coughing up blood) Heh... Don't get... arrogant... Two more guardians... await you...
With the guardian's breath fading away, the remaining stone golems deactivate, crumbling into lifeless piles of rubble. Exhausted from the fray, the party collapses onto the stone floor to catch their breath. ELENA steps forward, channeling her restoration arts to mend their wounds and replenish their stamina reserves.
MALEKIN: That is remarkable, Elena! Since when do you possess the ability to restore stamina?
ELENA: Eheh, it seems I just unlocked it! Demolishing those constructs granted experience points, and I think I leveled up!
REX: Haha, that is extremely convenient! Now we don't even need to take a long break. Let's keep moving!
ISAMU: What a stroke of luck.
DANTE uses his blade to cut open TEMICTLI's chest, extracting the guardian's heart before consuming it raw to absorb his power while REX watches on.
DANTE HERALDI: Forgive me, Rex... but this time, I need to claim all the strength I can get for myself.
REX: No worries at all, buddy. I know I didn't contribute much to this fight anyway.
DANTE twitches in pain as the raw magic of the guardian's heart surges through his veins, exponentially amplifying his power output. The group gathers nearby, watching him wriggle in agony; though anxious for their friend, no one interferes, understanding that he must absorb every drop of strength to prevail. Once the agonizing process subsides, ELENA steps forward to weave her restoration arts over DANTE. Fully rejuvenated, the party picks their way through the rubble left in the wake of TEMICTLI's destructive clash.
After traversing the hall, they reach the massive staircase leading up to the second level. As they ascend the endless stone steps, low whispers break the silence.
DANTE HERALDI: It seems these guardians are far stronger than standard entities. Leave the next one to me—I promise I'll end it swiftly.
MALEKIN: Look, we're reaching the top.
QUETZALCÓATL: Something feels off about this...
DANTE HERALDI: Relax. I'll step up first and—
The moment DANTE reaches the top of the staircase, an invisible force grabs him by the shoulder and hurls him toward the center of the vast chamber. As DANTE scrambles to regain his footing on the cold floor, a chilling voice resonates through the hall: "Ice Prison!"
In a flash of blinding frost, DANTE is encased inside a monolithic block of ice. His companions scramble up the steps, staring in sheer shock at their frozen leader as the shadowy voice echoes once more across the hall.
MYSTERIOUS VOICE: That individual poses too much of a threat... Now then, what will you do without him?
Our friends stand frozen in awe. Who is this new, terrifying adversary? Can they possibly prevail without DANTE on the frontlines? And is DANTE truly trapped inside that glacial tomb? Everything shall be revealed very soon!