In the enclosed arena, only two sorcerers stood, staring at each other.
There was no sound between them as each analyzed the other. Dante didn't have much to analyze, having already done so in their first encounter; he was simply observing what Solomon would bring this time.
On the other hand, Solomon wasn't coming in unprepared; since their last encounter, he had devised a method to defeat Dante, he knew how he fought and his tactics.
The truth was, neither of them was at their best. Both had just come from two consecutive fights, this being their third consecutive encounter. The only difference was that Dante had virtually infinite mana, giving him a slight advantage. Solomon would have to be more careful with his spellcasting, but that didn't mean he would need thousands of attacks to defeat his opponent.
"If you're not going to start, I'll make the first move," Dante declared, and lines of darkness erupted from the ground beneath him.
Eight dragon heads shot out at full speed as the ground seemed to be consumed by darkness.
Solomon simply watched and, with a magic circle, created a ball of light, which caught Dante's attention. In just a second, the light flooded the entire area, preventing the darkness from advancing and destroying the dragons.
The ball of pure light split into dozens of light spears that hurtled toward Dante, but he raised his hand forward, and an absorbing force caused the light to expand and change direction, being consumed by the darkness.
The Yami Yami no Mi is not indifferent to me; Devil Fruits have their opposite side that can stop them, in this case, light, but this is the reverse. Light can destroy light, but darkness can trap it without escape; it depends on how they attack each other to determine who wins.
Dante swiftly summoned his staff adorned with a goat skull and began spinning it, only for several bullets of magical energy to appear behind him and target his opponent; they shot out like bullets in their path.
Solomon simply clasped his hands together, and when he opened them, a large barrier appeared, halting the enemy's attack. He then raised a hand, and from a magic circle, a massive fireball of combined demonic power erupted and was launched toward the blond-haired man.
Striking his staff into the ground, he created several walls of earth through transmutation; all of them were destroyed in a massive explosion, except for the last one, which remained intact.
Seeing this, the white-haired man, determined not to allow his enemy to unleash another spell, summoned five iceboxes of demonic energy, which moved erratically, destroying everything in their path as they headed toward Dante.
Thanks to his Haki, the ancient Greek hero knew what had happened, and using Geppo, he evaded the attack that destroyed the earthen wall as if it were mere air.
In midair, Dante decided to use one of the seven Precast spells on his arm, and with a snap of his fingers, thousands of Chaos energy balls appeared around Solomon, leaving him nowhere to escape.
In the next second, they all hurtled toward the King of Jerusalem, creating a massive explosion.
But the moment Dante looked up, everyone on the ground immediately saw Solomon, who had teleported above him, pointing a magic circle at him and unleashing a huge amount of demonic energy at high speed.
The redhead, covering his hands in darkness, raised them to take the attack head-on, absorbing a large portion of it, while also sustaining double the normal damage to his arms.
With this, Dante's arms were rendered useless, something his opponent would take full advantage of without hesitation.
Solomon, using two magic circles, summoned several lightning bolts that he controlled, moving in a way that was extremely difficult to dodge.
The Greek hero didn't take long to react, using Sour and Kami-e to dodge all the lightning bolts coming his way, moving as far away from his opponent as possible.
The moment he fell to the ground and had a few moments to catch his breath, he didn't waste them. Using mana in his feet, he drew a summoning circle, appearing to dance in place in just 3 seconds.
Just as a lightning bolt was about to strike Dante, a column of pure fire erupted from the summoning circle, stopping the attack.
Solomon stared at this, watching as a phoenix emerged in all its splendor from that mass of fire.
The fiery beast flew, plummeting to the ground and beginning to glide and spin its body like a drill, destroying everything in its path.
The former king, realizing what was happening, immediately abandoned the two magic circles to create another, which stopped the phoenix's kamikaze attack.
The explosion shattered the barrier, creating a shockwave that forced Solomon to take several steps back.
Meanwhile, Dante watched all this from a distance, moving his arms as he saw he was recovering. He quickly transformed into a hare, momentarily disappearing from his opponent's sight.
The white-haired man noticed this but couldn't dwell on it, as a pile of loose ashes began to coalesce, reforming the great phoenix.
At that moment, the former king realized he shouldn't just stop the bird but completely halt it, because if it died, it would instantly revive and attack again.
Nova, in all its splendor, looked at its master's enemy, knowing what it had to do. With a flap of its wings, it unleashed several powerful fireballs, propelled by the wind from them.
Solomon, without much difficulty, created a magic circle from which a great quantity of water erupted like a geyser, intercepting the attack.
The bird quickly took flight again, heading straight for its enemy.
The white-haired man created two more magic circles, one pointing at the bird and the other at the sky.
Thousands of demonic attacks flew directly toward Nova; it easily dodged everything thrown at it, and just as it was a few meters from its opponent, ready to explode again, it activated the other magic circle.
The phoenix stopped moving, not because it wanted to, but because something prevented it. Nova was now completely surrounded by ice, unable to move. With all her power, she began to expel fire from her entire body, but the ice melted very slowly, so it would take a long time for her to break free.
Solomon watched this, but seeing the beast defeated, he momentarily lowered his guard, only for a hare to appear beside him and transform into Dante.
He managed to react relatively quickly, summoning an artifact to stop the blond-haired man's attack, but it was of little use, as the hare still struck his face, sending him flying.
Dante activated another precast, and where Solomon had been, a door appeared—the entrance to the underworld. In the next second, it was destroyed, and a dog's head emerged, biting him.
The restriction, Tartarus, was immediately activated. This was the summoned head of Cerberus, capable of replicating the law of Tartarus: "No one escapes."
As quickly as Cerberus's head appeared, it vanished, causing Solomon to crash to the ground, destroying a building. The moment he got up, he realized that some of his abilities and spells had been restricted or suppressed, in this case, those related to mobility.
Now he could neither fly nor teleport nor anything of the sort.
Solomon wiped the blood from his mouth, his jaw shattered as he spat out two teeth. He glanced at the spot where the Cerberus's teeth had pierced one of his lungs.
He could do nothing more, as he saw a magic circle above him out of the corner of his eye. Powering up, he leaped out of the building, only for a massive explosion to engulf the structure.
Dante watched as the white-haired man began running through the abandoned buildings, aiming his staff. A magic circle appeared at its point. After a few seconds, a blast of magical energy shot out like a cannon, tearing through everything.
Solomon, caught between the buildings, was engulfed by the attack, seemingly vulnerable, but instead of disintegrating, he simply vanished.
The blond man immediately realized what had happened; he had been taken in by an illusion.
Using Observation Haki, he quickly located Solomon a considerable distance away.
He was hiding in the forest, healing and preparing for the next part of his plan.
Dante simply took a step forward, and darkness began to engulf everything in front of him, including the forest.
Solomon realized this, so he leaped into the treetops, knowing that if he wanted to continue fighting and stick to his plan, he absolutely needed to heal his lung.
Suddenly, the darkness stopped, bringing the former king to a halt, but everything surrounded by it began to be absorbed. After a few seconds, nothing remained between Dante and Solomon.
The two casters stared at each other, and just like at the beginning of the fight, Dante attacked first.
Pointing his staff at Solomon, several magic circles appeared, from which he began to gather a massive amount of magical energy, which he then unleashed in a cannon of raw, unadulterated power.
The white-haired man, with one hand behind his back, created a magic circle that, instead of stopping the attack, deflected it, splitting it in two. Both blasts passed by him, destroying what remained of the forest.
Dante didn't stop there. Above and to the sides of his opponent, three magic circuits appeared, from which three fireballs with a magical core emerged, exploding upon impact.
This time, Solomon leaped from the tree, being thrown far away by the shockwave. But the moment he reappeared, he created a magic circle and unleashed a line of lightning bolts toward Dante, all the while concealing his other hand.
The ancient Greek hero simply jumped high to dodge the attack, only for his opponent to strike the ground, which began to crack. Amidst the chaos, countless tree roots sprouted up, reaching for him.
Dante, consequently, pulled out a coin, charging his hand with electromagnetic energy.
The white-haired man, realizing what he was about to do, positioned the roots between them, but it wasn't enough.
The blond-haired man's blast disintegrated the roots, but Solomon had anticipated this. So, with another magic circle, he lifted the earth upwards, leaping into the air and avoiding the attack entirely.
The raingun destroyed the pillar of earth, forcing Solomon to fall again, landing amidst piles of rubble. He used the debris to create several earth golems that covered him, preventing his opponent from seeing what he was doing.
In response, Dante simply made a gun gesture with one hand, and a magic bullet appeared from his index finger.
With multiple shots, he destroyed all the earth golems that stood between him and his target.
Luckily for Dante, or rather, fortunately for Solomon, the circle was already prepared. With both hands on the ground, he was forming a unique magic circle, as it contained a pentagram, something the wolf recognized immediately.
Large summoning circles appeared across the battlefield, from which gods and demons began to emerge.
Malphas, Vepar, Astaroth, Glasya-Labolas, Zagan, and Crocell were brought into the battle, all with a single order: destroy Dante.
He simply stared uneasily at the pillar-strewn wasteland, only to glance down at Solomon, who was no longer where he had been standing.
Knowing he had to act quickly, he reached into his hat and pulled out a long, beautiful katana. This was Kokorowatari; simply put, Dante shouldn't be able to summon it, but since Siss-shot was the one who passed it to him, its appearance was perfectly valid.
Seeing Crocell, he already had his eyes on him; the blond-haired man simply ran his hand over the blade as it was filled with ether thanks to the second magic.
Multiple beams of demonic energy swept across the area, hurtling toward Sante as he dodged in mid-air using Geppo. As he executed a short spin, the air filled with an ether-infused energy attack aimed at the demon god.
This was possible because Kiss-shot possessed Second Magic, and by absorbing Zelretch, she also absorbed some of his memories and experiences. The sword, being part of her, could directly activate Second Magic as if Dante were wielding it like a normal sword.
Lacking defensive abilities and any means of movement, he was unable to stop the attack, sustaining a severe wound, though still functional.
The Greek hero watched as his wound began to slowly regenerate while more attacks from the other demon gods rained down on him.
Seeing the multiple simultaneous attacks all around him, he had no choice but to use darkness as a basis for some of his attacks, knowing that the pain would be twice as intense as usual.
Moving at full speed, Dante, sword in hand, dodged, tanked, or absorbed everything thrown at him until he reached one of the demon gods.
The moment he had one in front of him, using his sword—which possesses the unique ability to kill rare beings or translate any supernatural entity into this world—along with magic, Haki advanced to its maximum power, and, finally, with a slight advantage in fighting gods, since Dante holds the title of God-Slayer, he sliced Vepar in half without him being able to do anything.
As the demon god began to disappear, the blond-haired man looked at the others, who were already launching their attacks, while he, using Kokorowatari, split the space, releasing a burst of ether that intercepted their attacks.
After several minutes, Dante managed to destroy all the demon gods, leaving himself somewhat injured and exhausted. He used his Haki to detect Solomon, who wasn't far from his position.
Leaping across some partially destroyed buildings, he found himself half a kilometer from the white-haired man, already activating a magic circle, but nothing seemed to happen.
The two stared at each other, doing nothing. Dante didn't know what Solomon was planning, so he decided to use his Noble Phantasm in all its glory in a single attack, unleashing all the power he had absorbed in the fight.
Covering his hand in darkness, he raised it forcefully, and a singularity formed in his palm where a vast amount of energy, both magical and demonic, began to accumulate at a single point, being compressed more and more.
The former king stared at this with a smile on his face, something Dante didn't like much, as it made him feel that something was wrong. He accelerated the channeling of his final attack.
At that moment, Solomon looked up at the sky, which caught the Greek hero's attention, only for him to open his eyes in horror at the sight of a large ring above him.
"That's it, Ars Almadel Salomónis," the white-haired man declared, activating his third Noble Phantasm using the residual power from the entire battle alongside the already defeated demon gods.
At almost the speed of a parapet, the attack struck Dante, who covered his body with darkness, magic, Haki—whatever he could muster—as he fired his own attack.
The blond-haired man's attack was instantly destroyed along with the ground as a purple aura surrounded the area.
Solomon had to kneel to avoid falling, as he still couldn't fly or teleport, so he had to find a way to prevent himself from being blown away again.
After 10 seconds, the attack stopped, and Solomon, acting quickly, appeared before Dante, who was completely destroyed but alive.
As a normal Servant, he didn't have the freedom to use Ars Almadel Salomónis to its full potential; he could only use a small amount of its power to prevent the planet's destruction, but it was enough to momentarily use Dante, which was exactly what he needed.
With a magic circle, he struck the blond-haired man in the chest, violently throwing him backward, causing him to crash into some rubble and come to a stop.
Now sitting on the ground, Dante opened his eyes only to see Solomon with a magic spell, and in an instant, several earth stakes pierced his body.
Looking at his body, he realized he had a seal on his chest. Using Kamigami no Gigan, he saw that it was an anti-vampirism seal, created to prevent vampires from regenerating. Since his healing came exclusively from Kiss-shot, this prevented him from regenerating, and the lethal wounds he now had could kill him at any moment.
"Well played," Dante declared, vomiting blood.
"It's over; you lost," said Solomon, utterly exhausted from the fight, in which he had used everything he had to try and defeat Dante.
Dante didn't deny it; he simply smiled at Solomon, which, for some reason, sent a shiver down his spine.
"You may be right, but you're wrong about something," Dante declared.
"What do you mean?" Solomon couldn't help but ask, only to regret it as darkness began to engulf Dante's entire body.
"What you faced was the human part; I cannot fall yet, and if I must, calling to you, then so be it," Dante declared, his thoughts turning into darkness as a sphere of darkness appeared around him.
Solomon tried to take a step back, but the sphere momentarily engulfed him, only for a shockwave to erupt in all directions.
The enclosed area shattered, making everything that happened within it easily visible.
Avenger, who had been waiting for the end of the conflict, saw this only for the ground to begin trembling and the entire area to open up and rise, with the dome of darkness at its epicenter.
She had to jump to the ground, as the building she was standing in began to crumble, while everything beyond it began to be destroyed.
Where the clock tower had stood, several people could be seen discussing what to do, only to be silenced by Archer.
"What's happening?" Bazett asked.
"Something is happening," he replied.
Just then, the ground began to shake, and in an instant, the entire area was destroyed by cracks that appeared all over the place.
Elsewhere, Altrouge could be seen on the roof of his new base, gazing at the moon, only to feel the ground begin to move. He looked to the side and saw cracks heading toward him, destroying everything they touched.
"But what?" was all he could manage to say before it reached the base, shattering it in seconds.
Back with the two Casters, the moment the dome of darkness dissipated, Solomon could be seen on his knees, breathing rapidly, staring at the ground.
Only to look in horror at Dante, completely consumed by darkness.
Dante just stared at him as if he were air, completely enveloped in the dark fire that characterized the Yami Yami no Mi.
Right now, before him, was the being that in his visions had destroyed the world, a being capable of knocking natural satellites or meteorites out of orbit and bringing them to Earth; it could even attract other planets by altering their orbits, destroying the solar system in the process.
The one before him was not the Caster-class Servant Dante, but a being that could bring about the end of humanity.
Now there was only the beast of the abyss with a single purpose: Everything that exists must lose its separation and return to the void.
< Full title: The Fall of Humanity >