Amidst the swirling ash and smoke, a figure staggered in unsteadily.
The man's collar hung open, revealing the firm muscles of his chest and a protective amulet.
Silver strands of hair stirred faintly in the breeze, the Greatsword slung carelessly over his shoulder.
And in his left hand, he still held a chilled strawberry sundae, wisps of cold air curling from it.
The man halted, glanced at Sephirot standing before Satan, and a flash of murderous intent flickered deep in his eyes.
But his face still wore that same grin. "Hey, kid, still breathing?"
Hearing that familiar voice, Sephirot felt the tightly wound string in his heart finally loosen.
He spat out a mouthful of bloody froth. "If you, cough, had shown up three minutes earlier, I might've done a somersault for you."
"But right now, could you shut up and just start fighting?"
"Ah, young people nowadays. No patience at all."
Dante sighed helplessly, pressing a hand to his forehead, then downed the entire sundae in one gulp and muttered indistinctly, "I just grabbed a sundae on the way, and had some pizza while I was at it. You know, in Hell, no one has a hand for this kind of craft."
He looked at Satan, and the mirth on his face twisted into mockery. "Right, Old Lu? Haven't seen you in a few years, and your fashion sense is still this terrible."
"This white suit, really gives off that cherry-blossom-country host vibe. It's just that you're a bit uglier."
Satan's expression darkened like storm water, the temperature around him soaring once more. "Dante, you want to stick your hand in this matter?!
"He killed my son. Today, his soul will pay the price!"
"And so what?"
The smile on Dante's face gradually faded.
With a one-handed sweep, he drove the Rebellion Greatsword into the ground.
"He killed your idiot son. As far as I'm concerned, that did Hell a public service."
"Besides, you came to the human world to stand up for your son. Now, you've beaten up my kid. So it's only right that I come stand up for him too."
"Hmph!"
Satan's fury twisted into a laugh, and his hand slammed downward with violent force.
"Roar!"
The lava that had been flowing along the ground instantly erupted, transforming into dozens of roaring fire dragons that charged at Dante.
"Whoa, so much passion."
Dante's body didn't move. His hands, as if by sleight of hand, suddenly held Ebony & Ivory.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Without even looking, he squeezed the handguns in rapid succession, the bullets striking the fire dragons with pinpoint accuracy.
Blazing infernos exploded apart in the midair.
A split second later, a red lightning bolt tore through the flames, crossing hundreds of meters in an instant and slashing down toward Satan with the force of a thunderstorm.
Satan neither dodged nor evaded. He formed a claw with one hand and met the blade head-on.
"Boom!"
A shockwave of air blasted outward.
The two figures instantly vanished from their positions, turning into a red-and-white blur of afterimages colliding continuously in midair.
Even in the midst of such high-intensity close-quarters combat, Dante kept spouting his off-key trash talk.
"Old Lu, been in Hell too long?
"Your punches are so soft. Who the hell would ever take a liking to you? Your idiot son, did you give birth to him yourself? That would explain why he's so damn stupid."
"Shut your stinking mouth!"
Satan's temples throbbed from the relentless trash talk.
Just as the two were locked in a fierce stalemate, the entire Hospital on the verge of collapsing under the shockwaves of their battle, a deep blue arc of sword energy descended from the sky, separating the two combatants.
Sephirot forcibly pried his heavy eyelids open and looked upward.
Vergil stood on high ground, the Yamato in his hand slightly drawn from its sheath, his silver hair perfectly undisturbed amidst the rain.
He looked down upon the scene below, his expression utterly indifferent.
"Dante, you're too slow."
Sephirot's heart trembled slightly. He hadn't expected Vergil to come as well.
So it seemed Dante had been with him all along before this.
"Yo, bro, what brought you here?"
Dante glanced back jokingly while still exchanging blows with Satan. "Wanna lend a hand? This guy's way tougher to beat down than I expected."
"Hmph! Stop wasting time."
Vergil said flatly.
He seemed utterly bored by this meaningless brawl. With a slight flick of his fingers, the Yamato slid fully back into its sheath.
"Fine, fine. You really need to work on that personality, you know. Gonna make it hard to find a girlfriend."
Dante shrugged helplessly, then gripped the Rebellion Greatsword with both hands. A torrent of immense magic poured forth.
In an instant, the very earth trembled. The solid concrete ground shattered and split. Several office buildings standing tall in the rainy night began to tilt, their glass facades exploding outward.
"Ahem... been in Hell too long. Forgot to hold back."
Dante scratched his hair, a little embarrassed.
The ground beneath his feet had completely collapsed, forming an enormous crater.
Dante raised the Rebellion Greatsword and drove it mercilessly into his own abdomen.
His blood was voraciously devoured by the Rebellion.
On the blade, the skull's eyes glowed red as the blood surged into them.
A mist of magic enveloped Dante entirely.
When his form became visible once more, his entire body was encased in crimson bio-armor.
Demon Form!
In his Demon Form, Dante underwent a qualitative leap in both speed and strength.
With every step he took, the ground sank several inches beneath him.
Satan's pupils constricted abruptly. Before he could even react, his body was reduced to a blurry afterimage, sent hurtling backward.
It was like a pet struck by a speeding truck.
His form smashed through row after row of skyscrapers, carving a trail across half the city in the night sky.
Finally, he crashed into the distant mountains.
"Watch the kid for me."
The Demon Form Dante dropped this one line, then his body transformed into a flash of crimson light and vanished instantly from the spot.
With Dante gone, silence finally returned to the surroundings, leaving only the sound of dripping rain.
Sephirot leaned back against a pile of rubble, gasping for breath in ragged heaves.
Thanks to the formidable regenerative power of the Sparda bloodline, most of his wounds had already healed.
But a bone-deep exhaustion completely enveloped him.
Recalling the pressure Dante had inadvertently revealed just now, a mere wisp had ravaged the surrounding environment like a natural disaster. Sephirot looked down at his own hands, still trembling slightly, and the yearning in his eyes began to burn.
"So this... is the true power of Sparda?"
As his taut nerves finally relaxed, Sephirot's eyelids grew heavy. His vision gradually blurred, and at last, amidst the dim gloom, he slipped into a deep slumber.
Vergil slowly drifted down from his high vantage point.
He gazed at Sephirot, now in a state of profound unconsciousness, and sensed the bloodline power coursing within him.
"Too weak. But this tenacity... it's exactly the same as that guy was when he was young."
With a flick of his hand, a transparent sphere of light enveloped Sephirot, shielding him from the shockwaves of the distant explosions.
Vergil raised his head, looking in the direction where Dante had vanished. In the distant mountain range, bursts of dark crimson fire erupted one after another.
"Satan... is nothing more than a relic of a bygone era."
Vergil gave a cold snort. With a slight raise of one hand, his magic lifted Sephirot, bearing him slowly away from the now-ruined Hospital.
In the distance, the sound of sirens was drawing near. Swarms of heavily armed soldiers and ambulances raced to the scene.
(Translated by yourtl.app)