LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 427: Now... How Will You Deal With a Second One?
"You talk too much," Dante retorted with a cold smile on his face. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and raised his sword again, his hands steady despite the fatigue beginning to weigh on his muscles. "If that's the best you've got, then I'm disappointed."
"Arrogant," Minos replied as a strange sword began to emerge from an eerie portal.
'?' Dante was surprised; he hadn't expected a demon like this to wield a sword.
The sword emerging from the portal before Minos was an impressive and terrifying sight. It seemed forged from solid shadows, its blade rippling as if alive, pulsating with dark, chaotic energy. The weapon's very presence seemed to distort the air around it, as if reality itself resisted its existence.
Minos gripped the sword effortlessly, despite its colossal size. A cruel smile spread across his face, exposing his sharp fangs. "Did you think my strength was all I had, Dante? This is Limbo, where the forgotten gather power and the weak become monsters. You underestimated my domain."
Dante narrowed his eyes, the initial surprise giving way to a calculated sense of alertness. He adjusted his stance, gripping his own sword more firmly. "Interesting... So you've got more tricks up your sleeve. But you know what, Minos? That just makes this more fun."
Minos roared, his voice echoing like thunder as he charged, brandishing the shadowy sword with immense force. Dante barely had time to dodge, feeling the blade pass inches from his body. The strike hit the ground behind him, unleashing a wave of energy that exploded in all directions, throwing debris into the air and carving a massive crater.
The impact forced Dante to slide backward, his boots digging into the ground to keep his balance. "That thing is powerful," he muttered to himself, his eyes fixed on the sword in Minos's hands. "But not unbeatable."
Minos gave no time for reflection. He swung his serpentine tail, aiming to catch Dante off guard. The Demon King leapt, narrowly avoiding the attack, and launched himself toward the colossus, his sword glowing with demonic energy. He delivered a vertical strike, targeting the arm holding the shadowy sword.
The blow landed, but Minos's flesh was as tough as stone. Despite a small crack forming on his skin, the impact wasn't deep enough to disarm him. Minos laughed, a guttural, sinister sound. "Is that all you've got, Dante? A pathetic strike like that won't stop me."
"Pathetic, huh?" Dante countered, spinning midair to evade another swing of Minos's sword. He landed a few meters away, breathing heavily but with his eyes blazing with determination. "Let's see how long you can keep up that arrogant act."
Minos attacked again, his sword slicing through the air with devastating force. This time, Dante didn't fully dodge; he spun his own sword to block the blow. The impact reverberated across the battlefield, sending shockwaves that shook the ground.
The force of the strike drove Dante to one knee momentarily, but he held firm, his muscles trembling as he braced his sword against the crushing pressure. "You're strong, I'll admit," he grunted, a grin forming on his lips. "But I've faced worse."
With a shout of effort, Dante shoved Minos's blade aside, deflecting the attack and creating an opening. He dashed forward, sliding between the giant's legs and unleashing a flurry of quick slashes at the base of Minos's serpentine tail.
Minos roared in pain, instinctively retreating. Black blood began to ooze from the wounds, yet the colossus maintained his imposing stance. He turned, his tail whipping through the air in a furious motion, but Dante was already out of range, watching him from a safe distance.
"Looks like you're not as invulnerable as you want to seem," Dante taunted, his breathing labored but his eyes glowing with renewed confidence.
Minos narrowed his eyes, his expression a mix of anger and respect. He raised his sword again, the shadowy blade pulsating with energy. "You're persistent, Dante, but persistence alone won't keep you alive here. Limbo isn't just my domain—it's my essence. And I will crush you."
Dante tilted his head slightly, a crooked smile forming on his lips. "Sure, go ahead," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
The Demon King stepped forward, his eyes now glowing with a malevolent light. "If you're the essence of Limbo, then I hope you can bear the weight of what's coming." His low, menacing laugh echoed as a nearly predatory, demonic grin spread across his face.
Minos hesitated for a moment. He sensed the shift in the atmosphere around Dante but had no time to react. The ground trembled beneath his feet, and a colossal shadow began to engulf the two combatants.
"You like crushing things, don't you, Minos?" Dante taunted, gesturing casually toward the sky. "So I thought I'd return the favor."
Minos narrowed his eyes, his expression wavering between rage and a faint hint of reluctant respect. He raised his shadowy sword, its pulsating, lifelike energy so dense it distorted the air around it. "You're persistent, Dante, but persistence alone won't be enough to survive here. Limbo isn't just my domain—it's an extension of who I am. I will crush you, just as I've crushed every other fool who dared to challenge my power."
Dante tilted his head slightly, that crooked smile returning to his lips. "Sure, go ahead," he said, his voice laced with sarcasm but carrying an undercurrent of a veiled promise: Minos was underestimating the wrong opponent.
The Demon King took another step forward, his eyes gleaming with an eerie, malignant glow. "If you're the essence of Limbo, then I hope you can handle what's coming." His low, sinister chuckle echoed, and his smile grew into a predatory grin.
Minos hesitated, sensing the change in the atmosphere, but he had no time to act. The ground quaked violently, and a massive shadow loomed over them.
"You like crushing things, don't you, Minos?" Dante teased, casually pointing toward the sky. "So I thought I'd return the favor."
Minos raised his eyes, and his unshakable confidence finally gave way to something bordering on panic. Above them, tearing through the skies of Limbo, a colossal meteor descended, wreathed in black and crimson flames. The massive rock seemed to devour the light around it, its overwhelming presence suffocating and inevitable. It was as though hell itself had condensed into a single apocalyptic projectile.
"You dare...!" Minos roared, his voice reverberating like thunder. He lifted his shadowy sword, the blade throbbing with energy as he channeled the full power of Limbo in a desperate attempt to halt the oncoming attack.
Dante crossed his arms, watching with an almost bored expression as the meteor continued its relentless descent. "Looks heavy, doesn't it? Let's see how you deal with something bigger than your ego."
The meteor began piercing through the layers of energy Minos summoned for protection. Each shattered barrier unleashed a burst of force that sent tremors through the ground and further shattered the battlefield. The very air seemed to scream in protest against the destructive force approaching.
Minos roared again, his voice now tinged with exertion and frustration. He swung his sword in a massive arc, unleashing a wave of shadowy energy toward the meteor. The attack struck the flaming rock, triggering an explosion of titanic proportions. Fiery debris rained down, transforming the battlefield into even greater chaos. Experience more on empire
For a moment, it seemed Minos's strike had worked. The meteor faltered, cracks spreading across its surface. But then, with an ominous flare, it stabilized and resumed its descent, now even faster.
"Is that all you've got?" Dante mocked, raising an eyebrow. He extended his hand as if guiding the meteor with his will, intensifying the infernal flames surrounding it. "I expected more from someone who claims to be the essence of Limbo."
Minos tried to retreat, but his massive form and the desolate vastness of Limbo worked against him, making every movement sluggish and labored. His fiery gaze fixed on the meteor, now almost upon him, as if defying fate itself. He roared again—not with the unrestrained rage from before, but with a fierce determination that reverberated like thunder across the battlefield.
Abandoning the shattered sword lying at his side, Minos raised his monstrous arms, his massive hands gripping the searing surface of the meteor. Dark veins pulsed along his arms as he poured all his power into an almost superhuman effort to stop the apocalyptic force descending upon him.
For a brief moment, he succeeded.
The impact that should have obliterated everything around them was temporarily halted, the meteor suspended in the air by Minos's hands. The ground beneath his feet cracked in frantic lines, and the scorching heat seared his pale skin, yet he continued to resist, pushing against the infernal rock with a strength that seemed impossible even for a creature of his magnitude.
Cracks began to form on the meteor's surface, shards of flaming rock exploding in all directions like a rain of destruction. Minos roared triumphantly, his voice tearing through the air as a declaration that he was still the master of this domain.
But then, a low, cutting laugh sliced through the chaos like a sharp blade.
"Impressive, Minos," said Dante, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He stood at a distance, arms crossed, a dark smile playing on his lips. "You really are strong. Strong enough to handle one meteor... but..." He paused, tilting his head slightly, his tone casual and almost playful. "Now... How Will You Deal With a Second One?"
Minos froze, his fiery eyes widening as he quickly looked up.
Above them, the dark sky of Limbo began to brighten once more. Another colossal shadow was rapidly growing, obscuring the distant stars. A second meteor, even larger and more intense, tore through the heavens, its surface wreathed in black flames and crimson lightning that danced around it like living entities.
"No..." Minos muttered, his voice tinged with disbelief and fury.
The first meteor, already cracked and nearly fragmented, grew even heavier in his hands as if responding to the arrival of the second. The ground beneath Minos's feet crumbled into a bottomless abyss, but he had no choice but to keep holding the flaming rock above him.
Dante walked slowly toward the struggling behemoth, his steps echoing across the devastated landscape. "You said Limbo is your essence, didn't you?" He stopped, leaning forward slightly as though sharing a secret. "Then prove it. Show me you can bear the weight of it all... or be crushed like everyone else."
The second meteor descended with even greater speed, its sheer force making the air around it almost tangible. The pressure was suffocating, the intense heat warping reality itself.
Minos screamed with renewed fury, his hands desperately trying to shatter the first meteor before the second could arrive. He crushed the flaming rock with all his strength, his muscles bulging as incandescent fragments flew everywhere. For a moment, it seemed as though he might prevail.
But the second meteor finally struck.
The ensuing explosion was unimaginable, a wave of destruction that consumed everything in its path. The impact obliterated the first meteor, scattering debris and flames in all directions, but it also crushed Minos beneath its colossal weight. The demon's final roar was swallowed by the cataclysmic blast, and when the dust finally began to settle, the battlefield had been irrevocably transformed.
Dante stood at the edge of a massive crater, his expression darkly satisfied. At the center lay Minos's motionless body, buried beneath tons of flaming rock and debris. Only one of the demon's arms remained visible, outstretched as if reaching for something he could never grasp.
"You were strong, I'll admit," Dante murmured, gazing at what was left of his adversary. "But in the end, brute strength is never enough."
He looked down at his hand.
"Two meteors... Seems like Fey gave me too much power," he muttered before turning his back on the destruction. As he began walking away, several miasmic hounds emerged from his body, sprinting toward Minos's corpse to begin absorbing it.
"Let's see... who's next?"