Chapter 83

(Sorry for the later than usual upload. A thing came up. Anyways, here's the chappy. We're closing on the 2M number. I think we should be there by next week. Vote with your stones!)

I leapt into the air and used another Burst to throw me further away from the shadow spikes as I summoned Thunderer. A dozen spikes stabbed and partially broke through my trenchcoat as I filled the barrel with electricity. One of the spears struck at my face, forcing me to snap my head to the side. I succeeded in avoiding the blow, but it took off my Siren Mask in the process.

When my attack was fully loaded, I activated Demon Cloak. Unfortunately, the gun's attack power did not double, so I decided to gamble on a Focused Shot to change that. 

The fire held the shadow at bay, and while my attack was charging, I activated my aura skill once more and charged the Mesmer. He surprised me by teleporting dozens of Stygians into my path. I let out a roar as I pumped my legs and I activated Burst. I exploded forward like a tornado of death, decapitating, beheading, shoulder-checking, and whacking away demons out of my way.

Rebellion, soaked in Fire demonic energy, came down on the demon's hastily raised shield like a Meteor, and his protection folded after a deft use of Trillion stabs. My blade pierced his neck, killing him before he even realized, and I phased out of reality just as half a dozen spears emerged from the dark aura surrounding us. The spell faded just in time.

I took a step forward, materializing in front of a startled Garok with Thunderer in my arm. The lightning in the barrel rapidly shifted between blue and red, and the light was bursting out of the fractures on the side of the gun.

I fired into his chest without reservation and watched in satisfaction as it ripped through the Garok and carved a line through the chamber that killed one tyrant, dozens of stygians, and burnt through the door of one containment cell.

Cloak winked out, and I summoned one Stim and jabbed it into my leg, boosting my demonic energy levels. I dodged another volley of dark spears by vaulting to the side, and then, I heard a voice cry out.

It was Kurt's.

Instantly, I took off in his direction, emerging on the very periphery of fog to find a shadow spear sticking out of his thigh. About twenty other mutants were fighting alongside him as they pushed back Stygian soldiers. 

I used Burst, leveraging my slowly recovering energy level, and whisked him away before another wave of black spears emerged from where he formerly stood. 

Kurt pushed away from me, startled for some reason, and I raised my brow in confusion. 

"What's gotten into you?" I asked, and Kurt blinked, confusion clear on his face.

"Dante?"

"Yeah," I said, a bit miffed, before putting the pieces together. "It's the face, isn't it?"

He nodded and winced, bringing my attention back to the rapidly growing wound with blood pouring out of it. I summoned my second health potion and offered it to him.

"Drink."

"What's in this?" 

"Magic juice," I merely stated. "It'll patch you right up. You'll be on your feet in no time." 

Behind me, I heard a mutant scream as a Black spear shot out from the monster's shadow and stabbed him in the heart. He was dead instantly, and I pulled Ebony and Ivory and rapid-fired into the crowd.

The bullet tore through heads and chests, releasing some of the pressure the mutants were contending with. After putting down my tenth Stygian, a Harpy came crashing down from above us, and a kid followed shortly after.

Rin rose to his feet and met eyes with me before suddenly leaping forward with his club. I summoned Eryx and stopped his downward swing with my fist. My leg buckled from the sudden pressure, and I yelled at the kid, absolutely livid.

"What are you trying to do, you asshole!" 

"Dante?" he said, a bit startled by the realization.

"Your face is different. Is that your real hair?" He squinted, examining my hair, which was now completely white. After getting most of it burned off and getting struck by lightning shortly after, my white hair had grown to replace the dyed one. 

"Of course it is," I snapped, then scanned the air above me. "Is that the last of the harpies?"

The kid nodded, folding his arms. "Nearly turned me into a porcupine, but I got them all."

"Keep up the good work," I said, turning back to the shadowy room behind me. I couldn't see further than ten feet in front of me. "Get everyone and lead them to the surface. SHIELD should be waiting for you. Jean and I will wrap things up down here."

Thank god we didn't let Natasha or Clint come along. They would've been dead in seconds. 

I waded back into the darkness with a knot in my chest, hoping for the best but fearing the worst. And that was when it happened. Jean crashed into me, gasping and clawing for air. Her mask had come off at some point, and she went limb not long after. Her pulse started to drop quickly, and I retrieved a potion from the store, nervously feeding it to her as I cursed under my breath.

Her pulse stabilized, giving me a chance to use Devil's Eye, and it immediately became obvious what had happened to her.

Jean Grey—Perfect Host of the Phoenix (Afflicted by the Black Dragon's breath.) 

I focused on the affliction and felt my Devil Eye skill grow in real time as a wall of the text revealed itself to me. 

Black Dragon's Breath

Breath of the Black Dragon, Barradur, Sovereign of Affliction.

It inflicts Paralysis, Crippling Pain, and minor Necrosis on all those who are afflicted by it.

"Shit," I cursed, watching in horror as the Dragon Newt swaggered out of the darkness with a Black Spear in his arm. He was covered in a wispy cloak of darkness that permeated every inch of his body, save his face, and he had the proudest grin on his stupid face.

"One down, one more to go," he said. "It's over. You might as well surrender." Dagarr drew in a deep breath, and I knew if I let him unleash his Black Dragon's Breath, it would be game over for all of us.

It hurt me to do it, but I left Jean's body lying on the floor, and I leapt at the son of a bitch.

'Devil Trigger.' 

-200

320/650

The world went monochrome for a split second before energy billowed out of me. I saw Dagarr visibly panic. He pulled his hands together, gathering all of the darkness in the room onto me.

It smothered my domain, shoving me in every which way. As if that wasn't enough, he made spears of darkness in the collapsing sphere, hoping to overwhelm me. He'd not been counting on how much stronger I was in my Devil Trigger Form. 

Sounding out my fire affinity, a single word flowed from my lips.

BURN.

The sphere exploded in a conflagration of dark and red fire. It threw him back, annihilating the darkness and spreading across the floor. A thin coat of fire hung around my body, concentrating on my shoulder, chest, arms, and legs. And when I summoned Rebellion, the fire spread to the sword as well, completely bathing her.

I looked ahead to see a slightly terrified Dagarr clutching his spear. I charged forward to meet him and collided with a blinding burst of energy.

It threw Dagarr back into the wall. Once again, I saw his chest swell as he prepared another Dragon's Breath, but I rocketed forward with a Burst before that happened.

My speed was over 192 with my 300% stat boost. My fiery blade crashed into the shaft of his metal spear, tip first, driving him further into the steel wall. I disengaged and went for an overhead strike that was promptly parried, though the blow had him on one knee. He glared up at me, and dozens of shadow spikes emerged and carved thin rivulets on my now near-impenetrable skin. Vitality was my highest stat, and it had just tripled. I spoke once again as my blade came down, "FIRE." 

The floor beneath us heated up and warped, and fire swallowed the Dragon Newt, but I had no sympathy for the thing, not after everything it'd put Jean through, not after this ambush, not after trying to kill me.

Surprisingly, he withstood the fire with his Darkness cloak. He charged at me just as my fire started to wane, and I immediately stabbed. Rebellion pierced his Cloak of darkness and went through his gut. His Cloak peeled away to show an angry, bleeding face. I expected something fairly cliche and threatening. What I hadn't expected was for him to breathe on me. Evasion activated, but he was so close to my face, it hardly made a difference.

A black gas poured from his gullet and rapidly surrounded me. I stumbled back in panic as a notification flooded my screen.

You've been afflicted with Black Dragon's breath. -10% physical stat every 30 seconds, -10 hp every second. Pain resistance (Basic) has resisted the Pain affliction. Status lasts for 12 hours. 

Congratulations, you've acquired Dark Resistance (Basic)

Congratulations, you've acquired Affliction Resistance (Basic)

Son of a bitch. 

I hacked up some of the gas, blinking away the darkness to find Dagarr rapidly sinking into his shadow, leaving Rebellion behind. The weapon materialized in my hand, and I watched in horror as Dagaarr teleported in front of Kurt, his spear raised, ready to strike.

Rin stepped in just before the blow struck, taking a hit to the shoulder that nearly divided him in half. His eyes widened in horror as Dagarr snorted and threw him to the side. Just before he struck, Ophion latched to his back and yanked him back to me. 

My fiery punch dug into the flat of his spear when he arrived. Dagarr spun in the air and flipped back in what he assumed must've been an awesome manoeuvre, but as he landed, he slammed into the floor as I unleashed my domain once more, using one of the two Gravity Demon techniques I'd created.

DOWN.

"Not again!" he screeched as he gathered up even more darkness. Whatever he was planning, I did not let him finish as I drove Rebellion straight into his skull.

My energy level guttered out, and I came out of Devil Trigger.

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