Prologue: The Death of Dante... (2)

The clouds passed over the moon allowing its pale moonlight to shine over the battlefield. the glow illuminated Edward's figure as if he was sculpted by the Gods themselves. His presence in this world was justice and light. Whatever he would say the masses would take as the truth. It's not like they had wanted to believe every word he spoke, yet they had to conform to his beliefs. In this world, the strongest would rule on top and sadly Edward had all of the top ranker's support, including the councils from other countries and continents. If you stood against them, it would be the same as courting death right infront of his face. This was the sad reality of Dante's situation, as they say, you must play the cards you are dealt with from when you are born. Edward had been blessed with a straight flush, whilst Dante barely had an Ace. He was looked upon by the Goddess of Fortune once, finding an opportunity to gain an unknown black amulet in a tomb once. It was found it was not appraisable, with an unknown rating, so therefore its value was never determined. It, however, was all for naught, the amulet had magically bonded to him and provided no effects except a 5% mana boost. If he could he would have sold the worthless thing to provide the money he needed.

Edward gazed at Florence's eyes softly, she gazed back with the same passion. "Are you sure we should be doing this?" Her eyes started to falter, and although she hated Dante with passion and disgust down to her bone, she could not stand to see any more bloodshed tonight. Edward smiled, this simple act created blushes all around from the ladies with him, his own personal harem. "I told you before, he is scum that deserves no compassion." Her heavy breathing now finally calmed down as she looked lovingly into his eyes. "Alright, I trust you more than anything, Edward." Florence had finally been convinced to accept her ex-fiancé's fate of death.

Edward reached out for Florence's hand and kissed it. "I promise you when this is done, we can be happy with the other girls." He smiled beautifully winning over her heart once more, yet a tinge of pain hit her heart when she heard the mention of the other girls. "Okay..." Florence replied, blushing slightly.

As Edward looked away his eyes became cold and cruel. He had finally taken almost everything from Dante, his family, his fiancé, and even his reputation. This brought him a great deal of satisfaction as now he only had one thing left to take...

Dante's life...

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Dante's side of the field.

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Dante was now struggling to breathe, it seems his internal wound damage is becoming too severe for his, C rank Healing Art, to keep up with. He could feel his cells regenerating with mana yet being destroyed at a higher pace as well. This was the effect of getting hit with many mana attacks, some even had mana poison laced in them. Dante could now feel their full effects.

"hahh... ugh..." He groans in pain as he thinks back to when everything went wrong.

Was it when he stole the book? No, he already had a shit ton of problems then, including debt. During his disownment from the family or maybe when his fiancé cancelled the marriage. Although that did impact Dante greatly it was not then. After he got expelled from the academy for a false accusation of r*pe from a girl bribed by Lucas.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds as he gained clarity. Dante began to start laughing out loud, gathering the attention of Edward and all of the others directly.

"Looks like the fucker's lost his mind already."

"I don't know what you mean, he didn't seem sane to begin with."

"Well, what do you expect. After all the crimes he's committed. I'm surprised the monster is not already dead."

The crowd all spoke nasty words after seeing Dante laugh loud as he is right on death's doorstep. Yet, at this moment it was clarity for him. From the moment he was born. That's when it all went wrong, no one had ever sided with him, he was born with low talents and was always bottom of the class. It wasn't because he was dumb but because the other kids forced him to, always laughing at his pain and misery. Is this what fate had planned for him? Is the reason he was born to be one big jester for the Gods? To create amusement for them as his whole life was torn apart and filled with misery...

Although, the God's were cruel it does seems that it wasn't just the Gods who were purely at fault, it was everyone else too. They stood and watch even laughing at his pain. They even went as far as to allow him to get framed for the crimes he had never committed. testifying that Dante's words were all lies.

Dante's eyes were wide and unblinking with red streaks all over the whites around his iris. The pain was beginning to disappear, this was the process when death begins. It seems his entire existence will be devoured soon by their cruel games.

Edward stepped closer toward Dante, with the crowd and his family standing unified behind him.

'Yes...'

'That's how it was always meant to be...'

The crowd of mana awakened created a powerful force as Edward's magnificent aura soared engulfing and disabling Dante's mana. It was as if they were an unclimbable and indestructible wall right in front of him.

The two sides decided...

'I was always alone from the start...'

'This world rejected me, so now I reject this world.'

"Fuck every last one of you here!" He gazed at everyone with large amounts of killing intent pouring from his eyes...

They all flinched... as a cold chill flew up their spines, how could a person gaze with that much killing intent. Even his mother and father had a look of disbelief for a moment. This was not the child they had raised, the same with his sister. She could no longer recognise the Dante she grew up with. It was as if he had discarded them from his heart...

Edward took advantage of the situation and said to the masses, "Everyone look at his eyes and the vulgar language he uses. Surely that is the mark of a devil, the crimes he committed will never be taken back. He is a murderer, r*pist and a danger to the society we created. It is our duty to end his evil existence so we can continue freeing this world." Edward smiled on the inside as the crowd nodded for the death of this monster. Even his family, all nodded with a solemn and cold looks on their faces.

Edward took a few more steps closer as he looked upon Dante with his bright golden eyes. "Give me the book Dante... That sword art is too powerful for you to even try mastering..." He squinted as he drew Excalibur, his holy sword.

"This one?" Dante pulled the book out and held it with his left hand, showing it to Edward.

"Looks like you can finally do something right before your failure of a life comes to an end." Edward laughed as he moved towards Dante.

Step.

Step.

Ste...

FWSHH!

A smouldering flame came from Dante's left palm as the book began to burn. Laughing with a weak voice Dante had used a B Rank Art, Flame Lotus Palm. An lotus shaped fire burned with intense heat, creating a bright light in the dark night. All that was left from the book was the ashes...

Edward's gaze became frozen as he became livid inside, it seems another one of his plans has failed. All because of Dante's interference.

Dante had no mana left now. His lungs are collapsing as the internal wounds now freely filled it with blood, all his open wounds now released the held back blood as it dripped into the grass.

But this time Dante did not let out a grunt of pain, he continued to gaze and curse everyone with his eyes. Holding back the blood from his mouth he bit his lips hard, it was enough to create more bleeding from his lips. His knees were weak and could barely stand, yet he refuses to fall. He knew from the start that if he followed this path, death was all that awaited for him. However, even in his final moments, he would not allow them to see even a shred of weakness in him.