Third-person POV
Two warriors, weapons pointed at each other, ready to attack. Each has their reason for being there and doing what they're doing. Or at least that's what it should be, since this confrontation was neither planned nor predestined.
Far away from all this, on a mountain, perched on a tree branch, an individual could be seen, hooded, dressed as a doctor/scientist, with pink hair and a cold, calculating gaze.
Whoever possesses the Romani Archaman apparition witnesses the encounter between the demon who was capable of making the gods bleed in his time and the wandering swordsman who travels between worlds aimlessly.
The spirit watching all this was the one who caused these two individuals to meet sooner than they were meant to. He knew that Dante had begun searching for him; he didn't need to see the future to realize it; he only had to see his eyes, the way he looked at him, as if he wanted to tear him apart and see what was inside. He made the situation clear.
The truth was, he was capable of facing Dante, but with a single mistake, Dante could easily kill him. So, if anyone could provoke him, the closest thing to fear was this individual born from primordial chaos.
And it wasn't because of his personality or his way of being, but for two reasons: his Noble Phantasm, more specifically, the darkness of chaos, which he could nullify and absorb, leading it to absolute emptiness; and the all-seeing eyes, granted by chaos itself, which could see beyond what normal eyes could perceive.
One touch was all it took to consider you a dead man, and the only way to defend yourself at this moment was pure physical strength. But Dante, by default, was someone comparable to Hercules in terms of strength, so if he were caught, he had no way to escape. But luckily for him, there was a traveler between worlds who was there to solve his problems.
He didn't need them to kill each other; if they provoked each other, they'd be incapacitated for a while—that was enough.
Now that his plan was underway, all he had to do was leave, because, however curious he was to see the fight between these two, he preferred to remain anonymous.
With that in mind, the being that resembled Romani Archaman climbed down from the tree to leave the Russian Lostbelt, unaware of the consequences of what he had just set in motion.
...
Dante and Musashi stared intently at each other. Dante's gaze was fixed on Musashi's feet, taking in their positions. Musashi stared at the large sword she held, something she honestly didn't know how to use; it looked more like a carving knife than a sword.
Just as she was about to say something about her sword, she opened her eyes to find Dante gone. She had made a mistake and lowered her guard. Relying only on her senses and the sounds of movement around her, she could anticipate what was about to happen and barely manage to react.
Raising both katanas, she managed to block the slash from her opponent's sword at her side, but, unprepared, it was sent flying.
The impact of the blow sent all the surrounding snow flying, along with the remaining oprichniki that were still nearby.
The trail of smoke left by Musashi's entire journey could be seen as he crawled along the ground, finally crashing into a rock. He managed to stop, only to look up and see Dante falling on top of him, his Buster Sword spinning.
The swordsman moved his body swiftly to evade the enemy's blow, causing a large crater to form at the moment of impact. The ground cracked, and chunks of earth flew up.
But Dante didn't stop there. Without hesitation, he swung his sword again, striking Musashi once more. Musashi reacted quickly, blocking the attack with both katanas, but the blows were deflected upwards, leaving a large portion of his body exposed.
In the next moment, Dante swung his Buster Sword again, hoping to counterattack. But Musashi, twisting her katana in the opposite direction, buried them in the ground, causing the two swords to collide.
Musashi gritted her teeth as she absorbed the full force of her enemy's blow, knowing that swords in an awkward position could break. She used part of her body to absorb the impact, cushioning the energy of the enemy's blade.
With this action, she avoided being cut and, at the same time, stopped Dante's greatsword in its tracks, leaving him somewhat astonished by her feat.
"Heh, how was that?" she asked, gripping her katana tightly and parrying Dante, forcing him to take a step back.
Now was the time to attack, so without hesitation, she assumed an attack stance and lunged with the intent to kill.
Faced with such a sudden shift in momentum, Dante could only grimace and go on the defensive. Unfortunately for him, he realized that his trick would no longer be as effective.
In the distance, Anastasia and Koyanskaya could be seen watching the entire fight from afar.
"This is bad," said the beauty queen, setting her binoculars aside.
"What's happening?" Kadoc's maid asked.
"Dante is losing fast," she explained, causing Anastasia's mouth to drop open in disbelief. "Dante's fighting style is based on spins and kinetic energy; with his sword, the more he spins it, the more powerful his strike will be, but if he can't spin it, much of his attack power is lost, and his opponent realized this."
With that, she looked again through her binoculars.
"That woman realized that, so she's not letting him use his sword as he wants, so she's not giving him an opportunity, leaving him only in a defensive position, since the situation is too dire for him to move it in a way that would allow him to counterattack the way he's being attacked," she finished her explanation, causing Anastasia to look back at the scene of the fight.
And that was what was happening.
Dante was on the defensive, considering her next move, especially given the mental speed with which her opponent had figured out her fighting style. Continuing her current approach would only backfire.
"It seemed fine to me, but how well can you adapt to a sudden change of pace?" Dante replied, extending a hand and summoning a sword identical to the other, though clearly different.
"Dual-sword style?" Musashi questioned upon seeing the summoned sword, but this only excited her more, and she charged even faster.
Dante used his Nuster Sword as a shield, burying it in the ground and taking several steps back.
The swordswoman didn't hesitate and struck the buried sword, only to see her opponent hurl the other heavy sword at her.
This left her stunned, as her opponent was now unarmed. But the next moment, she realized what had happened and immediately went on the defensive.
The moment their weapons clashed, Dante suddenly appeared, wielding his own weapon. Spinning 360 degrees, he struck Musashi, who managed to defend herself but was sent flying upwards.
"Teleportation? That wasn't pure speed," Musashi thought, seeing the line Dante had left in the snow.
"It's not over yet," the blond exclaimed, leaping to where she was, their swords clashing and coming to a standstill. The pink-haired woman noticed her opponent's finger on a button on the sword's hilt. "Omnislash."
With those words, the greatsword split into six blades, momentarily confusing Musashi. She realized the situation was dire, as Dante, standing before her, had been absorbed by a singularity and vanished from sight.
Using only his senses, he glanced to the side to see him already with one of the swords that had flown, already traveling in his direction.
"Now that's teleportation," the swordswoman complained, deflecting the attack only to see the blond man vanish and reappear in another of the swords.
Musashi deflected the multiple slashes Dante unleashed; each cut kept her suspended in the air, and without a foothold, she couldn't counterattack as she would have liked.
She looked up, watching her opponent plummet toward her with the full force of gravity, intending to slice her in two.
In less than a second, they both crashed to the ground, creating a large crater and a cloud of smoke that obscured the view.
Once the smoke cleared, Dante, holding his sword with both hands, could be seen trying to push down, but two katanas blocked his path.
Musashi, kneeling on the ground, gritted her teeth as she glanced sideways at the blond man, and, assessing the situation, she acted.
Tilting her swords to one side, she caused Dante's sword to fall to the ground next to the pink-haired girl, giving her the space to attack, which she did. But her opponent, rattling her weapon, summoned two more, which were part of the Fusion Sword, to stop her movement.
The four swords clashed, ending in a stalemate, where neither of them moved.
"Congratulations, not many are able to defend themselves against my special attack without suffering a single wound; I must admit you're a great swordswoman." Dante couldn't help but praise his opponent.
"Yeah, well, it wasn't that bad," she replied, acting like a tsundere, looking away with red cheeks, disconcerting Dante.
The truth is that Musashi is weak against Eligios, so her enemy's words made her feel embarrassed.
In the distance, Koyanskaya couldn't help but click her tongue at the sight.
"She's capable of flirting with the enemy, but not with me," she said, somewhat annoyed.
"Perhaps you're not her type," Anastasia couldn't help but say, causing the Beast candidate to glare at her with fury.
Without hesitation, Kadoc's servant vanished to dodge the force of the superior, whom she considered spiteful.
Returning to the fight, Dante simply pressed harder, forcing her to take a step back, returning the situation to its original position.
They stared at each other, pointing their swords without moving, analyzing one another.
After several seconds, they both charged at each other at full speed, their weapons clashing as they once again engaged in a relentless battle.
...
Twenty hours have passed since the battle between the swordswoman and the demon began.
Twenty hours in which neither has rested for a moment, their swords constantly moving, each hoping to gain the upper hand. But there was a problem: neither could penetrate the other's defenses.
Musashi, having already set her sights on the perfect attack to secure victory, didn't hesitate and made the cut, only for Dante to dodge it with pinpoint precision and counter. But no matter what he did, he couldn't harm the swordswoman, as she would block, deflect, or dodge any attack he made.
The battle was at a stalemate, neither willing to give an inch, all thanks to the unique abilities of each.
Celestial Eye, an A-rank ability, granted Musashi the power to see a single future and make it a reality. She could not only foresee Dante's every move but also conjure any future she desired. Unfortunately for her, Dante, also aware of this future, could alter it—perhaps not entirely at will, but enough to make that seemingly inevitable future less so.
Each could see the other's movements from the front and the back, anticipating how to act or defend, and, by default, almost never successfully execute their attack, no matter how well they knew what would happen next.
Several energy blasts collided, rendering the attack meaningless.
At opposite ends, Musashi and Dante stared at each other, weary but undeterred.
Dante, with a slight cut on his cheek, held two of the swords that formed the Fusion Sword. Knowing that using her giant greatsword form hadn't worked, she had no choice but to use a two-sword style to parry both of her opponent's katanas.
On the other hand, Musashi no longer had her eyepatch; she had lost it long ago. Two superficial cuts were visible on her arms and body.
"This isn't working," Dante declared, drawing Musashi's attention.
"What do you mean?" the swordswoman questioned.
"If we keep going like this, we'll be fighting our whole lives without a clear winner," the blond replied.
"I don't mind fighting like this my whole life," she confessed, and the truth was that this was helping her learn and improvise on the spot; more than anything, since Dante's fighting style was erratic, having to combine various katana styles in combat, switching from one moment to the next, had made her stronger and easier to counter enemy attacks.
"Maybe so, but I have a wife waiting for me at home," Dante said, getting into a fighting stance.
"You have a wife?" the pink-haired woman asked, surprised, glaring at him and covering her body, which already had some of her clothes torn. "Deslead."
"I don't do it intentionally," Dante complained, yelling at the sky, tired of always being misunderstood.
At this exchange, the place fell silent.
"Um, is this okay?" Musashi asked, seeing a depressed Dante, tears streaming down his face.
"It's always the same. I arrive somewhere new, and those predators, always drugging and abusing me, don't they know I have feelings too?" the blond man said, venting his frustration. "It gets boring going through the same thing, and no matter what happens, they always manage to get the better of me one way or another."
The pink-haired woman stood there, unsure of what to do, only to see her opponent compose herself again.
"It doesn't matter," he said, wiping away his tears, "this can't last forever, so I'll end it here and now."
With that, Dante pulled out a coin, only for a powerful electric current to surge through his hands.
Musashi opened her eyes in astonishment and horror as she watched the coin preparing itself. The moment the railgun fired, she managed to bend her body, dodging the pure energy blast.
"Sorcery?" she asked herself, mostly to herself. She stared, staring at the sky, seeing Dante with a ball of magical energy.
Throughout the entire fight so far, the two had only used their physical abilities and dexterity. Neither of them had used anything related to mana. The closest they had come was Dante's special ability, which he couldn't use again, since Musashi wouldn't fall for it again.
So it could be said that neither of them had been fighting seriously from the start.
The swordswoman quickly lunged forward, avoiding the magical bullet, which destroyed the entire area, creating a massive explosion.
The moment Musashi managed to get to her feet, she glared at Dante.
"Cheater, I thought we'd only fight using martial arts skills," the pink-haired girl complained.
"Didn't I just tell you that if we keep this up, we'll never win?" the blond boy repeated, collapsing to the ground.
Musashi simply raised his swords, blocking his enemy's attack; he watched as a pillar of darkness erupted from his blade.
"You are strong; that's why I acknowledge you, and I will, by default, use all my strength in my current state to defeat you," the demon declared, causing several dragon heads to emerge from the darkness, intent on crushing the swordswoman before them.
The pink-haired girl moved swiftly, dodging the darkness that tried to envelop her, but there were more of them than she could possibly evade, leaving her no choice but to use her power.
Enveloping her katana with the void, she sliced through the darkness, rendering it useless instantly.
"To be able to cut through space itself, that swordsmanship is both astonishing and terrifying," she heard a voice say behind her.
The moment she realized what was happening, she crossed her katanas to absorb the impact. Dante, his fist outstretched and imbued with advanced Armament Haki, attacked.
"H Grotia tis Kolasis," the blond exclaimed.
"H Grotia tis Kolasis." Although it didn't directly touch his opponent, the internal destruction took effect, sending Musashi flying and spitting blood as everything behind her was destroyed, leaving a completely clear, straight path.
Dante didn't hesitate and launched himself at her at full speed, extending his hand to use sorcery on her.
"By increasing her body's gravity, she'll no longer be able to move and will be easy prey for my attacks, giving me immediate victory," the demon thought, extending his hand, ready to touch her, but just as he was about to, he felt a sense of danger. "Damn it."
The blond quickly pushed Musashi aside and, summoning the Buster Sword, managed to block the attack from what appeared to be a large demon that appeared behind him, simultaneously attacking him with another sword.
Musashi quickly recovered and spun through the air, landing on her feet, ready for any enemy counterattack, while her Nion appeared behind her like a guardian at her command.
"In that case, I won't hold back either," the swordswoman exclaimed, and, using all her speed, she charged at her opponent.
Dante, who had been struck suddenly, was still not fully recovered, so he couldn't properly defend himself against the enemy's attack.
In a single movement, the pink-haired swordswoman slashed the blond man across the chest, forming an X.
No matter how much Haki he used, he couldn't avoid being severely cut, and, unfortunately for him, the attack didn't end there.
Covering his arm with all the Armament Haki he possessed, he stopped the Nion's attack above him, striking back with his four swords.
The ground beneath Dante cracked, revealing the immense force he was enduring.
"It's all or nothing," Musashi said. He enveloped his sword in emptiness, ready to strike, taking advantage of his opponent's immobility.
Just as he was about to finish this, he opened his eyes to see Dante's eyes shift from red to blue, and an oppressive aura, both deathly and suffocating, emanated from him.
Faced with this, he couldn't avoid the attack from the wing that emerged from his opponent's sword seemingly from nowhere.
With tremendous force, the Nion's four swords shot upwards, but he didn't attack again. Instead, he retreated behind Musashi, ready to strike.
The swordswoman watched as Dante slowly began to transform, ceasing to be human and becoming something one might call death itself.
"I think I'm really angry now," the now white-haired man said as his face vanished and a horned skull mask appeared.
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I added new images to the Dante character section; I didn't like how it looked with the standard AI, so I went back to the old one and managed to create something I was happy with. However, it's not the same style as the others, since the prompt I had used was lost, along with the extensions, so it was something from scratch.