I can't believe the female version of Draco Malfoy broke the internet more than One Piece's Gear 5.
It really makes you think—we simply live in a society, as Cepillín would say.
Just wanted to mention that; let the chapter begin.
--------------------------------------------------------------
*Hours before the attack on the rebellion*
Libra had gathered Orion, Heracles, and Atalanta to discuss the plan to defeat Dante.
"I understand what you're saying, but it seems that his immortality will render much of what we try ineffective," Heracles remarked thoughtfully.
"I agree with Brother Heracles; among his vast array of abilities, one of the trickiest aspects—even more so than his projectile attacks—is his ammunition," Atalanta added.
Faced with the Greek heroes' criticisms, Libra could only sigh.
"I understand your points, but everything you've said actually reinforces why we need to work together to bring him down," the dark-haired woman explained. "If he didn't possess those vampiric powers, Orion and Heracles could defeat him—regardless of whether both survived the fight—but given his current capabilities, I can only come up with one viable plan, and I need both of you for it."
Heracles didn't seem particularly committed, nor did Atalanta appear eager to go along with the plan.
"My wife and I are well aware of Dante's capabilities and limitations," Orion began. "That is precisely why we are confident we can overcome him if we follow this plan."
The two heroes remained silent for a moment.
"To be honest, I've always wanted to test my strength against your father," Heracles admitted, looking at Libra. "If you have confidence in the plan, I'm willing to take part."
At these words, the woman with the dual-colored eyes smiled at him in gratitude.
"The plan might work, but that doesn't eliminate the main problem: his precognition." "Do you have anything to get rid of this one?" Atalanta asked.
That left Libra deep in thought for a few seconds.
"I inherited those same abilities from my father. Even after I gained the power to see the future, I kept training with him; to keep from using it, I would always do something to avoid triggering my premonition."
*Back to the present*
The four archers already had their bows drawn, ready to fire at Dante, who scanned them one by one until his gaze settled on Libra.
Of the four, she was the only one he considered a real threat—primarily because he knew how most of her abilities worked, or at least the ones she could currently use in her Assassin class.
The night wind stirred the garments of everyone present. Bowstrings were pulled taut, and the blond man standing amidst the archers tensed his legs.
Without a second thought, Atalanta aimed her bow toward the sky.
"Phoebus Catastrophe," the heroine whispered, firing two arrows upward.
Dante remained rooted to the spot, keeping his attention fixed on all of them simultaneously by pushing his Observation Haki to its absolute limit.
The sky lit up with points of light, only for a rain of projectiles to pour down upon the demon.
He waited until the last possible moment; just as the arrows were centimeters from impact, he moved at high speed, dodging every projectile falling from the heavens.
Orion leapt from his position and rushed toward his prey, while Heracles and Libra powered up their attacks.
The moment Dante cleared the barrage of projectiles, he had to contort his body to dodge an attack from the son of Poseidon, who immediately turned and aimed his own bow at him.
The arrow was fired, but the blond man managed to destroy it with his scythe before it could strike him; however, he could not launch a counterattack, as a fresh volley of projectiles began raining down upon him.
Libra and Heracles unleashed a relentless barrage at their enemy, forcing him to keep moving as the mana-infused arrows tore apart the ground where he stood. Meanwhile, Moriarty—still wounded and lying on the ground—watched the spectacle in disbelief; he instinctively grabbed his coffin and aimed it at the figure that had appeared beside him, only to lower his guard upon seeing who it was.
It was Gaheris, carrying a still-living Chiyome over his shoulder—the only two survivors of the battle against Dante.
"No time to rest; we have to go. Those are Libra's orders—unless we want to end up riddled with holes from the crossfire," the knight declared, extending his hand for his comrade to take.
The elegant man from London understood immediately what he meant; if Dante used them as human shields, the enemy would fire without a second thought. He grasped Gaheris's arm and hauled himself up as best he could.
"Is there a way out?" Moriarty asked.
"As I understand it, there's still a four-person boat in that direction; let's not waste time," Gaheris remarked, pointing to a specific spot on the island's beach.
As the three of them moved stealthily through the forest foliage, the archers' barrage continued unabated.
Wielding his scythe, Dante dodged and destroyed several projectiles while moving toward the weakest of the four—naturally, Atalanta.
Anticipating this, Orion dropped directly onto Dante mid-advance, attempting to crush him in a single blow; unfortunately for him, Dante deflected the attack, sending him reeling backward.
"You are my prey, and you won't escape my hunt," declared the son of Poseidon, launching another attack.
As Orion struck, several target markers appeared on the blond man's body—specifically on his limbs and joints.
"I see," Dante thought, noting the various attacks his opponents were unleashing. "Heracles was blocking the path while Libra protected Orion; meanwhile, Orion and Atalanta were attacking me simultaneously."
They weren't trying to kill him; they were trying to limit his mobility.
The plan was currently in its first phase: gauging Dante's maximum capabilities—specifically his defense and mobility. They knew that a single hit from him could potentially knock them out of the fight, so they sought to push their opponent to his limits first.
Cloaking his body in Haki, the demon destroyed the target markers surrounding him and leapt high into the air, dodging most of the projectiles while using his scythe to destroy the rest.
At the same time, Atalanta, aware of her situation, kept moving; she knew that the moment she came within Dante's attack range, it would be game over for her.
Seeing her target moving further and further away, she decided to attack the person closest to her instead.
Using geppo to anchor his feet against the ground, the demon lunged at Orion with a downward vertical slash.
Poseidon's son managed to react in time, using his bow to block the strike, but the scythe's blade still buried itself in his shoulder, drawing blood.
Fortunately for him, he suffered no lasting harm; the weapon possesses two modes of attack—one spiritual and one physical. The former functions only when there is nothing between the scythe and the victim, delivering a clean cut, whereas the latter is simply a standard attack from a weapon that is anything but ordinary.
Only in its spiritual state can it tear a soul from a body, yet in its physical form, it retains the concept of absolute decapitation. Consequently, if the scythe's blade severs your head, there is no way to reattach it—at least not by conventional means. Such is the logic of a weapon born from a cartoon.
(Note: Luckily, the weapon doesn't possess "Toon Force" capabilities; otherwise, it would be far more broken than it already is.)
Leveraging his brute strength, Orion managed to shove Dante away; however, the moment Dante hit the ground, he launched another attack, forcing the hunter to respond.
As luck would have it, multiple arrows began striking the blond warrior's sword, forcing him to contend with threats on two fronts simultaneously.
At that moment, Libra locked eyes with Heracles. Heracles simply nodded and sprinted toward the enemy, ready for action.
Wielding his scythe from behind, the demon deflected the projectiles while using his free hand to parry Orion's strikes; the air pressure from their clashing blows was so intense it could be heard exploding from a distance. No sooner had the rain of arrows ceased than Dante swung his scythe to attack his opponent; however, the latter—having both hands free—managed to act faster, aiming his bow at Dante's feet and unleashing a powerful shot that largely obliterated the area in front of him, leaving a trail of smoke that obscured the state of his opponent.
The son of Poseidon, realizing that the attack wouldn't take his opponent down, braced himself; at that very moment, a high-speed energy slash appeared before him.
He managed to block the attack with his bow, but the force of the blow sent him reeling backward, causing him to lose his weapon in the process.
Before he could resume the offensive, Dante noticed that several new targets had appeared on his body. Glancing toward Libra, he saw his opponent destroying multiple arrows with relative ease.
The raven-haired girl with blue and red eyes gazed at him with a faint smile.
"Let's move to phase two," she remarked, raising her hand to conjure four fireballs that swirled around her; she then used the wind to shape them into arrows.
The blond man watched this and braced himself, but just as Libra tensed her body, she opened her eyes wide, and a powerful wave of Conqueror's Haki washed over the entire island.
Trees twisted, the waves churned violently, and the remaining animals on the island collapsed—instantly knocked unconscious—and a sensation of absolute oppression blanketed the area.
The demon was momentarily stunned by the sensation, as that Haki was, in certain respects, stronger than his own.
At the same time, the four fire arrows were launched in his direction, forcing him to leap backward; Libra had chosen not to alter their trajectory to strike him directly—a move that made Dante wonder about her intent, only to realize the reason a split second later.
"Shit," the blond man exclaimed, spinning around with his arms raised, yet he still took a punch to the jaw.
Heracles had appeared behind him, ready for close-quarters combat.
Without giving him a moment to steady himself, the son of Zeus launched an assault, using *pankration* techniques to overwhelm the demon.
Dante, having taken only a few steps back, was forced to raise his guard against his opponent's onslaught as Heracles began to overwhelm him with rapid strikes and kicks aimed at vulnerable points.
Disoriented by the Haki—which was being directed specifically at him—he failed to recover in time and took the brunt of Heracles' blows, drawing blood for the first time since his fight against Musashi.
Seeing this, Libra could only flash a devilish smile.
He still remembered his father telling him not to rely too heavily on his Observation Haki—even though his father hadn't followed that rule himself.
Having used his ability to see the future in every single fight, being without it now felt like a professional fighter stepping into the ring missing an arm or a leg.
Sent flying backward by a kick, the blond man hit the ground and bounced a few times; as he looked up at the sky, he saw Orion plummeting toward him, bronze club raised high.
He managed to shift his body just in time to avoid being crushed by Poseidon's son, but Orion didn't stop there; clenching his fist, he tried to land a blow to Dante's chest.
At the same moment, several arrows from Atalanta came streaking toward the demon's sword at breakneck speed.
With barely any time to react, Dante raised a Haki-coated leg to block Orion's punch while using his arm to intercept Atalanta's projectiles—which pierced right through his forearm.
Capitalizing on the momentum from the hunter's strike, he lunged forward to clash after dodging an attack from Heracles, who had struck at him with his bow.
In a counterattack, the blond man swung his scythe, aiming to decapitate the son of Zeus; however, Heracles simply grabbed the divine beast pelt—earned during his Twelve Labors—and used it to halt the strike.
Although the blade cut into the pelt, it stopped halfway through, causing Dante to click his tongue in frustration.
Heracles seized the opening to wrest the weapon from the demon, leaving him empty-handed and forced to defend himself. In a swift movement, the son of Zeus and the son of Poseidon stepped forward and struck the demon with all their might simultaneously, sending him flying through the air; his arms were shattered from having used them to block the blow.
While airborne, he saw a massive accumulation of magical and divine energy gathering in the sky, recognizing Libra's Noble Phantasm.
"This is bad," Dante remarked.