Dantarian: Unhand me.

Sole: No, I don’t think I will.

--- Chapter 140 ---

Everyone fights to their max. Those of the nine who joined this crusade make their way inside, to find Luna’s uncle with a knight by his side. They begin epic combat, but our attention is brought elsewhere.

Dantarian: I see. Then, gravity star, collapse.

Dantarian clenches his fist, causing the star-like fireball to shrink, collapsing in on itself, and exploding.

As the smoke clears, Dantarian stands facing Sole in opposition. Sole dashes forward, throwing a powerful right cross punch. Dantarian moves his head to the right, dodging the punch. Sole follows up with a flurry of punches, all met with a prompt dodge. Suddenly, Dantarian disappears. Sole’s eyes shift, analyzing the surrounding. Dantarian emerges from Soles shadow, raising his hands up as two balls of fire form in his hands. But as he goes to drive them into Sole’s back, Sole also disappears. Confused, Dantarian swiftly realizes that Sole is now behind him, through either teleportation or superhuman speed. Sole throws a punch at him. He ducks forward, pushing off with his legs and springing into a display of acrobatics as he flips out of the way, landing in front and facing Sole.

Sole: You’re agile.

Dantarian: So are you.

Sole lifts his left arm and grabs a dial on his watch.

Sole: It’s impressive, really. I don’t think I will be able to beat you in this form, and that’s an impressive feat for casuals. Rejoice, for you will be one of the few to gaze upon this form. Take it in while you can, as it won’t last for long.

Sole twists the dial, the watch begins to burst with a bright light. Sole’s sun insignia glows brightly, almost blinding. Suddenly, everything goes dark momentarily for Dantarian. As he blinks it away, he sees Sole, but his muscle is growing exponentially, becoming somehow more refined than they were before. Sole, now towering above Dantarian, looks down at him and points.

Sole: Prepare.

Out of nowhere, Sole disappears completely, and Dantarians eyes go wide as he is pummeled with over a hundred punches in rapid succession. He launches backward, smashing into the wall behind him. Sole, no longer moving, becomes visible once again.

Dantarian: What the hell?! I couldn’t even see him. And his mana aura, it’s… blinding.

Sole: Lost in thought? I would be too if I realized my opponent was rivaling that of the gods, trying to rationalize his existence and come up with a way to win. However, I will give you the answer, there isn’t.

Dantarian: I hate to admit it, but given the current situation, he’s right. However, I may have to use those spells…

Sole: Now, any last words?

Sole speaks, retrieving a blade from his chest. He rests the blade on his right shoulder. Dantarian begins to make symbols with his hands.

Dantarian: Temporal Foresight.

Dantarian is gifted a vision of the near future, ‘Sole brings the blade down, causing a massive slash, which creates a massive rend through the city, and a chasm to open up. All from one slash,’.

Dantarian: I can’t let that happen!

Dantarian leaps forward. His right hand gets cloaked in a blackish-purple mist.

Dantarian: Devils RESPITE!

He reaches out for Sole, but before he knows it, all his momentum is stopped. He wonders why, before the pain kicks in. He looks down and sees Sole’s arm through his chest. He didn’t even see or notice it happen. Dantarians body becomes like a shadow, as he flows off, and jumps back. As he reforms to his normal self, his middle and pointer finger glow, as an ethereal thread comes off it, and enters the gaping hole in his chest. The light begins to heal it over. Sole’s punching arm is still outstretched, and small sun-like orbs emerge from it and float in the space around.

Sole: Sun Ball, Barrage.

The balls launch forward and gravitate toward Dantarian. Dantarian put’s his arms out-

Dantarian: Negative Element!

A small pure black ball forms in front of his palms. Dust and air begin to swirl around, all getting sucked up into the small black ball. The orbs begin to twist and distort into long strings as they are torn up and consumed by the ball. Dantarian breaths heavy, exhausted from the amount of mana he has used in such a short time. Sole lifts his blade and arcs it forward. The sheer force of the swing is devastating. A ravine opens beneath them, and everything in a straight line that slowly gets wider as it goes farther is devastated. Dantarian in his last moments of consciousness makes the hand symbols, and utters the phrase-

Dantarian: Temporal, REWIND!

The world goes gray, as everything begins to rewind and reform back to the way they were. Sole blinks, confused about what just happened.

Dantarian: It seems… I’ll have to go all out. Temporal, Acceleration!

Dantarian glows orange momentarily, before running in, faster than he was before. Sole throws one of the superhuman speed punches, but Dantarian not only perceives it but dodges it. He grabs Soles arm, his hand now radiating a similar purple and black smog.

Dantarian: Devils respite!

He clenches his fist, causing Sole’s arm to sever.

Dantarian: Combination! Temporal, Age acceleration! Temporal, Flashforward!

Sole begins to swing his sword to intercept Dantarian, but without realizing it, Dantarian already laid his hands on Soles’s chest. Dantarian grins, thinking he won now that he landed a hit with age acceleration. He’s thankful this hit as he is out of mana. But his grin swiftly fades, as he realizes Sole’s age not advancing.

Dantarian: Why, aren’t you aging?

Sole: …

Dantarian: That’s impossible, this spell advances everyone’s age. Unless you’re not human?

Sole looks down at Dantarian. And slowly lifts his sword.

***

Red runs as fast as he can with Luna on his back.

Red: Just a little further. Sole’s got this.

As Red is running, he passes by someone that looks his age, with blonde hair, wearing a loose-fit white teeshirt, and sweatpants. As he passes, he feels a powerful blow to the stomach, and his momentum halted. A strange semi-translucent arm and fist extending from the kid punched him in his stomach. He sees Luna begin to go flying, and two more of these arms sprout from the kid as he catches her. Red begins to lose consciousness.

***

Sole, his sword lifted into the air, goes to bring the sword down, when it becomes halted on something. He looks up, at an odd golden hand grabbing the blade. He looks back to see this kid, with Red and Luna floating on these hands behind him.

???: Put down your weapon.

Sole: Who are you.

???: Me? Heh, I see you’re not from here.

Sole: That’s right, so who are you.

???: I am, Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot, and you, are Sole of the Sataro clan, are you not?

Sole: I am, figures even a king would know my name and its greatness.

Sole wretches his blade free from the arm’s grasp, causing it to explode with ethereal shimmers. Sole looks back to see Dantarian kneeling before the king. Sole lifts his weapon to the king.

Arthur: Hm? Do you really wish to fight?

Arthur begins to laugh.

Arthur: You amuse me mongrel.

Sole: Give my friends back.

Arthur: You and your friends have proven to be quite the nuisance.

Sole: Don’t make me repeat myself.

Arthur gets a face of slightly annoyed.

Arthur: Do you truly believe you stand a chance? Mongrel?

Sole grips his blade tightly. The wall behind Sole breaks as a massive man wearing only pants bursts through it. His muscle mass rivals that of even Sole. It has numbers on its chest, and on its right shoulder, a little girl sits. Two more people walk up behind Arthur.

Arthur: You stand before the king, and the four champions of the noble houses, and still believe you have a chance? You didn’t even have a chance when it was just me.

Sole looks at him, then look up, prepared to try and escape to the skies, but he sees several knight-looking people standing on floating swords.

Arthur: Above you is the seven stars. Powerful SS rank knights. Still wish to fight?

Sole deposits the sword in his chest and switches the dial on his watch to revert him to his original form.