*Starting Scene*

Outside of the castle, within the grounds of the large square-shaped wall, the Burn Troop members Dante has been fighting against are currently engulfed by bewilderment at the young man's survival of their combined fireball attack. Not solely that, they are equally taken back by the blonde's last statement as the group seem to be unable to make a move while Dante sincerely smirks with his eyes shut and chimes, "I'm waiting!"

That sets off the twenty-five Burn Troop personnel while their arms are once again enveloped by flames, and instead of launching a long-range assault, everybody decide to rush Dante at the same time amidst releasing a fierce war-cry.

Dante immediately open his eyes with a delighted behavior forming as the letter "D" on his Sealing Glove shines before the green-eyed gentleman mutters, "Accelerate." He becomes nothing but a blur, advancing forward, and swiftly slips by the charging enemies while barely laying his right hand upon somewhere on their bodies, one after the other.

Because of that, the Burn Troop members abruptly cease their running.

Meanwhile, Dante stops behind his foes without making eye contact since he's facing the opposite direction and holds onto the ground via his right hand to keep his balance after maneuvering so fast as he remarks in mild disappointment, "I guess that really is all you guys can amount to. Even in terms of entertainment."

Hearing that, the Burn Troop frantically veer their attention to Dante's posterior while watching him straighten his constitution Dante soon adds with a happy grin, "Though... It was still fun. Plus, I figured out something else I can do with my gloves." The etching on the lad's Sealing Glove then brims more while lowered to his side as he calmly comments, "So thanks... And Seal."

In conclusion of those words, each of the Burn Troop personnel are surprised to witness a small, circular seal glow from their person until feeling their strength being drained and eventually results in them collapsing upon the landscape with a distraught groan or grunt expressed.

Following that, Dante peers behind himself with a carefree attitude as his Sealing Glove halts shining yet another time while listening to numerous footsteps arrive from ahead of him. A moment later, the human sees the Burn Troop members who went to deliver an onslaught onto the remaining two artillery towers, which they were successful, however, had no other choice than to return to the lone entrance into the giant wall.

The second swarm are instantly baffled at the sight of their companions having been beaten prior to displaying vast discontent towards the one clearly responsible.

As if taunting the Burn Troop, Dante casually motions them to launch whatever offense they please via his right hand. "Let's go. You guys are very lucky. I just completed my warm-up with the first half. It's your turn now." He chuckles.

Not appreciating how Dante spoke, the new group swiftly send off a shower of fire right at their adversary.

Dante emanates excitement and becomes a blur again while dodging every single stream of flame with no attempt in rushing the Burn Troop like he did previously.

Frustration promptly plagues the many individuals ahead of Dante while choosing to do precisely as their comrades had recently tried and dash toward the blonde.

Depicting that, Dante's left a little amazed but couldn't help smiling before accelerating toward the Burn Troop as he easily passes the barrage with his left hand clenched into a fist and cheerfully declares, "If you're going straight at me, you better be sure to take what I dish out!"

Right after, a Burn Troop member ready to strike Dante via a fiery right punch is two meters from reaching the young adult.

Concurrently, Dante has his left hand poised to hurl a hit, although isn't where anyone would have thought while the green-eyed person punches the ground ahead of the guy closest to him.

Due to that action, the terrain breaks apart with countless, huge mounds rapidly expanding throughout and renders every Burn Troop personnel that's standing speechless. Then, they are sent skyward via an artificially-created protrusion while letting out a horrified yell until crashing either onto the ground, a different mound or a small building because of the trajectory.

Dante softly laughs, having observed the Burn Troop's fate, while fixing his demeanor prior to tilting his head rearward and confidently shouts with both hands cupped around his mouth, "Told you! Don't begin something you can't finish!" He shuts his eyes as he lowers his head to be aimed forth. "Especially against me!"

*Scene Change*

Back in the dinning room, King Trost stands motionless between Yuki and Bel after having been stabbed by the Burn Troop's leader via a machete. 

Meanwhile, Yuki's overwhelmed with sorrow as blood continues to be on the pink-haired girl's face amidst her gawking at the machete's tip that's pointing toward her by chance. 

A few seconds later, Bel pulls out his machete from the king's torso with no concern over how that would effect Trost while briefly laughing in a sinister manner. 

Trost promptly falls backwards upon that separation with his eyes rolling into his head. 

Yuki desperately catches her father so he wouldn't hit the floor, getting onto her knees for her to wield a better hold of King Trost and tightly grasps his being as she cries out with tears overrunning her face, "Daddy! Are you alright, daddy?! Please tell me you're alright, daddy!"

King Trost barely manages to open his eyes to view Yuki with a strained look as he grins. "It's been so long since you've called me that. I'm glad a bit of my kind, pure-hearted Yuki is still there." He then coughs up blood upon his chest while closing his eye thanks to him passing out from the pain.

Seeing that makes Yuki panic while focusing on her father's wound and thinks, "No! He'll bleed to death!" She quickly gestures her right hand to the side, determination taking form, with her thoughts persisting. "I won't lose you too, daddy!" A medium-sized wand of clear, light blue ice with vague Latin lettering running across its side then materializes within Yuki's right hand as she has it touch the king's entry wound and freezes it shut. After doing that, the teenager navigates Trost's posterior from the terrain to reach the exit wound, switches her wand to the other hand and hastily closes it as well with her eyes peering behind the pinkish-haired gentleman to be sure the wound was fully sealed.

In the meantime, Bel's partially impressed by Ilya's capability and comments, "What an interesting bloodline. A Barrier Spellcaster for a father and an Ice Spellcaster for a daughter." He chuckles in a stuck-up way. "Too bad you're both so weak. We could have a lot of uses for your powers." The blonde shrugs with his eyes closed while retaining a firm grip of his weapon via his right hand. "But what can you do?"

Yuki glares at Bel with ferocity radiating. "Shut up! As if you have any right to talk when those guys you lead are much weaker! I'm a Class C Minus Spellcaster and they're Class D!"

Astonishment arises from within Bel as his jaw drops a little before realization encompasses him while the Burn Troop leader slaps his forehead with his left hand. "You're totally right! After I got this power up from Devil's Circuit, I forgot my guys, and even myself, are normally nobodies." A sly smirk appears while the man draws near Yuki to contain his face right in front of hers. "That was then... And this is now. I'm a Class B Plus that can kill you without breaking a sweat."

Fear resonates inside Yuki's eyes until she inhales deeply, mustering up her courage, and aims her Ice Wand at Bel following her leaning away from him with the opposing limb not letting go of King Trost. "Go to hell! Frozen Shard!" The tip of the princess' tool momentarily glows a faint, blue color prior to releasing a thin, diamond-shaped, spike of ice right at Bel's face, invoking a gasp out of him considering it's sufficient to do some damage.

Fortunately for the muscular individual though, Bel was able to dodge the projectile by weaving his head to the left while snobbishly stating, "You have to do better than that!"

Yuki confidently smiles as she refrains from deviating her Ice Wand. "Okay then! Frozen Shard Flurry!" A barrage of ice shards swiftly come out the dame's weapon while rapidly advance towards Bel's face again.

Annoyance etches itself onto Bel's person, leaping rearward to evade every Frozen Shard with impeccable maneuvering from such a tall man. "Still need a lot more, you bratty princess!"

Yuki gets very serious and rises to her feet following the ceasing of her Frozen Shard Flurry's onslaught as she gently mounts Trost's back on the floor while grabbing her wand with both hands now. "How about this?! Grand Frozen Shard!" A big spike of ice approximately the size of Bel's midsection pops out of the blue-eyed chick's tool, causing her arms to recoil from the intense force, while heading right toward the Burn Troop leader.

Bel isn't threatened by the new assault, planting his feet upon the landscape while situated close to the room's other end. Afterwards, the brown-eyed character waits for the shard of ice as he bulges his muscles in preparation, and before making contact with the icicle, slams both of his masculine hands on opposite sides of it. This results in the Grand Frozen Shard's tip being mere inches away from Bel's chest and utters in a boasting tone, "You're shit out of luck!"

A dumbfounded demeanor overcomes Yuki, having dropped her arms ahead of herself. "How... How did that not work? I utilized a huge sum of magic in that attack."

Bel laughs at Yuki's failed attempt with the Grand Frozen Shard inside his grasp gradually melting away into steam, dripping a good quantity of water in the process. "Don't tell me it slipped your mind already?! I'm a Heat Spellcaster! Anything I've once interacted with will burn up by my desire for its temperature to go increase!" He motions at the only exit of the room with his head. "That's why the doorknob was so hot!" The large spike completely dissolves prior to Bel lowering both hands to their respective sectors and slightly cocks his head to the left. "You're done for! Everyone knows that heat beats ice!"

Yuki commences to uncontrollably tremble, hopelessness engulfing her, and thinks with tears flowing down her face again, "Are... We really... Going to die?" She then recalls the death of her family members as her lips quiver while glimpsing toward her left to witness her unconscious father. Having done that, Yuki turns pale while numerous thoughts fill her brain of the past amidst thinking, "I... Don't want to..." The dress-endowed female reverts her attention to Bel and frantically shouts, "I don't want to die!" Yuki hastily rushes at Bel, despite wearing heels, as she wail in desperation and aims her Ice Wand toward the blonde. 

That action profoundly amuses Bel as he temporarily cracks his left hand's fingers while thinking, "She must be planning to freeze me with it directly, just like she did to the king's injuries." He arrogantly chuckles while remarking, "That, like everything else you tried, won't do shit." Bel effortlessly ensnares Yuki's wand that was nearly colliding with the guy's chest via his left hand and condescendingly asks, "You see?"

Yuki doesn't get discourage due to the fact that contact transpired regardless while striving to petrify Bel's appendage to at least immobilize it. Sadly for her, nothing happens to the dark-skinned man's hand, baffling the princess, as she questions in a stutter, "W-What...? I-It isn't affecting him?"

Bel vaguely laughs without relinquishing his grip of Yuki's tool. "Of course. If I can raise the temperature of things I touch, don't you think I'm able to elevate my own body temperature?!" He cracks his neck by torquing it to the right with a creepy grin displayed. "Now I gotta' admit that I could only bring it to 200 degrees, but with how much magic I presently have... Putting it at 500 degrees is possible!"

Yuki's immediately horrified and tries to pull her wand away from Bel, however, isn't successful as she barely can hold her stability because of the lack of her heels' grip.

Not long after, Bel straightens his head as he straps his machete to his back, closes his right hand into a fist, and with no warning, administers a devastating blow to Yuki's stomach.

Upon the strike's landing, Yuki's hoisted off the floor quite a bit since her stature is fairly small while gagging from how powerful the hit was. Following that, the teen is tossed rearward by Bel as she loses her hold on her wand, falls flat onto her back with her eyes shut while her tiara flew off her head from the impact and lets out a disgruntled groan.

Bel peers down upon Yuki, lifting his left hand beside his face and twirls the Ice Wand between his rugged fingers. "And now I got your tiny little wand. So you're 100% fucked."

Yuki strains herself to sit upright, struggling for a few seconds in opening her eyes, prior to fear drowning the pink-haired girl's expression as she yells out with her left hand on the terrain for balance, "Give that back!" She swiftly gets to her feet, although a tad unsteadily thanks to her heels and confronts Bel while reaching out at him via her right hand. "Please, I need you to return my wand to me this instance!"

Skepticism surfaces with Bel slanting his head to the left while no longer rotating the Ice Wand. "Is that right? You aren't in any position to be barking orders at me." His left hand's temperature then starts to increase as heat expels from it a bit. "I'll have to teach you that royalty don't always receive what they want. This world is messed up for even you." Bel maliciously chuckles with his head tilted back and eyes closed as Yuki's wand slowly seems to be affected by the heat.

Yuki takes a few steps forward after retracting her right hand to be together with its left counterpart, perching them over her chest, and desperately pleas, "No, don't!"

Bel's attitude doesn't falter as he resets his concentration toward Yuki and speaks in a patronizing tone, "What's wrong?! Are you afraid that I might break it?!" The blonde scoffs while bending onward a little. "Come on! It's not something to be so worked up for! Or would you prefer if I break your daddy some more?!" He smiles in a psychotic way.

Yuki frantically shakes her head with her eyes shut. "It's not that! If you destroy my wand, a calamity will occur!" She brings her attention to Bel again. "So, please... I beg you... Don't do it!"

Bel ignores Yuki's cry while applying additional pressure and heat onto the tool, but is significantly amazed upon looking at the wand. "Not bad! It's holding up pretty well for a thing forged out of ice...! I'm even peaking near 250 degrees!" He veers his focus back to Yuki. "I guess I gotta' escalate it further!"

Yuki passionately screams with tears shedding, "NO!"

At that precise moment, the heat from Bel's left limb spikes right before abruptly splitting the wand in half with a strong clench and tauntingly says, "There we go! Took long enough!" He faintly laughs.

In response, Yuki's eyes widen from shock as she observes the two halves that her wand has been broken into drop to the floor while making a mild chiming noise. Concurrently, the chick's mind snaps while her eyes grow cold until hanging her head and arms down with her body suddenly slouching forth.

Bel cocks his head to the right out of confusion while commenting with an inconsiderate and teasing voice after gesturing his left hand a tad, "What?! Are you going to crumble to pieces simply because I broke your puny wand?! You're just like all of those spoiled, royal brats!"

Yuki retorts without elevating her head, talking in a tone that doesn't sound quite like her due to it being slightly deeper and baneful. "Me? Crumble to pieces? No..." Her vision hurriedly lock onto Bel with emotion nowhere in sight. "You will though."

Bel's conduct maintains itself prior to an unexpected gust of wind brimming from Yuki's person as snow begins generating to the point of becoming an indoor blizzard.

In no time, different regions of the dining room are depicted freezing while Bel covers his face to minimize the fierce snowstorm from slamming onto it as he's immensely bewildered by its appearance. Several seconds later, the Burn Troop leader examines his surroundings as he sees that all of the dead bodies in the room have froze entirely and is left speechless until reverting his gaze where Yuki's standing with frustration established. "What is this?!" Surprise then consumes Bel, compliments of him gradually witnessing a clear view of Yuki despite the mighty blizzard, however, can't recognize her too well since an unprecedented, physical change happened.

Yuki presently stands at the same height as Ilya, which is a considerable alteration because they were roughly five inches apart in terms of stature, while her constitution's bust has gotten big enough to cause the dress' chest area to rip on the sides from not having been constructed for that size and is a litte larger than the Velkry native's breasts.

Due to the drastic change, Bel's unable to utter a single word.

Simultaneously, Yuki notices that the indoor snowstorm she created is affecting her unconscious father after commandeering her head to the left to glance rearward. With that, the individual abruptly makes it stop by apathetically flinging her hair behind her since it was vigorously fluttering from the powerful blizzard and then plants her right hand on her hip as she sets a serious glare toward Bel.

*Scene Change*

Ilya drops to her knees after the mirror that collided into the hazel-eyed girl's rear levitated backwards while going into a vertical angle to reflect Ilya's posterior. Meanwhile, the white-haired teen seems to be incapable of taking her eyes off the ceiling thanks to the excruciating agony coursing through her entire being and thinks, "I... I can't move..." Ilya carefully rests her eyes upon the mirror in front of her without moving her head as Quinton's heard laughing, forcing an agitated expression out of the chick.

Following several moments of that, Quinton haphazardly comes out from one of the mirrors toward Ilya's right, alarming the pendant-wearing girl due to her having thought he was located in the mirror that's poised ahead based on the man's voice  echoing from it. Registering Ilya's reaction to his appearance, an amused grin arises before the velvet-haired character speaks while steadily walking towards the dame. "I like that look you got. It shows that you aren't totally aware of my prowess."

Ilya's body quivers, desperately attempting to regain mobility since Quinton's gradually advancing towards her, and talks with a strained tone. "Then, why don't you tell me."

Quinton halts his progression as he stands four meters from Ilya with skepticism exhibited. "What for? So you can buy time to get your strength back." The pompadoured guy shuts his eyes while chuckling. "Okay, I will." Quinton opens his eyes with a demented smile displayed. "But first, a little insurance policy!"

With the conclusion of that declaration, a mirror that's in front of Ilya while floating right above the floor gets into a horizontal pose as the one behind the female ascends quite a bit. After that, the object stationed forth flies toward the Velkry native with impressive agility and rams into her chest, sending Ilya soaring rearward while her golden staff lies where she was kneeling. Concurrently, as Ilya's airborne, the mirror that rose happens to be over the beauty, and at the perfect instance, crashes down onto her gut with enough of an impact to break itself while leaving another pain-filled composition on Ilya after her posterior relentlessly struck the landscape.

Quinton slants his head to the left. "That oughta' do it." The adversary resumes his journey towards Ilya upon fixing his head, situates himself on top of her as he pins the hazel-eyed Spellcaster's arms via both hands and leans towards her with bad intentions in mind while whispering, "Now, I'll let you in on my ability as a tiny form of foreplay prior to getting into the fun stuff." Quinton emits a sinister laugh.

Ilya grimaces at Quinton being on her, possessing her eyes shut, and steers her head to the right, so that she would prevent any possibility of the man trying something funny.

As a result, Quinton utters in Ilya's ear, "Obviously, I create mirrors that I can enter and exit freely, although there's actually a time limit. I was never able to do that before receiving help from Devil's Circuit. The same rule kind of applies when I put someone else in there, except it doesn't last nowhere near as long."

Ilya slowly peers at Quinton out of the corner of her eyes. "That's why you solely brought me in once, just to bring me here."

Quinton nods while running his right hand's index finger across Ilya's left cheek. "Exactly. Until I attained this boost up, I could only make one small mirror appear into my hands to reflect a strike at a time, however, now... so much more is achievable, even though there are a few restrictions. Especially for my style since I'm not too versed in hand to hand combat, but at least I can bluntly use my mirrors." He then combs his pompadour via his right hand, sitting upright onto Ilya's stomach in the process. "That way, I don't mess up my hair."

Ilya issues Quinton an exasperated glare. "So, you're simply a coward then."

Quinton's eyes narrow with seriousness portrayed, sustaining his right hand onto his hair. "What?"

Ilya smirks and properly directs her head toward Quinton. "You hide behind the safety of your mirrors, never fighting upfront. I know someone who probably wouldn't enjoy having you as an opponent."

Quinton arrogantly smiles. "Oh, really?! Like I give a damn!" He swiftly leans towards Ilya while slapping his right hand back on her left arm. "It's my so-called cowardly method that's gonna' allow me to fuck your brains out!"

Ilya becomes quiet as she recalls the precarious circumstance she encountered with Gunta and how the chick was saved by Dante. Because of that, the teenager felt disappointed in herself for being in a similar position again prior to mustering up determination while giggling. "Think twist. Burst!" Ilya's person then generates a golden outline before expelling out and blasting Quinton's crotch.

Quinton hastily stumbles towards his left amidst yelling from agony while tightly gripping onto his privates and frantically rolls around the floor.

Not long after, Ilya manages to rise to her feet and happily grins. "Must really hurt, doesn't it?" She giggles again.

Quinton fiercely glares at Ilya as he's draped onto his side. "You sneaky bitch! I thought you could merely use your weird power with that staff!"

Ilya deviates herself from Quinton while cautiously traveling towards her tool as a hint of pain remains. "Did anyone tell you that or did you just assume after only seeing me attack once?" The young lady reaches her staff, gradually bends forward to pick it up and then commandeers her vision to Quinton via facing him with confidence overflowing. "That, and you underestimating me, is where you completely messed up. It does assist me in harnessing my magic better, however, doesn't signify I'm unable to utilize my spells without its help."

Urgency rapidly envelopes Quinton, groaning a tad simultaneously, and barely succeeds in standing while continually holding his package. Afterwards, the character detects that there is a levitating mirror behind him as he rushes into the safety of its dimensional space with minor hesitation. Eventually, Quinton returns his focus to Ilya while catching his breath and thinks, "Alright, no more fucking around! This bitch is dead!"

In the meantime, Ilya faces the mirror Quinton entered, containing her staff within both hands that are presently lowered together ahead of herself. "Another cowardly move."

Quinton grits his teeth until shouting with fury in his voice, "Shut up, you bitch!" Several additional mirrors materialize as a total of twelve currently surround Ilya and are reflecting the hazel-eyed individual's image. "Get ready to die!"

Right as that statement was uttered, Ilya closes her eyes while breathing inward profusely once she put her head down with the two rings upon the gold staff starting to rotate around the blue gem for the second time prior to the Velkry native passionately yelling, "Burst Explosion!" A gold outline quickly encompasses Ilya's entire foundation before an immense blast radiates all over the place, leading to the beauty's dress to flutter, and immediately crashes into the twelve mirrors at once while effortlessly annihilating them without permitting any the opportunity to absorb it like Burst Stream had been.

Quinton's baffled while staying inside the dimensional space, no longer able to depict Ilya since his mirrors were the lone reason for that and mutters, "Impossible! How did she-?!" He's then interrupted by him abruptly being ejected from his haven, harshly hits the terrain and rests atop his stomach with his eyes shut while demonstrating a decent quantity of displeasure. "What the hell?!"

Ilya gazes at Quinton with astonishment brimming until choosing to journey toward him. "You're similar to that fat guy. You have no idea what you can or can't do with Devil Circuit's increase. Apparently, if the mirror you entered is destroyed, you're kicked out of your little hiding spot." She gently laughs. "Now you possess no place to run and your magic's clearly falling. I sense it."

Quinton painstakingly attempts to lift himself off the floor, his hair having gotten very messy from the recent collision and rolling about previously, while looking at Ilya with his anger coming back. "Don't be so fast to decide that! I'm still in better physical condition than you!" He hastily rises to dash toward Ilya, striving to bring her down with both arms stretched out, while releasing a war-cry.

Ilya scoffs during her observation of Quinton's charge as she coldly remarks, "You keep on underestimating me simply because I'm a girl..." The dame swiftly navigates her staff to her left region while stationed sideways via her right foot onward and mercilessly strikes Quinton right onto his injured crotch with the opposing end. "Let's see how you appreciate becoming one."

A shocked demeanor consumes Quinton, causing him to contort forth with his jaw wide open, and soon crumbles to his knees as he grasps his privates again following Ilya removing her staff from them. Ultimately, the male passes out as he inadvertently slams his forehead on the landscape with his ass hanging in the air.

Following that, Ilya mounts the butt of her staff upon the floor while holding it with her right hand as the two gold rings are perched on the staff's gem and momentarily watches the velvet-haired man. After doing that, the pendant-endowed girl lets out a sharp sigh as she turns away from Quinton's unconscious being and commences walking toward the exit amidst saying with exhaustion, "I must hurry... I left Yuki... And the king... Unprotected. I Promised... Dante I'd... Take care of them." Ilya stumbles a bit forward, compelling her to stop her advancement as she's heavily breathing and has difficulty retaining herself on her feet with the help of her staff. She then tries to continue leaving, but is unable to after three more steps, suddenly faints as she drops her weapon and collapses to her left while confronting the doorway.

*Scene Change*

Having defeated the Burn Troop not too long ago, Dante abruptly shifts his attention towards the castle, standing sideways via his right foot forward, as he softly inquires with both hands lowered to opposite sides of his person, "Why do I feel like somebody's calling for help? Is it Ilya...? Or maybe-"

Right when that sentence was on the verge of completion, both Dante and everything around him seem to stop in their tracks, even the descending snow while in mid-air. A few seconds later, footsteps resound from just out of the green-eyed character's range of hearing people's thoughts as Clock casually walks between the multiple artificial mounds, heads towards the Dante's left and speaks while quite impressed. "That was some performance. To be able to take on a hundred guys all by yourself..." He stops at a descent distance from Dante. "You must be a monster." Clock peers down at Dante's Power Glove with curiosity taking shape. "Or perhaps it's soley thanks to those gloves of yours. One has destructive strength and the other forges seals. Both are excessively dangerous." The Asian tilts his head to the left to get a better look at the item containing the letter "E". "However, this isn't your run of the mill Power Glove. It might be something special that the boss would definitely have an interest in." Clock repairs his head's posture before extending out his right hand to reach for the object, leading to an unexpected light shining from it, and invokes concern.

Eventually, Dante's eyes lock onto Clock's while nonchalantly asking while showing a minor sum of confusion as everything else resuming their natural flow, "Where did you come from?" The blonde swiftly discerns what Clock's trying to do and hastily leaps backwards after his eyes widen a little out of surprise, so he can create some separation. "Wow! That was close!"

Meanwhile, Clock's overcome by disbelief as his sights are glued to Dante and thinks, "What the...?!" He then scans the area with an upright composition while thinking, "How is it that my Time Halt ended so fast?!"

Dante briefly observes Clock until a content smirk arises amidst being poised ten meters away. "I see. So you're a Time Manipulation Spellcaster. Were you far from me when you stopped time?"

Clock's dumbfounded due to the fact that Dante knew his ability in an instance, but is immediately distracted because of the foe's question. "If you need to know, I wasn't that far. I was watching without getting noticed."

Dante chuckles and mentally comments, "Which explains why I didn't hear his thoughts, although I doubt he's figured out I'm able to do that." He promptly utters out loud to Clock with a carefree demeanor, "So, you used your magic to attempt to steal my Breaker, huh? But for some odd reason, you didn't do it during my fighting and your power ended up deactivating randomly. I'm actually very intrigued why also."

Shock overtakes Clock while thinking, "How does he know that too?!" The black-haired man soon contemplates to himself with his eyes kept onto Dante. "This kid must have a sort of special capability, despite not having any magic within him. It's possible that's how he easily evaded the Burn Troop. Almost as if he could..." Realization rapidly engulfs Clock as he thinks, "Read people's minds."

Dante smiles with his eyes shut as he cheerfully yells, "You guessed it!" He opens his eyes to lackadaisically set his concentration back onto Clock. "And pretty quick, if I may add. Most people go a seriously long time without comprehending that." Determination establishes itself on the young man. "Congratulations. Now here's your prize. Accelerate." Dante becomes a blur and hurriedly appears right in front of Clock while nearly coming into contact with the Asian's abdomen via his Sealing Glove. "It's me sealing away your power!"

Desperation encompasses Clock during his releasing of a distraught gasp prior to blurting out as Dante's appendage was about to touch him, "Time Reduction!" 

Dante's mobility drops significantly while continually reaching for Clock. 

Simultaneously, Clock uses the opportunity presented to draw his left foot rearward and lands an intense roundhouse kick to Dante's left cheek via the other leg, however, it didn't force the green-eyed individual's head in contorting. The reason for that becomes clear upon the disciple planting his right foot onto the snowy ground while facing towards Dante and firmly says, "Time Return."

As a result, Dante staggers towards his right while experiencing a surge of pain and is a bit bewildered. After that, the wavy-haired lad gently caresses his injured cheek with the back of his right hand while diverting from Clock as he's slightly bent forth. Not even a second later, Dante keys on Clock's thoughts, discovering what exactly transpired, mildly turns his head to the left so he can see the dark-eyed guy and happily grins. "Not only do you stop time, you wield the ability to slow a person's time to avoid using too much magic. That's what you were originally capable of before Devil's Circuit, right?"

Clock's overwhelmed with astonishment until recalling Dante's gift and shouts in frustration, "That's a really annoying ability! Time Rise!" He then practically vanishes with dust of snow expelling from Clock's previous position.

That baffles Dante a tad, although is able to regain his bearings while snapping his head to the right precisely as Clock appears there with a left hook aimed at the Caucasian's cheek. Fortunately, the blonde responds well, compliments of hearing Clock's thoughts, as he sharply weaves backwards and dodges the punch with a delighted attitude. "Good! You can even increase your own time to move fast!" Dante then pivots with his right foot and strives to implement a reverse, spin kick onto Clock's face. 

Clock rapidly lift both arms in the form of a Cross Block as he fends off Dante's kick while pushed back a little thanks to the strength put into the strike. Having been pushed rearward several meters away, the yukata-endowed male glares at Dante through his guard with his teeth gritted as he thinks while ignoring the young individual's remark, "He's no slouch either!" Clock veers his gaze to Dante's shoes while thinking with suspicion demonstrated, "Are those like the gloves, but improve his general speed?"

Dante answers Clock's mental question amidst fully directing his attention towards the Asian, who's standing between Dante and the castle. "Not quite. Unless I'm moving my legs, my Accelerator doesn't do anything."

Agitation envelopes Clock because of Dante protruding into his mind prior to talking with a somber voice once he lowers his arms, "Meaning you're able to elude attacks due to that mind reading of yours."

Dante shrugs. "Sometimes." He widens his stance with tenacity shown. "Not like I'll always rely on it and play it safe though. There are countless moments I prefer being straightforward, despite the risks. I'll give you an example right now." Dante accelerates again and abruptly finds himself seconds away from administering a harsh, right knee onto Clock's gut while lightly floating above the terrain.

Clock retorts without hesitating. "Oh no, you don't! Time Reduction!" 

Even though Clock had managed to cast his spell before contact was made, some momentum remained behind Dante's assault while hitting the dark-haired opponent's stomach, leaving a stunned and agonized expression. 

Right after, Clock falls backwards as he rolls on the snow a lot until gripping it in order to cease his progression and cocks his head up since he was down briefly.

At the same time, Dante's freed from Clock's magic with his right hand situated onto his waist and utters in a smart ass way after slanting his head to the left, "There you have it, and why its better than playing it safe." He shuts his eyes while letting out a content chuckle and fixes his head's angling.

Clock's greatly enraged by Dante's words while clenching both hands into fists. "You damn bastard! I'll show you!" The Asian character raises both arms over his head during that last part as he's prepared to issue another spell, however, is cut off via Dante instantly closing the gap with both of their face inches away from each other. This bewilders Clock to no end, understanding already that trying to slow down Dante's time won't do him any favors, and rushes for his only possible route at this period as he mumbles, "Time Rise." The disciple crafts a fair quantity of space from Dante through jumping rearward with speed that matches the green-eyed gentleman.

Dante swiftly gives chase to Clock with a calm personality exhibited.

Once he witnesses that, Clock attempts to out maneuver Dante by zig-zagging across the entire region belonging to the castle as he persists going backwards while launching several strikes at Dante with both hands. 

Sadly for Clock, Dante effortlessly evades the onslaught with subtle movements and continues his pursuit. 

Concurrently, panic ascends from inside Clock, considering Dante's presently striving to grab a hold of the Asian via right jabs to place a seal every time the lad gets near while thinking, "Damn pesky gloves! It's ridiculous worrying about them touching me! If I hadn't failed in getting them the second time I used Time Halt, I wouldn't be having such trouble!"

Dante momentarily laughs out of amusement. "Maybe you oughta' pay mind to where you're headed, in addition, to focusing on avoiding me and complaining over past misfortunes."

Clock resonates confusion due to not comprehending until looking behind himself without detaining, discovering that his posterior is on the verge of colliding into the wall pertaining to a burning artillery tower that's to the left sector from Dante's perspective. After doing that, the Asian desperately tries to dash to the side so he wouldn't hit the wall.

To Clock's dismay, Dante refuses to allow him as he hastily commandeers his right arm back and snatches Clock by the throat while driving Clock onto the structure with relentless impact. 

Clock releases a distressful gag with his eyes shut, cocking his head skyward prior to steadily glaring at Dante through his right eye.

Dante proudly smirks amidst sustaining his grasp upon Clock with an outstretched arm. "See? I warned you."

Clock's desperation doesn't stop and thinks, "God, damn it! I'm screwed...! Unless...!"

Dante immediately registers Clock's thoughts while baffled to the extent of growing concern as he thinks, "Crap, that's not good!" He quickly commences to say the word "Seal" in order to prevent what summoned his worry, but isn't permitted.

Clock promptly states with a hoarse voice, compliments of the pressure Dante's applying on his neck as his eyes temporarily light up, "Time Halt..." Time then freezes again with Dante in the middle of speaking while the Asian faintly lets a sigh of relief escape his mouth. "I did it." Clock slowly elevates his right hand while grimacing a little because of some agony surging from his body after being rammed onto the wall and grabs Dante's wrist to loosen his grip. Unfortunately, the disciple's magic paralyzed Dante's limb, causing it to be basically impossible to detach in his current condition, and mutters with anger dwelling, "I can't get a break with this kid." Clock removes his right hand from his enemy to extend it towards Dante's neck. "I'll simply kill him in that case." The Spellcaster's only an inch short from reaching his target with his finger tips, but oddly enough is restrained.

That fact shocks Clock, especially when his arms are comparable to Dante's in terms of length. "Why can't I-" It suddenly dawns on the black-haired male that Dante managed to pull his head rearward sufficiently to narrowly be out of Clock's range, a split second before halting time, while keeping a tight hold on his neck. A distraught behavior follows as Clock attempts to grasp Dante's neck with both hands now, however, is unsuccessful and starts panicking. "No! This can't be happening! It just can't-!" The adult harshly coughs out a small amount of blood that spills upon Dante's wrist prior to becoming overrun by horror at the sight of it and screams within his mind, "NO! I'M DONE FOR!" Clock abruptly remembers a bit of information from an unknown man, advising him he can merely stop time twice at most with the assistance of Devil's Circuit until his body experiences painful effects that concludes to it malfunctioning to the point of possible death.

Not long after, a bright light shines from Dante's Breaker, which gains Clock's attention for an instant, as time resumes once more while the blonde exclaims with a strict tone in continuation of what he was going to, "Seal!"

Clock hurriedly sets his vision onto Dante while the Sealing Glove briefly glimmers prior to an etching embedding itself on the Asian, where his throat is, as blood spurts out from the yukata-wearing guy's mouth again.

Dante's partially astonished by the display and pulls away from Clock via receding a tad while gazing at his Sealing Glove that's mildly drenched in blood. 

Following that, Clock gradually grabs his neck with both hands as despair is emitted while intently staring at the snow below him. Afterwards, the black-haired individual strives to talk, although is incapable and decides to distance himself from the wall while steadily walking pass Dante.

Dante plainly watches Clock while listening to multiple thoughts progress through the disciple's head and discovers everything involving how he escaped the man's spells, plus Clock's status. Because of that, the Caucasian looks at his Power Glove and thinks with intrigue brimming, "So that's how it is. Seems whenever there's a Spellcaster power that conflicts with God's, Breaker cancels it out as a defense mechanism to protect me." Dante joyfully smiles as he whispers to himself, "That'll come in handy." He soon redirects his focus to Clock, who had recently fallen onto the ground while coughing out even more blood, and increases his volume to communicate with his adversary. "Just for your information, the seal I put on you was to restrict you from speaking, but you were a tiny bit quicker than me." Dante shakes his head in disappointment with his eyes closed. "Due to that, I'll be more careful in choosing when to hold back." He reopens his eyes with sincerity portrayed. "So, thank you for that."

Clock glances at Dante out of the corner of his eyes, sprawled on the snow, and thinks with immense fury overflowing. "What in the hell are you to be thanking me like that, you bastard?!" A thought then crosses his mind as his breathing becomes worse. "Wait! You're from Velkry, aren't you?! You have to be, considering they're the lone allies this country has left!"

Dante emanates an innocent conduct. "Kind of. I'm working for them to be accepted."

Clock haphazardly laughs as the seal Dante instilled upon him dissipates since it's only a temporary one, permitting the Asian to express the following out loud in a strained manner, "Then you doomed them." He momentarily coughs with his right eye shut. "If I recall correctly, they have a Treaty with the Einsburn Family. They aren't allowed to interfere with any of them or their allies. They're all dead."

Dante tilts his head toward the left. "Enshin has an agreement with the Einsburns?"

Clock barely manages to shake his head with confidence established. "No, however, our boss has done business with the Trailblaze Organization. That's practically the same thing."

Dante constrains himself from laughing at Clock while repairing his head's positioning. "If you say so..." He deviates from Clock to begin traveling away with both hands now in his pockets. "Though let me fill you in on a detail." The blonde detains his journey without switching his attention to Clock. "I was told beforehand that in the chance of encountering allies of the Einsburns or Trailblaze... Or even meeting those two specific groups with them having bad intent toward this country, we who were sent by Velkry are ordered to abandon its people, the king and princess."

Clock blankly observes Dante with nothing to comment.

Dante leisurely peers behind himself so he can view Clock. "That's not how I roll."

Shock rapidly overwhelms Clock and stutters as he fruitlessly tries to hoist his person off the ground, "B-B-But-"

Dante interrupts Clock, having steered his to sight toward the castle, while nonchalantly removing both of his gloves. "I already made up my mind about two things within this past week. I'll be damned if I don't follow through in either of them, no matter what the consequences might be." The human resumes his advancement towards the building as he puts away his gloves via his back pockets. "Well, this is goodbye."

Clock gawks at Dante with disbelief radiating as an image of Enshin flashes through his head and mumbles while the light in his eyes vanish, "You two... Are so..." His head drops onto the snowy landscape with the rest of his body as the man dies from the negative effects of his Spellcaster power.

*Scene Cuts To Black*

To Be Continued...