Antares' body, still trembling from the pain and anger that consumed his soul, rose from the stone floor. The gloomy hall, until then immersed in deadly silence, shuddered at his presence. His breathing was heavy, his fists still bleeding from clenching his own claws in fury. The ground cracked under his weight, as if the universe itself feared his next move.
And then, like thunder, a roar erupted from his throat.
[BOOST!]
The word was like a command, a primal scream that reverberated through the walls of the demonic castle. The Boosted Gear, the red bracelet that still pulsed on his arm, began to glow intensely, responding to his anger in a visceral way. The sound of the Boost's activation echoed like a war bugle.
[BOOST!]
And then, chaos.
The first wave of undead approaching Antares was instantly obliterated. Their bodies exploded into pieces, a shower of bones and disintegrated flesh, as an overwhelming force shot out from their bodies. His muscles crackled with the pressure, as if every fiber was being stretched to its limit. The speed with which he moved was supernatural, and with each step, more and more dead fell.
[BOOST!]
Another roar, louder, more imposing, making space itself tremble. The force of his acceleration was so great that Antares' figure became a red blur, cutting through the crowd of undead in front of him with a murderous grin, his eyes blazing like hellfire. He was in total control, his body so agile that he looked more like a storm of destruction than a human being.
The undead didn't stand a chance.
With each advance, he made a massacre, a real slaughter. His claws tore through the flesh of the zombies like sharp knives, his blows were not just physical, but had a charge of pure destruction. The touch of his hands caused the enemies to disintegrate, disappearing in an explosion of ash and unholy magic.
[BOOST!]
A zombie approached Antares from behind, but he had already noticed it, its incomparable speed allowing him to react instantly. With one swift movement, he turned, his left leg slicing through the air in an angled blow that split the creature in half. The impact was so strong that the pressure generated caused the nearby stone wall to crack, creating a huge fissure.
Antares didn't stop. He couldn't stop.
He advanced, with each step becoming faster, stronger. Each enemy that appeared in front of him was a chance to vent his fury, his uncontrollable rage, the rage of a being who had been thrown out of his own reality, who now sought revenge not only for the physical damage, but for the very existential offense that had been imposed on him.
He advanced towards the throne of bones, where the Lich remained seated, awaiting the arrival of his executioner.
And as the undead fell around him, Antares continued to approach the Lich, who watched everything with a morbid calm, as if the chaos were a play in his macabre little reality. But the Lich, arrogant and presumptuous, was unaware of the monster he was about to face.
[BOOST!]
Antares accelerated even more, leaping over a row of skeletons that were coming his way. His feet smashed through the bones like toothpicks, and he hit the top of the nearby wall, using the force of his propulsion to change direction. He fell into the middle of a group of undead with a thud, his claws closing around a skeleton's neck and snapping it with one fluid, deadly movement.
"I'll make you pay..." He muttered, his eyes fixed on the Lich, who seemed to be smiling in his chair of bones, his immortal body unperturbed.
[BOOST!]
One last scream. The last burst of power.
With breathtaking speed, Antares finally reached the Lich. He stood before him, so fast and furious that he looked like a storm incarnate. His red eyes glowed with a ferocious intensity, and the Lich barely had time to raise his skeletal hand before Antares was upon him.
"Your time has come!"
The Lich tried to summon a spell, his hands moving in a ritualistic fashion, but Antares didn't stand a chance. With one brutal movement, he cut the spell with a vertical blow that pierced through the throne of bones and the Lich himself. The impact was so devastating that the necromancer's body was torn in half, an explosion of black energy bursting around the room.
The rotting flesh and bones disintegrated before touching the ground, disappearing in a whirlwind of necromantic energy. The Lich, a being who was supposed to be eternal, didn't stand a chance.
Everything went out in a flash of light and destruction.
And then the hall fell silent again.
Antares, panting, was covered in dust and blood, but his eyes were still glowing with anger and determination.
"That was just the beginning," he muttered and felt his body go weak at the very moment when the energy from the countless Boosts finally dissipated. An overwhelming tiredness overtook his muscles, as if all the strength that had propelled him to this point had been drained at once.
"What the fuck?" he muttered, sitting down heavily on the cold floor of the demonic castle.
Before he could even try to catch his breath, a new message appeared before his eyes.
[Gauntlet of the Emperor of Shadows and Chaos is reacting with the soul of Zhalakan the Lich].
[The Soul of Zhalakan has been absorbed and stored].
He frowned, raising his right hand and looking at the gauntlet. On the outside, it looked exactly the same, with no visible changes. But something about that message struck him as odd.
"Whatever... one day I'll have enough power to understand this shit," he said, standing up with difficulty.
His eyes scanned the interface in front of him, looking for some way to test the new acquisition, but he soon realized that there was no way.
"I can't use this shadow extraction shit..." he muttered, frustrated.
The screen then changed again.
[Mission completed.]
[Reward: +1 in all statuses, +5 points to be allocated].
He read the warnings without much excitement, just sighing.
"Ah... I'm tired..." he whispered, feeling his mind darken. The weight of exhaustion was unbearable, and before he could react, his consciousness disappeared completely.
***
"ISE!!!" A desperate voice echoed in his ears. "ISE!"
He tried to ignore it, his mind still trapped in the darkness of fainting. But the distressed, insistent tone pulled him back to reality. Gradually, he opened his eyes, blinking a few times to adjust his blurred vision.
"What a racket..." he mumbled sleepily, then he saw the woman in front of him.
Rias was kneeling beside him, her face bathed in tears, her breathing shaky as if she were choking with worry. When their gazes met, her wide eyes shone with an almost palpable relief.
"Ise?!" her voice shook, surprised to realize that he was awake. "Good..."
She wiped her eyes quickly, but the tears continued to flow. Without hesitating, she threw herself at him, wrapping him in a tight hug.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... It's my fault... I'm sorry..."
The words came out between sobs, repeated like a mantra as she clung to him tightly.
"E-wait!" Antares stammered, trying to pull away, but he couldn't fight the strength with which she held him.
Her arms wrapped around him like an unbreakable noose, and her face was buried in his chest. To make matters worse, her large breasts pressed against him in a suffocating way. She wouldn't let go, she couldn't.
He remained motionless, not knowing what to do.
"She was worried." Akeno spoke up behind them, his voice calmer but laden with a slight reproach. "You disappeared for two hours after the teleport failed. We were worried."
"The master was crying." Koneko added, her tone direct and blunt.
"I'm glad you're okay... I didn't know what would happen to the president if something had happened to you..." Kiba muttered, crossing his arms.
Antares looked at each of them, absorbing their words. But something didn't make sense.
"But... why does she care?" he asked, frowning.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
It was as if he had just said the most unbelievable nonsense in the world. Rias's body went rigid for a moment, and then she pulled away just enough to face him directly.
Her eyes, once filled with relief, now shone with a fervent intensity.
"How can I not care?!" her voice exploded into the room.
The shout was so powerful that Antares' hair was thrown back by the force of the sound, before returning to its normal position.
"You're my family! Of course I'm going to care about someone from my family!!!" The weight of those words hit Antares unexpectedly.
He opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know how to deal with it.
He didn't know how to deal with human emotions.
"I'm sorry..." was the only thing he managed to mutter, looking away.
Rias didn't reply immediately. She just pulled him back into her embrace, and this time, he didn't try to escape.
*
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