As if to prove him right, something emerged from the spreading flames, pulling burning ropes away. The horns on its head told him it was the hero he was fighting, but the proportions told a different story. Going by his skin, which was several shades darker than it was just earlier, it appeared like he had shrunk to half his size after getting overcooked.

That didn't seem to deter the horned hero. Despite his current state, Dante could still see the maniacal grin on his face as he raised both arms above his head, bending his whole body in preparation for a hammer attack.

'Dragon Flame!'

A bright beam pierced the hero's left flank just as he reached Dante. His eyes widened before regaining their focus, pushed down by his angled brows and gritted teeth. He tried to deliver the attack nonetheless, fighting through the pain, but several other beams pierced him before he could, killing most of the force he had prepared.

Dante had sacrificed the chance to dodge so he could deliver a serious blow. Dragon Flame was no different from pyrokinesis, although it could only control fire created by the armor itself. At Level 3, it could manage fire on a much larger scale, which is why Dante was able to manipulate the fire he had unleashed before, condensing it into concentrated laser-like beams.

With nowhere to escape, he held his arms up to guard against the hero's attack, thinking it wouldn't amount to much after all the damage he had just dealt, but the instant that hammer strike connected, Dante regretted not focusing on evading instead.

Injured and surprised, Red Bull still swung with everything he could muster. His previous momentum was killed by the attacks he suffered, but a Level 4 was still a Level 4, and the power he could generate at a moment's notice was still enough to swat an armored man off the air, slamming him into the ground hard enough for him to bounce.

Even with the significant Durability boost 1-3 grants, Dante still felt the shock from both impacts in the depths of his core. His vision blurred for a moment, and if it weren't for his enhanced perception, he wouldn't have recovered in time to adjust his posture and land properly.

Not giving himself the chance to catch his breath, he activated Dragon Flame once more and beckoned the surrounding fire, commanding it to impale his enemy and slice him a hundred times over.

Despite looking like a charred corpse while surrounded by beams of light, Red Bull started cackling all of a sudden.

"Keh keh keh… Kuhahaahahahaha!"

Shifting in the air, he bent his legs as if preparing to leap. He had no platform to stand on, but he still managed to launch himself with explosive speed, leaving behind a shockwave powerful enough to scatter Dante's flames. Mashing straight into the ground, his thigh bulged as he leaned forward, arms on the ground like a bull about to dash. In an instant, his size doubled as all of his burnt muscle seemed to return all at once.

Dante was already enveloped by threads of white light at that point, having switched to a new armor. Just as it was about to finish forming, the horned hero released the force he was holding back.

Another explosion shook Red Garden, and another one followed right after, only the second felt a lot sharper, like a blunt object hitting a massive steel beam. A loud crash came right after, its source a small building detached from the mansion.

The silence that followed seemed cold despite the nearby fire. It didn't last long, shattered by another boom. Something fell a short distance from where Dante stood, and once the dust cloud dispersed, Red Bull's form was revealed. His costume was mostly gone, leaving him with only a pair of shorts. His entire body seemed to have healed from its burns, but looking at his mangled right arm, it becomes clear that his most recent wound had yet to heal.

"Well, look at you." He grabbed his right shoulder with his left arm and popped it back in its place. "It's like they said. You can swap suits!"

Concrete cracked as Dante turned around to face the hero. He spared a glance at the status window that popped up in front of him, going through the abilities listed at the bottom. He then looked down at himself, taking in the patch of red left by the blood splashed on his armor, and the bits of flesh still stuck at the center of it all.

[

Name: Dante

Species: Human

Threat Level: 2

Baseline Retention: Advanced (75%)

Stats:

Strength: 8 (+25)

Durability: 32 (+100)

Agility: 28 (+10)

Dexterity: 32 (+7)

Computing Power: 40 (+30)

Energy: 0 (+50/300)

Implants:

Diamond Fist (D)

Kinetic Absorption Protective Sub-Layer Generation 15 (C)

RespiraCore Series V (D)

NephroCore Series X (D)

Overmind Cortical Interface Module (A)

Overmind Neural Response Enhancer (A)

Armor: Type 6-3

Abilities:

Forc Field.

Impact Reversal.

Kinetic Absorption.

]

Dante's eyes went back to the energy counter on the status screen, and the urge to sigh quickly overwhelmed him. A single blow. That was all it took to wipe out 85% of the armor's reserves.

Realizing 1-3 wouldn't be able to withstand whatever the horned hero was about to throw at him, he quickly changed armors, bringing out 6-3. Combining all three of its abilities, he took the devastating attack head-on. Though he hadn't felt anything while inside the armor, seeing that most of its energy had been depleted after taking a single blow didn't bode well for what was to come.

"Man, can't believe you tanked that as if it were nothing." The hero's mangled arm wriggled as he spoke, squirting blood and making popping sounds. "That was my strongest blow, man! At least look like you had struggled or something!"

In just a few seconds, his busted arm returned to its original state. The wounds closed, and the skin was restored, though some scars remained. Clenching and spreading his fingers, Red Bull turned his gaze back to Dante, his grin returning right away.

Gazing back at him, Dante clicked his tongue.

[Monster…]