[Dante!] As he felt the sting on his chest, Dante heard Volcan's panicked voice. Time seemed to slow down significantly. Shards from the translucent Aether Shield scattered in the air, slowly disintegrating. The rabid beast, its fur crimson with blood, had its right arm reaching for the floor, the claws at its end drawing illusory red arcs through the air.
A short distance away, the blue demons activated their sorcerous arts, launched another salvo of air missiles in his direction. The heroes didn't seem to be doing anything, but the cloaked one had an arrow ready to launch, and the cold one was surrounded by floating ice shards, each one glowing a faint blue.
Thoughts raced in Dante's mind and the chaos rampaging through it only got worse. His inner voice mocked, forcefully pulling his focus back to the fact that his arrogance and greed were what caused him to end up in this situation.
