War is a place where countless lives are lost, and today more than a million lives have been lost, extinguished, for there is no second chance. Now two great powers are about to clash; let's see.
Our friends stand looking at TEZCATLIPOCA very seriously, while he merely looks at them with arrogance. What fate will unfold in this fight?
DANTE HERALDI: The day has come to kill that bastard Mijail. (Drinks the mana potion). Now I am back at full energy. Sorry, guys, but I don't have any more of these left. Will you guys be okay?
MALEKIN: I'm fine, I've rested quite a bit, so I have recovered most of my power.
ELENA: I don't have much power left, so I will support from behind.
REX: Don't worry, you are stronger; I'll manage somehow.
ISAMU: I have barely spent any of my power thanks to you, so let us proceed.
QUETZALCOATL: Stay sharp, he is coming.
TEZCATLIPOCA drops down from where he was standing, landing in front of our friends.
TEZCATLIPOCA: To think you were able to handle all my warriors even though they were not entirely living beings, but I find this hard to believe. (Annoyed) Fine, let us begin, mortals.
TEZCATLIPOCA begins by shooting lightning from his fingers, which ELENA realizes is compressed air at high speed and pressure that gives it the appearance of laser beams, cutting through everything it touches. The group dodges, and REX, already in his dog state, increases in size using his "True Form" power and bites TEZCATLIPOCA, dragging him along, but the god manages to free himself with a punch to the face. Quickly, MALEKIN shoots lightning at him and lifts him into the air, while DANTE and ISAMU launch flying slashes at him that land direct hits, causing damage to the god, who, annoyed, throws a hurricane from his hand, but MALEKIN and ELENA create a barrier to protect everyone, rendering it harmless. TEZCATLIPOCA is surprised that mortals can put up a fight against him.
QUETZALCOATL quickly throws wind slashes at him, and TEZCATLIPOCA is shocked because she shouldn't be able to wield wind powers. Quickly, the god steps to the side and speaks.
TEZCATLIPOCA: (annoyed and surprised) You, you, why can you use wind powers if you are sealed?
QUETZALCOATL: Does that matter? Your curse is weakening, and when this ends, I will kill you with all my power.
TEZCATLIPOCA: It is curious, you couldn't have wind powers without your necklace that granted them to you.
QUETZALCOATL: That necklace was merely a catalyst for my powers; in reality, I never needed it.
TEZCATLIPOCA: You are not the same as her.
QUETZALCOATL: What on earth are you talking about, brother? Who are you referring to?
TEZCATLIPOCA calms down, shakes his head, and gets more serious; quickly, he summons normal, but large jaguars, and attacks our friends. They dodge and kill the animals effortlessly, and TEZCATLIPOCA grows a bit larger; his muscles had expanded and his speed had also increased. Quickly, one by one, he begins striking them; MALEKIN and ELENA manage to defend themselves with their barriers, but the blows are so potent that they shatter them. MALEKIN takes damage and falls to the ground. ELENA uses her teleportation to escape. QUETZALCOATL barely blocks his attacks and is thrown to the side; only DANTE and ISAMU manage to fight on equal terms.
TEZCATLIPOCA, now infuriated, transforms into a humanoid jaguar, and his powers swell with the transformation, gaining the upper hand against our friends and inflicting damage on them. DANTE activates his "Shadowed Mantle," as does MALEKIN, and they charge in to attack. We see how blows are traded back and forth, with TEZCATLIPOCA blocking and attacking just as DANTE and MALEKIN do. The struggle continues until QUETZALCOATL summons her giant snakes, which attack TEZCATLIPOCA, who merely laughs and summons huge jaguars to deal with the snakes.
In DANTE's mind, he only wants to finish all of this to kill MIJAIL, who is at the top of the small hill where the god was resting, but he is quickly snapped back to reality by a blow from TEZCATLIPOCA, which DANTE barely blocks with his katana; the god is using his claws as weapons and DANTE can no longer afford to let his mind wander. He knows clearly that he must first kill TEZCATLIPOCA in order to reach MIJAIL. Quickly, TEZCATLIPOCA positions himself at the peak of the hill where he was standing, looks down at them, and speaks.
TEZCATLIPOCA: This is already annoying me; it is time to put an end to all of this.
In his jaguar form, TEZCATLIPOCA joins his hands and speaks in a strange language as a sort of black smoke begins to emerge from the small mirror tied to his waist; the smoke covers the battlefield, and from the smoke emerge clones of TEZCATLIPOCA, leaving our friends surrounded by 5 TEZCATLIPOCA clones while the real one above laughs.
TEZCATLIPOCA: I see that you are strong; let's see if you can handle my clones.
DANTE HERALDI: Curse it, why do you make it so complicated? Fight like a man and come at us.
TEZCATLIPOCA: hahaha, complicated, you say? I will ask you one thing: can you handle my clones like this? Or would you prefer them transformed? hehe.
REX: (looking at Dante) You just had to open your mouth, right, Dante?
DANTE HERALDI: ...
TEZCATLIPOCA's clones adopt the original's jaguar form and begin fighting our friends. ELENA joins REX to fight against two of them, while the rest take on one each. Meanwhile, DANTE releases his power and goes directly after the original. The transformed TEZCATLIPOCA tries to strike DANTE, but he blocks, triggering a wild battle.
Quickly, the fight grows more intense, destroying trees and valleys alike. Instantly, MIJAIL had disappeared, and no one could find him. In the middle of the fight, DANTE tries to locate him with his "location" power, but fails to find him. Due to being distracted, TEZCATLIPOCA takes advantage and plunges his claws into DANTE's shoulder; DANTE frees himself quickly, and his wounds begin to heal right in front of TEZCATLIPOCA.
TEZCATLIPOCA: Boy, you have potential, why don't you join me and Mictlantekuti?
DANTE HERALDI: What on earth are you trying to achieve?
TEZCATLIPOCA: I will ask you something: if you were to discover that your existence is a vile lie and you had the power to change it, what would you do?
DANTE HERALDI: Umm, what do you mean? What do you and Mictlantekuti want to do?
TEZCATLIPOCA: I will tell you if you accept my offer. Will you join me?
DANTE HERALDI: My friends need me, and you have to disappear.
TEZCATLIPOCA, annoyed, launches flying slashes from his claws that push DANTE back and slam him into the ground where his companions were—all of whom lay defeated on the ground by the copies, except for ISAMU, who continues fighting. DANTE stands up quickly and releases his three powers: "Shadowed Mantle," "Wolf Speed," and "Domination"; the latter being that of the mask with all its power. The ground trembles, and in the blink of an eye, all the clones have been destroyed. TEZCATLIPOCA looks at DANTE in surprise.
TEZCATLIPOCA: (sweating) A new god has been born.
Quickly, DANTE charges at TEZCATLIPOCA, who tries to block, but his left hand is severed from his body, and TEZCATLIPOCA uses all his power, increasing in size to stand 3 meters tall. An imposing figure of a humanoid jaguar makes its presence known and, with blinding speed, attacks DANTE, but he blocks and dodges swiftly. His "survival instinct" power had reached its maximum potential, allowing him to dodge without even thinking. Desperate, the god attacks out of sheer rage, but his attacks are no longer able to reach DANTE, and missing a hand, it was impossible to keep up with DANTE's pace. In a series of back-and-forth attacks, DANTE manages to slice TEZCATLIPOCA's body in half; the god falls to the ground in shock, and as he was falling, QUETZALCOATL looks on with pity at her defeated brother.
Quickly, QUETZALCOATL gets up and runs to where her brother is, watching him in agony, while DANTE also collapses heavily onto the ground, as using all his power had shattered his body, which was not accustomed to wielding his 3 techniques for so long. QUETZALCOATL sits beside her brother and, with a cold expression, simply watches him die.
QUETZALCOATL: At last all of this is over, brother. Do you have anything to say before I kill you?
Dante barely stands up and also sits next to Quetzalcoatl; quickly the others approach to witness the end of their enemy, and everyone ends up surrounding a dying TEZCATLIPOCA.
TEZCATLIPOCA: (spitting blood) To think a mortal would beat me… (looks at Dante) That sword… is very strong (agonizes). If it weren't for it… you would have never beaten me.
DANTE HERALDI: (in his mind) To think I have to thank MORS for upgrading my sword so much that it now kills gods.
TEZCATLIPOCA: (bleeding from the mouth) You ask me what my last words are… Well, I will tell you the truth: one of them is, you are not my original sister.
This news leaves everyone shocked and stunned.
QUETZALCOATL: What on earth are you talking about? You are my brother, the one I defeated, and besides, we went through so many things together. You are the brother I hated my whole life until now. Why do you say you are not my brother?
TEZCATLIPOCA: *cough*, *cough* You must know about multiverses, right? We're not brothers from the same timeline… you're from another timeline… In my world, I killed you and gained control of everything, but I felt empty, until Mictlantekuti from this realm found me. He wasn't from my timeline either… He told me that we were created by the creation of the true God of all (begins to cry). Our existence is nothing more than a whim of others; Mictlantekuti promised me that if I followed him, we could ascend to become true gods… but my dream ends here. Perhaps this was a mistake on my part, it's true. Take this.
TEZCATLIPOCA hands her a seashell necklace; it was the necklace that granted wind powers to QUETZALCOATL.
TEZCATLIPOCA: I don't have much strength left… I took this necklace from the lifeless body of my sister… whom I killed… Now I give it to you, take care of it… I wish I had known nothing of this cursed existence and could have gotten along with you, sister… I know I wasted my life… I don't know if my words are worth anything now… but, forgive me for everything.
TEZCATLIPOCA breathes his last breath and dies with those words.
QUETZALCOATL: (crying quietly) I don't know how to process all of this. I thought I hated my brother for everything, but now I see that in other timelines I lost, and I also see that in my timeline I killed him. (Hugs herself) Now with all this information I wonder: What on earth am I? (Lowers her head)
Everyone is left astonished by this revelation: something that the creator father of everything made, created the gods and confirmed multiple realities, but everyone in their minds asks one thing: if there are multiple realities, what hell is this where they are? Everything is in silence when Dante stands up and hugs Quetzalcoatl.
DANTE HERALDI: Don't worry, what matters is who you are now, and I believe the Mictlantekuti of this hell has all the answers. We will have to go, guys, don't lose heart, soon we will have the answers. For today, this battle has ended.
QUETZALCOATL, now a bit more encouraged since her mission is now to know the truth, decides to listen to DANTE. All the others also cheer up and stand up.
DANTE HERALDI: (in his mind) What ACHAM said about the hells is partly true, what else does all this hide; that demon didn't tell me everything, I think very soon I will know. The concerning thing is, why do only the demons know about the multiverses while most of the gods have no idea? This is very strange. (Acham in Chapter 11)
From one moment to another, a black smoke surrounds everyone, and we see that TEZCATLIPOCA's chest is opened wide, and a black smoke removes the heart of the dead god. Our friends are too tired to react, but out of nowhere, a power of smoke pushes them far away, and while they are being thrown from the spot where they were, DANTE sees that MIJAIL had taken TEZCATLIPOCA's mirror and was eating his heart. DANTE quickly uses his "wolf speed" power and tries to reach MIJAIL, who had already swallowed the god's heart, and we see how he is transforming into smoke and says a few words before leaving.
MIJAIL PETROV: We will see each other again, DAN… TE WAJAJAJAJAJA.
No sooner had he finished saying his words than his body had completely disappeared, and DANTE, in his desperation, can only scream.
DANTE HERALDI: MIJAIILLLLL, NOOOOOOOOOOO!
His enemy had disappeared, and DANTE is left pounding the ground in frustration upon seeing that he let his nemesis escape. While everyone watches how DANTE is upset, they can do nothing, only look. This war had ended, but with a bitter ending for DANTE.