Dario had just burned away the ropes surrounding his legs when R.D.'s Exterminating Last Bullet came charging through the flames. The candidate's eyes widened. "Oh, SHIT-"

R.D.'s fist impacted with Dario's jaw and Dario hurtled backwards, crashing through the inferno into the north wall. Thunderous cracks erupted outwards from the impact and tore across the ceiling, disloging chunks of stone that flattened parts of the fire.

"Nice shot, R.D.!" Helena shouted, having just finished the last summoned demon. Hugo switched to his Ice Option and doused the area in front of him with a cool mist, snuffing the flames.

***

Even with the slowing spell, the snow whumped as Matt fell into it, legs flaring out from the impact. He pushed himself out of the snowbank and spat mushy ice. "Hell no!"

Dmitrii was also pulling himself up. "Good shot, Soma!" he said, struggling to his feet. Once again, the same remnants of his aura from earlier were fading away from his body. "And now it's my turn once again." He lifted his hand and it burned with fire. "I have to say, Dario is dumber than the day is long, but I respect his passion for making things burn!" With that he slashed the air, sending out his own streaking fireballs. Despite Soma's dodge, one crashed into his side, and he cried out in pain.

"Soma!" Now Matt was fumbling to find footing in the snow. What the hell was this guy doing? Did he have attacks like them, or-

...ohhhhh.

R.D. landed back from his attack, and there was a hissing in the air as the Shell Bullet armor dissolved. "That won't be enough to take him down!" he warned them. "Stay on your guard!"

===

As Matt got up and Soma was attacked, Alasea opened herself up to her power, causing a magic circle of bluish-white light to appear beneath her. As it revolved, Alasea unleashed her magic on the snow falling down from the night sky, taking control of it. "Razorhail!" she shouted, casting her spell.

Snow solidified into jagged shards of ice, and a brutal wind swept down through them, launching them down at Dmitrii.

"Ah-hah-OW." Dario slid down the wall, amazingly landing on his feet as he nursed his jaw. "God DAMN, that hurt. You're a tough kid."

"You're outgunned," Hugo called as Helena darted to R.D.'s side, clenching her claws. "Give it up."

"No way!" Dario said. "I'd rather get my ass kicked by anyone except that jackass Dmitrii." Fire erupted around him in an aura washing over his form like waves. "But that doesn't mean I'm gonna lose to you on purpose. Time to go all out. You ready?"

Hugo's pickaxe clicked into ready position. "Helena, Ileyna, keep it long range! R.D., close in and take him out!"

"You're not gonna take me THAT easily!" Dario said. His aura burst up into a full stream of fire, with such force that the room immediately felt warmer despite the frosty winds outside. Dario thrust his hands out and launched a pair of blazing serpent-like blasts, much like Helena's own attack.

Helena herself leapt into place and countered with a blast of her own. "Let's go!" she shouted.

***

Dmitrii smirked and spread his arms as the hail swooped in.

"Damn it, don't do that!" Matt shouted. It was too late. The hail pounded into Dmitrii and swept him back into the snow.

As the twin blasts exploded against one another, R.D. took off--smoke quickly parted for him, and he drove a Godhand-enhanced fist right at Dario's neck.

===

Realization came in only moments after, and Alasea cursed herself for not realizing what was happening sooner. "We need to use weapons, then?" she asked of Matt as she readied the Megami Tsurugi.

"Hey, back off!" Dario shouted. He let loose a blast of heavy fire point-blank in R.D.'s face.

***

"Yeah, maybe you shouldn't give him any more powerful AREA EFFECT SPELLS," Matt snapped. He'd apologize later. They had to take Dmitrii down, NOW. He was already trying to get up!

Shifting to the water gem, Matt froze the water at his feet into a bridge of ice that crackled out towards Dmitrii. He stepped on and slung forward, riding it. "Hit him NOW! Right NOW!"

Dmitrii just aimed his hand at Matt and already the hail swarmed to meet him. A hovering shield of ice deflected most of the hail, but before he could maneuver around to attack, he crashed into a mass of green bulk. The bulk grabbed him before he could slip and, in a whirl of color, smashed him into the castle wall.

"More Malachis!" Soma shouted as the tentacled-faced demons gated in. "Alasea, get them! I'll fight Dmitrii!"

The explosion was deafening inside of the chamber, and it easily drowned out R.D.'s pained scream as he was thrown back by the blast wave, clutching his face. R.D. ripped his hands from it with a bellow of rage, intense heat erupting from them as he drew the heat from his face, minimizing the burns.

"Fuck you!" he shouted back, thrusting it forward. The air glowed brightly with the heat for the briefest of moments before flame exploded out of it, forming the roaring head of Dragon Blaze. R.D. continued to feed his own energy into the attack, and soon the dragon head grew in size, soon becoming large enough to swallow the dark lord candidate whole.

===

"Ahh! Matt!" Alasea cried, seeing the hulking beast tackle him into the wall. "Get away from him!"

A magic circle appeared around Alasea's hand as she brought it up, causing multiple spheres of bright orange energy to appear around it. "Crossfire Shoot!"

They erupted into beams--several of them lanced out straight forward at the Malachi, while the remainder darted around in a spiraling circle around the other beams as they closed in.

"Oh fuck, oh FUCK!" Dario threw back his fist and smashed it onto the ground. Pillars of fire erupted forth, tearing through the ground like a shockwave to crash into Dragon Blaze head-on.

***

The beams carved through the Malachi that had struck Matt down just as something exploded above. Above, a brief torrent of flame and smoke shot out of the castle wall they had fallen from.

With a yell, Soma charged in, diving underneath the swipe of the other Malachi towards Dmitrii. Dmitrii prepared to throw more hail, but abandoned that plan as Soma's sword cleaved towards him. He ducked down, but wasn't fast enough to avoid Soma's boot that sailed up, knocking him in the chin and sending him lurching into the snow.

Alasea gave a brief glance upwards as the flames gutted the side of the castle, but soon returned her attention to the battle, spinning about as she created another magic circle. "Not on my watch!" she shouted, generating more spheres of energy. "Crossfire Shoot!"

Again, the beams lanced out at the Malachi that had attempted to intercept Soma, cutting through the creature before exploding violently. There, that did it--now their attention was on her. Perfect! One stasis trap, coming right up!

She held her hands out to her sides, readying her powers as she weaved her wards.

===

Sound didn't exist for the brief moments following the explosions--Dario's and R.D.'s flames had incinerated the chamber, melting stone into slag with their intense heat.

Helena and Hugo found themselves floating inside of the protective sphere of Ileyna's aura, keeping them protected from the flames. The girl herself was sweating from exertion, having used every bit of her power to try and protect them from the blast. "Are you alright?" she asked, extremely concerned.

"I'm okay!" Helena said, uncovering her head. "What about you?"

"Where's Dario?" Hugo asked, trying to peer through Ileyna's shield and gaze into the clusters of smoke.

***

The Malachis screeched, tentacles curling, and rushed Alasea with claws bared.

"I don't see R.D. anywhere?" Ileyna lamented, looking about wildly. As the smoke rolled about, it churned about in the far corner, blasting away as both R.D. and Dario came hurtling out of it, fisticuffs flying.

"R.D.!" Ileyna cried.

"This hand of mine glows with an awesome power!" R.D. was shouting, lifting up a Godhand-enhanced fist. It blazed brightly as the fire condensed into shining green light. "Its burning grip tells me to defeat you!"

===

As the demons charged in, they reached a point and seemed to strike something electrical that crawled over their hides, and caused them to slow. But despite that, they still advanced.

Alasea looked up in surprise. "What?"

They're resisting the trap!? she thought wildly. Bringing up her hands, she readied two more Crossfires and fired them before bailing. Dammit! Not again! Is everything I do going to be useless!?

"What the hell are you saying?" Dario snapped, trying his best to hit R.D.. Enhanced as he was, Dario was still only a wild brawler, and couldn't really match R.D.'s hand-to-hand skills.

"Let us out," Helena said. "We've got to take Dario down while he's distracted by R.D.! Or at least hold him down so R.D. can finish him off!"

***

The trap might not have worked, but the Crossfires did - blowing through the Malachis, they burst into dissolving ash.

Matt groaned and tried to sit up, rubble crumbling around him. "Number of truck, where it came from," he muttered. Grasping his head, he noticed Soma and Dmitrii fighting nearby as his vision returned to clarity. With a yell, both Soma and Dmitrii gathered their energies towards their hands and smashed them into each other. The resulting impact flung them apart with a discharge of power.

"Here I go!"

"Ileyna relinquished her shielding, allowing the other two to drop on their feet as R.D. roared at his opponent.

R.D. splayed his hand open as his attack readied. "Shining Finger!"

R.D. hurtled forward, hand first at Dario's open face.

===

"Soma!" Alasea cried in surprise as he and Dmitrii blasted each other away.

The hand smashed full-force into Dario's face, muffling his scream.

***

Once again Soma and Dmitrii hit the snow with a whump. "Hold on, I'm comin'!" Matt said, scrambling out of the dent he had made in the castle wall. "Alasea, go hit him now, preferably with a fist of some kind!"

R.D.'s momentum slammed Dario into the floor as the Shining Finger began to torch his face. "How's it feel, bitch!?" R.D. snarled, pulling back to try and lift the man off the ground and throw him.

===

"Hit him!? With what!?" Alasea shouted in disbelief at Matt's command. She'd probably kill him with her sword, but if she used her magic, then... wait.

That's it!

"Matt, get out of the way!" she yelled as she brought up her hand, readying magic.

Dario wildly swung a fist of fire at R.D.'s arm, kicking and struggling to break free.

***

"No, don't shoot him with MORE magic!" Matt shouted. "BRAIN, woman! Use it!"

With a roar, R.D. flung Dario away, into the nearest wall of the chamber. As the dark lord candidate left his hand, R.D.'s arm dropped and Shining Finger dissipated, causing him to breathe heavily. His arm was beginning to sting, showing that he was beginning to channel too much energy.

===

Matt's yell was promptly ignored by Alasea, who channeled and finally unleashed her spell.

A tiny burst of static electricity zapped the downed Dmitrii. It was barely enough to make him sting a tiny bit, and not even enough to make him flinch.

"Now let's see you use our powers against us," Alasea said, standing up straight.

"R.D., you okay?" Helena said. She approached with a careful run, keeping claws bared and eyes on Dario slinking to the floor. "Did we win?"

"After that, he'd better be down," Hugo said, depowering his G-Stone aura but keeping his pickaxe ready.

***

Dmitrii's aura protected him from the spark. And yet, even though it didn't hurt him, he sprang up anyway. "You...what did you do to my POWER?!" he demanded, studying his hands.

"I-I'm fine," R.D. grunted, heaving a bit. "Don't let your guard down, Ileyna."

"Right," the girl said as she began her approach.

===

"Something I should've done the moment I realized what your power was," Alasea replied, smirking a bit. "Matt, Soma? Pound him."

Dario didn't move - he lay face down in the rubble, seemingly totally defeated. The energy of Omega Essence within him hummed.

***

Brow furrowing, Dmitrii lashed his hand at Alasea. Instead of a great torrent of hail, he fired a small spark that quickly died with a fizzle.

"I get it now," Soma said as Dmitrii's eyes widened. "He can absorb magic attacks, but he can't choose WHICH magic he absorbs!"

Matt laughed, cracking his knuckles. "C'mere, boy!" he said to Dmitrii in an exaggerated accent. "I'm gonna make ya SQUEAL like a piggy!"

Ileyna nodded to herself as she hovered over Dario's prone form, and opened herself up to her powers completely. "Recro!" she began, lifting her left arm up with her fingers flexed into a sign.

"Singulus... restituo... animus... substantia!"

===

As the spark came her way, Alasea brushed it off with a simple shield spell.

"How's that for using my brain?" she cheekily asked of Matt.

Hugo kept his gun trained on Dario as Ileyna withdrew the Essence. When Dario didn't budge, the Mettaur changed it back to his pickaxe. "...that's one, then."

***

Matt and Soma flanked Dmitrii, and Matt socked one fist into his open palm.

"This means nothing," Dmitrii spat, taking a step back.

"I'm sorry, I'd like to listen to you," Matt said. "But my fist is already winding up!"

Soma stabbed Claimh Solais into the snow and balled his fists, and with that, he and Matt leapt on Dmitrii and pummelled him.

As the Essence formed, Ileyna snatched out of the air and sped back to the others. "Got it!"

"Let's go, then," R.D. said, nodding. "Matt, Soma, and Alasea might need our help."

===

It was almost sad, watching Matt and Soma pound Dmitrii into the snow, Alasea decided. It was obvious that beyond the candidate's magic absorption powers, he didn't know anything about true combat. She spread her arms and readied wards, intending to block any other demons that might try to come to his aid.

"Owwwwwwww."

Hugo and Helena whirled around as Dario, who was just throughly defeated by R.D., got back up without a single scratch present on him. "DAMN, you hit hard," Dario said, fiddling with his chin.

"What the hell's going on?" Hugo snapped.

Dario smiled a big grin. "That guy in the black suit didn't tell you, did he? Celia's seals heal me back up after I get my ass kicked unless you draw the counter seal." He pointed at the floor. "But last I checked, that Soma kid's the only one who can do that. Sucks to be Dmitrii, I guess!"

"What the!?" R.D. said, rounding about in shock. "Oh, hell, I hate it when my opponents don't know when to stop."

R.D. laced his fingers together and pushed them out, causing them to crack. "Ileyna, get going. I'll hold him off."

Nervously, the girl nodded once and flew out of the gaping hole in the melted chamber's wall.

"I'll stick with you," Helena said, stepping in front of R.D. with claws bared. "If he can regenerate wounds, you'll need all the help you can get."

"You want some too?" Dario said. He bent his knees and gathered flame in his hand. "Bring it on!"

Helena threw out her claws and fired a beam of heat at Dario, who countered with his own, and the two beams struggled for dominance.

How to defeat someone who can't be killed? That was the dilemma R.D. was now facing--could he defeat Dario in such a way that Celia's magic couldn't bring him back from death's doorstep?

Hell, he should've realized that Dario wouldn't go down so easy--he was one of the candidates for the Dark Lord, someone who could inherit the throne of Dracula, like Soma had. How did one stop someone with the power opposite... of... God?

That's it!

R.D. leaped back, readying Lumiya's unstable power. His mutated eyes flared gold briefly. "Helena, hold him off! I know how to take this bastard down!"

"Okay!" Helena shouted. With a yell, her beam of fire intensified.

"What are you going to do?" Hugo said to R.D..

"Gonna pull a tactic out of Matt's book," R.D. said, thinking back. He closed his eyes, and channeled his power. Immediately, the air around him seemed to become charged. "Cover me."

Particles of light began to flit down onto his form, and the symbol on the back of his ungloved hand began to shift about.

"Then I hope you know what you're doing!" Hugo said.

The particles of light intensified, banding together as they wrapped around R.D.'s torso and spread outwards to his limbs, consuming him in light. It expanded and molded into his Dragon King Armor.

And as the light began to fade, it became something different from before--sharper edges, thicker plates, different designs. Something primal. A series of plates cradled a large red gemstone in the breastplate, and dragon-headed armor covered the gauntlets. The energy coalesced across his face, forming a helmet--but instead of the smooth, T-shaped visor, a fang-emblazoned mouthplate slid down from beneath the plate holding the three-pronged, ruby-embedded crest. Darkness covered his eyes, only for them to glow moments later.

The bits and pieces of the room's melted slag disappeared as the chest jewel glowed brightly, and a Nova Reactor was created on R.D.'s back. The flywheel began to spin, supplying power to the armor, and R.D.'s body began to glow a brilliant electric blue.