The Dragon King's Heart

The ice layer that immobilized the beast cracked. Shards of ice fell to the ground. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Dante gritted his teeth as he attempted to crawl towards Laina. 

He continued to call out to her. But there was no response. As he watched the beast's claw swipe down at Laina, he yelled out in agony. It could not end like this, it could not. Dante closed his eyes. He gathered whatever strength he had left to turn into his dragon form. 

But the full effects of the curse weighed down upon him. Each breath of air Dante released from his lungs released a puff of mist into the air. His vision was growing blurry. He reached his hand out towards where Laina was as a cold icy chill spread across his body. 

"Lai...Laina..." he muttered her name over and over again. 

Through his blurry vision, Dante saw something he would never forget. He widened his eyes in shock as he saw the beast's claws were sliced clean off. Blood spewed and gushed from the open wound. A swirl of flame slithered up the arm of the beast. 

The beast let out a gurgled cry as it stumbled backward. Even from where he lay, Dante could feel the warmth of the flame. A similar swirl of flame, on top of the one that Titan had cast around him, circled Dante. He could feel its warmth on his skin as he became a little more re-energized. 

"That was a close call," Lain's voice rang out from where he had last seen her laying on the ground, unmoving. 

The moment she had hit the wall, Laina was almost incapacitated. If not for Dante's quick thinking, slowing down the beast's movements she would not have had enough time to formulate a strategy and fight back. 

Laina got back up on her feet with relative ease. She wiped off the blood on the side of her lips as she rushed to Dante's side. She did not care about the pain that surged through her back. All she cared about at that moment was his well-being. 

"Dante, are you alright?" she asked. 

Her voice filled with concern and worry as she checked him for injuries. The warmth of her hands on his skin caused him to shudder. She looked down at his arms and saw the dark-colored veins. In his weakened state, he did not have enough strength to conceal them.

Dante attempted to remove his arm from Laina's grasp. But she held onto his wrist tightly, refusing to let go. 

"I..." at that moment, Laina and Dante locked eyes. 

Neither of them said a single word. They were simply gazing into one another's eyes. That was all they needed to know what was in each other's hearts. Dante opened his mouth. He wanted to say something. Anything. 

But nothing came through. Laina did not say anything either. She cupped his cheeks and gave him a kiss on the lips. He could taste the iron in her blood from the cut on her lip. 

When they parted lips, he could see the beast turning towards them. It was gurgling and screeching in agony from the wound that Laina had inflicted on it. Before he could say anything, Laina forced him to look at her. 

"When this is over, I think you and I need to talk," she said to him sweetly with a smile on her face. 

Laina turned her attention back to the grotesque beast that was glaring at her. She was ready to obliterate the beast if possible. She examined it in great detail, heaving a sigh of relief when she noticed that the arm she had cut off did not regenerate. 

But before she could celebrate one step closer to killing it, the beast began to eat the mushrooms off the cave floor. As it consumed large amounts of mushrooms, the body of the beast bulged and bubbled beneath the skin. 

"It's regenerating!" Dante realized.

Laina gritted her teeth. She had jinxed it. 

"I'm on it!" Laina closed the distance between her and the beast in a split second. 

She clutched on tightly to the handle of the sword with both hands. She brought it high above her head, ready to cleave the beast into two. But this time, Laina was not so lucky. The beast regained energy and strength from its consumption of the mushrooms, regenerated its arm with lightning speed. 

It even grew two more limbs. The beast turned to glare at Laina. When she realized its enhanced reaction speed, it was already too late. The beast swiped at Laina. She was smacked straight down onto the cave floor. 

Laina grimaced in pain as pain jolted through her body. She spat out blood from her move from the force of the impact on her body. Luckily, she did not hit her head. But the beast has its claws on her. 

Every move she made ached. Laina struggled under its claws to no avail. Dante felt his blood run cold once more. Though the curse's effects seemed to be weakening, he was still unable to stand. 

"Laina!" he yelled out her name as he reached for her. 

As he tried to crawl towards her, he attempted to freeze the beast's claws just like he had done before. It was as if the hide of the beast had toughened after the consumption of the mushrooms. The chilly ice he inflicted was no longer effective. 

As he attempted to get closer to the fight, Laina stopped him. 

"Don't come any closer!" she warned while gritting her teeth through the pain. 

She could feel the pressure exerted onto her body from the beast's claws. It was as if the beast was trying to suffocate her. Or worse, flatten her. The next time she tried to speak, Laina felt her bones cracking and splintering. 

Her attempt to speak turned into a cry of pain and agony. Dante slammed his fist against the cave floor. Laina was suffering and yet there was nothing he could do. Titan, who was watching everything happen, did his best to fight back the beast's other faces and limbs. 

But he was no match for it.

He made his way to Laina's side, spewing a swirl of burning hot flame at the beast in hopes that it would let Laina go. But it did not work. The beast swiped at Titan, forcing him to retreat to Dante's side.