Dantega:Volume 4 Chapter 2
(PART 2)
The blue haired man named Leviathan has just finished a conversation with the man who bears a striking resemblance to Damien.
He folds his arms and smiles before making his way toward the exit of the dark room.
"Well then Satan, it looks like you have everything on your end of the spectrum handled with no problems..."
Satan cracks his neck and says, "Of course I do, I'm not like my son."
Leviathan turns his head as though he had forgotten why he came in the first place.
"Oh that reminds me, I wanted to tell you something."
"Go ahead."
"Ubica and Rage have reached the second level of Purgatory."
Satan frowns for a moment and replies, "Those two absolutely must not make it back to Earth, especially Ubica."
"I would’ve thought that Rage would be a bigger threat to your plans, after all you’re able to gather the souls of the dead unimpeded with him gone."
“You’re not wrong. But Ubica is getting stronger by the minute. I don’t know how or why, but it’s like he’s getting closer to his original strength.” "Dantega… such an imposing force it continues to be."
Satan stays quiet for a moment before saying, "Listen Leviathan, I want you to go to Purgatory to kill him. Do you think you can handle that?"
Leviathan is the second in command in the Hierarchy of Hell, the fact that Satan himself has become worried enough about the situation to send him there speaks for itself.
Leviathan opens the door to the room and gets ready to exit when he says, "With the way Ubica is now, there is no way I can lose... especially not in the second level of Purgatory."
"Then go there immediately, let's finally destroy the uncontrollable Dantega."
Caesar calmly walks down the steps that lead from the Captain's room down to the deck, he passes through the bulk of men rushing around gathering supplies for the upcoming battle and reaches the edge of the deck.
Out in the distance he sees the opposing pirate ship's men preparing multiple cannons for a second volley.
He puts one foot on top of the railing and glares at them with his one uncovered eye.
He smiles confidently and lifts his black eye-patch off his face and reveals a swirling blue eye that contrasts his other eye significantly.
The opposing pirate ship is now so close that the voices of the crew men are heard yelling that they are ready to fire.
Caesar’s bright blue eye starts to shine brightly and the light swirls in front of his face.
The men manning the cannons shout "FIRE!!" and send three large steel balls zooming toward the Black Dandelion at intense speeds.
"Redirect..." Caesar says unhurriedly.
The flying cannonballs suddenly snap sideways and fly off away from the Dandelion at a sharp 90 degree angle.
Once the danger of being attacked from afar is gone, he turns to the rest of the men and shouts, "Pull closer to them! We will take the battle to their ship!"
The ship's distance between each other narrows and rope with hooks at the end are thrown to latch on to each deck’ with this, the battle reaches a new phase.
Throwing their ladders from the railing of one ship to the other, both sides start rushing across these crude bridges and onto each other's decks. Almost immediately it starts to become very difficult to distinguish between friend and foe.
It would seem that Napoleon has no problems with this however, as he slashes people with his La'Juutian sword, he is easily defeating the enemies with no concern of being injured himself.
His reputation as an unstoppable force of a soldier in hand to hand combat is finally showing now that he fights against regular humans with no outstanding powers to speak of.
Another man with a reputation as someone unstoppable is Ubica, he is someone who could destroy the entire ship with a flick of wrist but instead he is just standing there. The only time he moves is when someone comes to attack him, he'll defend himself by turning his sword around and knocking them out of the way.
Caesar notices this and yells at him, "Hey! That isn't doing anything you know!?"
Ubica ignores the sharp glare of the Captain as another man comes up for an attack.
While defending himself he replies, "Well what am I supposed to do?"
"You're supposed to kill them you dumbass!"
"I’d rather not."
A couple of Caesar’s men are slain by the opposing pirates and this throws him into a rage.
"Are you blind!? These men are trying to kill you! These men are killing our comrades!"
Ubica clenches his fists and turns to see how Tsubiri is looking at him, but she is occupied with fighting at the moment and using her lightning strikes to dispose of her attackers.
Now that he thinks about it, these men really are trying to kill them, they are trying to kill Tsubiri and he is watching it firsthand. If he isn't careful, sooner or later Trojia and Daey will be attacked and they will either have to kill or be killed.
That is, unless he does something about it.
None of his friends would need to dirty their hands with this violence if he can help them avoid it.
With this resolve in his chest, he gives Caesar a look of agreement.
He runs to the edge of the ship and holds out his sword.
With a simple swing he can blast the opposition into oblivion, but he is hesitating.
When he escaped from the eternal lake of fire, he had for this is because he vowed to himself that he'd never kill another human being again. He knows that he must do what he can to protect the others but that doesn't help quell the expectation of his imminent guilt.
During this brief moment of hesitation, an unexpected voice from the water is heard so loud and deep that it causes some men to be overrun with the feeling of nausea and immediately incapacitates them..
"I see the rumors about you are true, Ubica. How disappointing.."
Ubica's face turns blue with fright, he instantly recognizes the voice coming from the water.
The ocean rises underneath the enemy ship and bulges tens of stories upwards; Caesar’s crewmembers stare in shock at the sight and even the Captain himself has his mouth agape.
The men from the opposing ship all scream, some of Caesar’s men are on that ship as well and they too can be heard shouting.
The voice of the ocean is once again heard saying, "If there were any remnants of the old you, this would have already been done."
The water holding up the ship wraps around it and in turn makes a sonic boom so bright it shines the night sky so much that it looks like it has suddenly become day.
The sonic boom is so loud that it takes a few moments before the actual noise rings through the ears of all the rest.
The ship is blown into nothingness and only fragments of the ship drop from the sky and look like hundreds of shooting stars until they turn to dust and gently fall into the ocean and land atop the heads of the remaining men.
Messor finally leaves from the barracks and walks onto the deck, she sees the giant form of water still there.
"I thought I had heard 'his' voice." she said with scowl.
The water bulge slowly shrinks and the silhouette of what looks to be a serpent is swimming around in a circle as a blue light pulsates from within the water.
Out of the top of the bulge comes a dragon's head, peering at them with its bright red eyes.
The serpent looks up to the sky and opens its mouth, revealing its massive teeth, and out of its mouth a man rises up toward the stars.
He has dark blue hair and bright blue eyes.
Ubica takes an uncertain step back and his breathing becomes shoddy when he mutters the name of the man.
"Leviathan..."
"It’s been far too long since I’ve last seen you.” Leviathan smiles and says, “To think that I watched over you from within the ocean for all that time only for you to eventually shrink away from violence like this.”
Ubica clicks his tongue and looks towards Trojia, Tsubiri and Daey, who are glaring at him in confusion.
With Leviathan’s sudden appearance, the three of them have no chance of survival unless he does something. But there is one problem, his legs won't move, there is something about Leviathan's presence that makes him utterly immobile.
Leviathan notices this and mocks him.
"What's wrong? Is that fear I'm sensing?"
"...."
"You must know that you don’t have a chance of defeating me then.”
Messor frowns and walks to the edge of the ship, she looks up to Leviathan and says, "You say that with such confidence now, how pathetic you are."
Leviathan looks down on her and smiles, "You defend him with such valor Messor. Some things never change, you’ll forever be the whore of the Antichrist."
"Shut up!!" Ubica shouts, a green light surfaces around him and his power can be felt all throughout the ship.
"But you Ubica, you’ve changed completely. You used to be so calm and collected, now you’re this emotional over a little insult to your woman?”
Ubica responds by swinging his sword and sending a green flash of energy hurling towards Leviathan's neck; this is an attack that is supposed to slice an enemy in two but when it makes contact with the demon it merely passes right through like a rock being thrown into water.
The unscathed Leviathan begins to walk down the steps of water that are forming one by one before his feet and says, "This is useless, stop being a spineless coward and actually attack me."
Ubica rushes forward and lunges his sword into Leviathan's stomach, but once again his attack fails and both Ubica and the sword pass through the demon.
“!?”
Leviathan continues to walk down the water steps toward the ship when with a flick of his finger, a stream of water is spit out of the dragon's mouth and wraps around Ubica's leg. It whips violently and Ubica is flung into the sea with so much force that his wake caused the entire ship to rock back and forth so hard that it felt like it'd capsize.
The faces of Tsubiri, Daey, and Trojia all drop simultaneously and they all shout his name at the same time.
Messor simply clenches her fist, it's almost as though she could feel the impact herself.
Leviathan reaches the deck and pays no mind to the scared glares of the pirates as he walks past them, he calmly reaches the bow of the ship and takes a seat on the furthest railing.
He then sighs and waits for something to happen and becomes frustrated when things begin to take too long.
"While we wait for Ubica to come back from about a mile deep in the ocean, why don't we have a little chat, Messor?"
Messor grits her teeth and feigns confidence when she smiles, "I'll let you do the talking."
“Very well then, I guess what I want to know is… What are you doing here?”
“Shouldn’t that be obvious? It’s not like I’d be anywhere else.”
“Ah, I misphrased my question. What I meant was, how are you here?”
“So you don’t know... “
“I can venture to guess how, but I don’t yet understand why.”
“Then you can keep guessing, there’s no rush.”
Leviathan rests one leg atop the other and shuts his eyes. "If this is what I think it is, I don't think you are going to like the consequences of your actions."
Messor takes her hat off and runs her fingers through her hair when she says, “I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. Consequences? When this is over, you’ll be the ones suffering consequences.”
“Hmm…” Leviathan blows air out of his nose and smiles, “Well this is all just too interesting. I believe I have just stumbled upon a conspiracy.”
"Since you don’t know what’s going on, tell me what you intend to do here."
"That's simple,” Leviathan quickly replies, “I’m here to kill Ubica."
With these words, Messor's eyes widen and she begins to show signs that she is actually going to fight.
Leviathan looks a little amused at her demeanor when he says, "But just because I say that, doesn't mean I'm actually going to do it."
"...?"
"Don't look at me like that, all I'm saying is that although I can kill him, it doesn't necessarily mean I will. At least not now anyways."
Messor scowls and begins to breath hard, her white gold eyes glow bright and her body tenses up.
"Then what are you going to do?"
Leviathan raises his finger and answers, "I'm going to test him… Depending on his results, I will choose a side between Damien and his Father.”
He stands to his feet and walks to the very tip of the bow, the serpent makes its way to him and opens its massive mouth.
“This conspiracy, all it takes is one good look at you to see what’s happening there. I agree with both the father and the son that Dantega cannot be left alone, but I’ll decide which way is better suited to deal with Ubica before I throw my hat into their ring.”
With his back turned to the rest he finishes.
"When Ubica comes back, I want you to tell him that as his brother of the sea, I will always be in pursuit of him, no matter how hard he tries to escape."
Leviathan walks into the serpent's mouth and disappears when it shuts, the dragon-like creature dives back into the sea and vanishes into the dark water.
Messor takes a sigh of relief and turns to the rest of the remaining people, some of the enemy pirates are still on the ship but all thoughts of attacking each other have ceased because of the incredible happening they had just witnessed.
Trojia takes a step back and leans against the wall of the staircase that leads to the Captain's room, she can't believe the strength of Leviathan and how easily he had defeated Ubica.
Tsubiri and Daey have different thoughts going through their heads.
Although Daey is speechless, Tsubiri finds enough strength to inquire, "What in the world were you guys just talking about..?"
Messor shows a face of displeasure when she answers, "Listen girl, there are a few things that you need to know, and many things that you don't. If Ubica hasn't told you anything, you aren't going to hear it from me."
Once Messor finishes this sentence, another explosion in the form of a splash is heard.
BOOOSHH!!
Coming out the white wash is Ubica flying upwards at a fast speed.
He lands on the ship deck and wears a face full of frightening anger as he catches his breath, there are veins all over his face and body from the compressed air bubbles in his bloodstream caused by the intense speed he came rushing out of the water with.
A normal man would have exploded from such a drastic change in pressure, but as Leviathan said, Ubica came from the sea, and as a being that holds such other worldly abilities like Ubica, water pressure isn't much of a factor unless at its utmost extremes.
With his bloodshot and enraged eyes he scours around the ship and shouts, "Where is he!?!?"
Messor walks up to him to see if he is okay and says, "He's gone."
Ubica falls to the ground and lays on his side, the impact of Leviathan throwing him into the water has broken many of his bones and he is just about at his limit when it comes to mobility.
It's only now that Messor finally looks worried, there is no reason to be strong and confident anymore now that the enemy is gone.
"Where are you hurt?" she asks, angst evident in her tone.
Ubica is having trouble speaking and he barely answers, "Everywhere..."
"Now's not the time to be cute, Ubica, you really need help here."
The veins in his face start to fade and but the awful pain still lingers, he slowly turns his head to see if Tsubiri, Trojia, and Daey are alright and sees a sight that he has been afraid of from the very beginning.
They look frightened..
Trojia comes rushing to his aid but both Tsubiri and Daey stand there as if something is holding him back.
(I’m glad they’re okay, but I wonder what Leviathan has told them?)
He thinks to himself as he watches them take cautious steps backwards away from him.
(I knew my secrets would catch up to me eventually… but I wanted to be the one to tell them.)
With these thoughts in mind, Ubica loses consciousness and lays limp on the wooden ship deck.
"I heard from a little bird that you were sent to Purgatory by my father." said Damien, his usual smile has failed to surface his face when he asked this.
Leviathan shrugs his shoulders, "Birds sure fly fast nowadays."
Damien sends him a sharp glare and asks, "Did you harm him?"
"Only about as much as his ego could take. But physically he'll be just fine."
"My father isn't going to be too happy about that."
"I'm not too worried about the big guy, I'll just avoid him until the next time I go. He is always cooped up in his room playing his game of Chess with the Earth so it'll be easy to do."
"The only thing he cares about is being worshiped by the people of Earth... his obsessive nature will be the death of him.”
Leviathan walks towards a large lake that shines off the orange tinted dark sky that casts over what looks to be a barren wasteland.
With his back turned he said, "Like father like son."
Damien tries to hide a frown with a faint smile and replies, "Dantega is worth my obsession... humans are not."
Leviathan takes a step into the water and horrifyingly gurgled screams come from it, if one looks closely enough they can see an endless amount of people being whipped around in a ferocious and never ending whirlpool.
This is his world, water and anguish awaits those who committed his Original Sin throughout time and a never ending drowning is cast upon them. Once their lungs shrivel to nothing, they quickly regenerate and suffer the same feeling all over again.
This punishment will last for all eternity.
This terrible pain is only the beginning, this whirlpool is the home of hundreds of Leviathan's demons who swim in the water and personally torture and devour the helpless people whenever they so please.
Leviathan's form starts to disappear in the horrid water until the only thing left peering out into the open is his head and shoulders.
He turns to glare at Damien and shows neither a smile of confidence nor a frown of bitterness when he says, "You and I both know it’s more than just Dantega."
"Oh?"
"Perhaps the others can't see it, but it's obvious to me that you don’t makes decisions based on simple ambition like your Father. I don’t quite know why you’ve begun to walk down the path you’re on yet, but I have a nagging feeling you’re doing this for something silly."
Damien keeps his confident smile and asks, "Do you want me to tell you?"
"Not at all, you’d be lying to me."
Leviathan lowers his head, the bangs of his dark blue hair cascading over his bright eyes creates an intimidating shadow over his face.
"I hate to admit it but, I'm more like your father. My desires are simple most of the time. The difference between him and I is that I’m willing to make compromises for to attain them.”
"What are you trying to say?"
"Whatever it is you’re trying to do, I believe I can accomplish what I want through you."
“Is that so?”
"Yes, because of that I'm going to go along with your plan for a little while. If I can get closer to fulfilling my simple desires, I will be at your service. But if I find what I want to be unattainable, I will stay by Satan's side and kill Ubica off with my own two hands.”
Damien smiles and his red eyes glow. "That's a wise decision Leviathan, I think you'll find that being on my side is far more opportune than sticking with my father. Once Dantega is in our hands, the entire universe will be ours."
Leviathan smiles and sinks into the water, leaving one final statement, "Don’t insult me with a grandiose promise you have no intention of achieving, I know that the control of the universe isn't what you want... there's something different about your goals, and I'm interested in seeing what it is."
"You'll find out soon enough."
Ubica's eyes slowly open and he finds himself looking up at the wooden walls of a pirate ship. The sun shines on his face and he looks out of the window and sees the endless blue of the ocean, the gentle row of the ship makes this rock hard bed a lot more comfortable to him.
But his comfort is broken when a weight is suddenly felt on his chest, the bed springs bounce up and down and in his sleepy daze he doesn’t quite realize what is happening.
"How long did you intend to sleep so lazily??"
Tsubiri's voice rings in his ears.
She is on top of him and bouncing in order to wake him up.
"W-What is this!?"
Tsubiri grabs the pillow, pulls it from under his head and hits him in the face with it, sending feathers flying everywhere.
"How come whenever you seem to go to sleep you end up passed out for two days!?"
Being hit repeatedly in the face by the pillow, Ubica begins to understand what is going on.
"Is this a proper way to treat an injured sailor!?"
"You're not injured unless I say so!"
"That doesn't make any sense!!"
The two wrestle around and even more feathers are tossed up into the sunlit room, making the scene look all the more hectic.
The door to the room quickly opens and Daey comes rushing in.
"I heard Ubica's voice, is he alr----"
Her words of concern are cut short by the sight of Tsubiri postured up on top of him in a dangerous looking position.
She immediately sends him a dejected glare.
"D-Daey?" Ubica says with a nervous smile.
Daey lets out a sigh and begins to walk towards him.
With each one of her steps, the wooden floor seems to ominously crack and this adds to the tension pulling towards his apparent doom.
"Now now, calm down Daey this isn't what it looks like."
She doesn't reply and he begins to panic.
“I swear it's all her fault!!!"
Tsubiri hits him again with the last remaining bit of the pillow and shouts, "My fault!?"
Daey puts her hand in between them and stops Tsubiri's second assault. She looks down on Ubica and sits on the bed.
The two stare at each other for a moment until Daey leans over and wraps her arms around him, giving him a tight hug.
Thrown off by this unexpected reaction he asks, "And what is this wonderful hug for?"
"I’ve been worried about you.”
Ubica bites his lip and holds back a smile, the thought of the other night when he was defeated by Leviathan rolls through his head and this fills him with doubt.
"But... the last time I saw you, you both looked so afraid of me, didn't that man reveal some awful things about me?"
Tsubiri, who had been quiet for this touching moment responds, "We'd never be afraid 'of' you, we were afraid 'for' you... you were hurt so badly, I didn't know what to do."
Daey adds, "And we don't care about anything you've done in the past. The most important thing is that the you I'm holding right now is safe and well."
"You guys..." Ubica hides his face in Daey's shoulder, he is fighting back tears of gratitude and doesn't want them to see it if one were to slip.
"Thank you..."
This tender and sweet moment is broken by Tsubiri punching him in the stomach quite hard.
“Gbhh!?”
He gasps for air and looks at them both quizzically when Daey grabs his shoulders and holds him down.
Tsubiri smiles menacingly and says, "But don't think our relief means we’ll let you off easy this time, you have some serious explaining to do."
"That's right.” Daey adds, “It’s time you open up to all of us about yourself. We won't let you go until you confess."
Surprised, but also impressed by their sneak attack on him, Ubica understands that holding things back is no longer an option. Ever since he has met these two, he has been steadily opening up bit by bit, especially to Daey, and never once have they indicated rejection.
He truly understands now that keeping the details about himself that constantly put his friend’s lives in danger hidden is both selfish and abhorrent behavior.
If these things are to continue to happen, and they will continue to support him despite it, he knows that it’s only fair that they know why.
“Okay…” Ubica says, a sigh of resignation exits out of his mouth. “Where should I start?”
The door suddenly flings open and makes a loud crashing noise, interrupting them.
The large frame of Caesar is standing at the doorway with a couple underlings behind him.
He is frowning and looks incredibly serious when he says,
"I hate to break up the mood but..." he points his big index finger and Ubica and finishes, "I want you off my ship."
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