I slowly walk forward, zoning in on the path that was taken previously to get to Grim. The tall woman that previously challenged Dante steps forward.
"Outsider, why do you return so soon?"
She crosses her arms and stares down at me. I stare at her for a moment then chuckle. Soon, my chuckle evolves into hysterical laughter.
"Man, I almost feel bad. But for what happened to me, because of what HE did, I guess it's deserved."
She tilts her head, obviously confused.
I jump several hundred feet above the ground, everyone becoming small black dots below me. I extend my palm and smirk.
"[Fireball 10]. I don't need a powerful spell to dispose of trash."
In an instant, bright flames roll across the ground, stretching across the village and even scorching far into the forest behind the village.
"Actually, after I'm finished with Grimgaer, I think I'll scorch this entire continent. Blame this fate, your death, on Grim being here!"
I fall back to the ground, noticing smoldering corpses and ash everywhere. A breeze catches the ash, causing visibility to drop to near zero. I hold my left hand in front of my nose and mouth then extend my right hand.
"Damn, didn't expect this much ash. [Air Slash 10]."
A long, arching blade of condensed air forms in front of my hand, then releases and blows all the ash away. Consequently, the condensed air all rips through what looks like half the forest, the thunderous sound of thousands of trees being ripped apart and falling over.
With no hesitation, I teleport forward through the forest, appearing several feet from a clearing. I look back, noticing that the air slash didn't make it this far. Looking forward I see a cave, but upon stepping into the clearing, an unbelievably tall mountain seemingly forms.
I see the mountains, obsidian black spines stretching towards the heavens and far back beyond where I can see. Before I can step forward, I see him come slowly walking out of the cave. Grim.
"Nevereth, what took you so long? I thought you'd be here a few minutes after disposing of Arthur, but instead it took several hours. You disappoint me, as always."
He rubs his neck and stares at me. I glare at him, not even attempting to respond. He sighs deeply and holds his arms to his side.
"Well? Here I am? Just waiting for you to do something? Oh, just like how you kept mother waiting. Nice to see some thing's never cha-"
Before he can finish, I teleport behind him and slam my fist into the back of his neck. He slides forward a few feet, but easily spins around and rubs the back of his neck.
"Oh, that tickled. You always were weak."
I start to teleport again, but he moves to me faster than I can react. A swift blow to the stomach causes me to spit up blood. I get knocked up into the air and put both my palms on my chest.
"[True Healing 11]."
All the damage goes away as Dante's body completely heals. I flip back and land on the ground, quickly activating level 11 of all buffs. From just tightening my legs and arms, to lunge forward and punch him, the bones snap and get crushed.
The ground erupts, shockwaves ripping the ground apart and leveling the forest with each step I take. Grim's expression changes, shock appearing on his face as my fist collides with his jaw. In the blink of an eye, the ground is parted as easily as water while Grim gets launched backwards through the forest. In under a second, I see massive waves explode upwards at the ocean's edge.
I teleport to the edge of the continent, seeing the parting of the water where Grim went through. Stretching beyond a thousand feet out in the water.
"Was that it?"
I mumble, disappointed. I'm interrupted as I start to speak again. An explosion far out in the ocean, a pillar of water stretching high into the sky as Grim flies through the air, then starts falling towards me. I jump back, understanding my buffs will wear off instantly if I step passed the lands edge. Grim lands, some of the ash that had still been lingering being dispersed immediately.
"I see. To make up for your own weakness, you used your magic to artificially buff yourself up. So, an imitation of me? Were you so self conscious of your weakness that you just had to find a way to equal me?"
I see a massive chunk of his face is missing, and once again lunge to him, slamming my left hand onto his shoulder as my right hand punches straight through his chest. His face shows no distress, no pain, nothing. The only change that occurs is a wide smile.
"Well, I'll be damned, the Nexxus really does know the future."
I glare at him, quickly pulling my right hand from his chest and slamming my palm against his throat and pinning him to the ground.
"I saw through Dante's eyes! I know you've been trapped here!"
Grim stares at me for a moment before laughing.
"I knew you were an idiot, but come on!"
In the blink of an eye, my legs are swept and he lands on top of me.
"You forget, we can champion anyone we want? You championed Dante, remember? Now let me pose a question for you."
I struggle to get free as he grips my throat tightly.
"The first person you champion, when they die, you enter their body. Right? So, what's stopping us from championing hundreds of people? The first body to die is where we go, but what about the others?"
I pause, my mind suddenly racing. I stare up to him, one thought rolling through my head.
Did he? Did he champion multiple people?
Grim smirks and clenches my throat tighter, all my buffs now wearing off.
"No-no. I didn't originaly champion a few people, I championed several thousand! It was only after I was brought back in this body that I realized something, I can see and remember everything that my champions can! I'm grateful for those that sacrificed their life at the Nexxus. Because of them, I've known about a lot of things."
I struggle to break free, quickly raising my voice.
"Yea, but those at the Nexxus weren't looking for anything regarding us! How would that possibly help you!?"
Grim pushes my throat into the ground slightly as I put my palm on the side of his head. He speaks up.
"I can control the goals and ambitions of my champions. I just had them look forward as much as they could, scouring all the future texts for our next altercation, and even for who you championed as well. And it was there, I found out something."
Grim lets go of my throat and I quickly roll to my feet.
"According to the Nexxus, the records of all that can ever occur, your fate is to die here."