The palace was silent, a streak of fire passed so quickly that anyone who saw it would disbelieve it to be real. Dante strode through, ready to kill the Empress.
He sensed her presence from the office where he had already faced her and entered, passing through the door unnoticed by her, and grabbed her by the neck.
"Start explaining before I kill you," he said severely, gripping the Empress's neck as she struggled, choking under the man's hands.
He seized her and threw her onto the office room's sofa as his murderous aura radiated throughout the space.
"Do you think I'm joking?" Dante questioned, and several assassins began to fall from the ceiling unconscious.
Everyone succumbed to Dante's bloodlust and suffocated until they fainted.
"Your foolishness will cost your entire empire. If you think my connection with Velryna would stop from wiping out your entire continent, you're sorely mistaken, or do you think she would currently defend you?" he questioned, and the Empress remained silent.
She was already prepared for this; Dante, still in his slightly black-haired form, began to break her, his hair turning red and his ebony horns appearing.
"I am the Demon King, who are you to test ?" he asked, glaring at her.
Fire began to take a sinister shape, his fire with Tsukoyomi's restraints beginning to manifest over his body.
She started to rise but promptly fell to her knees while sweating coldly; she knew she had crossed the line.
"What strength, I knew he was strong, but... this is extraordinary! I was clearly stronger in raw power! What is he? An aberration?" Aldria was beginning to despair.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said with difficulty. Unlike the Emperor, she really didn't know what was going on with Dante, although she had an idea.
"Oh, you don't know? Then let's wait for Sara Vortex to arrive in this wretched palace, and the mont she confirms that I am myself, I will erase you from this world," Dante said, his eyes burning with fury.
"If you have so much doubt about , why don't you enter my ntal world?" Dante questioned, opening the darkness in his heart, and his ntal world began to manifest.
All the anger, all the fury contained for all these years because of his losses, all despair erged in one place. Aldria was now not seeing Dante's Core ntal World, she was looking at his soul.
Aldria's own soul began to be tornted by her own internal demons. She found herself amidst a ntal storm, witnessing horrendous scenes before her.
The skies were bathed in a dark red hue; Tsukoyomi's Moon obscured Amaterasu's Sun, creating a red Eclipse that engulfed the entire dinsion. On her knees on the ground, she saw nothing but blood pooled around her, not just around her, but all over the floor, like a river in crimson red.
She looked at her hands, stained by the thousands of lives she had taken, directly and indirectly. Scenes from her life passed through the deep fear she felt, as if she were in Hell itself.
She found herself enveloped in profound darkness, unable to distinguish between reality and illusion, between light and darkness. The inner void consuming her was as vast as the cosmos, and she felt lost in its endless depths.
For a mont, she thought this was the end of the world, an Eclipse that would swallow all existence and bring about the end not only for her Empire but for the entire cosmos.
"Wanna argue with now?" the voice reverberated in her ears, and she was back in the room from before. Now, however, Dante was seated while she lay on the floor, intact but only with ntal damage.
"H-how strong are you?!" she stuttered as she asked. Dante just chuckled; in fact, this wasn't strength but rather his ntal state, a taphysical representation of his experiences and potential, nothing more, nothing less than an illusion.
"Are you underestimating , Aldria?" Dante questioned as he stood up and walked towards the woman.
He looked deep into her eyes and held her chin close enough as if to kiss her, and that's what Aldria thought for a mont, as the drastic change in behavior could be seen, but he did nothing and rely pushed her back.
"There are two things in this world that I can be sure of, one of them is that I will kill anyone who gets in my way, and the other..." Dante said, turning around. "No one threatens the won I love." He said, and Aldria trembled, his gaze was so...
'Obsessive, impulsive, protective, so... wonderful,' she thought. She was already being absorbed by Dante's eyes as she felt them pass through all her curves.
ƌ%і@∫ςо$νҽ!г-*∫-ҭө%яιε*ѕ$-&өи-@
'I need this.' She said coldly. She was an Empress, and her pride wouldn't allow her to betray her husband, but she knew that if she fell for this man's charm, her world would beco him.
"I couldn't help it," she said, dry and cold to Dante, who stared at her with furious eyes. "We know that's not true, Aldria," Dante remarked.
"You, of all people, knew it could co to this and still took the risk. Tell , what are you planning?" Dante questioned, blunt and direct.
"Ahgr~" She sighed and began to rise, seeing that Dante gave her this opening, and she sat on the couch, facing that indecipherable man.
"Suspicious activities were seen within the Capital, the demonic cult from the East contacted those who are here through a subsidiary called 'Black Rose'. I really wanted to bring Sara Vortex and Nagasawa Yamata here and make them recognize if it's really you, sothing I now have almost no doubt about," she admitted, while slowly trying to disguise.
"I would use them to gather information from the other side, using you as an interdiary... when Adam is gone, Velryna will be the next direct successor. So, if your relationship continues, you will be the Emperor," she said, leaving Dante's expression slightly shattered.
'Why?'
'Because I feel no lies coming from this woman? Was she really doing this for my own good? Damn, how did this happen?!' He couldn't see lies in her words, each word was real, unlike before.
"You could have asked , Aldria," Dante said, feeling betrayed and "hurting" soone who was helping him. "This problem could have been avoided."
"And would you have let Sara and Nagasawa co?" She asked, already knowing the answer, and Dante fell silent. "We are alike, Dante, I know exactly how you think," she declared, and he was left speechless, but he changed the subject nonetheless.
"What did you use to lure them?" He said. "Information about you."
He sighed lightly, running his hand through his hair. 'Damn, I can't take care of them while that guy is still at large, I have a bad feeling.'
'Maybe I can negotiate with her to protect them, but Velryna... no, I can handle it.' He finished his thoughts and turned to Aldria.
"You will treat them as if their lives depend on it. When this is over, I'll think about what to do with you. Until then, you'll take care of their security and use everything possible to ensure it," Dante said as he stood up, heading towards the door.
"If they are in danger, consider yourself a dead woman, Aldria," he said and left the room.
Aldria, standing, fell to her knees on the floor as she was euphoric, breathing heavily. 'Damn, that was the toughest negotiation of my life, this lunatic would really kill ! This damn obsessive would put his life at risk just to avenge his won? Crazy!'
Dante, on the other hand, stood at the door waiting for any negative reaction, but it never ca. Despite hearing the woman's heavy breathing, he didn't take it as a bad sign and just walked away.
He would now prioritize one thing... Velryna Smith.
"Aaralyn, Vex. Co here," he said, and a bat flew in through one of the windows, its shadows swirling with the erald-haired woman erging.
"Aaralyn, isolate the periter and start searching for the assassins Ethan will send, reveal yourselves as the Emperor's Ghosts and warn about the possible attack."
"Alright... but where are you going?" She questioned as she saw Dante's bloodthirsty gaze slightly deviate from the norm. Usually, he was calm, but now... his gaze wasn't any different from that of a furious Red Dragon.
"Putting out the fire of so idiots hiding under the na 'Demon Cult,'" Dante said. Aaralyn nodded and disappeared, going to form a containnt to protect Velryna. Although she was a warrior, Dante cared little. He had seen her fight and knew she could defend herself, but murder is different from any ordinary fight.
It can happen without her even realizing it, and he wasn't willing to follow that blind path.
His appearance began to change, and he turned black-haired. Wearing stealth clothing, he vanished in flas, appearing on top of a rooftop. His fire manipulation was gradually returning, and now he was ready for combat. However, before Ethan, he had to start extinguishing the flas of the demon cult.
"Vex," he said to the wind, and the Succubus beside him appeared. "I don't like this form of the master, the master has to have his red hair!" She said with a pout, but Dante ignored her. "It'll be just for a few monts, my succubus," he said and leaped into the air, finally able to glide with magic.
It had been a while since he felt the breeze on his body. Now, however, it wasn't the ti for that. He projected himself forward and began searching for any nearby demonic aura.
It was ti to start exterminating the rats.
Reviews
All reviews (0)