Chapter 137: A Kind Ancestor Teaching His Descendant A Small Lesson

“Dante, will you truly abandon such a relic?”

Dante thought about that for a moment.

A relic that could hide everything that caused him troubles. Wasn’t it just so perfect?

If he used that artifact and fixed his luck, he could live peacefully anywhere without fearing anything. He could go to the best and most secure city, eat the best food, live in the best house, grow stronger gradually, and maybe even marry a woman to start a family.

Would any normal man need more than that?

However…

’You’re trying so hard to make me take the mask, huh?’ Dante gritted his teeth: ’You’re so bad at temptation.’

Although everything looked perfect, the fact that it was a part of Sin of Greed was the only problem. Dante would never trust this centipede, and Greed should have known this.

Was that truly the scammer that the dark entity warned Dante of? Did that being lack some intelligence?

’It’s possible. That thing is likely a beast, not a human, so I’m not sure how intelligent it is. Or maybe Greed himself became stupid after becoming a relic, considering that even as a relic, he’s an incomplete one.’

While Dante was disrespecting the intelligence of a being that could erase an entire town, Greed nodded: “Yes, I’m not as cunning as Lust, unfortunately. You know what?”

Greed seemed to grin as he added: “Taking the mask will break the seal of that dark kid a little, which would reduce the sealing period. It’ll also give me a few minutes to control your body and do whatever I want.”

“…”

“Once this happens, I’ll turn that lucky girl into your slave. I’ll use all 999 Existence Essence alongside your Ether, blood, and demonic energy to create a special enslavement sigil.”

’Wait, what—!”

“This sigil won’t only refine her body and give her tons of stats, it’ll also give her some of your talents and even one or two of your traits if she was lucky enough, which she absolutely is. And above all that, she’s going to be extremely loyal to you, so loyal that she’ll kill herself if you order her.”

“…”

Slowly, Dante turned his head and stared at Greed with wide eyes, his back sweating heavily and his mind almost falling into chaos.

’Why… Why is he telling me that?’

Something was extremely wrong about Greed.

Where did all that come from? Why was he saying all that all of a sudden? If he wanted Dante to touch the mask, why would he say all that?

’What if his real purpose was preventing me from taking the relic?’

That theory was horrifyingly possible.

What if Greed had a reason to keep the mask unabsorbed? What if he was planning to use the mask to revive himself instead of relying on Dante? What if there was something more horrifying about the mask?

’Wait, what if he wants me to think that way?! That theory might have been made by Greed in my mind!’

Wasn’t it possible that Greed’s plan was to tell him all that and make him take the relic?

That was also possible, because right now, Dante was leaning toward taking the relic!

What Greed had said only made the decision harder for Dante.

’Damn you!’

Only a few words were enough to turn Dante’s thoughts into chaos. The dark entity wasn’t exaggerating!

He had to either take the relic, with the risk of everything that Greed had said happening, or just leave it, which might be Greed’s real plan!

“See? That’s why I think you’re truly pathetic.” Greed crawled to Dante’s neck, looking through Dante’s blindfold with his crimson eyes: “I just said a few words and you’re already panicking. Of course, there is the fourth hidden option of forcing Ruby to take the mask, and you know this so well. Yet, you aren’t even considering it!”

“You’d rather doom yourself than do the most logical thing in your current situation, huh? Seeing how selfless you are trying to be… it’s pathetic, pitiful, and disgusting!”

“And who the hell are you to decide whether something is pathetic or not, huh?!” Dante’s face twisted in anger: “Am I not allowed to be selfless because of a centipede that can’t even do anything by itself? You’re a damn parasite!”

“D-Dante?” Ruby suddenly turned around and stood up after hearing Dante shouting, ignoring his previous warning.

“I can’t believe that such a being is calling me pathetic.” Dante continued: “You’re the one who is truly pitiful, pathetic, and disgusting here. You don’t have a body, so you tried to take mine! However, you failed! Tell me, how did your greedy nature and selfishness help you again? They didn’t! You failed!”

As Ruby moved closer to Dante with hesitation, Greed fell silent for a few moments.

However, the next second, his mouth opened for the first time since he appeared in this form: “They did. Oh, they truly did. Because of how greedy I was back then, I thought that linking one of the knights to me, the centipede weapon, instead of the perfect vessel or any other part of me was safer. This wasted a lot of time back then, but my greed always screamed for more safety, you know.”

“What…?”

Dante’s body trembled when he looked at the knights again. Now that he thought about it, it was truly strange. Why was the giant knight the only one that was looking directly at him?

Was it truly kneeling for him…?

No.

It wasn’t!

“Attack the largest knight…” These words escaped Dante’s mouth without him noticing, filled with a feeling of despair.

The knights suddenly stood up at a speed that surpassed Dante’s comprehension.

BAM!

Dante was only able to hear the sound of metal, as the next moment, the normal knights flew out of his sight with holes in their chest.

The giant knight didn’t seem to have moved at all, but Dante knew that it was the one which attacked him. He just couldn’t “see” it!

He and Ruby stayed frozen in their places, looking at the knight with terror.

Simultaneously, Dante infused his own body with all his different energies. His body glowed brightly with colourful energies, looking like a bomb on the verge of exploding.

And that was the truth!

Dante was trying to commit suicide!!

But the next moment, the knight disappeared, and with it was the mask.

“Where—!”

Before Dante could complete his sentence, a giant hand appeared in his sight, placing a black mask on his face.

The surge of energies suddenly vanished, as though it never existed, leaving Dante in a sense of hollowness.

He failed…

“You are truly stupid, aren’t you?”

Right now, the only thing Dante could see was the centipede.

’THE DAMN CENTIPEDE!’

“Dante, oh Dante. Tsk, tsk.” Greed shook his head in disappointment: “Haven’t I told you about this place? Everything that happens here won’t exist in time. My poor descendant, if I let you kill yourself here, your death would have been permanent, and even your soul would disappear forever. You are so lucky to have a caring ancestor like me, aren’t you?”

’SHUT UP!’ Dante tried to move with all his power, but he felt paralysed. Not a single cell listened to him.

To Dante’s horror, his body moved by its own, taking slow and steady steps toward Ruby, who was too afraid to move.

’NO! NO, NO, NO, NO! GREED, DON’T DO THIS!’

Despite his begging, his body continued moving forward until it extended an arm and grabbed Ruby’s neck.

Struggling against the overwhelming power of Dante’s body, Ruby whispered with teary eyes: “Sir, w-why…?”

Dante’s mouth opened on its own, and then it said casually: “No bad feelings, little girl, I’m just teaching this brat a small lesson.”

The next moment, the knight swung its sword, cutting off the tip of one of Dante’s demonic fingers.

Dante’s mind didn’t even register the pain as he looked in despair at his own bleeding hand inscribing complex runes on Ruby’s forehead.

Simultaneously, he felt his demonic energy, spiritual energy, silver ether, and mana decreasing rapidly.

The most shocking part was his stats. He felt his strength weakening, his mind slowing, and his ether pool in his soul shrinking.

His Existence Essence was being used!

Despite this, Dante’s biggest concern was Ruby, whose eyes were losing clarity with every second.

’Please… stop this…’

He should have never accepted this opportunity.

He should have just dealt with Beatrice’s son and his wife instead of searching for some stupid treasures.

He should have stopped the moment he confirmed that it was related to Greed.

But he didn’t.

And he was regretting it.

He was feeling guilt.

He was blaming himself for it.

He was extremely disgusted by his own actions.

But he couldn’t do anything. Once again, he was controlled and manipulated by someone else.

After Greed finished the sigil, he pulled his hand from her forehead, a spiritual thread glued to his bleeding finger and extending like a bubblegum.

He tore off Ruby’s top clothes and began to inscribe another sigil on her chest, as though he was using the thread to link the sigil in her brain and core to her heart.

“Please… I’ll do anything…” Dante begged again, tears streaming down his cheeks.

However, Greed only laughed manically at his words, continuing to inscribe the runes.

Suddenly, the sigil on her chest and head glowed with bright light, and her body began to change gradually.

Seeing this, Greed threw her aside like a piece of trash and walked to the spatial pouch, absorbing the cores inside it with unimaginable speed.

“You’ll thank me when you accept yourself.” Greed said coldly, but Dante didn’t care at this point. His mind was overwhelmed by guilt to the point that he did not register Greed’s words.

Once his Existence Essence reached 1000, he saw countless colourful runes appearing out of nowhere, dancing around him like the day of his awakening.

Yet, he didn’t show any happiness for that.

His vision slowly darkened, until he finally fell unconscious.

✧A/N: Sowwy✧

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep