Chapter 175: Falling Into The Depths Of The Abyss [4]

“…What does that mean?”

The shadows were coming from different directions, and they had different shapes and sizes.

Was he… late?

Why weren’t they coming from the front? There was no way that Raga reached them that fast, questioned all of them, and returned that fast without their corpses… right?

That was what he wished, but deep in his heart, he knew the harsh truth, which he tried relentlessly to ignore.

Swish!

Dante moved to the right, evading a head.

Moving to the left, he evaded a leg.

After the next dodge, he saw a full headless body.

Several human pieces were thrown at him simultaneously, and he knew the identities of most of them.

They were all the soldiers who had been protecting Elizabeth’s tent.

Splash!

A corpse that he failed to dodge hit his back and exploded, covering him with blood and guts.

Splash! Splash! Splash!

Three more attacks couldn’t be dodged, resulting in more blood to cover Dante’s figure.

Gritting his teeth, he looked everywhere in search of Raga, but he couldn’t find him.

“STOP THIS!” Dante roared to the sky: “STOP TOYING WITH ME AND SHOW YOURSELF!”

Raga could just overwhelm Dante with his speed and strength. He didn’t have to do any of that. He was toying with Dante!

Suddenly, Raga appeared in his sight with four people behind him.

Two of them were people Dante knew so well. They were Michael and Elizabeth!

’They are alive!’

A glimpse of hope ignited in Dante’s heart. Maybe… maybe he could do something to save them.

Their eyes were wide open and they seemed conscious, but they couldn’t speak or move.

They couldn’t move because of a strange ability that affected the entire place, putting an invisible pressure on everyone.

Dante was the only one resisting it due to his Mind stat and his trait.

As for speaking, it was because of runes that were similar to the ones Raga used whenever he moved or when he pulled Dante.

That was likely his aspect, which Dante had no idea what it was.

Raga spoke calmly: “I never fought an Ether user under my rank. I might be prideful, but I won’t risk my life without knowing what exactly you can do.”

“From what I see, you have no way to detect me other than sensing my shadow, right? You also can’t use a demonic transformation, which means you’re very young despite your strength.”

Dante was speechless while Raga analyzed him. He wanted to lunge forward and use the ability of his dagger, but he didn’t in fear of harming the others.

And that behaviour made Raga smile.

“You’re kinda funny. I never expected to see a black magic user and a demon above that caring for some normal humans. And out of every place in the world, they’re from the Holy Kingdom.”

“What about this, can you stop me from killing them?”

Raga suddenly grabbed the soldier by the head and clenched his fist.

“Wait—!”

Splash!

The head exploded easily under Raga’s force, splashing blood and brain matter across the ground.

Dante looked at the soldier’s falling body helplessly. He wanted to help, he truly wanted to help, but he didn’t know how.

Raga used brute force. Dante couldn’t use the silver Ether to stop him.

The only things that Dante had and could be helpful were two items.

The dagger was the first. By sacrificing it, he could unleash a weave of decay with unknown power.

The second was the syringe… but using it now was dangerous.

With nothing else to do, he continued increasing Raga’s misfortune. That was his only hope.

Raga scanned the other three survivors before grabbing one and throwing him toward Dante.

“Wha—”

Suddenly, Greed appeared in Dante’s sight with… a bucket of popcorn?

He was really eating fake popcorn right in front of Dante!

“Hehe, it’s finally about to happen, huh?” Greed ate the popcorn and said with a joyful voice: “Dante, here is your chance to prove me wrong. Show me that you would never kill an innocent!”

Dante stared at Greed with puzzlement. At the same time he caught the thrown soldier, Raga grabbed Michael by the head and held him firmly.

“Let’s start another test. You have 10 seconds. I’ll give you this guy if you kill the soldier in front of you. If you don’t, I’ll kill the one I have.”

Dante looked at the soldier with hesitation: “No! Why are you—”

“Nine.”

Raga started counting, his fist clenching slowly.

Dante had to choose between a soldier he barely knew… and Michael.

Dante racked his mind in search of a solution… but he couldn’t think about anything!

“You know that you’re losing in both cases, right?” Greed chuckled: “By making you kill someone you tried to protect, he’ll know more than you think.”

“If you kill him instantly, he’ll know that you either don’t really care about killing them or that you prefer the other guy enough to kill for him.”

“Eight.”

“He would then be holding the life of the one you care about. If he gives him to you, he’ll become a liability that you try to defend while fighting. If he doesn’t, he’ll use him as a meat shield or to make more tests on you.”

“Seven.”

“If you show hesitation, he’ll know that you’re either a naive kid or that the one you’re holding is as precious as the person he has, if not more. That’s not a good outcome either, if you ask me.”

“Six.”

Raga continued counting down, and Greed continued talking: “You have two options here.”

“Kill him! Kill that random soldier and save the one you care about! But that would mean I was right! Killing someone innocent to save a friend is a greedy, sinful behaviour, don’t you think?”

Dante’s hand trembled as he looked at the soldier. The soldier looked at him with pleading, teary eyes, showing that he wasn’t ready to die.

They were the same eyes that Michael had at this moment.

“Five.”

“Or…” Greed added: “You can keep your kindness and refuse to kill that soldier. Oh, but your friend will die. Just look at his teary eyes. He is basically begging you to save him!”

“Four.”

“What are you going to do? Will you show me that I was wrong about you or will you save your friend?”

“I… I don’t…” Dante’s eyes moved between Michael and the soldier.

His hand, still holding the ritual dagger, moved subconsciously toward the soldier.

There was a third option, and it was far better than both the two options that Greed had suggested.

He could just ignore everyone and use both the dagger and the syringe.

But that would lead to their death… He couldn’t force himself to do that.

“Three.”

Dante swallowed and muttered: “I’m… sorry.”

“Two.”

SLASH!

Dante cut the soldier’s head off with the dagger.

Dante’s tears fell quietly as he looked at the head flying, followed by hearing the sound of the body falling onto the ground.

“…”

Greed stared for a moment before bursting into crazy laughter: “HEHEHAHAHA! HYPOCRITE! WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL YOUR TALK, HUH?”

Greed inhaled, fully satisfied: “Hoho, I thought I was the real monster, wasn’t I? I remember you saying that you aren’t greedy like me, you aren’t a monster like me, you aren’t an evil person like me, huh? Did you change your mind when you got the chance to show your true colors?”

Dante lowered his head and listened to Greed without trying to defend himself.

…What could he say now?

He just ended an innocent life in exchange for another life!

’I’m… sorry…’

Raga loosened his fist and threw Michael toward Dante.

Instantly, Dante cast a silver Ether barrier around him, ensuring that he was safe.

And he didn’t dare to look at his face… he knew that Michael didn’t look at him in a good light now.

“Hmm, what about her?” Raga clenched Elizabeth’s head and lifted her up.

“No, STOP!” Dante shouted, his teeth chattering: “DON’T DO IT, PLEASE!”

Raga’s eyes widened at Dante’s reaction. The next moment, his lips curled upward, turning into a wide smirk.

“Oh, I see. So, are you ready to kill that guy in exchange for her if I start counting?”

Dante dismissed the Ether barrier with no hesitation and brought his dagger to Michael’s neck.

Michael’s eyes were wide open. He looked at Dante who dismissed all his hesitation, then at Elizabeth whose mouth was wide open, as though she was screaming in pain but can’t make a sound.

His eyes softened for a brief moment, and he gave Dante a nod.

“Hmm.” Raga was satisfied with Dante’s behaviour. Smirking, he asked: “Ignore him and tell me, how did you get access to the silver Ether? If I see a lie in your answer, she’s dead.”

Raga’s intentions finally became clear in front of Dante.

The reason why he kept messing with Dante, why he didn’t kill him immediately, why he wanted to use Dante’s friends…

He wanted to know about Dante’s secret.

Dante thought quickly and answered: “I don’t know! I died and my soul was swapped with someone else’s soul. I don’t know how it happened!”

Raga frowned. He caught every word Dante had said and tried to make sense of them.

But he couldn’t understand.

After a moment, he clenched his fist slightly, causing more pain to Elizabeth’s head and Dante’s heart.

Elizabeth instinctively cast healing magic on herself, but they couldn’t stop the pain.

The next moment, Raga asked: “Elaborate. Say what happened in detail—”

ROAAAAAAAAAR!

Before he could complete his question, a roar tore through the place, causing Michael’s ears to bleed.

Raga, Dante, and Michael looked at the source of the roar, and what they saw made their eyes widen.

It was coming from the abyssal gate.

And the darkness pillar was expanding!

“It happened faster than I thought.” Raga frowned, showing hesitation for the first time.

All of a sudden, his expression turned serious. He immediately threw Elizabeth toward Dante and gritted his teeth.

A golden energy covered his body for a few seconds. In that process, his muscles grew, and his feathers became thicker.

Suddenly, his head mutated and turned into an eagle head.

He used his demonic transformation!

Suddenly, a dark figure emerged from Raga’s shadow and shot toward his chest.

BAM!

The dark figure struck Raga’s chest and took him away from Dante’s sight.

However, Dante didn’t focus on that conflict. He seized that opportunity to catch Elizabeth.

’Yes!’

With one arm, Dante held her fragile body carefully.

Finally, Elizabeth was safe in his arms!

SLASH!

…Or so he had thought.

Thud!

Elizabeth’s lower half suddenly fell to the ground, leaving him to hug only the upper half.

“Wh… wha…”

Dante’s face froze in confusion and his mind turned blank. He struggled to process the pain and the sight in front of him.

Pain?

At this moment, he noticed that he couldn’t feel his own heartbeat.

There was a hole in Elizabeth’s back, and another one in Dante’s chest.

That wasn’t a wind attack. Whatever that thing was, it pierced both Dante and Elizabeth’s chests.

However, Dante’s entire focus was on Elizabeth. He watched in horror as her Wheel of Luck shattered slowly, showing her death.

Suddenly, the world around him moved on its own…

Thud!

…Then he fell.

Elizabeth wasn’t the only one who was cut in half.

She was the only one who died.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep