CHAPTER 37: RUINS

"Cough... cough..."

Dante coughed up mouthfuls of blood violently, hearing only a loud ringing in his ears.

’What... happened?’

Narrowing his eyes, Dante glanced at his right arm, seeing his centipede in the form of a shield.

’I remember now...’

Dante was lying on the ground after he was sent flying by a sudden explosion. He went crashing through several walls before falling outside the inn.

His body was covered with some light wounds and heat marks, but thankfully, his cloak reduced the damage of the heat of the explosion that hit him, and his centipede protected him from the explosion itself.

’If I was a second late...’

Dante endured his pain and stood up, turning his relic into a sword and using it for support.

The next moment, he glanced at the... the inn?

’Oh no...’

The inn wasn’t there anymore.

All he saw through the green mist and the grey smoke was half a building of scattered stones and burning wood, with several noticeable arrows in a few places.

’Why did this happen? Did... Did the baron notice us?’

But Skylar and Selena made sure that no one would spread the truth. Did someone secretly use a spell or an ability to inform the baron?

Just then, Dante noticed that he was surrounded by the green mist.

’Damn it!’

Immediately, he took one last breath before bringing his blindfold down to close his mouth and nose.

Next, he started running toward the ruins, his mind drifting to the people who were with him.

’Is this my fault?’

As he moved closer, the first thing he saw was the innkeeper. His Wheel of Luck wasn’t visible and his head was blown like a flower of bones and flesh.

If not for his clothes, Dante wouldn’t have recognised him.

’It’s your fault.’

Dante’s body trembled unconsciously. Seeing such a brutal sight through Fafnir’s eyes wasn’t the same as seeing it himself.

’You have done it again...’

Dante immediately looked aside and continued searching.

’Because of you, these people died.’

He saw a few more corpses, but he ignored them all, trying to find any being with a Wheel of Luck.

’Damn, where are they?!’

As Dante returned to where his room should have been, his eyes widened in terror.

’If you weren’t cursed, none of this would have happened.’

Maxwell’s back was ruined completely, revealing his burning organs and broken bones.

’Everyone who gets close to you either dies... or wishes they had.’

Under Maxwell, Selena was lying motionless with her head bleeding violently and her left arm was missing.

’You caused thi—’

’Wait, she is alive!’

Her wheel was filled with intense misfortune, but the existence of the wheel itself was enough to make him certain she wasn’t dead yet.

Dante glanced at Maxwell with some hesitation before kicking his corpse aside.

’I’m truly sorry...’

Unwilling to waste any time, Dante immediately took two pieces of cloth from his ring and wrapped them around Selena’s head and shoulder, using them as bandages to stop the bleeding temporarily.

Then, he took two more pieces of cloth and wrapped one around Selena’s mouth and nose and the other around Dante’s mouth and nose, returning his blindfold to cover his eyes and crown.

Maybe it was dangerous to cover Selena’s nose and mouth, but he had no other choice.

’I need to find Skylar, his blood abilities might help her.’

Dante quickly carried Selena on his back and started moving quickly, feeling high urgency.

The mist was still there and it might possess him or her at any moment. A small piece of cloth might not be enough to protect them.

’Was this truly my fault?’

While running, Dante’s mind drifted to the last thing he had seen before the explosion.

Right before the explosion, the misfortune of everyone increased suddenly.

’That wasn’t the doing of my trait.’

Dante felt some relief for realising that, but it didn’t change the fact that something wrong happened to turn their luck upside down.

Clank!

All of a sudden, Dante heard the sound of weapons clashing.

’Yes!’

Running at inhuman speed, he followed the sounds until he finally saw three figures.

One of them was the female frost elf, which he knew was called Luna. She was holding dual daggers while fighting with two masked knights, one of them holding a spear and the other had a greatsword.

’It-It’s them...’

Dante’s eyes were darkened with anger and hatred, he recognised them as the baron’s knights!

It was really the baron’s doing!

Carefully, he put Selena on the ground and covered his own body in shadows, moving slowly toward the knights as they were busy with the frost elf.

’I had killed two humans before, I shouldn’t hesitate now.’

Accepting the idea of killing humans was still hard for him, but in this world, he had to adapt and accept it.

He had to do it if he wanted to survive.

He had to kill if he didn’t want to be killed!

Once Dante was close enough to one of them, he cast Jinx and lunged at the greatsword knight.

Centipede of Greed — Arm Blade!

"Ah...!"

In an instant, a dark blade launched from Dante’s forearm, piercing the knight’s armor and stabbing her heart.

The knight glanced at him with terrified eyes for a last time before falling to the ground.

[Your Greed Knows No Bounds]

You have slain a pathetic Rank 1 Human. Spirit absorbed: +0

Her spirit was too weak to be absorbed, but Dante didn’t focus on that.

Suppressing his complex feelings, he looked at the other knight.

He seemed to be taken aback by the sudden attack as he forgot about Luna—which was his biggest mistake.

Before he could react, a frozen dagger passed through his neck as Luna cut swiftly.

The knight fell to his knees and held his own neck, trying to stop the bleed. But then Luna stabbed his neck again, ending his pain for eternity.

Dante felt some relief as he shouted: "Hey, can you help me stop someone’s bleeding? Or do you know where the vampire is?"

But just then, Luna grabbed a bow off the ground and aimed at him with an arrow of ice.

Frozen, Dante looked at her suspiciously before glancing at his right arm.

’It’s because I’m a demon...’

He had used his demonic energy, of course it was obvious.

’Should I run now?’

As Dante was ready to run toward Selena, the elf suddenly lowered her bow: "...Thank you."

Before he could say anything, she took the mask that the knight was wearing and glanced at Selena before rushing toward her.

’Did she just thank me?’

Did he overestimate the people’s hatred toward demons? Was there still a chance for him to live without always hiding, or was Luna just a special case?

’I’ll think about that later.’

Immediately, Dante looked at the dead knight and took her mask off before rushing to Selena and putting it over her mouth and nose.

’This might keep her safe from the mist.’

Crouching beside Selena, Luna unwrapped Selena’s bandages and touched her wounds before murmuring: "Freeze."

Instantly, a layer of ice covered Selena’s arm and head, stopping her bleeding for now.

But then, Dante frowned: "Is using ice to stop bleeding... a good idea?"

Luna nodded: "It might not be the best, but it should keep her stable temporarily. Try to find the saintess, she must be able to heal her. I’ll take my leave now."

"Huh? Why?"

Luna hesitated for a brief moment before answering: "I have to find my husband, Kyle. Sorry but..."

Luna didn’t continue and simply walked away, not even glancing back.

’...She doesn’t trust me. Well, at least she didn’t try to attack me.’

Dante sighed helplessly as he carried Selena on his back again, scanning his surroundings quickly before moving to a random direction.

As he continued searching for Elizabeth and Skylar, Dante helped three villagers and killed four more knights without using demonic energy, finally getting a mask for himself.

Sensing that Selena’s body was becoming colder with every second, Dante always asked whoever he met if they could help or if they had seen Elizabeth or Skylar, but no one was capable of doing anything or providing useful information.

But unlike that time with Luna, Dante was the one who left the villagers to search alone. They all were weak compared to him and would slow him down.

And when he looked through Fafnir’s eyes, he saw that he was near now.

’Damn it! Where are that girl-man and that short girl when I need them?! Am I moving in a cycle or something?’

With both the mist and the smoke filling the air, Dante was barely seeing anything even though he was infusing his eyes with both demonic energy and mana. If not for the mist and the smoke blocking his sight, Dante might have found Skylar and Elizabeth long ago.

’I hate my life.’

Dante sighed as he put Selena on the ground and took a clean piece of cloth from his storage to bandage her head. The ice that was covering it had already melted.

But as he was about to move his arm...

"You..."

Dante’s body tensed as he felt a big hand holding his shoulder.

"...Greed demon?"