CHAPTER 38: BALLS OF STEEL

"...Greed demon?"

The world around Dante slowed down. Instinctively, Dante turned his centipede into a sword and spun around, aiming his sword to the neck of the mysterious man behind him.

Just then, the man blocked the blade by gripping it with his bare hand, causing Dante’s jaw to drop in disbelief and preventing him from pulling it free.

Centipede of Greed — Abyssal Slash!

Boom!

The sword glowed faintly before unleashing an abyssal slash, causing an explosion that affected even Dante due to how close he was.

’Explosion?!’

The Abyssal Slash explodes only if it falls to slice through its target.

’Damn it—!’

All of a sudden, the man let go of Dante’s shoulder and gripped his neck, raising him above the ground as if raising a toy.

Dante’s eyes widened as he saw a familiar person, a man with golden hair and golden beard.

He wore golden armor without a helmet, standing over 2.3 meters tall with an air of pressure and authority.

’The... baron...’

Ash, the baron of this doomed land, looked at Dante’s sword with confusion in his golden eyes.

"Is this a demonic relic or artifact? How did you get it?"

Centipede of Greed — Arm Drill!

Under the baron’s shocked gaze, the sword returned to Dante’s hand before the segmented blades surrounded it in the shape of a drill.

As the drill started spinning rapidly, Dante infused the drill with shadow fire before attacking the baron.

To Dante’s shock, the baron gripped the drill with his bare hand again, stopping it from spinning. His arm’s muscles tensed as his armor on his arm shattered, but he kept holding the drill indifferently.

As if the baron’s hand was made of steel, his grip over the drill caused high heat and sparks.

Infusing his leg with mana and demonic energy, Dante kicked the baron between his legs.

But surprisingly, he felt like kicking a wall as he was the one who truly felt pain.

’What the hell? Does he have balls of steel?!’

The baron stared at Dante’s drill curiously: "Strange, I can say by the color of your energy that you are a Greed demon, but I can also sense an ability similar to Lust demons from your face. How didn’t that useless scout know this? He indeed deserved his death."

Suddenly, the drill began to glow.

Centipede of Greed — Abyssal Slash!

Boom!

Dante felt immense pain all over his arm as the drill tried to unleash a strange spiral slash, but unfortunately, it didn’t pierce the Baron’s hand.

The baron’s hand was now covered in blood, but he still held Dante’s drill and neck without a hint of annoyance.

The baron raised an eyebrow: "Are you really Rank 1?"

Desperately, Dante aimed his index finger toward the baron’s chest.

Silver Ether Spell — Ether Bolt!

BAM!

A silver bolt shot quickly toward the baron’s chest.

The baron only frowned as he infused his chest with a strange, dark golden energy, ready to tank the suspicious attack.

CRACK!

Suddenly, the baron’s eyes widened as the bolt shattered his armor and struck his chest, sending him flying to a nearby building.

"Hah... hah."

Dante finally regained his breath as he looked at his left hand.

’Shit!’

His index finger was now a mere skeleton with visible cracks, while his hand barely had any flesh left. He couldn’t see his forearm because of his cloak, but he could sense that it was now skinless.

’One more... spell.’

With the remaining amount of Ether he had, he could only cast another bolt at best.

Dante quickly recalled his knowledge of the Silver Ether.

Ether itself was a primordial, higher form of energy that existed between life and death.

Dante didn’t know if there was something in the afterlife, but he knew that mana was the main general energy in life, at least in this world.

As for the Ether, it was beyond being in a specific world, existing everywhere and higher than all these normal energies.

The Silver Ether was the condensed, steady form of Ether. It held shape, resisted change, and defined structure.

Using it instead of mana, he was able to make the highest possible output of his spell with his limited control.

His bolt was almost perfect regarding its structure and shape, and it was highly resistant to any change, allowing it to achieve enough kinetic force to throw the tough baron into a building.

Ether also had the ability to command runes directly, which was what allowed him to use a runic spell like Appraisal.

’I should learn long-range casting if I survive this.’

Unfortunately, his body wasn’t strong enough to safely cast such a strong spell. Because he was a rookie regarding casting magic, he still needed to use his own body for casting some spells.

Other mages could have just made the bolt appear close to them instead of shooting it with their fingers.

Enduring his pain, Dante stared at Selena, hesitating between running away or taking her with him.

She was a dead weight. Although she was too light to slow him down, he wouldn’t gain anything from saving her.

Should he just leave her here?

Should he toss a coin for that?

’I’m... not a monster, damn it.’

He wouldn’t gain anything by saving her, but he wouldn’t lose anything either!

Taking a deep breath, Dante carried her on his back again and started running as fast as he could. He wasn’t interested in searching for the vampire or the saintess now. He had to survive first.

The bolt was supposed to blow the baron up, not throw him away—which meant he might be alive!

’That bastard’s body is a damn shield! Why is he even here? Why did he attack us and expose himself instead of leaving the village if he knew about us? And what was all that strange talk about greed and lust?!’

Dante couldn’t understand any of the baron’s actions, and he wasn’t interested in understanding them right now. He only had to run.

"Leave... me."

Suddenly, Dante heard Selena’s voice behind his ear. She finally woke up.

But did she just ask him to leave her? Had she seen him fighting the baron?

"Shut up and stay alive instead of saying such nonsense." Dante gritted his teeth as he ran faster.

’Fafnir, don’t come back and search for help. You won’t make any difference against that monster.’

Hearing his master’s orders, Fafnir stopped running toward Dante.

All of a sudden, a shaking sound tore through the place. The sound was strange for Dante’s ears—something between a lion and an eagle.

That sound shook the ground and caused Dante to feel strange pressure, giving him thoughts of kneeling and asking for forgiveness.

Dante glanced at his back, then the color drained of his face as he saw the baron running toward him.

He had a small hole on his chest, allowing Dante to see the pierced baron’s golden heart.

’How the fuck is he alive?!’

He also seemed to be bleeding from his eyes and mouth, and he held a greatsword with one hand while looking at Dante with annoyance.

"A lowly demon like you dares to scratch me!"

’How the hell is this a scratch?!’

Using small demonic bursts under his legs, Dante accelerated himself and turned his centipede into a sword.

Demonic Misfortune Spell — Demonic Jinx!

Centipede of Greed — Abyssal Slash!

After casting some misfortune, Dante swung his overcharged sword swiftly, sending a crimson-black slash toward the baron in hope of slowing him down.

"Pathetic!"

The baron’s sword shone like a dark sun, then he struck downward and cut the abyssal slash in half.

"Leave me." Selena repeated with a hollow voice: "Find Eliza and Max... they are... cough, cough."

"Shut up already! I won’t leave something that belongs to me!" Dante yelled as he ignored her and continued running.

Find Max? Sadly, he was already dead. He sacrificed himself to save her!

And if he could find Elizabeth, he’d have done that already!

’Wait, did I just say that she belongs to me?’

Why would he say something like that?

’Damn it, it’s the corruption!’

He overused his demonic energy. Some strange thoughts were already forming in his mind.

And if that wasn’t enough, he could barely feel his legs now. He kept infusing them with demonic energy, and they were probably facing physical corruption.

Shadow Spell — Shadow Flash!

A dark flash attacked the baron’s eyes, trying to blind him. But his eyes suddenly glowed and resisted the spell.

’Is this bastard invincible?!’

Just then, Dante had to dash to the side as he was about to crash into a wall, realizing that he was now far away from the inn and reached someone’s house.

Bam!

But the baron didn’t care as he passed through the walls like a furious bull!

The next moment, Ash raised his hand up.

"Demonic Dawnburst Spears."

Under Dante and Selena’s shocked gazes,

10 familiar golden spears materialized above the baron.

’It was... him.’

Ash lowered his hand, then all the spears flew toward Dante and Selena.

"Shit!"

Dante stopped running and channeled all the remaining Ether he had to his arm.

Silver Ether Spell — Ether Barrier!

Instantly, a silver barrier materialized before Dante, standing like an unshakeable wall.

’That silver aspect again? I’m sure it isn’t the Metal Aspect.’ Ash frowned, but he continued charging toward them.

Desperately, Dante cast as many demonic barriers as he could and turned his centipede into a shield.

The Ether Barrier was strong, but it was covering only one side! If each one of these spears was as strong and explosive as the one that threw him into several walls, then he had to be worried about the explosion rather than the direct hit.

Dante put Selena down and did his best to cover her as much as possible while facing his shield upward.

Then with a shaky voice, Selena chanted: "Water... Sphere."

A blue sphere of water materialized and covered the area around them.

Dante held Selena tightly to cover her with his cloak and prepared himself for the impact.

As Dante looked at the upcoming spears, seeing the entire world move slowly, he closed his eyes.

’I hate my life.’

BOOM! BOOM!! BOOM!!!