CHAPTER 38: REST AND JOIN YOUR HUSBAND

Dante watched the man’s face twist in horror as he answered. ’’We’ve heard the reports,’’ he looked around before ushering them inside. ’’Come on inside, it’s dangerous in the Dark Forest for young ones.’’

’Fool, they just let the fox into the chicken coop,’ he thought as they stepped into Hollowend Village.

Bella’s face lit up with a warm smile as they stood at the edge of the settlement, taking in the humble yet lively scene in front of them. The village, though small compared to Ashvale in scale, had its charm. A single main road, dusty and well-trodden, carved its way through the heart of the community, flanked on both sides by sturdy wooden storefronts.

Their weathered fronts, crafted from a blue colored timber, bore the marks of wear and tear, hinting at their age. Vendors bustled along the roadside, arranging their stalls to draw in more people. Colorful awnings fluttered gently in the breeze, sheltering handcrafted goods, fresh produce, and trinkets that glinted in the sunlight.

’’This place looks innocent,’’ the blonde Elf commented.

’’All of Darkmoore is a cruel and wicked place,’’ Dante retorted, pointing at an alleyway, thanks to sensing something. ’’Death lingers from there; many people have died there.’’

Bella looked confused but questioned. ’’How would you know that?’’

’’The Death Aura is thicker there and a few more places across Hollowend.’’

The duo made their way toward the alley as he continued. ’’It’s like they are holding nearly dead people next to corpses, maybe slavers?’’

As Dante ventured into the shadows, he sensed an ominous presence and drew his daggers, ready for danger. Beside him, Bella summoned her magic, crimson orbs shimmering in her hands, ready to unleash their power as he warned. ’’We’re going to find some dark things in there, Bel. You can return to the Domain if you wish?’’

’’I’ll join you,’’ she replied, voice full of determination.

Dante shrugged and began walking down the alleyway, only to be stopped by three Darkmoore soldiers guarding a red metal door. The oldest stepped forward, his eyes not leaving his Death Mistress, angering him. He raised a dagger at the human and growled. ’’Take your filthy gaze off her or I’ll throw you and your wife to Feral Goblins.’’

The commander shivered, but the other two rushed forward in a strange display of bravery, but Bella let her Death Magic fly. A dark red arrow materialized in her palm. She sent it flying toward one of them as he moved too fast and appeared in front of the other soldiers before stabbing him in the gut and twisting the blade.

’’Die human,’’ he hissed in the man’s ear and threw his body into the Domain.

Dante turned to the man Bella attacked and noticed half his body was melted down to bone, putting a wicked grin on his face as he looked at the trembling commander. ’’Now, like I said, I’ll find your wife and give her to some monsters for them attacking me.’’

The human turned pale, but Sulla appeared. ’’I can use the ring to track her, my lord. Should I go get the woman?’’

’’Do we have any Goblins in the Domain?’’ he wondered out loud.

’’No,’’ the Death Lich revealed. ’’But we have Orcs, the next best thing.’’

’’Good, because I have a feeling that these humans will deserve it.’’

Dante was staring at the metal door and sensed the mana emanating from it, causing him to get an idea. He summoned Death Giant, its towering form oozing decay. With a guttural roar, it tore the door from its hinges, hurling it across the alley with a bone-rattling crash that drew the gaze of onlookers.

But the true horror unfolded as he unleashed a ravenous horde of Zombies and Ghouls. The faster undead surged forward, their hollow red eyes glinting. Clawing and gnashing, they descended upon the crowd, ripping through flesh in a frenzied, blood-soaked massacre, their shrieks mingling with the screams of the damned.

Alarms blared out, but Dante was ready when all the village guards fought his army until he summoned his five Death Knights and shouted over the noise of the dying. ’’Kill everyone in this place!’’

He looked at the woman, who was once an adventurer but was now his puppet, and ordered. ’’Medea, create even more soldiers for me, my Plague Maiden!’’

’’Yes, my lord,’’ she replied, grinning.

Raoul, Henry, Gilbert, and Sulla charged into the fray, their blades and magic, mowing down the terrified humans like a scythe slicing through wheat. From the darkness, the White Lady materialized, her ghostly form radiating an icy dread, while the Death Wraith loomed beside her, a visage promising eternal torment.

Marianne, her red eyes glowing with cruel charm, fixed her gaze on a trembling family and wove a sinister charm, her voice full of sweetness. ’’Come to me, my little sweeties,’’ she cooed, beckoning the children forward.

Mesmerized, the children stumbled toward her, oblivious to the horror unfolding. Mary swooped down, letting out a bloodcurdling shriek, her claws severing the mother’s head in a single, gruesome strike. The father’s scream was cut short as a Feral Ghoul, its jagged maw dripping with rot, tore through him, splitting his body in two with a sickening crunch.

Bella cringed at this and looked at him. ’’I’m sure we’ll meet some friendly humans, not all can be bad.’’

’’Maybe, though, to me they’re all the same,’’ he answered honestly. ’’If I meet once, then I’ll probably change my mind, but I’d still kill most of them.’’

After that, the blonde went quiet, making sure none of the guards can attack them as Dante revelled in the chaos, but Bella questioned, looking at the corpses surrounding the alley. ’’Where are my kind or Demi-Humans? There’s only humans here?’’

’’Come with me, but remember I warned you,’’ he said, turning toward the red door.

Several D-ranked adventurers exited, but Dante moved like the wind, cutting them apart before they even knew what had happened. He looked at the blonde Elf. ’’Don’t fall behind or get back to the Domain, this will haunt you for life, Bel.’’

They stepped into the building, the air thick with despair. A dim, flickering hallway stretched in front of them, lined with warped doors that seemed to groan under the weight of their own decay. Dante’s boots thudded against the grimy floor as he approached the first door, its paint peeling like dead skin, but the elf stopped him.

’’The smell is horrible,’’ Bella said, covering her mouth. ’’It’s like the pits after a battle has taken place, full of dead bodies.’’

’’There’s one in here that the humans use,’’ he revealed.

Following that, Dante shoved it open, and the sight inside hit him like a punch to the gut: two men, their faces twisted with cruel lust, pinning a cat woman to a filthy mattress, her hair matted with blood and tears. Rage surged through him, a white-hot inferno. Before the men could even turn, he drove his daggers into one’s skull, a sickening crunch echoing out, the blades sinking to the hilts.

The other barely had time to scream before Dante’s Death Blast tore through him, a raw burst of dark energy that left his body a smoldering ruin against the wall. The woman collapsed onto the bed, her breath shallow, her body trembling from the brutality she’d endured.

Her emerald eyes, dull with pain, flickered open, meeting Dante’s. A faint, broken smile curved her lips. ’’Thank you,’’ she whispered, her voice cracked. ’’You stopped them for me... but please, end it. They broke me. I can’t live with this shame, this pain.’’

’’Oh my goddess!’’ Bella mumbled, shocked.

The woman’s words hung heavy, a desperate plea born from a soul shattered beyond repair. Dante glanced at a horrified her and declared. ’’This is why I’m doing this! Humans are cruel creatures who show no compassion, even as the Death Monarch, I know mercy!’’

He pointed at the disintegrating man. ’’I’ll wipe them all out! This world doesn’t need such a violent or disgusting race! They’d quick enough burn me or rape innocent women!’’

Moments later, Dante’s hand trembled as he drove his dagger into the catwoman’s heart, her faint smile a haunting echo of gratitude. Her frail hand gripped his, her voice a barely audible whisper. ’’Thank you for saving me.’’

’’Rest and join your husband,’’ he murmured, his voice thick with sorrow when seeing the wedding ring.

He summoned a surge of mana, and her broken body dissolved into ash, consumed by a fleeting blaze that left nothing behind. The hallway stretched on, each door a portal to more horrors. They pushed forward, uncovering dozens of Demi-Human women caged in filthy rooms, their eyes hollow from torment.

Dante killed every human he found in the most brutal ways he could think of. Some of the women escaped after Medea healed what she could. When the Death Knights witnessed the horrors, they became enraged. The slaughter outside increased in brutality as no one was spared.