Path of the Demonic Villain

"What...?"

Vi hadn’t been too afraid, because she knew that there was a chance that she wouldn’t die here. She had a failsafe that she hid and was banking on when things eventually went south, which she knew would definitely happen.

When the time had finally come to be put in the circus, she had quietly followed Alvar, the detective, out.

They got to the arena, and after picking up a rapier, she steeled her resolve for what was to come.

According to the announcement by the ringmaster, her opponent was a fighter who went by the name Big Jack.

Who would have thought that what she’d see when the opponent stepped forward would shatter that resolve entirely?

"Dario...?"

She couldn’t believe her eyes.

As the young man walked into the ring, Vi felt something break inside her. This person approaching her... it was not Dario.

It wasn’t her little brother. He looked like him, but his eyes... those ruby eyes of his did not recognize her.

Vi’s hands went limp and she almost dropped her rapier.

At this point, she could no longer hear the cheers, or the announcements. Neither could she hear Alvar’s voice, even though he stood not too far from her.

Vi hyperventilated as she stared at the young man with red hair which looked like hers, and a warm smile that made her heart ache.

"Dario..." She began to walk to the man, but then, the detective reached her and grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Hey!" He shook her to bring her back to her senses. "Listen to me! That’s not your brother. Your brother is dead, that’s just a demon wearing his skin! And if you don’t snap out of it, you’ll be dead too."

He stared into her shaky eyes that were now blurred with tears, hoping that would get her to snap out of it.

Just then, the start of the match must have been announced, seeing as Big Jack lunged for them.

By the time Alvar turned, it was too late. However, his body reacted instinctively and he pushed Vi aside so that she would dodge the blow. But then, the foot of the demon slammed into his chest with enough force to send him flying several meters back. He landed on the ground rolling before coming to a stop. Then he spat out blood, clutched his chest and yelled.

"Get it together Vi!"

It was at that moment that Vi remembered what Alvar had said to her earlier:

"...demons are able to thrive because they have a few wealthy nobles backing them."

She gritted her teeth, and it was at that moment that she reconciled the fact that her brother was indeed really gone.

It was also at that moment that immense hatred towards the nobles who aid these vile creatures fully bloomed in her chest.

’This happened because of evil bastards like them!’

She finally snapped out of it, and seeing as the demon was moving to attack Alvar now that he was down, she rushed to stop it.

Upon sensing her approaching, the demon whose forearms were now gray and hard as stone raised his left arm to stop the rapier.

As the sound of metal clashing against stone echoed, Vi yelled at Alvar. "Tell me where the evidence is!"

"...?"

Alvar, who had just managed to recover, looked confused. They were going to die, so what was the point of that information now?

But just then Vi glared back at him. "Just tell me!"

"You know where I live!" He finally shouted back before moving to join her with the sword he had picked up earlier.

It didn’t take long, though, for them to realize that there wasn’t really any point in fighting. Not only were they not given any mana-gems, which would vastly improve their chances by allowing them to wield magic, but the normal weapons didn’t seem to have that much of an effect on the demon.

In the end, it really was just a laughable circus.

In only a few minutes, Vi found herself on the ground staring at Alvar’s dead body, while hers was covered in her blood and didn’t look much better.

She could hear footsteps sounding beside her, which caused her to slowly turn with effort, only to see what used to be her brother now standing above her with a grin on his face.

Seeing him, she tried to speak but only ended up coughing up blood.

The demon chuckled. Then it spoke in a mocking voice. "This body must have been someone important to you. I heard about you."

It crouched beside her. "Do you blame us?"

Vi didn’t reply and only looked at it with growing malice in her eyes.

The demon shook its head. "You see, we did nothing bad. It’s not like we kidnapped him or anything. We paid for him. If anything, it’s a shame that you found out about us. Because now that you have, we can’t let you walk out of here alive, can we?"

He raised his clawed hand slowly, causing Vi’s eyes to widen, and in the next second, he brought it down, plunging it into her heart.

***

Vi’s eyes snapped open, and she immediately tried to sit up while also looking around her frantically in a panic.

But when she noticed that she was no longer in the circus but was now on the ground of her bedroom, she heaved a sigh of relief.

At this moment, there were no visible injuries on her body, however, she still looked to be in a world of pain.

Although her artifact could help her escape death, one of the conditions for use was that the death needed to look believable so that it could actually leave a dead clone.

So she couldn’t use it earlier and had to endure all the pain until the demon finally killed her before the artifact activated, bringing her real body back to the room.

The good thing was that although it didn’t heal all her injuries, it did remove the life-threatening ones. Though at this moment, she was so exhausted she could barely stand.

She held her side and grunted as she tried to move. At the same time, her face was twisted in anguish, as the memories of what had just happened continued to replay in her head.

She couldn’t help but lean against the wall, hug her knees and cry.

After a long moment, she finally stood up with effort, reached for the wall-mounted gaslamp right beside her, and turned it on.

Meanwhile, several meters outside her apartment building, Edward, who had been keeping watch for Dante in the carriage, smiled as he noticed that the light in teaching assistant Miss Vi’s window was finally on.

***

The time on the silver pocket watch was eleven o’clock.

It was raining tonight, but not too much, and despite the late hour, there were still a few people passing through the streets.

By now, the green fog that usually came out every night had long since rolled in, blanketing the streets, and with the rain, it looked like a murky sea of mist.

Of course, the gas lamps and magi-tech streetlights helped cut through the gloom, keeping the main paths well-lit. Those who did move around through this light mist did so wrapped in overcoats, cloaks, and dark hats to keep out the rain.

At this moment, Edward closed the silver pocket watch with a gloved snap, and his smile widened when he noticed a particular person step out of the entrance of her apartment into the street.

Dressed in simple, threadbare clothes, with a worn hooded cloak pulled low over her face, she looked to be in a hurry as she stepped onto the wet cobblestones.

At this moment, Edward tapped Dante gently and muttered.

"Master, she’s out."

Dante opened his eyes and looked out to see Vi cross the street as she made her way down the alleyway.

Without wasting much time, he alighted from the carriage, and pulled on the cloak of dusk.

Then he took the hoverboard and tossed it in front of him. However, the sleek device did not hit the ground but hovered a few inches from it.

Since Dante had the control band wrapped around his wrist, all he needed to do to control the board was use his hands or his feet.

Dante stepped onto the floating device, pulled the hood over his head, before finally pulling the kerchief up to cover his face.

At this moment, he looked like a phantom lurking in the shadows. His form was emitting wisps of dark mist, making him blurry and hard to pinpoint.

Slowly, the hoverboard began to rise into the air taking him higher until he was flying above the misty rooftops.

He then leaned his weight forward slightly and the board shot forward until he could see Miss Vi once more.

She was standing by the curb on the main street, trying her best to hail a passing carriage. Once the cab pulled over, she got into it and the horse-drawn vehicle began moving.

At this moment, imperceptible to the world below him, Dante glided silently through the foggy night, tracking her from above.