Path of the Demonic Villain

"W-what has gotten into you all of a sudden?"

Flustered, Francesca arched a curious brow. She sniffed the air twice, then let out a tired, exasperated sigh. Raising her arms just enough to drape her hands lightly over his back, she gave him a half-hearted hug and patted him lightly.

"You are drunk."

Dante chuckled lightly as he subtly shifted his gaze away from the spirit, pretending like he had not seen it.

It had the upper body of a human, but two curved ram horns grew from its head, and from the waist down, it had the legs and hooves of a goat.

Dante had heard about these creatures and had even seen them before back when he played the game in his previous life.

This was definitely the spirit of a faun.

But it was wrapped in a green fog, which was most likely another layer of concealment by a divine power.

The only reason Dante wasn’t panicking or sweating bullets after seeing such a thing walk into his house right behind his sister was because most spirits were harmless in this world, especially ones like this that were neither vengeful spirits nor wraiths.

As for how he could see it so clearly, that was because of his trait: [True Insight], which had flared up the moment the spirit stepped foot in his home.

Normally, anyone in his class could sense spirits if they got close enough, but to actually see one, a High Priest needed to be at least Third Tier or higher depending on how strong the spirit was. There were also low-tier Apostles whose Divine Skills granted them the ability to see spectral forms directly.

As for Dante, he never had a solid explanation for why he could see ghosts so clearly when his tier was still sitting at zero, but as a High Priest, he could see them clear as day anyway.

’Why would a specter be following Francesca? I don’t sense any hostility from it. Is it a spy?’ Dante thought, keeping his expression the same.

As he finally leaned away, he arched a brow and asked, "Where did you go today?"

Francesca’s expression didn’t change. She adjusted her glasses, and replied curiously, "Academy? I’ve been in the Atelier all day."

Dante narrowed his eyes, before saying after a moment.

"I see."

"I’m off to bed." She tapped his cheek twice gently with fingers full of rings, before turning away. Then she began tiredly heading toward the stairs.

Dante called out softly after her, "I’ll come see you later, then."

"Don’t!" she shot back dismissively as she disappeared up the steps.

Just then, the spirit of the faun moved to follow her, but only after a few steps near the stairs, Dante shot it a cold look.

"You... where do you think you are going?"

The spirit halted.

It slowly turned its head, giving Dante a look of confused, cautious disbelief. "You can see me?"

Dante smirked dryly. "Surprise, surprise."

"What?" The spirit’s jaw dropped. "Wait, no... that’s not supposed to be possible."

Dante calmly brought his hands together, locking his fingers in a tight clasp as if in prayer. Then, his smile vanished. "You are wrong. What shouldn’t be possible is a spirit like you having the audacity to set foot in my home."

Upon seeing that, the faun immediately tried to flee!

Right at that moment, however, Dante unleashed his divine power, engulfing the space around them.

It was so pure and dense that it held onto the spirit, causing it to slow down just as it had begun moving.

Dante grinned as his purple eyes bled into a piercing crimson.

"Mother, hear my voice. Cleanse this trespasser, and unmake that which walks without life."

The spirit’s mouth opened in a silent scream as its body began to dissipate, crumbling like ash until its entire form vanished into the air.

Exorcising spirits like this was something every high priest could do, granted they had the holy items and consecrated catalysts which contained the energy of the divine. However, all high priests who were Apostles could do it without the need for items, as they had divine power flowing directly through them.

Those most proficient in this art were the Apostles of the Sun and the Apostles of Light. Even so, Apostles of other sources could still perform basic purifications, provided they were dealing with spirits like this one rather than true wraiths.

Of course, Dante could have chosen to interrogate the spirit first. But who was to say that simply asking politely with a please would make a dead thing answer?

He was not an Apostle of the Undead, who were far more proficient at handling spirits and could seal one in place to interrogate it. In order not to let this slip of a phantom escape, Dante went straight for exorcism.

’By the way, this spirit looked like it was under the control of an Apostle of the Undead,’ Dante thought with a frown as he stepped closer to where the spirit had been.

’I’ve never been near one of those Apostles before, but based on what I feel from the lingering divine power, I’m almost certain of it. It feels cold and necrotic.’

He thought as he lifted his gaze toward the stairs and his frown deepened.

***

Central District.

In a luxurious apartment building in the Civic Quarters.

——

Despite being in a profession that didn’t usually earn much, Detective Holmes was actually quite rich. He was wealthy enough to keep his private residence separate from his office, maintaining a grand apartment on a boulevard near the Imperial Way that led straight to the Upper District.

Right now, he had just finished doing his absolute favorite thing in the world, which was cooking!

It was something that helped soothe his soul, and just looking at good food was enough to bring tears to his eyes.

With the help of the ethereal woman with green eyes and black hair, they laid out an incredible feast for dinner on the table. They had seared duck breast with a sweet cherry glaze, delicate lobster ravioli floating in a rich saffron cream, and truffle risotto served alongside roasted figs.

Holmes sat down at the table while she took her spot on the other side, and just sat with her chin resting on her palm to watch him eat.

But after taking just one single bite, Holmes’s face fell and he looked like he was about to cry.

"This sucks," he groaned, letting his fork drop onto the plate with a clatter.

"What’s the point of being able to cook all this gourmet food if I can’t even taste it anymore?"

He picked up the fork and ate a few more bites anyway, before giving up entirely and leaning back with a sigh.

The woman smirked. "You complain about this every single day. Isn’t it enough already?"

"No!" Holmes snapped, gesturing dramatically at the table. "You’ve never eaten, so what do you know? Do you know how heavenly that saffron cream tastes when it hits the lobster, or how incredible the duck is when the cherry glaze cuts through the rich fat?"

He exhaled and looked away again. "What I wouldn’t give to have my taste buds back."

The lady just shook her head softly, and her expression was a mix of pity and quiet amusement as she watched his dramatic performance.

Then, all of a sudden, she sat up straight with a disbelieving expression creeping onto her face.

"What is it?" Holmes frowned as his tone shifted to concern.

Just then, however, even he felt it too.

"Huh?" He blinked slowly, staring blankly at her face as if still trying to process the sudden severed connection. "The spirit I latched onto that Fioravanti has been exorcised?"

His voice was that of someone who couldn’t quite believe what he had just said.

"I told you it was risky," the woman said in a wary voice. "Sending a spirit out there to the house of a count was a bad move. You can never tell what sort of powers someone of that status has around them."

"But this doesn’t make any sense, Irene." Holmes shook his head, leaning forward against the table. "That surveillance spirit was masked with my concealment power. Unless someone was close to being a Black Apostle, they shouldn’t have even been able to sense it, let alone exorcise it."

"Maybe an artifact?" Irene suggested, and her eyes narrowed as she considered the possibility. "It’s a stretch, but there are some really powerful Red artifacts out there that can even mess with a few of our abilities. Or who knows? They might even have a Gold artifact."

She paused before shrugging. "Or maybe it’s just that... in this short time, she must have crossed paths with a High Priest of a higher tier."

Holmes frowned, and his gaze dropped as he began to rap his fingers rhythmically on the tabletop in thought.

’This is the first time anyone has actually been able to ward off one of my spirits. Strange...’

After a moment, he let out a low chuckle. "Heh. I have to say, all these developments have moved from being interesting to deeply concerning. I just hope this won’t create issues for me. Whatever the case, it seems we might have to abandon Holmes & Co for a while."

Shortly after, Irene nodded in agreement.