Chapter 27: Grace Before Meal
Just as Edward made the request, the scene of how he had devoured the blood of one of the scavengers back in the Labyrinth flashed through Dante’s mind.
’This is actually good timing considering I have the duel with Vincenzo tomorrow,’ Dante thought with a faint smile. ’Draining all of the blood from a living creature and completely spending that energy afterward will boost my resonance significantly.’
He slowly extended his hand, opening his bleeding palm in front of Vivia, and muttered in a somber tone.
"Drain her, Edward."
Suddenly, the cut on Dante’s palm changed to an open mouth. It was a smiling mouth with white teeth. In the next second, what began as thin tendrils of blood emerged, quickly turning into thick, writhing tendrils which had snapping mouths at the tips.
Seeing that, the woman began to panic, thrashing against her restraints. "What the fuck is that? Wait, no, get those things away from me!"
But before she could pull back, the tendrils lashed forward and struck her in different spots. One latched onto the side of her neck, another slammed onto the side of her head, and a third sank directly into her chest.
The tendrils then began to pulse and swell as they drained her dry.
Vivia screamed and thrashed, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t free herself from the writhing blood mass. She could only watch in terror as every drop of blood was being sucked out of her and her body began to turn pale and lean.
Beside her, the other men watched with terrified eyes. They too thrashed, and their muffled cries echoed through the room.
Outside the door, Isabella, Bianca, and the two men could all hear the screaming, but none of them could tell just what was happening inside.
Meanwhile, Dante closed his eyes. Truth be told, he was actually repulsed. This was the first time he was committing murder, and he felt sickened by it. Especially considering the horrifying manner she was dying, he just couldn’t bring himself to watch it.
After a few seconds, he raised two fingers of his left hand close to his lips and prayed.
"Mother of Blood, Evelyn. Look not upon the cruelty of this act, but upon the life returned to you. Settle her pain, cleanse her mortality, and grant her rest in the depths of your crimson sea."
The voice of the woman began to die down until eventually, her screams faded into a hollow, rattling gasp.
Dante opened his eyes to see a shriveled, paper-white husk slumped in her bindings, completely drained of every drop of life. His expression suddenly turned somber.
For a moment, he was worried that he would be hunted by this act for a while.
’It seems that the blood of one full human is the limit of the blood demon for now,’ he thought. ’To drink more, I would need to either give him time, or expend my own reserves.’
He turned to look at the other men in the room, watching them tremble in sheer horror, before exhaling deeply. ’I’ll come back for them later then.’
Just then, the tendrils of blood began to retreat into the smiling mouth on his open palm, sliding back beneath his skin as if they had never left. The mouth closed and faded away, leaving only the thin cut, which rapidly healed over to leave behind nothing but lingering bloodstains.
Almost immediately afterward, Dante’s eyes, which had turned red when he began to pray, reverted back to their gentle, innocent purple.
’Show me my faith stat,’ he thought, and in response, a screen appeared before him.
Faith: [0%—[7%]———————100%]
Seeing that, Dante’s expression did not change. He dipped his hand into his pocket and took out a handkerchief, carefully wiping the residual blood from his palm before letting the stained cloth fall to the floor.
Then, as he took out his glove to put it on, he turned and began walking out of the room.
Upon crossing the threshold, he turned to his mother who was leaning against the wall and said, "I’m done for now, Mother. I’ll come talk to the rest later."
Isabella studied him for a moment before walking into the room. For a brief moment, she just studied the scene in silence. When she finally emerged, she smiled and said to Dante, "Let’s go have dinner."
Dante nodded with the composure of the most polite and gentle man in the world. "Of course, Mother."
***
A plate of pan-seared venison, butter-glazed roots, and roasted pheasant in wild berry reduction were placed on the table by the server. The black-haired man in a tailored suit poured a vintage red wine into their glasses, while another waiter set down a basket of warm, crusty bread and a small bowl of truffle butter.
Looking at the food, Dante took a deep inhale of the rich, gamey aroma and smiled.
He was in a really good mood right now.
Who wouldn’t be? The food was good enough to make a saint commit a sin.
He picked up his cutlery and began to cut a piece of the perfectly seared venison. Then he put the morsel into his mouth. As the meat practically dissolved on his tongue, releasing its savory juices and the sweet tang of the berries, Dante felt like he was in heaven.
’Life is good.’
Turns out he was wrong. He would definitely not be haunted by that death, heh heh.
’Oh Noah. I remember we used to order those greasy one-euro instant ramen packets on late night shifts and act like it was a feast. You are really missing a lot.’
Noah was his friend and workmate back on earth. They were both men who lived paycheck to paycheck and could only afford to dine a meal close to this once a month. Looking down at the silver cutlery and the opulent spread before him, Dante couldn’t help but appreciate how far he had come.
’I wonder how Noah is doing...’ Dante sighed.
Just then, his mother took a drink of her wine, with her gaze fixed on him.
’He must be feeling burdened after what he did,’ she thought after hearing him sigh.
When she set down her glass, she asked, "Are you alright?"
"...?"
Dante’s eyes flicked up to her.
She then reached out to hold his hand and said in a lowered voice only they could hear. "I know it must be tough. You’ve never done anything like this before. Taking a life is a heavy burden for anyone, no matter how necessary it was. Do not let the blood on your hands weigh down your soul, my dear. You did what had to be done."
’Oh she thinks I’m feeling burdened?’
Dante squeezed her hand back, forcing his eyes to widen into a picture of fragile, wide-eyed innocence. He let his bottom lip quiver just enough to look like a kicked puppy doing its absolute best to stay brave.
"Thank you, Mother. Your words bring warmth to my shattered heart," he choked out as if he were holding back a torrent of tears. "I won’t let this painful weight weigh down on me, knowing you stand beside me."
***
The rest of the evening went by smoothly. Dante and his mother later returned to the Villa after a sumptuous dinner, after which Dante immediately hopped into bed.
By eight in the morning, he was already awake, sitting on the edge of his bed as he planned how he was going to fight in his duel with Vincenzo.
He really needed that artifact!
However, he was just a noob at level eleven, while his opponent was a veteran in the thirties.
’This really is overkill.’
While he was still lost in thought, Edward began cheering him on.
’You can do this, Master! You can do this!’--
Dante chuckled.
"Thanks for the encouragement, little one."
’Hehe~’--
Dante stood up and left to prepare.
After putting on a leather vest and flexible dark trousers, he opened a drawer and took out a silver artifact.
[Armor of the Silver Sentinel]
He then slipped the artifact onto his hand. Then he looked down to see his [Pocket Watch of Stolen Moments]. After some thought, he picked it up too and pocketed it.
With that done, he felt prepared. As he turned to leave his room, he muttered. "Glory to the Mother of Blood."
His purple eyes then changed to red.
***
Some minutes later, Dante found himself walking into the training gallery of the Fioravanti Villa.
He could see his mother sitting on a velvet-upholstered chaise lounge with her legs crossed while she rested her chin against her hand. A tall crystal wine glass filled with iced water dangled loosely from her fingers. An amused smile played on her lips as she watched Dante walk in.
Meanwhile, Vincenzo stood near the center of the room. He wore an expressionless face with his arms crossed over his chest as he hugged a bare steel sword against his shoulder. He was dressed in a high-collared black fencing jacket and tailored trousers held up by dark leather suspenders.
Dante narrowed his eyes, then heaved a sigh when he saw it was a normal sword and not the artifact that Vincenzo was known for using.
He gave a greeting bow to his mother, who smiled warmly in response. Then he walked up to the weapon rack to pick up a weapon as well.
In this world, most weapons were not just the normal kind of weapons he had been used to seeing in his previous life. Instead, most looked like what one would see in a game, featuring intricate runes etched along the fuller, exaggerated fantasy geometry, aggressive blade silhouettes, and unconventional crafting. Most of them even had empty sockets built into the hilts or shafts, designed for mana-gems to be embedded by those who wanted to tap into their magic effects.
After scanning through the options on the rack, Dante picked up a sleek, double-edged straight sword with a simple crossguard and a balanced steel blade.
He tested its weight, and when he was satisfied, he turned and began walking to his position. As he moved, he mentally activated his [Armor of the Silver Sentinel].
Just like all armor artifacts, one could have their invisible form layered over their clothes. However, the protection would be halved. To get the full defensive output, one needed to activate the full materialization.
So that’s what Dante did.
From the bracelet, a silver form fitting armor began to appear over his clothes. Bright metallic liquid bled out across his wrists, hardening instantly into segmented plate that crept up his arms and broad shoulders. It molded tightly around his torso like a polished steel corset, contoured with overlapping scales that allowed full range of motion. A high, reinforced collar rose around his neck to protect his throat, while sleek greaves clamped over his shins.
Upon seeing him, Vincenzo smiled slightly. "You look more prepared than I thought you’d be."
Instead of replying, Dante narrowed his eyes, catching sight of the black leather artifact hanging from a small cord around Vincenzo’s neck.
Giving a mental command, the protection on his forearm dissolved. Dante raised his blade and drew a quick line across the exposed skin.
Blood dripped onto the floor in thick drops. But then, barely a second later, the crimson liquid on the ground magically increased in volume, bursting into a wave of blood that circled around him like a tide. The violent current churned within a three-meter radius, rising all the way up to his knees as it swirled around his legs.
It was as if he was standing in the center of a violent sea of blood.
Seeing that, Vincenzo’s expression did not change. Instead, he began to state the terms of the match.
"I assume you are of a lower tier, so after gauging your output, I will restrict my strength to match your level, Apostle. To make things fair, all you need to do to win is take this cord off my neck. Of course, I will be actively defending it, so if you can even manage to touch it, I will consider that a victory for you.
"Feel free to use everything you have in your arsenal. Though I have to say, signore... since I do not fully know what you are capable of, I intend to take you very seriously. Signora Isabella has already given me the go-ahead, so I won’t pull my punches."
When he finished speaking, he tapped his chest, then his forehead, and extended his hand to the side. "Do we have terms?"
’Sounds fair enough,’ Dante thought.
His heart began to race in excitement. Mirroring the gesture, he tapped his own chest, touched his forehead, and extended his hand in response.
"We have terms."