Path of the Demonic Villain

Dante’s eyes suddenly jolted open.

Then, without even taking in a breath, he immediately sat upright like a corpse rising from the grave.

’What happened?’ He touched his chest, or more specifically his heart. But contrary to his expectations, nothing seemed wrong.

’What did she mean by "I’m taking your heart"?’

His thoughts raced for a few more seconds. Then he swallowed as he felt a cold sense of foreboding.

After drawing in a few breaths and recollecting himself, a small smile crept onto his face.

’Regardless, she said that she would take me as her Apostle. Then...?’

Without wasting any time, he mentally summoned his profile. Almost immediately, what looked similar to a magical screen appeared before him.

~~~~~~ ============= ~~~~~~

Name: Dante Fioravanti

Race: [Otherworlder]

Status: [Apostle of Blood]

Age: [17]

Tier: [0]

Class: [High Priest]

Source: [Blood]

Traits: [Buffs], [Divine Attunement], [True Insight]

Divine Skills: [Blood Demon]

Grade: [Black]

~~~~~~ ============= ~~~~~~

Ha!

A wave of immense joy washed over Dante when he saw that he had now risen to the status of an Apostle. Even though he was an apostle of an existence regarded as an evil Goddess, at this moment in time, he did not care in the slightest. He couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

’Divine skill: Blood Demon.’

He had barely registered the name, and had not even begun to question what its abilities were, when his eyes suddenly landed on the Grade.

’Wait a minute...’

His smile froze. He blinked multiple times in disbelief, even adjusting his glasses and leaning closer to the floating screen, yet the text remained unchanged.

’Black?!’

He was a Black-Graded Apostle?

Dante couldn’t believe his eyes. Black was the absolute highest tier that any form of power could be Graded, and the entities or abilities associated with this color were incredibly rare. In the case of apostles, the number of individuals graded black throughout history could be counted on one hand. Even the protagonist of this world was an apostle whose leading skill only granted them a Red Grade.

And yet, right now, Dante was looking at a Black Grade.

The joy he felt suddenly soared by leaps and bounds, completely eclipsing his initial relief.

’Why did she bless me with such a skill? Could it be that because I am unable to use basic magic like others, she decided to grant me something powerful enough to compensate for my weakness?’

The more he thought about it, the more Dante believed this hypothesis was close to the truth. Whatever the case, however, one thing was absolutely certain.

’Despite being an evil God, the Mother of Blood and Horror is a really good benefactor!’

He stood up fully and turned to the headless statue in front of him. Then, he put his hands together and gave a small bow of gratitude.

After that small gesture, he could already feel his faith rising higher and higher by the minute. And the more his faith rose, the more he felt the divine power now flowing inside him stir violently.

With a smile, he reached into his bag and took out a gold pocket watch, then snapped it open to check the time.

"...!"

Then he paled as he realized that more than thirty minutes had gone by while he was unconscious.

He would have loved to check out his skill right now, but he had to restrain himself. He still needed to go back to the people who were waiting for him and were probably already worried sick.

Without further ado, Dante picked up his sword and the rest of his things, then he began making his way toward the water in the center of the cavern.

Once he got to the edge, he took a deep breath and dived in. A moment later, his head broke out of the water on the other side. The moment it did, the sun shining in on the pit cave caused him to squint.

He was not in a hurry to leave the water. This was the ninth floor, and there was a possibility of a creature coming down from above or one lingering in this pit cave.

Only after looking around and confirming that there was none did Dante finally swim to the edge and climb out. Then, he quickly made his way to the statue of the man with the head of a goat.

Upon reaching it, he whispered, "Take me to the second floor."

Then, he stepped through the rippling statue.

***

"W-what... what happened here?"

...The second floor was different from the other floors as well. It was like stepping into a vast, broken landscape. Large rocks and massive boulders littered the ground in chaotic piles that rolled on for miles until the entire vista ended at a vertical cliff.

The boulder that served as the door was unique, different from the gray debris field. It was perfectly round and grayish-white.

At the moment, Dante stood frozen not too far from this particular sphere, and his purple eyes were wide in disbelief and fear.

It was supposed to be a simple exploration. The second floor was supposed to be somewhat safe, especially considering that the Knight, Lucian, was the one here.

So...

"What is this...?"

Dante quickly took a few heavy steps forward.

Nothing he was seeing right now was supposed to have happened.

It seemed like a battle had taken place here, but what made his heart heavy was that he was currently walking toward Lucian’s corpse.

With every step, so many thoughts ran through his mind.

’This doesn’t look like the work of Blighted Creatures...’

Crouching quickly to inspect the body, he confirmed his suspicion.

’The wound on his chest was clearly made by a sword. Could it really be one of the Purgers?’ Dante tried to piece together what had transpired while he was away.

Looking up, he spotted another body not far from Lucian’s. It was the corpse of the lady who had wielded a sword.

When he shifted his gaze a little to the right, his heart sank and a wave of sorrow washed over him. Leaning against a boulder, with her lifeless eyes staring blankly into nothingness, was the body of his friend and maid, Thalia.

’No...’

Upon seeing her, Dante stood up and hurried over, stopping in front of the corpse. Then he bit his lip and clenched his fist as he stared at the body briefly.

’She’s really dead. This is bad.’

There was something else he noticed during the brief scan of the environment around him, and that was the fact that all the bags Thalia held were gone.

’Those damn Purgers robbed us!’

He lifted his head to look around, but there was no human or monster nearby. Regardless...

’Whatever happened, I need to get out of here now! The people who did this might still be around.’

He bent down quickly and gently closed Thalia’s eyes. Then he reached into his bag, pulling out his small diary and a matchbox. Without hesitation, he struck two match sticks, set the small book ablaze, and tossed it onto the ground nearby.

Straightening up, he turned and sprinted back toward the grayish-white boulder.

The sooner he left this Labyrinth, the better. Once outside, he could report what happened here, but staying any longer was suicide.

Dante gritted his teeth at the thought of leaving the friend he came with in here, and he felt grief at the fact that this friend was now dead.

’I shouldn’t have let her come in here. I thought she would be okay. I thought she would be fine with Lucian here.’

He clenched his fists as he finally reached the entrance, placing his hand against it as he muttered, "First floor."

His body passed through the stone, reappearing in the beautiful, yet eerie forest of the first floor.

He halted, and scanned his surroundings first. Seeing no monsters or Purgers nearby, he immediately broke into a run.

Dante hoped that the Purgers had really gone, and that he could make it out without being attacked by any creatures. Unfortunately for him, he had barely taken a dozen steps when an arrow whistled through the air, striking his shoulder and barely missing his heart.

"Argh!"

The sheer force of the impact knocked Dante off balance, sending him crashing to the ground. He groaned in agony as white-hot pain tore through his chest and arm.

It was the worst pain he had ever felt since his reincarnation.

Forcing himself back up with effort, he grabbed the shaft of the arrow, though he couldn’t pull it out just yet. Instead, he swept his gaze frantically around the area.

At that moment, a voice called out from not too far away.

"Took you long enough. I was starting to think that you had died where you went off to."

Dante snapped his gaze toward a tree with bloodshot eyes that were filled with pain.

Stepping out from behind it was the man carrying the staff.

’So I was right. It was the Purgers!’

Then Dante noticed the man was holding something else. Looking closer, he recognized that it was the letter he had given to Lucian.

’They had read the letter... and waited for me?’

"I was worried when you suddenly disappeared, but thank goodness I found this on that knight," the man added, waving the paper as he stepped closer. "You see, we can’t leave anyone alive who can run back and say what happened here wasn’t the work of the Blighted Creatures."

Dante unsheathed his sword.

At this moment, he could see the three other Purgers stepping out into the clearing. The woman with the bow already had another arrow nocked, her string pulled taut as she aimed straight at his chest.

"Why are you doing this?" Dante asked through gritted teeth.

The man holding a sword stepped forward. "Well, this is what we do, and you smelled of expensive things. It wasn’t obvious at first, but from the way you spoke, it was clear you were nobility."

’So they’re indeed scavengers who rob people inside the Labyrinth...’ Dante finally understood everything about what had happened.

"If you are going to kill him, then hurry up and do it already, Cassian," the woman with the bow said agitatedly as she lowered her aim a bit.

"What’s the rush, Vivia? You heard him earlier, he’s a high priest."

"And?" Vivia spat back. "He can still curse you, you know!"

At that moment, the mage with the staff chuckled. "Relax, Vivia. I can’t feel a single drop of mana from him. He must have exhausted it at where he went off to." He turned to the swordsman. "But she’s right, Cassian. Hurry up and kill him already."

Meanwhile, Dante’s heart thumped as fast as his mind raced.

He could tell that the possibility of him dying here was really high.

There was no way he could fight and survive with the sword. Not only did these four seem formidable, but three of them seemed to be of classes that boosted their combat abilities.

So at this moment of peril, Dante decided to rely on his last hope, which was the power of the divine.

...his Blood Demon.

"Oh, Goddess..."

His purple eyes changed to red, and the divine energy in him soared outward as he began to pray.

Seeing that, the mage with the staff yelled in terror. "Shit! He’s an apostle!"

Everyone panicked.

But Dante continued. "Your apostle has found himself in peril—"

He was still speaking when an arrow shot through the air, entering his head and coming out the other side.

At the same time, the man with the sword had lunged at him, swinging his sword in an arc that cleanly took off Dante’s head.

Blood sprayed as the head was sent flying through the air, before landing and rolling on the dirt.

Dante’s world had long since gone dark, and his lifeless, now red eyes stared into nothing.