As soon as the guards met a crowd, he didn’t hesitate. Dante Blinked twice, placing himself right in front of the man who was holding Mia and pierced his eye with his dagger.
The man was dead, without a doubt. The blade pierced deeply into the guard’s skull, but he met resistance when he stabbed the eye. He didn’t know how much Constitution was needed to reinforce the eye to such an extent, but the fact that it managed to slow his world essence blade was ridiculous.
As the corpse slumped to the ground, Dante pulled Mia off of its shoulder. He didn’t wait for the others to react, he picked up Mia and ran through the crowd as quickly as possible, then cut to the side quickly as he saw an alleyway.
Mia stirred slightly in as he grabbed her. She looked confused for a moment, then looked up toward him and mumbled. “Dante…” Her words were barely audible. “Idiot.”
She’s not wrong.
As he moved through the alleyway, Dante glanced back and cursed.
The archers were fast. All of them seemed to have at least as much agility as him, if not more. He was momentarily thankful that the fifth guard hadn’t been able to keep up until a loud explosion sounded from behind him.
Above their heads a massive blue flame shot in the sky, screeching with an ear-piercing sound as it flew above them.
Things were only getting worse.
It had to be the flare that Sir Andres had told them to use earlier. In a few minutes, guards from all around the city would be swarming towards him from every direction like a broad net. He had no idea where he should try to escape to. It seemed like there were no options.
Things were going poorly, and that was before the archers started to fire at him from behind.
Dante pulled Mia from his shoulder, holding her in front of him and protecting her from the arrows raining in from behind. The first shots weren’t fatal, they were all aimed towards his feet, which were easily avoided by a combination of his Agility and Dexterity.
“Leave me you moron.” Mia seemed to be regaining her focus.
As he held Mia, he awkwardly held out a hand and made a small dagger. It was awkward to hold her and the blade, but he needed a weapon in his hands for his increased ability with bladed weapons to kick in, and his other dagger was stuck in someone’s head.
After that, the arrows were easily avoided, he just needed to resist blocking them with his dagger and move out of their path instead. It was easy until they stopped aiming at his feet.
Just as he was going to shoot out of the alleyway he felt three arrows aimed at his right side, so in an attempt to dodge them Dante moved to the left, and right into the path of a fourth arrow that he hadn’t been able to feel.
The arrow slammed into his left shoulder, and the impact was staggering. The force of the blow spun him until he was sideways, throwing him off-balance and causing him to lose his footing.
Without hesitating, Dante threw himself to the ground while holding Mia up to protect her body from the fall. The arrow in his shoulder snapped as he impacted the floor, sending waves of pain through his body and forcing him to clench his teeth to stop himself from crying out in pain.
Just as he skidded out onto the street, he felt a thud of impact on Mia’s body and heard her whimper in pain.
Shit.
Dante immediately twisted, throwing Mia under him so he could block the arrows, but even as he pushed her under him, he saw yet another arrow slam into her ribcage, causing her to groan.
“Stop! I surrender!”
An arrow slammed into his right shoulder, the sheer force of the impact launched him several feet away from Mia. She was staring at him, a slight smile on her face as she bled out on the road.
“Get a healer!” He was screaming the words at the top of his lungs as he tried to push himself closer to Mia so he could block the arrows.
“Hold your fire.” The shout came from the alley behind him.
“Halt!” Guards began pouring out of every alley and street, drawn to the flare. There were already almost a dozen surrounding him with weapons drawn. “Don’t move!”
Mia’s gaze went slack.
Dante stopped crawling toward Mia, then pleaded with the guards. “Please get a healer, I’ll surrender.” Mia’s body was now sitting in a pool of blood that was growing in size from two arrow wounds in her chest.
One of the archers from earlier stepped forward and felt Mia’s pulse, then cursed and faced the other three next to him. “Goddess Damn it. Through the heart too, which one of you morons didn’t pick your shots. Who do you think is going to explain this to Sir Andres.”
He listened to the archer’s words in disbelief.
Mia is dead…? That’s… impossible.
One moment she was alive and fine in his arms, and in only a few seconds she was completely dead. It didn’t seem possible. He had seen others die just as easily, but he never imagined that it could happen to Mia.
It was too sudden. It couldn’t be real. How could Mia have died just like that? And from an archer’s mistake?
No, it was real. This was just reality. And it was all his fault.
He could have left her. Even slavery must have been better than dying. But he had gotten her killed.
Dante looked away from Mia’s body, he couldn’t take the guilt. He couldn’t process what was happening.
He was struggling to breath, taking breaths in deep gulps.
His chest felt like it was constricting, like something was boxing him in and suffocating him.
He could feel the hot tears leaking from his eyes, but what right did he have to cry when he was the reason she had died?
“Alright, we can’t change what’s happened. Sir Andres should be on his way with a collar. Someone restrain the kid.” Dante felt a kick to the side. “And make sure you cut the collar out of her throat before you dispose of the body, no use in wasting it.”
Before anyone realized what had happened, before even he realized what had happened, the Archer who was talking had a dagger through his eye.
There was a brief moment of silence, no one could understand Dante’s sudden appearance in front of the archer and the archer’s immediate death that followed.
Then all hell broke loose.
Dante lost control. He couldn’t comprehend anything but his desire to kill.
The archers were his first targets, the other three were taken down smoothly with their lack of Constitution.
Then he sewed chaos into their ranks. Blinking into groups of Warriors and taking several them off guard. Hacking at their throats, stabbing at their eyes, and piercing their hearts.
He couldn’t comprehend his own actions. It felt like his body was moving of its own accord, but every time he spilled his enemies blood it exhilarated him, filling him with the desire to continue.
Every time he killed, he felt his control slip. It felt like he was losing himself. Every death at his hands made him less aware of what was happening around him, but at the same time, far more savage.
The sound around him dimmed until he could only hear the sound of his blades cutting into his enemies and their screams before death.
Guards continued to pour in, drawn to the flares that were going off around him, but after dealing with the specialized archers, they were all so weak. He savagely butchered them one by one, unhindered by the injuries he was receiving or the arrow wound in his shoulder.
That was when Sir Andres arrived with the guards he had led earlier. Even in his lost state of mind, he recognized the Sir Andres.
Sir Andres was the person that he wanted to kill the most.
Dante immediately charged toward him, then used all of his remaining mana to Blink around Sir Andres, plunging his weapon savagely toward the knight wherever he appeared.
It was completely ineffective, the blades just bounced off of Sir Andres’ skin. Even when he tried for the Knight’s eyes, Sir Andres would just move his head slightly. His irritation at not being able to kill was maddening.
Si
r Andres snorted at his attempt, then glanced over at Mia’s body and frowned. “Years of careful training wasted.” Sir Andres reached out toward Dante’s neck lazily, and Dante couldn’t react at all. All of the muscles on his body were taught from the strain of resisting, but he couldn’t move an inch.
Sir Andres grabbed his neck and pulled him over, then let out a sigh. “All of this could have been avoided if Layla would have taken my advice, but the girl is strong headed and… stupid.” He reached inside of a pocket and pulled out a small black orb. “Hopefully she’ll grow out of it.” He pushed the orb onto Dante’s collarbone, and as soon as it touched his skin, the orb melted and merged into his body.
He couldn’t pull away, he could only watch as the melted orb spread around on his skin and around his neck like a loose collar. Then it flashed purple, and he felt… weak. And his thoughts were far slower, yet he was far more clearheaded, completely losing all of his earlier bloodlust.
“See? It’s not that bad. It could have been this easy, but you had to do all of this.” Sir Andres gestured to the bodies on the ground next to him, then pulled out the purple orb he had seen earlier. “I really don’t like to do this, but I’m afraid that if I let this behavior go unpunished, you will develop bad habits that will hinder your future training.”
Sir Andres held out the violet orb from earlier, and it began to glow.
The pain began to shoot through his body in waves. It was unlike anything he had ever felt. The pain was so intense that his brain couldn’t even process it.
He resisted for a moment, but then started to scream. It was involuntary, he didn’t want to show the weakness, but he couldn’t stop himself from crying out. Dante clawed at his throat, trying to tear the collar out of it, but he was too weak to even break his skin.
It felt like an eternity before he finally passed out.
Chapter 38
Dante’s Immortality – Chapter 38
The first thing he was aware of upon coming into consciousness was a hand slapping his face.
“Wake up.”
Dante opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Layla’s blue eyes staring back at him.
He recoiled from her touch. It was hard to believe that he found someone who was so beautiful to be so repulsive.
He inspected himself. They hadn’t even chained him up.
Of course they did.
He laughed grimly and inspected the black wraith collar that covered his skin.
Thankfully, he had been completely healed, and his clothing hadn’t been touched. Even his combatant’s glove was still on, which was both a relief and confusing.
He looked around, taking stock of the room he was in. It wasn’t a prison cell like he thought it would be, but more of a storage cellar; dark, damp, and made from solid stone walls.
Layla saw him looking around the room and frowned. “Yes, quite unfortunate, but things didn’t go as planned…” She cleared her throat smiled. “Anyways, I just came to check in on you. How are you doing?”
How am I doing?
He was having a hard time processing her words, and it wasn’t just his momentary anger. It felt like his thinking was slower. And every emotion drained away as soon as it came, he was still sad about Mia’s death and angry, but something was holding those things back.
Regardless, he saw no benefit in angering Layla and going through that tortuous pain again. “As well as could be expected.” He did his best to keep the sarcasm out of his voice, but some of it seeped through.
Layla’s grin seemed to be far more genuine now. “Excellent! If you continue on with this attitude, I’m sure you will assimilate rather quickly.”
She paused to check his reaction, and he tried his best to remain expressionless. “That actually brings me to the reason for this little meeting.” Layla gestured to the room around them as if making a joke. “We have run into some complications. Usually, when someone is collared they are immediately sent off for training in one of our camps, but your trip will be delayed… hopefully for only a few days.”
“I came to give you a little bit of motivation before you leave.” Layla flicked back her golden hair. “The training will be… challenging, but if you do well, your life won’t be all that bad. In fact, it will be far better than it was before you received your Classifications.”
She paused for his reaction, and if she was looking for surprise, he wasn’t going to give it to her. How could her knowledge of his life Alazel surprise him after the fight with Greggory?
“As I was saying, all you need to do is prove that you are loyal, or obedient, and you will be awarded certain freedoms.” Layla tapped on his collar. “I’m sure you would like for me to turn off the restraint. Although I can’t say that I’ve tried it, I’m sure having your connection to the Goddess cut off is frustrating.”
No wonder his thinking had seemed foggier, his Wisdom and Intelligence must have been lowered to what they were before he got his Status. On a whim, he tried to manipulate the world essence in the room around him. Nothing happened.
Layla saw the realization dawn on him. “Our most trusted… servants get the best assignments, and can even go entire assignments with their collar’s restraint deactivated.”
Was that what Mia was, just a ‘trusted’ slave?
His anger flared, then disappeared. Up until the moment he saw Sir Andres standing over her with a wraith leash, he had thought that she was just an agent of House Calman. Any other possibility didn’t make sense, she was so… normal. And powerful.
Layla patted him on the head like one would do with a pet. Then she slid down his combatant’s glove so his Classification symbols could be seen. “I’m sure you won’t let me down.”
After saying those words, Layla walked over to the stone wall and fed world essence into it. A hidden enchantment lit up, and a portion of the stone wall opened to reveal a dark tunnel.
Without being able to manipulate world essence, he wouldn’t be able to leave
I’m not sure how, but I’m going to kill her.
* * *
Edward Ailloss
“What do they mean they can’t find him?” Edward paced by the relay enchantment, reading each report from the academy as it came through.
Varik stood next to the relay, trying to appease him as he sent and received messages. “My lord, he slipped away before Sam could reach him after his fight in the arena, and now the academy is in complete chaos. And after he was… captured, the Ramotars made their move.”
Edward slammed his fist into the wall, sending cracks through the marble. “The bastards actually collared him.” He breathed heavily for a moment. “What about a wraith key, have you acquired one?”
“No, my lord. I can’t find a key close enough to the academy for it to be useful, if we sent one it would take at least a week, even by raptor.”
Edward let out a curse, then increased his pacing. “What about Damian? I’m sure that he had a key prepared for his niece, he won’t be needing it anymore.”
Varik cleared his throat. “Are you sure you want me to ask Damian for the key that he was going to use on his recently passed away family member? You know how emotional he is.”
Edward scratched the back of his head, slightly embarrassed. “Probably not a great idea… Spread your agents around the academy’s perimeter, no one leaves unless we know about it.” He paused in thought. “How is the fight progressing?”
“It’s reached a stalemate. House Ramotar started off with a huge advantage. They had agents embedded as Instructors, so as soon as Mia Went was killed, they turned on the Calmans and wreaked havoc through their ranks. Things progressed well after, at least until Sir Andres from House Calman joined the fight. He was able to bring the fighting to a complete halt. House Ramotar didn’t think to send a twice specialized combatant that could counter his defensive skills.” Varik scratched his chin in thought. “If we have Sam kill Sir Andres, Damian may be willing to give us their key.”
E
dward paced for a moment. “No… the Calmans are too deeply entrenched in the Outer Edge region, it would be best if we remained hidden, at least until we locate Dante. Until that happens, keep searching. The Calmans must have a few keys at the academy.”
It was fortunate that he had been near the information relay when the news came in, it allowed him to act immediately. No matter what, he would get Dante out.
* * *
The enchanted door activated, causing Dante to perk up. He had already been stuck in the room for four days, and aside from his visit from Layla, the door was only opened four times. Once a day to empty his chamber pot and give him food.
But this was the second time that day.
Dante held his breath, it was likely time for him to start his ‘training’.
The door swung open, revealing… no one. The only thing he could see was the dark tunnel behind it.
There was an echoing laugh. “You’ve certainly seen better days.”
He knew that voice. “Kayla?”
That’s when he saw it, a shadow sliding across the room. Only stopping when it was right in front of him. Then, without any warning, Kayla appeared in its place.
It was hard to believe, but it was her. Same brown hair and eyes, slim figure, and she had that mischievous smile on her face.
Since when has she been able to do that?
Kayla leaned down with her hands behind her back until their eyes were only a few inches apart, then inspected him. “As if you weren’t pale enough before they locked you in this room for four days.”
He looked back at her emotionlessly. “Are you here to take me to my ‘training’?”
Kayla snorted. “I’m not quite sure what you mean, but no. I’m here to help you.”
Dante let out a large breath. He didn’t trust Kayla, at all. He wasn’t sure if he would trust a noble ever again, but if she was telling him the truth it meant that it wasn’t time for his ‘training’.
Kayla saw his relief and apparently misread the reason for it. “What are friends for? Of course I’ll help you, I’ll just need a bit of help in return.”
Dante's Immortality: Beginnings Page 34
