Dante stood motionless, his gaze fixed on the pop-ups until a noise echoed as a blade in his hands, the sleek, black dagger had jagged edges and a wrapped hilt, exuding an evil aura, tendrils of shadow curling around the steel.
A wicked smile crept across his face, and he reveled in its evil power, the sinister hum resonating with his dark soul. The weapon felt right in his hands; he felt it to thrum thanks to the Death Magic.
'This thing is amazing,' he mused. 'Better than that old sword of mine.'
Following that, Dante put it on his belt while turning to the gathered Death Goblins and realized that he was missing two, prompting him to check the army's total.
[Death Monarch's Army: 17/30]
'I'll take the Goblin Warriors and Shamans along with the leader,' he decided.
Dante looked at Raoul and gave the Death Scout an order. ''Gather up the bodies, but leave the F Rank Goblins. I'm going to upgrade some while replacing others.''
''Yes My Lord,'' the creature replied.
It let out several growls, causing the others to grab the corpses as the wolves helped. Dante chuckled and approached the humans. When he got close, another quest popped up, catching his eye.
[System Quest: Find out where the nearest settlement is located from the humans - Reward: 2 Death Points]
Dante's eyebrow rose just as he stopped in front of the four who glanced up at him, only to go wide-eyed. A big man with light green hair, brown eyes full of anger, who was D Rank, tried to get up, but two of the Death Wolves appeared beside him.
They let out warning snarls, forcing the human to drop down as he spoke. ''Bless Athena, the Light Goddess, did the guild send you?''
''No,'' he replied. ''Tell me, what is the name of the closest settlement?''
When the four heard this, they looked confused as a younger woman revealed the name. ''That would be Dreadport, a two-week journey from here. By any chance, are you an adventurer? We had a group vanish a few days ago.''
''You've been traveling for that long?'' he responded while purposefully ignoring the woman's question.
This annoyed her, but the big man stood up while looking at the Death Wolves as he asked. ''Are those undead?''
Dante's red eyes blazed with a fierce, smoldering anger, his jaw clenched as he whipped around to face Raoul, his gaze sweeping over the lifeless monster bodies strewn across the blood-soaked ground.
The air grew heavy with the weight of his fury, a force that seemed to crackle around him. He thrust his hands toward the corpse of the Goblin Lord, his voice cutting through the silence like a blade.
''Arise,'' he intoned, the word dripping with dark intent.
A moment of stillness followed, as if the world itself held its breath. Then, from deep within him, a surge of necrotic energy erupted, a torrent of black miasma that writhed like living shadows.
It poured from his outstretched hands, snaking through the air with an unnatural hunger, tendrils of dark power coiling around the lifeless form of the Goblin Lord. The ground beneath trembled, and a low hum filled the air as the energy seeped into the cold flesh.
Slowly, grotesquely, the monster's limbs began to twitch, jerking with unnatural life as the necromantic magic took hold, stitching soul and sinew back together in a mockery of resurrection.
The ground quaked as the creature's hulking frame rose, its decayed flesh knitting together under the necromantic spell. Cracking bones and tearing sinew filled the air, and from the shadows of the battlefield, jagged plates of blackened, spectral armor materialized.
Dante watched it encase the beast in a carapace of otherworldly iron. The armor gleamed with an unnatural sheen, etched with runes that flickered like dying embers. From the ether, a massive, double-headed axe.
Its blade scarred and dripping with a viscous, inky ichor, coalesced in the Goblin Lord's gnarled hands, the weapon's weight causing the earth to groan as it rested against the ground.
[D Rank Goblin Death Lord has joined the Death Monarch's Army]
[Death Monarch's Army: 18/30]
[Death Points + 2]
''Brilliant!'' he suddenly shouted, scaring the humans.
Dante's eyes shifted to the burly man, noting he was a D-Rank Warrior, like the others. But the blue-haired woman at the back stood out, a C-Rank Healer. Recognizing the value she could bring, he moved toward her.
She attempted to retreat, prompting him to order. ''Raoul, hold her in place. Goblin Lord, if anyone moves, kill them.''
He watched as his Death Scout seized the blue-haired woman, who appeared to be in her early twenties, but there was something off about her. She thrashed against the creature's grip, only to freeze when a wolf's growl echoed out.
''Good, now hold her there while I bring back the other monsters,'' he said. ''I want to see how strong they become.''
Moments later, he cast Arise on the six fallen Goblin Warriors and two Shamans. As they rose, their dark aura sent shivers through the humans, their legs turned to jelly until his monsters steadied them in place.
Dante approached the youngest human man, who glared, but it had no effect. It amused him, and he let out a chuckle. Meeting the man's furious stare, he unleashed his aura, causing the archer to shudder in fear.
He crouched before the human, his tone low and probing. ''Tell me, human, what do you know of the Ten Heroes summoned by the Sunreach Empire?''
The group traded confused looks as the mage woman replied nervously. ''There are nine. Legends speak of a tenth hero who turned traitor, attempted to slay the others, and was captured after a fierce battle that scarred the palace.''
His brow furrowed, he knew that wasn't the truth, but he held his tongue as she pressed on. ''If memory serves, he was burned at the stake over two centuries ago.''
When Dante caught her words, a jagged fracture split through his soul as the memories were too much. A deranged, guttural laugh tore from his throat, his hands raking at his face as the ghost of those infernal flames roared back.
Each nerve scorched raw, igniting a frenzied, unhinged cackle that echoed through the clearing like a banshee's wail. His crimson eyes erupted with a malevolent inferno, pupils slitting into predatory shards as he bared his fangs in a snarl.
''You four will vomit every secret you've got, or I'll carve a fate so vile, death will beg to claim you first!'' he declared.
The humans froze, their hearts plummeting into an abyss of primal terror. His face was swallowed by writhing shadows, his voice plunging into a guttural, bone-chilling growl that clawed into their skulls, shredding their sanity.
Moments later, the youngest man convulsed, his knees buckling as sobs choked him. The others opened their mouths to beg, but Dante's glare, wild, inhuman, and dripping with sadistic glee, strangled their words into silence.
Stalking toward the burly man first, he struck him savagely, fists cracking against bone, forcing blood to fly out. Then, he pressed a Death Blast to the man's face, the corrosive energy gnawing at his skin.
[Death Points Gained: 4]
This made him happy as the humans' screams echoed, raw and guttural. He leaned closer, demanding the names of the settlements. Five minutes later, he got all the answers before turning to the younger man who had pissed himself.
Dante's eyes narrowed to slits of malice, his gaze raking over the trembling man like a blade peeling flesh from bone. The warrior's pathetic whimper stoked disgust in his blackened heart.
He sneered, his guttural snarl thick with hatred. ''Drag this human to the Death Wolves,'' he commanded. ''Let them tear him apart, sinew by sinew, as he screams.''
Just then, he spat toward the adventurer. ''Cowards sicken me, let him taste the agony of being torn alive, as I was burned alive by the so-called heroes they respect.''
Following that, the Death Goblins threw the younger man to the wolves, who started eating him alive. Screams echoed across the clearing as Dante watched them tear at his flesh as he revealed. ''Did you know, all I wanted was a peaceful life, but you humans thought differently and now you'll be the first to die for the sins of your forefathers.''
The two women and the half-dead man, bloodied, wailed in desperation, their pleas clawing at the air like the cries of doomed prey. His expression changed to one of delight, his grin widening as he dismissed their pathetic begging.
He turned his gaze to the youngest, now a writhing mass of gore and blood under the Death Wolves' savage feasting, which horrified the human adventurers. The beasts tore into him, shredding flesh from bone in wet strips.
Dante grinned as a shrill, soul-shattering scream erupted from the man's throat, until jaws clamped down on his neck with a sickening crunch, silencing him for good in a gush of dark blood. He threw back his head, a maniacal laugh erupting from the depths of his blackened soul.
The sound was a twisted symphony of glee and vengeance that echoed through the gore-soaked air. The sight of the human's ruin electrified him, his heart pounding thanks to the sadistic ecstasy.