"Why... are we in a forest so far away?" Aaralyn asked while walking hand in hand with Dante. She held on tightly, a slight tone of fear in her voice. "I don't know either; I'm just wandering around looking for what Aldria asked us to resolve," Dante replied nonchalantly with a shrug.
"You're unbelievable... why didn't you ask for information?" She put her hand on her forehead as if Dante were a complete idiot, but he just smiled. "And you think I didn't know you'd follow me?" he said, pinching her cheek. "Ouch," she muttered. "My beautiful wife thinks I would come without preparation?
I always prepare." Dante said as he launched a miasma sword into the wind, slicing through several leaves and trees.
*KRAK* *ROAR*
A muffled growl was heard but soon disappeared, indicating the target had been eliminated.
"Found it," Dante said with a confident smile, and Aaralyn turned her face. "Show-off," she muttered again. "Stop being a troublemaker, dear. Let's see what I hit." Dante said, holding his wife's hand and moving towards the target he had struck.
They walked through the dense trees, the atmosphere truly strange. The sound of leaves rustling underfoot and the distant song of birds created a natural symphony that contrasted with Aaralyn's unease.
Finally, they reached the spot where the creature's body lay. It was an imposing beast, a black wolf with emerald eyes. The impact of the miasma sword had been precise, piercing its heart.
Dante looked at it and just sighed... "I hate wolves." Well, he had all his millions of reasons for that, especially that damn Werewolf Prince.
Dante knelt beside the body, examining it carefully. "Looks like this is what we were looking for. Traces of magic."
Aaralyn observed the creature's body, still surprised by Dante's precision and skill. "You really know what you're doing, don't you?" she murmured. "Hehe, even so, this is still strange," Dante said, and with his hand concentrated in demonic energy, he tried to consume the wolf as he did with the bodies of the dead in the battle against Ethan.
But nothing happened, as if a mysterious force was holding the wolf's body in the physical world. "It's not a beast," Dante said, standing up. "What do you mean? It's even bleeding," Aaralyn questioned, but soon she felt Dante go on alert. "Get ready, something is watching us.
Something I can't discern the strength of," Dante said, and Aaralyn quickly drew her pair of daggers, positioning herself back-to-back with Dante.
"Spiritual energy," Dante said, and before he could say anything else, "Duck!" he shouted, and his miasma sword cut horizontally as Aaralyn quickly ducked. She barely sensed something's presence, just ducked as he ordered, and he sliced the wind, something passing like a shadow through the cut.
"Dear, get into my shadow now," Dante said. What was he about to do? Even Aaralyn didn't know, but she followed. Generally, Dante wouldn't retreat unless he was unsure of what he was dealing with, whatever it was, it was dangerous.
"How strange... I recognize this aura... but who are you?" Dante questioned himself internally as he began to spread his aura throughout the area, focusing first on protecting Aaralyn. He no longer had Voralith in his mind to guide him, nor Eldrax, who had a great sensory presence regarding magic. He was alone...
He sensed a flicker from his left and quickly looked, but again, nothing... "Whoever you are, I will attack to kill," Dante said seriously, and from his hands, the Demonic Excalibur emerged. He began to elevate his black fire aura around himself, creating a black pillar around him. "Enough!" he heard a female shout, a voice he remembered hearing, but where?
"Dante Scarlet! Stop damaging my plants!" Dante heard the shout and arched his eyebrows. "Aaralyn, you can come back," he said, and she reappeared by his side as the barrier of flames dissipated. Dante faced the person who was yelling at him... "It's just like you to play pranks on your students... you've changed quite a bit," Dante said.
"Look who's talking, Demon King of Devastation, Dante Scarlet," she commented, revealing a smile on her face. "Linnea Greenleaf," Dante said, and the woman's face emerged from the leaves and wind, a mischievous smile and a wooden staff he knew well...
"Could you get rid of these guys? I hate wolves," Dante said, looking at the shadowy wolf forms—spectral beings? Dante wasn't sure. "I'm sorry, I know how much you hate wolves, we all do," Linnea said. "But I loved seeing my handsome resurrected student again," she added.
Dante replied, "And I'm happy to have found an elf in the Human Kingdom; that's truly surprising." Meanwhile, Aaralyn looked at her daggers, feeling weak for having to retreat.
"I need to get stronger," she thought, clenching her fists and staying silent, just observing the conversation.
"What are you doing in the Human Kingdom?" Dante questioned, and Linnea looked at him strangely. "Dante, I'm a dryad now; I no longer serve the elves, only the Ley Lines of the World Tree." Linnea said, slightly opening her neckline. "Hey! Calm down, what's this!" Dante quickly turned his head away.
"Just look, idiot," she said, and when Dante slowly turned back, he saw a glowing golden tree tattoo in the middle of her chest, where he couldn't see anything else.
"Ah... I see..." Dante murmured. "Those breasts have gotten much bigger..." he thought, but of course, he wouldn't say that in front of her, much less in front of his beloved. "So... what exactly are you doing here?" Dante asked, a bit robotically. "What do you mean?
I'm trying to stop this beast invasion, but it seems we have more problems than expected. I'm a dryad, and if something is happening to the land, it's my duty to intervene." Linnea said, turning and casting a spell that opened a wide, straight path—a bittersweet walkway of plants and trunks molded like a tunnel within the enormous forest.
"Come on, we need to talk about some things; I believe you'll want to hear about this." She said, turning to the walkway. Dante looked at Aaralyn, who nodded and hid in his shadow. "Sure, lead the way, teacher." He said. Linnea just laughed, "Hehe, you still consider me your teacher?
I thought you'd let that go after all this time." She said, walking while looking straight ahead, and Dante just observed her rear.
"Can I know what's going on? Aldria mentioned... beast attacks. That's common, I know, but if it reached the palace, it must have escalated, right?" He said, now walking side by side with the dryad. "In these regions, being closer to nature, many beasts live here normally in the wild. But three weeks ago, something in the depths of the forest started causing this commotion...
I haven't found the cause yet, but this is much more serious than I expected. Look." She said, taking out a green orb. A small image showed something. "The beasts are..." Dante murmured. "Corrupted," Linnea added, and Dante was quite surprised. He knew how demonic energy worked, and it was entirely possible, but...
he wasn't feeling anything within a five-kilometer radius that his aura could cover. "I know what you're trying to do; believe me, I've tried it a few times," Linnea said and continued to explain. "The problem isn't just the beasts...
the soil is gradually being corrupted, as if being consumed by something." Linnea revealed, changing the image to a part of the forest where the ground and trees had lost their color, as if... "This isn't demonic energy," Dante said, and she agreed. "Corruption... it's usually related to negative energies, but... mind control? Isn't that strange?" Linnea questioned.
She knew she understood nature and Dante demonic energy, and if there was no demonic energy... what was it?
"A corpse of an evil being, is that possible? I mean, if it's not demonic energy, then what could it be?" Dante questioned. After all, Morgana spent ten years researching death to bring him back and discovered about cultivation. How was this "negative energy" affecting this place so strongly?
"We need to reach the epicenter of this first, then we'll solve the rest of the problems that come from it." Linnea said, and Dante agreed. In fact, he just needed to kill everything and cleanse this place so he could get back to his free time.
"Aaralyn, can you go tell the girls I might be late? And check on Vex, she's been quite restrained, which is not like her." Dante said comfortably, and Aaralyn emerged from his shadow, hugging him. "I know, go and come back to me, my shadow," he said, giving her a gentle kiss on the lips. "I'll be back soon, dear," she said, disappearing into the forest shadows.
"You've become quite popular with the ladies, haven't you?" Linnea asked with a mischievous smile. "I have to keep my heart safe, though it seems bigger than I expected... Maybe I should visit that fox later." Dante said with a sly smile. "Thinking of Akemi? I'm sure she'd love to meet you now..." Linnea murmured.
"Want me to think of you?" Dante said, smiling at her, and she just huffed, crossing her arms. "Let's go already, the plants might be suffering while we have this silly conversation."
"All she thinks about is plants... when will this woman find a tree that can handle her?" Dante thought. Of course, this wasn't about him.