"Are you ready?" Arieta asked, watching Dante in much looser clothing. He was wearing a black button-down shirt and black jeans, with a black hat and orange-tinted glasses. He looked like a total...
"You really need a stylist; you look awful," Ranni said, completely breaking the silence Arieta had been maintaining while just observing.
Dante looked at her, then said, "Ah... women just don't understand the charm of a redhead in black." He snapped his fingers, summoning a contrasting red trench coat that matched his hair and glasses. "Keep quiet, okay? I'm in a good mood, so don't ruin it," Dante said seriously, just as Nagasawa appeared by his side.
She was dressed in a green leather outfit that highlighted every detail of her body, looking absolutely stunning. "Beautiful as always," Dante said, kissing her cheek, while the other two women reacted less favorably...
"Tsk... this makes me sick," Ranni muttered, and Arieta agreed. "Displays of affection exhaust me," she said. The two were clearly sisters and in sync... As for Dante and Nagasawa... "Jealous much?" Nagasawa said, wrapping her arms around Dante's, while he looked at them with no reaction.
But the real problem came next.
"WAKE UP!" Dante shouted, and Asta, who was still knocked out, enjoying his rest, woke up in a panic, jumping to his feet as if he were under attack.
"Defensive position! We're under attack!" he yelled, still half-asleep, but quickly looked around, seeing everyone staring at him...
"Idiot..." Arieta murmured.
"Super idiot..." Ranni added, and he turned to them, "What happened?" he asked, but nothing would be explained to him.
"We've delivered the message; we need to take him to the king, yes?" Arieta said politely.
"Hm... seems like this idiot doesn't remember what happened here... hahaha, what a fool," Dante thought, watching how confused he was. That was the problem with some vampires... they were just too stupid.
They headed outside, where strange horses awaited them. Dante observed the horses closely, and they were clearly... "Vampire Horses?" he asked, smelling the putrid stench of blood emanating from them.
"Horses bred by the Vampire King. They're the fastest in the world... Well, he thinks so, but I'm sure the witches have faster animal transportation methods..." Ranni said, making it clear that what the king thought didn't align with her beliefs, something Dante hadn't expected. Despite having some memories of the Dragon Progenitor, he couldn't access that knowledge.
To him, the Progenitor's word was absolute, and his followers couldn't disagree, but that didn't seem to be the case... or Vlad was very open-minded and allowed them to act as they wished, giving them the false sense of freedom they thought they had.
"So... I don't know how to ride a horse…" Nagasawa murmured, admitting she had little experience with animals. In fact, she was quite... disliked by animals, mainly because they could smell the poison emanating from her, which most normal animals considered dangerous...
"They won't attack you; are you worried about the smell? Don't worry," Arieta said as she mounted one of the black horses. "If you want to reach the capital, this is the best method, since flying there is impossible... the king has anti-air defenses," Arieta said, and Dante blinked twice...
"I thought technology didn't exist in this world…" Dante murmured, recalling something from his previous life... "No, it probably isn't a missile launcher or anything like that," Dante thought as he mounted the horse and extended his hand to help Nagasawa up. "Come on, I'll take you," he said with a smile.
"It worked!" Nagasawa smiled, amused by her thoughts. Of course, this had been her plan all along, to ride with Dante carrying her. It was her turn to use and abuse this man who had spent several days without even looking at her. She would take full advantage! Her plan had always been this!
In the distance, a maid watched the whole situation while opening a small communication device... "Let them know he's fine and on his way to the capital... I would keep an eye on him, but it's going to be troublesome... Ah... not because of him, more because of myself. Just let them know, okay?
I'm almost certain they're biting their nails, anxious to know how he's doing," Skyla said as she watched them begin to leave.
The voice on the other side replied, "Stop playing hard to get; if you want to follow him, just do it. None of us will blame you."
"Shut up, Aaralyn, I know that, I just don't want to!" she said, hanging up on the other vampire.
Thus, Dante was accompanied by his new friends and the fool Asta on their way to the Capital of the Vampire Kingdom. The journey was indeed clear and calm. Dante had traveled to a few places by carriage with the Scarlet Valkyries before, but he had never really delved into the Vampire world.
It was always from Home to White Tower and White Tower to Home; he never passed through the Vampire Kingdom… Why? Well, Valentina didn't want Dante to experience society before knowing how to survive against it, especially in places where Vampires were concentrated, which, for the time he was born, was indeed more dangerous...
The group moved forward steadily and relatively quickly. It wasn't a very long journey; it could vary from one to two days at a moderate pace, but it was shortened to less than ten hours without stopping. The horses had almost infinite stamina, which helped them reach their destination even faster.
Of course, if they had been running, using their Vampire speed, Dante would probably have already arrived, but he preferred a comfortable journey, which, of course, was always better in his eyes, especially when it came to quality time with his wives.
At that moment, his focus was on Nagasawa, who was in front of him, perfectly balanced and watching the scenery of red forests and rivers of blood that flowed throughout the area. It was even possible to see the Capital in the distance, a vast city made up of various structures.
Dante looked at the capital with his blood-red eyes, trying to fully analyze the place. "I'm always amazed by this beautiful sight," Ranni said, catching his attention. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" she commented with a small smile as she watched Dante's expression as he took in the scene.
He nodded while continuing to observe, showing a light smile of discovery as he stroked Nagasawa's head. "But I prefer to use that word only for my wives. The city is just pretty; only they are beautiful," he said as he felt Nagasawa give a small, satisfied smile and lean her back against his chest.
"But yes, indeed, it is very pretty," Dante said, a smile involuntarily forming on his lips. In front of him, he saw a city that was even darker than those in horror movies.
Flying bats and ancient structures suggested they came from remote times; even he could feel that, despite their age, the buildings were extremely sturdy. Like a Dark Fantasy in the Victorian Era. Despite being gloomy, the capital was reasonably illuminated by the lights from the houses. In a world where night never ended, the city had a confusing mix of depression, joy, and, above all, danger...
"Seriously... this is starting to look more and more like that strange story I read in my adolescence," Dante thought, remembering his life as Aisha… since it even shared a- Never mind, we're dealing with something dangerous here.
At the very least, what stood out the most were not just the powerful auras he sensed coming from the city; they were not one or two but thousands... Thousands of extremely strong Vampires that he had never even imagined existed. For someone who had been strong since birth and upbringing, exploring the world didn't make sense if he was already strong… But now?
His blood was boiling to fight with all he had… Even knowing that, for him, this was just a big child's play at this point.
Dante's current strength could be compared at least to that of an average ruler. His body limited his strength significantly, especially now that he had the memories of the Dragon Progenitor within him. Not having a Dragon's body and the Blessing of Mana made his entire body involuntarily nerfed, and did this frustrate him? Of course, it did.
His true objective had already changed several times, and he was slowly mastering these two worlds just by having his wives… But despite being a Vampire, a Bloodsucker, Dante is not a worm who will depend on his wives to be strong. And that was the real reason he was now heading to the adversarial continents.
He wants to go to the Fairy Forest, to the Iron Mountain of the Dwarves, to explore the Werewolf Desert, the Titan Pillars that raise the city of the Giants, and now... He is in the home of his kind... or his former kind. Dante's mind is so troubled by having so many personality problems that saying Dante is a being without a defined race is almost accurate.
He knew he had become extremely strong since he killed Ethan Smith, since he defeated Asmodeus and consumed the essence of Lust, as well as when he regained part of his memories and a fragment of the sin of Pride from his former devastated world.
But one question remained... How much stronger had he become? How much could he really handle his opponents? Would he kill a vampire count in a single blow? How many people would he kill if he lost control once again? He wanted to know the limits of his ego, the limits of his essence of life.
He wanted to be able to control how strong he was, but to do that, he would need to test everything... And that was his current goal.
The change had already begun, and it was time for the blossoming of all the great talents. It was the right time to start showing his true strength.
"Dear, you're making that scary face again…" Nagasawa said. He hadn't even noticed, but she had already moved away from his chest and was looking at him deeply... "I'm just planning our next moves, dear," he said, pulling her face close to give her a gentle kiss. "Let's have some fun, shall we?"