Chapter 184: The new Greed
"Kerehsha, kneel," Dante said, and the demon woman's body quickly fell to her knees while in front of her, a King sat on his throne.
"You know, I loved the performance, I really did," Dante said, clapping as he laughed. "Just imagining killing Ethan? That would be boring, but you see..." Dante's red eyes fell upon Kerehsha. "I found something interesting."
"You bastard!" she shouted and lunged to attack him. She was fierce.
The attack was aimed at Dante's throat, which, by the way, well... she hit. "Hm?" he questioned, seeing the woman's claws embedded in his neck.
"Do you really think you can hurt me with just that?" he questioned and punched her in the stomach, sending her flying.
She staggered as she fell to the damp ground, near Ethan's sword. "Idiot," she thought as she calmly picked up the sword, looking at Dante who seemed to be merely toying with her.
"You'll regret this," she thought, giving a swift thrust and delivering a vicious attack that would slice Dante horizontally. "I need to kill him with this blow, I have no more demonic energy, you idiotic vessel, you consumed almost all of my energy!" she roared, gritting her teeth, focusing all she had. Then the blow struck something.
A gust of wind blew everywhere, and dust from the debris rose, covering the entire battlefield. Only silence remained in that moment, no sound could be heard.
"I did it," she said as she felt her sword piercing something, however... the dust began to settle.
"You're a very rude child, aren't you?" Dante questioned, stopping the sword with one hand.
"He stopped it," she said incredulously, of course, she was weak, but she didn't feel a truly gigantic force coming from Dante. She thought that might be impossible to stop, however... her arrogance was her downfall. "He didn't dodge... just stopped it with one hand," she thought, frightened.
"Does that scare you? Is this a joke to you?" Dante questioned, breaking the sword with his bare hands, a sword made for an Emperor, became nothing but shards of broken metal.
"W-w-what magic did you use!" she shouted quickly, as she began to back away. "Magic? I don't need that to deal with you..." Dante said with a smile, a smile that infuriated her.
"Don't toy with me!" she shouted, summoning a sword of aura and attacking Dante, who began to dodge quickly. "I thought the sins would be stronger," he taunted and kicked the desperate woman backward.
"Uhrgt!" she roared in pain as she felt her stomach. The impact was so strong that she began to vomit a liquid... Blood. "H-h-help," she tried to say to the surroundings, trying somehow to find a way out.
But everyone was dead.
Your perspective wasn't different from something Dante had seen before. A whole world of corpses, only demon corpses littering the ground.
"D-d-demon!" She screamed as she fell backward in despair. Dante maintained his smile the whole time. "And to think I prepared so much to deal with this piece of trash," Dante said bitterly, indeed he overprepared to be this tasteless joke.
'This sensation of power...' Dante murmured. His entire body burned with power as if everything were made of paper, and he could destroy everything.
He merely watched that pathetic scene as his power stabilized, unlike when he emerged from the cocoon, now his body was in a more tranquil state, his mana veins were being fortified without issues, and that was good for now.
In this small span of time, Avarice tried something. She drew more of her energy, pushing herself beyond her limits to land a blow directly to Dante's neck, intending to destroy his head, as it was more secure than targeting his hearts.
'It's now,' she thought, seeing the perfect moment opening up; after all, he didn't even consider her a problem anymore. Was she being underestimated? That's what she thought. The perfect moment was when Dante was assessing the changes in his body, right in front of his enemy.
Which truly was a mistake... a mistake that... cost her her head.
Avarice's speed exploded, and with all her strength, she attempted to sever his neck, and finally, with her force, she executed her plan.
SWIN! The blade sliced through Dante's head with all the force she had. Following the momentum and the cut, she stumbled to the ground and witnessed that scene. "I did it," she said.
Dante's head fell to the ground, spewing blood a shade darker than usual, yet still blood. Kerehsha looked at that scene and...
"HAHAHAHA! Is that all you had? You damn screwed bastard! You're just an arrogant and foolish being!" she shouted loudly, and everyone present could see that scene, Dante's body falling to the ground lifeless.
Morgana and the other women watched from afar with a neutral gaze, none displayed any reaction. Neither did they, nor anyone else present, even those watching the transmission only saw the way that demon acted... it was so...
"Pathetic." Dante's voice echoed in the woman's ears as he held his head from behind.
"You know, initially, I thought this power was just a big problem that would cost me dearly in the future, but you know, I realized that it only works this way with you," Dante said, looking as he firmly held the woman's head. "It's quite simple, don't you think?
How would a super powerful god die for his creations?" Dante said, and with these words, the woman gave up, as if her entire being was nothing but... rotten flesh.
"The Hierarchy of Demons is made to preserve balance; in the current Hell, Lilith holds all control of the dimension, however, there are beings above her that you cannot touch, beings like me." Dante said with a glance appearing beside him as the demon woman's eyes trembled in fear.
"Tenth Commander of Lucifer's Army, Kerehsha of Avarice. I am the Progenitor of Hell. I am your master," Dante said, and the woman's body...
KRARKRAKK!
Her entire spine came out along with her head as Dante pulled it upwards with almost no force. It was as if he were crushing any random insect.
"This was your sin, your own authority blinded your means and was unable to follow a path that could sustain you. You are not a capital sin, you are just a receptacle project for the authority of Avarice, you merely pretend to be a Capital Sin." Dante said, and the woman's gaze lost its shine, and slowly she began to transform into a small neon green drop, a tiny sphere the size of a coin.
"So this is how an authority is," Dante said then. With a concentration, he felt Alter-Dante telling him something. "Alright, let's try this," Dante said and let the small sphere float.
"I will use that trace of humanity to bring you back, human," Dante said, but this wasn't exactly Dante's voice, but rather that of his alter ego. "Rise," and with a breath, a demonic woman began to emerge from the ground, from the remains of the Old Avarice.
"It seems to have worked," Dante said as the demonic woman opened her eyes fully. Her eyes were emerald green and glowed like neon, her body was voluptuous with golden hair, ebony horns, and a black dress made of miasma, accompanied by a pair of black wings.
"I name you, Evangeline of Avarice," Dante said, and the woman's entire body trembled as she instinctively bowed. "Yes, my Sovereign."
In the Underworld...
"Damnation!" The loud roar shattered all the windows in the vicinity, a man with white hair, plumed black wings, and red eyes.
"I lost Avarice!" he shouted, breaking the castle even further as cracks appeared everywhere. This was none other than...
"Lucifer." A woman appeared, a woman Lucifer knew well, holding a perfectly ripe red apple. Lilith seemed quite pleased.
"You..." he said. "This is your doing!" he shouted, hurling a table toward Lilith, who effortlessly sliced it in half.
"What's this? Did you think your conversations with Baal, Agares, and the others would escape my notice? War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death, in addition to Avarice, Lust, Wrath, Pride, and Gluttony. Did you really think your plans would proceed as planned?" Lilith said, as a sword materialized in her hands...
"Erion," Lucifer murmured upon seeing the Demon Armament specialized in killing celestials.
"Why are you here?..." Lucifer said as he summoned a sword, faintly golden. "So you brought her," Lilith smiled, after all, a Demon God and a Fallen Angel could fight at any moment with just a motion.
"Holy Blade, Inarius," Lilith said, and Lucifer pointed at her.
"It's a shame I didn't come here to fight," Lilith said, and then, a lateral cut was made, splitting Lucifer's castle in half.
"This is Total War," Lilith said. "And I don't tolerate insubordination, daddy's little lapdog." She said, and from the skies, various demonic spells began to sweep the area, exploding multiple times and destroying everything, turning the entire place into a crater of pure destruction.
That day was marked by the beginning of a full-scale war, the two hemispheres divided, and the 9 Layers of Hell began to change.
"I am satisfied," Lilith said, feeling a deep connection with the true owner of Hell.
The Demon Wars had begun.