Path of the Demonic Villain

"Aunt Agrafena does not stay open till really late. She must have already sent everyone away and is now cleaning up."

Without caring about littering, Michael flicked his cigarette onto the cobblestones and stepped forward, pushing one of the doors open, then stepped inside.

Maybe because Dante was used to having people who work for him hold the door, he stepped forward only to have the door swing back on its hinges and hit him in the head.

’Fuck, fuck, fuck! May his trousers split in front of people!’ Dante cursed mentally while holding his forehead. After a second, he even folded his fists and furiously began to punch the empty air behind Michael’s back. ’Merda! Tsk. I will soon teach this uncultured mule some etiquette!’

He frowned as he adjusted his square-rimmed silver glasses, then stepped into the tavern, causing the door bell to chime softly overhead.

The first thing that caught his attention was that the tavern was empty, save for a black-haired woman in her forties, dressed in a faded tavern apron over a simple woolen dress. She had a look of complete surprise on her face the moment she laid eyes on Michael.

Her lips were quivering like someone who had just seen a dead loved one walk back into her life. "Ezio?"

She began walking briskly to come out from behind the counter, but at the same time, her voice shattered the quiet as she began shouting toward the upstairs floor. "Ada! Come down! Your cousin is here!"

Michael offered a strained smile, wincing as he gestured for her to keep it down a bit, but as if she couldn’t contain her frantic excitement, she squealed out toward the stairs once more. "Ezio is back!"

Just then, Edward’s deep and uncharacteristically serious voice echoed directly in Dante’s mind. ’Master, this bitch thinks we are dumb!’

Dante smiled like a crazy man.

’Indeed, my little one.’

Without wasting another second, he turned around on his heel and began heading straight for the exit. As he walked, he brought his right hand to his left wrist in a fluid motion, and when he separated his palms, a long-barreled revolver materialized out of thin air into his left grip.

He had already loaded five bullets earlier back in the train, so the chamber was ready for blood. With his right thumb, he pulled back the hammer with a metallic click.

At the same time, he mentally activated the Hunter’s Garb which he wore on his neck. In the next second, a dark, charcoal-grey longcoat materialized around his body. Layered over his chest was a tailored, double-breasted vest under a high-collared dress shirt, paired with fitted dark trousers. Also, a frayed, deep-crimson cravat wrapped itself loosely around his neck.

This grim attire, which looked more like a funeral coat than an armor, was the Hunter’s Garb.

While it was finishing taking shape, Dante quickly began moving towards the side with his gaze fixed up at the upper windows.

Just then, he could see a shutter on the first floor burst open, after which a man who was still struggling to pull a shirt over his head stepped onto the sill.

Dante couldn’t see very well through the dense, green-tinged mist, but since he could at least make out the man’s silhouette against the amber interior light, that was more than enough.

To his mild surprise, the man didn’t pause. He threw himself over the ledge and jumped from the first floor, landing heavily on the wet cobblestones below as if that height was nothing.

Dante frowned.

That landing immediately told him two things: one, this man was likely a physical class like a Warrior or Rogue, and two, his durability meant he was definitely not Tier 1.

Regardless, before the man’s feet hit the ground, Dante, who was already aiming, opened fire three times in rapid succession.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

One shot hit the man on his thigh, the second on his chest, and the last on his shoulder.

But he seemed perfectly fine and unbothered after landing. It didn’t take long for Dante to realize the reason. A second after the man landed, steel-like armor began to materialize from the exact spots he had been shot, spreading outward like a rippling wave.

’An armor that negates bullets?’ Dante frowned.

Seeing that there was no point in wasting another bullet on the man, he turned the barrel of the revolver that was in his right hand and shot his left palm, sending an arc of fresh blood spraying out into the air.

"Goddess!"

His eyes suddenly shifted from purple to red, and a beat later, the blood floating in the damp air transformed into slightly large hardened crimson needles that shot forward like crossbow bolts!

These were needles Edward had hardened, devoting fifty percent of their shared blood reserves to the attack.

The man immediately brought both arms up in an X-shape to shield his face as the barrage of needles struck. Despite wearing an armor, deep dents burst across the metal plating, with several of the crimson spikes piercing straight through the steel.

Dante smiled when he saw that one of the needles had struck into the side of the man’s neck, forcing him to drop his guard and clutch the gushing wound.

But then, Dante’s instincts flared as a glowing tarrot-sized card suddenly appeared between the man’s bloody fingers. Before Dante could react, the man choked out a wet command. "Reverse."

Dante’s eyes widened as the exact same crimson needles suddenly materialized across his own body at the precise locations he had just hit the man!

Blood sprayed out of his body, and Dante nearly collapsed on the spot.

At the same time, every wound on the man’s neck and armor vanished completely, as if they had never existed in the first place.

"Edward..." Dante choked weakly as he couldn’t keep his balance anymore and ended up dropping on all fours on the ground.

Fortunately, his heart was not among the hit locations.

Well, if it had been, he still had the [Pocket Watch of Second Chances] with him, so he wouldn’t die.

Though truth be told, he was in a world of immense pain.

’Hold on, Master!’

Edward tried to console Dante, and not long after he called out, the blood needles lodged in Dante’s body dissolved back into liquid, and the blood demon began rapidly stitching his torn tissue back together.

Just then, Dante could hear a frantic female voice shriek down from the open window above.

"Run, Thomas!"

The man didn’t hesitate. He didn’t even bother checking if Dante was dead; he simply turned on his heel and bolted down the dark alleyway!

Seeing that, Dante gritted his teeth. "No... he can’t escape!"

In response, dozens of grotesque, toothy mouths sprouted across the pools of blood that littered the cobblestones around Dante. Then, Edward’s shrill, high-pitched voice echoed in unison from every single mouth:

"Michael! Let no one escape!"

At the same time, Dante, who had an angry expression on his face, struggled to stand, then he looked up towards the window.

He could tell the woman standing there was Ada, Michael’s cousin. Regardless of that fact, he raised his revolver toward her and pulled the trigger on his final bullet.

The woman, having seen the muzzle flash, tried to dodge by jerking her head violently back inside the frame. In fact, she should have dodged it. But to her terror, the bullet froze midair just past the sill, executed a sharp ninety-degree turn, and redirected itself straight into the room.

Thwack!

The bullet shattered her lower jaw in a spray of bone and blood, and her scream cut off as her body collapsed backward onto the floorboards.