Modern World Warlock-Chapter 287: Dante’s Hesitation
After Dante clawed Udras' chest and sent him flying towards a wall in the back of the hallway, he slowly approached Vesnia.
The female Death Knight held her curved sword tightly, ready to evade or block whatever came her way. However, when Dante stood before her, the sheer pressure of his aura froze the woman in place.
Gently, Dante used his wrath claw to grab Vesnia's helm and took it off, revealing her face and long white hair.
Her skin was light gray, and her eyes shined with a teal hue, which was the most common feature of the undead.
Still, when Dante looked at the woman, all he could see was a reflection of his old friend, Valeria, prompting him to look down as he placed the helm back on Vesnia's head.
As soon as Dante let go of the helm, Vesnia clenched her sword and spun, trying to slice the warlock standing mere centimeters away from her.
Nonetheless, Dante caught the blade with his hand shrouded in shadows and flames. "Apologies, Valeria…" he muttered with the blade's edge still between his fingers.
Dante's aura grew to immense proportions in an instant as he was prepared to kill both Vesnia and Udras with a single attack. However, he hesitated and decreased the output of his energy for a moment.
Relishing the opportunity, Udras quickly got up from the ground and grabbed Vesnia by the arm, producing a wave of shadows that covered them and teleported them out of the residence in an instant.
The warlock didn't move from his spot as his malevolent art deactivated, bringing his arm back to normal.
"Dante…" Megan spoke up, approaching the warlock from behind.
"I let them escape… Apologies," Dante replied.
"I don't care about that. We'll probably meet them again soon enough," Megan said.
"Are YOU okay?" She continued, grabbing the warlock by the arm and pulling him closer towards her.
"Erm, yeah… My body feels great. It was a full recovery," Dante said with a bit of uncertainty.
"That's not what I meant… Let's talk about it later. For now, we need to make sure that the mansion is clear," Megan said, glancing at Sophia, who gave her a nod of approval.
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At the top of a building a few blocks away from the Jade Palace, Vesnia and Udras materialized from a cloud of shadows after escaping the mansion.
"Why did you get us out!?" Vesnia asked, seemingly angry at her companion.
However, when she glanced at Udras, she noticed that the bandaged warlock was bleeding profusely from the chest, and his body was shivering from the beating he had received.
*Sigh* "I suppose it was a lot for the two of us to handle…" Vesnia commented.
Suddenly, they came to the realization that there was supposed to be another Death Knight with them, who bailed at the last second.
"Do you know where Vincent is?" Vesnia asked.
Udras searched his jacket's pockets and took out a small crystal, giving it to Vesnia, which the woman understood was attuned to Vincent, so shattering it would bring them both to his location.
After Vesnia and Udras prepared themselves to encounter whatever Vincent was fighting, they shattered the crystal and were transported to a dark alley in the city of Novis.
When they appeared, they scanned their surroundings and were confused when they didn't see Vincent anywhere.
"Dammit, where the hell is he!?" Vesnia wondered, getting more impatient by the second.
Udras looked up and tugged the side of Vesnia's armor, catching her attention and pointing upwards, where they found Vincent's body chopped into pieces and stuck to the wall like an art piece.
There was a large blood splatter on the brick wall, both of Vincent's legs were plastered on the sides, and both of his arms were braided together like two strands of hair.
Nailed above the gory scene, Vincent's head, which was still slightly conscious, was slurring out incomprehensible words with drool and blood coming out of his mouth.
Vesnia and Udras stayed in shocked silence for a moment, scanning their surroundings and sensing the trail of powerful umbra in the air. However, the person responsible was long gone from the area.
"I hope Master doesn't blame us for this…" Vesnia muttered.
After the duo collected all of Vincent's body parts, Udras took out another crystal from his pocket and shattered it on the ground, transporting them to a building in the necropolis, hundreds of miles away from Novis.
Not to their surprise, Netherius was waiting for them inside the room where they appeared, and as they hesitantly showed Vincent's severed body, they prepared themselves to be punished.
"Ah, so Vincent decided to abandon you on your mission?" Netherius commented, surprising Vesnia and Udras, as the man wasn't blaming them.
"Y-yes, Master. He said he had his target on sight and went on his own…" Vesnia explained.
"I believe it. Vincent is an idiot good-for-nothing…" Netherius replied, looking at the severed head with disdain.
"Still, he has his uses, so I suppose I'll bring him back yet again," the necromancer continued.
Before Netherius could reconstruct Vincent's body, he wanted to know the details of their mission, and the necromancer didn't seem surprised or disappointed at the fact that they had failed.
Their main objective was to capture Camille and kill Megan. Netherius was aware that his Death Knights wouldn't have a chance against Dante, but he knew that the warlock was out of commission after tampering with Lexia's soul. Still, he didn't expect Dante to wake up so soon.
"We'll revise the plan later. Go patrol the necropolis for some time," Netherius commanded the duo.
As Vesnia walked around the corrupted districts, she couldn't stop thinking about Dante's words and the fact that he most likely knew her sister.
'Who the hell was that warlock anyway…? He was on a completely different level above Udras,' Vesnia pondered.
Nonetheless, it didn't matter how hard she tried to remember the past since her memories were hazy.
'Did Master tamper with my memories…?' She continued, getting more confused by her own thoughts.