A Demon’s Soul

After Maya found Dante and Megan in the backroom of the nightclub, she called Camille and asked for an "extraction group."

The warlock was confused, but he was aware that the pink-haired woman knew what she was doing.

Since they managed to take down the thugs without alerting the security in the building, Camille wanted to take the group of unconscious women with her, and after a few minutes, the nightclub was suddenly shut down by police.

However, the fake police were all Camille's men in disguise, who retrieved the thugs' corpses and cleaned the area for when the real police arrived, allowing Dante and his group to leave the building without suspicion.

When the group boarded the subway to take them back to their district, Maya asked the warlock about what had happened in the backroom.

Dante knew that the woman was Camille's trusted subordinate, but he was still unsure if he should divulge his magic to her.

"It's fine. We can just talk when we get to Camille's office…" Maya commented, noticing the warlock's doubts.

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When the group arrived at Camille's office, Dante was warmly greeted by Cerberus while the rest sat down on the couch.

"Alright, Dante, give us the summary. Are those women going to be okay?" Camille asked casually.

"Yeah. They were fed the blood of the shadow demon that was there. I destroyed his soul, so the curse is cleansed…" Dante explained, pulling a small, gray crystal orb from his pocket.

"What's that?" Camille asked.

"It's the demon's soul. Absorbing it can make a person stronger—Though, this one is pretty useless…" the warlock replied.

"I saw the curse on the women get lifted after I killed him, but if he had other victims, they should be healed as well," he continued.

"I see. That's good to know…" said Camille, giving the results of their investigation.

All the women who were drugged were prostitutes hired by the thugs, and since prostitution was illegal in Novaria, there was nothing they could do to report any abuse toward them.

Still, from the information that Camille gathered, she concluded that the women were tricked into taking the pills with demon blood and then abandoned inside the dark room with the monster.

"The corpses of the women we found were intact, besides a few bruises here and there…" Camille elaborated.

"The demon probably sped up the life-siphoning curse, and their bodies weren't able to resist…" Dante interjected.

He elaborated and said that speeding up the process of sucking someone's life energy would give them a quick boost to the demon's abilities, but it would end their targets' lives much faster.

On the contrary, if the demon kept the curse going for years, their power-up process would be slower, but they would end up gathering more energy in the long run.

"I get it. The faster they suck their life energy, the weaker the boost they are going to receive." Camille commented.

As the warlock and the handler kept discussing out loud, Maya and the two Tylers could barely comprehend the conversation.

"He didn't tell me who his superior was, so I'm guessing he was bound to a contract—Most shadow demons work under Astaroth, though…" said Dante, making the platinum-haired woman inquire about the demon's identity.

Astaroth was a demon general who worked for Satan, one of the demon kings of hell, and Dante suspected him of being the one planning the distribution of his blood.

The warlock said that, usually, demons didn't mind revealing the names of their superiors since it was supposed to instill fear in their opponents.

However, the fact that the demon didn't name Astaroth made it almost too obvious for Dante not to suspect him.

*Ahem* "Can we please get some context?" Maya interrupted, catching the attention of Dante and Camille, who were too entranced in their conversation.

"Right, I should have started with that…" Camille replied, turning her gaze to the warlock.

"Dante, I'll tell them about everything—Is that okay with you?" the handler asked.

"Yeah, I don't mind. I only kept everything a secret since you recommended it…" he nonchalantly replied.

Camille chuckled. "I forgot how honest you are," she said.

"Well, it's not easy to lie to a warlock since we can read people's emotions, so everyone in my hometown didn't have a choice but to be honest all the time…" Dante explained.

After the handler got all the information she needed from Megan and Dante, she told them to go home and rest while she spoke with Maya and the two Tylers, starting from the moment the warlock fell from the skies.

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On their walk home, Megan couldn't get the sight of the demon burning out of her mind, and when they stopped at a red pedestrian light, she asked the warlock what the black fire was.

Dante calmly described his ability, saying that it was a "specialist spell" since it required extensive knowledge of all the warlock's schools of magic.

"Demons fear the black flame since it burns absolutely everything, including their souls…" he continued.

If he had used "Destro" to kill Ruzen, the demon would have gone back to hell, and his curse would have stayed active on the women he captured and drugged.

However, since he used the black flame to destroy his soul, the demon was erased from existence, and the curse was lifted from his victims.

"What about that little crystal?" The brunette asked.

"That's what happens when you destroy a demon's soul. They produce a soulstone that you can absorb to gain more power…" he replied.

Taking the crystal orb out of his pocket, he showed it to Megan before squeezing it and shattering it into dust, producing a gray mist that enveloped the warlock's body momentarily before dissipating.

"Did you absorb it? Do you feel stronger?" Megan asked, stepping closer to Dante to inspect him.

"I don't feel anything. As I said, this demon's soul is weak, so it's pretty much useless for me…" he replied.

Warlocks could also use soulstones to cast spells that were impossible without a catalyst. Even so, Dante said he had no interest in it, as those spells were evil in nature.