Author's Note: Aaaaaannnnnnnddddd I'm back! Hello all, sorry I have been absent so long! Just got back from break in a place with no internet, had a chapter done, and since it was my birthday just now I decided to upload! Thank you everyone for reading, it's pretty cool to know I have people enjoying my work. Hope you've all had a Happy New Years and good holidays! Updates may be more regular, though that depends on my workload irl. Also, I have been thinking about a parallel story, set in Dante's old world. It would follow Dante if he had never been summoned, and I think I might upload a teaser along with the next chapter. Anyway, here is a new chapter! Please review or rate this fiction, I really want to know how I'm doing in order to get better. Thank you everyone, and enjoy!
P.S. I will explain in next chapter more about Yerna's and Ulaya's mentality and stuff, stay tuned!
Darkness. Nothingness. I was floating along, semi-conscious, apathetic, calm. I wasn’t thinking anything, I wasn’t being anything. There was silence in my head, blessed silence. I hadn’t noticed until now, but my mind was always cluttered with stray thoughts, whispers that weren’t mine. I noticed everything, but I didn’t care. I didn’t have any thoughts. I just existed. I didn’t know how long I was floating, and I didn’t care. I was ignorant, devoid of everything, and it was bliss. I eventually felt a change, in which my body was supported by solid ground. When this happened, my apathetic state was shattered, and emotions flooded my mind. Sadness. Fear. Confusion. Some others feelings, but the most prominent were a deep, longing sorrow, for something I had lost that left a terrible hole in my soul, and had been hastily refilled by foreign, yet familiar… Consciousnesses. And a terrible rage. A rage that filled me so deeply, that flooded my very being, was fused with my very being so profoundly that I had forgotten it was there. Or, it had been held back by something, maybe that thing that had inhabited the abyss in my soul, but now lay dormant. It made me want to kill, kill killkillkillkill, rip them limb from limb, limbfromlimblimbfromlimb, tear them apart, everything needs to die… no.
-Not yet. Calm yourself,- a voice echoed in my head. But it wasn’t one of those familiar voices I always had in the back of my head, the white noise that I never knew existed until it was gone, influencing everything I did. This voice was soothing, deep, male, and resounded everywhere in my skull. I didn’t know how I knew from where the voice originated, but I turned my head to the right. A dark-skinned man in dark purple clothes was standing in front of a deep purple backdrop, about five meters away from me. He wore a purple bowler hat that covered his bald head, dark purple sunglasses, a dark purple suit that hung open over a lighter purple button-down shirt, dark, almost black, purple pants, and purple dress shoes. It was then that I noticed where exactly I was. It was the black space where I always met Lady Death, except it was now a deep purple. I glanced back to the man, or should I say, god. He smiled at me, a perfect set of white teeth.
“Hello, Dante,” he said in a deep, soothing voice. “I imagine you know what I am, seeing as you recognize this space. As to who I am,” he took a step forward, and suddenly he was directly in front of me, and I was up from my supine position. He was amazingly tall, two meters and a half, and leaning down, he said, “I am called Morpheus. I am known as the god of dreams and sleep, but my domain of power is much larger than that. One could say I am a part of the power of Death, for the part I have in the final sleep of all mortals. Which is why,” he waved his hand, and two purple-cushioned chairs materialized, “I have decided to help you, due to the respect I have for The Matriarch of Death, and the domain of power we share and she rules. You could say, in part, that you are my sub-Champion, and I am your sub-patron god.” He sat down smoothly into his large wooden chair, crossed his legs and motioned for me to sit in the other chair. I was still seething for some reason, the fiery rage just beneath the surface of my skin, yet Morpheus’ words, his very presence, seemed to suppress my anger, make me feel sleepy. I dropped into the dark wooden chair and let myself collapse on the back-rest. I sprawled in the chair and glared at Morpheus. He laid back in his chair and laced his fingers together in his lap, and I could feel his gaze on me through his dark sunglasses. Morpheus breathed in deeply, and began his talk. “Dante. I have been watching your dreams since you came to this world, when I realized that your existence is… Strange.”
I snorted in derision. “Strange? You can’t be serious. I’m a freaking test tube baby, genetically modified to artificially advance human evolution. I shouldn’t even be alive! My very existence is unnatural!” I felt myself getting angry again, the rage under my skin surging up again. It was strange, though. I shouldn't have felt angry. I should've just felt… not angry.
“No. I do not mean that. For all intents and purposes, you are now officially of the demon race. No, what I mean is,” he reached his hand forward, pointing to my chest, about where the God-Beetle was. “Your soul.”
I instinctively reached up to my chest.
“My soul?”
“Yes, your soul,” he said, bringing his hand back to its previous position.
“You see, every sentient creature has three centers of metaphysical importance within their bodies. Your center of consciousness,” he tapped the center of his forehead. “Your energy, or mana, or ki, storage and production center that connects with various other points in the body through passageways in which you can absorb mana or energy, and emit it,” he patted the lower center of his abdomen. “And your soul,” he tapped the center of his chest, about where my God-Beetle would be.
“As far as I know, your energy center is extremely strong, and all your energy passageways and points are also abnormally strong and sensitive. However, something is strange with your center of consciousness and your soul.”
“Hah! Ya think?” I laughed sardonically. “You know,” I said leaning forward, rage once again threatening to spill over. “I went through a lot at the hands of the humans in my world,” I whispered. Flashes of the times I was tortured to death in all the ways possible, then revived painfully, forced to kill, experienced pain many times worse than having all the nerves in my body set on fire at the same time… It was strange I was remembering everything like this, and even caring. Usually, when I remembered, something seemed to block me from remembering clearly and from feeling. But now, I could remember the emotions, the lights, the darkness, the sounds of my screaming, the silence, the smell of my own blood, the feeling of cold metal slicing into me, everything. It hurt! It hurt so much! And the rage was welling up again, again, again, coming like the tide of fire from my chest, from my stomach…
-Do not succumb- I heard Morpheus in my head again, and immediately my rage dampened. I leaned back into my chair, barely holding onto the fire under my skin, burning my muscles, raging through my veins. I didn't understand fully why I was so full of rage. I thought it was the experiments, the tests, but that wasn’t it, or at least, the largest part. Maybe… Sasha… Sasha… Yes, she was related. I could remember, how I loved her, how much I would sacrifice for her, how I missed her so much… I wasn't mad at her, I was mad at… Them. My head pounded suddenly, and my rage slowed. Something was stopping me from remembering clearly. I could remember that I was with her, and I was sad, and angry, and broken…
-Why? Why! What happened to me?-
Morpheus nodded, seemingly knowing what I was thinking.
“Yes, what you went through at the hands of your humans surely caused some changes within your center of consciousness, but it is not enough to result in such an abnormality within your center of consciousness and your very soul. Something happened to you, an abyss opened within your soul, and your center of consciousness had to do something in order to prevent your destruction. And whatever your center of consciousness did is preventing you, me, everyone, from knowing what happened that could damage your soul to such an extent. So, for now, I have unsealed the blocked hole in your soul in order to find out what happened. And the reaction has been… Enlightening. Your emotions, the memories you have experienced, everything was blocked or dulled somehow by your center of consciousness. Even now, some memories are being blocked.” Morpheus leaned back in his chair and sighed. “We will eventually have to face this problem of yours, make you remember whatever you are keeping back. I will have to research some way in order to bypass your center of consciousness without harming you. But for now,” he said, looking at his wrist. “It is about time for you to wake up.”
“Why do you do that?” I asked Morpheus, seeing him look at his wrist like it had a watch.
Morpheus tilted his head in question.
“Why do you look at your wrist when you need to tell the time? It’s not like you have a watch or anything…”
Morpheus grinned. “That’s not for you to know right now. If you really want to know,” he said, getting up and tipping his hat. “Become a god.” Then he disappeared in a puff of purple smoke, and I felt my usual self slipping back. It felt like I had never had that uncontrollable rage a couple minutes ago, and try as I might, I couldn’t even remember clearly the times I was tortured. Even my rage was completely gone.
-Hmm, that’s interesting. So this is what Morpheus was talking about. I do feel much calmer now… Oh well, now I’ve got to deal with the mess C1 caused back at the town… Wait what? C1?- But before I got the chance to think anything else, the world was once again black, and I felt myself close my eyes. When I opened them, I was in some kind of stone jail cell, with large metal rings around my wrists and ankles. And with the worst headache ever! All my items and weapons were gone, including my cloak and scarf.
“Ungh!”
I tried to raise my arms, but surprisingly they felt very heavy. Much heavier than the rings around my wrist should be. Looking closely at the rings, they had small, glowing words imprinted into them. ‘X2 weight’ on each of the rings. And my body seemed much heavier than before. And goddamn, that headache! Jeez! At least I could still think.
“So these things must increase my overall weight, considering my whole body feels much heavier. No wonder. So, 8 X about 62 kilos… 496 kilos! I weigh almost 500 kilos! Amazing!” I muttered to myself. I heard a quiet chuckling from the other side of the cell bars. Looking out, I saw a lean looking fox-man staring at me. Sitting comfortably on a small wooden stool, he was wearing a light cotton shirt and reddish-brown wool pants, and tough leather boots. By his side, a long metal trident with two gems, one blue and another light green, leaned against the wall. He looked to be around twenty-five, and seemed pretty strong, with lean muscles and slightly taller than me. The reason I called him a fox-man was for his reddish-white fox ears poking out of his dark red-brown hair and a red fluffy tail with a white tip hanging next to his legs. His overall features were sharp, with wide green eyes and small, transparent whiskers sprouting from his cheeks. Our eyes met, and he nodded his head.
“Those are enchanted iron bracelets. They increase your overall weight, so if you only had one you’d only weigh twice your weight. They are usually reserved for criminals deemed dangerous enough for regular shackles. And you, my friend,” he grinned slightly, revealing sharp canines. “Are considered dangerous.”
I thought a bit, then it occurred to me. I felt like playing around a bit. “Ah, was it because everyone started staring when I showed my face?”
The man frowned. “No.”
“Ah, maybe it’s because I tried to give a paper note as money instead of using the coins.”
“No.”
“Hmm? Maybe it’s because I tried to kill that one bird for lunch.”
“No!” The man seemed to be getting angry.
“Oh! Was it cause I smashed a bunch of people’s heads open?”
“No… I mean, yes!” The man looked exasperated.
“Jeez, calm down man. I knew all along, I was just messing with you!” I chuckled slightly, then winced at the pain from my headache. It was funny though.
“Argh! You're annoying! Besides, how did you even kill those guys like that? Only a CCC ranked or above adventurer could do that to those E ranked guys! Also, there’s that matter in which you freaked out!”
“Ah yeah, about that, I’m a bit crazy.”
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“No shit! Though, I have to admit,” he said, leaning back in his stool. “Those guys were total douche bags. Even tried to hit on my sister once! And the wolf demi-human, Jeff!” He shivered a bit. “He tried to take me! So, I guess they deserved it. What did they do, anyway?”
“Ah, they began to hit on us. And that fucking wolf-guy! He knew I was an unwilling man! And he still tried!” I shivered a bit. The fox-guy stared at me with pity.
“I know that feel bruh.”
-Ah! A fellow man who has been sexually harassed by a furry muscle man! We are brothers now!-
“Hey, by the way, what’s your name? I’m Dante. I would shake your hand but you know…” I said, gesturing with my chin to the bracelets. The fox-guy waved my concerns away.
“Don’t worry, my fellow brother in experiences. I am Moz Illa Firefox, a CCC ranked adventurer. I was assigned to guard you and make sure you don't cause any more trouble before your trial, but I’m sure you won’t. Honestly, I feel a certain kinship to you. If you make it out of the trial, let’s be friends! We can go on adventures together, eat good food, smash other things into a bloody pulp, explore the world, pick up girls! It’ll be fun!” He said, beaming at me.
-One of these is not like the other… What does picking up girls have to do with adventuring? Oh well, sounds fun.-
“Sure,” I said, nodding slightly in agreement.
I also liked him… As a friend. Don't worry, I don’t swing that way. He seemed nice and easygoing, and we are brothers in experience. He also seems dependable, so it could be fun being his friend.
-Sweet! A new friend! Wait, did he say ‘trial’?-
“What was this about a trial?” I asked. I mean, sure I killed people, but they were scum!
“Ah, well, you did kill a bunch of people. Normally, that’s called manslaughter or homicide, and normally people don’t shrug it off,” he said, looking at me sadly. “Sometimes gets frustrating, am I right?”
“I already told you, I’m crazy. Off my rockers. Not normal. Bruh, you saw me!”
“Ah, yeah, you did say that,” he said, nodding thoughtfully.
*Knock knock*
“It’s time for the trial!” A muffled voice sounded from the door to the room.
“Well, Dante, I guess it’s time for your trial,” Moz said, getting up and unlocking the cell door and removing two of the bracelets. I immediately felt much lighter, but I still couldn’t get up from the floor very easily, and I wouldn’t be able to run, much less do anything other than walk. I still weighed 248 kilos after all! And it was different than carrying my body weight externally, like a backpack full of rocks. That’s easy. This was like having gravity itself quadrupled, and every part of my body weighed more than it normally did, including my organs! Moz grabbed my hand and pulled me up, and I followed him out the room. We passed through several stone hallways, and when I look out of a couple windows, I realized we were in the center of the city, in the large castle-like structure I saw from the entrance of the city. Eventually, we got to large wooden double doors. Moz knocked on the doors, and turned to me.
“I wish you luck,” he said, clapping his hand on my shoulder. The doors opened, and I was greeted by a large room with a small, raised platform in the center, surrounded with wooden benches filled to the brim with a lot of people. At the very end of the room, a long table with seven masked judges were seated, dressed in long black gowns. The whole room went silent, all eyes on me, and I instinctively reached up to my face.
-Shit! I don’t have my scarf!-
“Kyaaa!” “He’s so handsome!” “How can a man be this beautiful!” “Marry me!”
Even a few of the judges seemed to be caught off guard. But a large, black-hooded man quickly banged a huge hammer on the ground, causing a resounding *bang* to echo through the room. The crowd went quiet for a little, but some people still continued to talk loudly. The man banged the hammer again, and this time the room was completely quiet. A judge cleared their throat.
“Mrhmrh! Thank you, Bill,” the judge said, nodding to the large man.
-Bill? Goddamn, what is with these out of place names!-
“Young man!” A judge to the far left called to me. “Please step up to the podium!”
I slowly walked up, struggling against the weight of the bracelets. When I got up, another judge continued. “You have been called here to account for your crimes of: Murder! Disturbance of the peace! And breaking a wall and several food stalls without paying for the repairs! Along with other charges!”
“My cabbages!” An angry man called out from the crowd.
The judge went on. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
I cleared my throat, but a bit of phlegm got caught in my throat.
“Hrk hrk hrk! *Cough* hrk hrk!” I spent the better half of a minute trying to clear my throat, until finally, with a great ‘HRK!’ I spit the phlegm out.
“Ah, sorry about that, got something stuck in my throat. Hate that, don’t you? Oh, yeah, what was the question again? Also, do you have a glass of water? I’m kind of thirsty,” I asked. The whole room was staring at me incredulously. A judge in the center seemed amused, but I couldn't tell behind that mask. The amused judge motioned for a maid by the side of the table to get a glass of water, and said, “What do you have to say for yourself regarding the charges against you?”
“Oh yeah, that!” I exclaimed, receiving the glass of water from a doe eyed maid. “I totally killed those guys! I’m not sure about the the cabbages, though.” The whole room went silent again as I took a sip of my water. They all seemed stunned that I admitted to my crimes so easily.
“W-well, can you tell us at least why you did it?” A judge stuttered.
“Sure I can! Well, for one, they were being totally annoying. They even tried to molest me!” I said, shivering when I thought of the wolf-guy. I’m going to have nightmares! “Also, they were just total assholes in general, and they didn’t seem to want to be alive anymore.” I could see a few of the woman nodding, and even one of the judges nodded slightly. “They also tried to hit on my hot girlfriends, so they were just asking for it.”
“It’s true!” A familiar, yet unexpected voice exclaimed from the crowd, and I saw Yerna and Ulaya step out from the crowd.
-That’s strange. I would have thought they’d hate me for what I did? Oh well, just go with the flow.
“Are these your… Girlfriends?” A judge asked.
“Yup!” I nodded, and Yerna blushed while Ulaya seemed okay with it. Well, it was a one-way proclamation, anyway. Gives me more of an excuse. A few of the men in the crowd stared at me enviously.
-Wait, one of those isn’t envy! Damn it, that fucking Venus blessing! First the furry muscle molester, and now this!-
“Then, please step up to the table, young ladies,” the judge in the middle motioned Yerna and Ulaya to step up to their table. When they were in front of the judges, the one in the middle raised their voice and said, “We have two young witnesses and companions of the convicted criminal! And because these are the only witnesses we are sure that were there, these will be the only witnesses we will listen to!”
-Wow! Sweet! This judge is totally helping me out! Nice to know!-
“But I was there! I want my cabbages back!” A random person shouted desperately from the audience. The judge looked at Bill the Buff Hammer Guy and he immediately banged his huge hammer on the ground.
-How is that floor not broken! What the fuck is it made of?-
“Now children,” the judge looked down at my companions once Bill had quieted the audience with his hammer. “Please tell us everything that happened, with as much truth as you can. We will know when you lie,” the judge said, and their masks glowed slightly at the judge’s words.
“Well,” Ulaya started enthusiastically, and I began to get a bad feeling. “It all started when we got to the city. You see, our boyfriend,” she winked at me quickly. “Had been having really bad nightmares since before we came, and when we got to the city, he seemed to have gotten a really bad one, manly tears and all,” she said. Somehow, she had begun to tear up a bit, and let her voice waver a bit. “It was so heartbreaking, having to see our dearest suffer like that! All we were here to do was get registered in the adventurer’s guild, but dearest had to go through all this. And he really cares about us, too! So, when we got to those douche bags that began to harass us, it really wore him thin.” She was really beginning to get into it now, small tears crawling down her cheeks. “At first, we tried to get rid of them peacefully, saying we didn’t want to go with them, but they wouldn't listen! They just kept getting pushier and pushier! They even tried to grab us!” I glanced at the judges, trying to see some emotion from their masks, but nothing happened. They just kept listening. “Eventually, those beasts tried to take dearest as well, even when he was unwilling! That’s when dearest had to snap back. He said he would try to get them to go away by physically doing something! But, we didn’t know that dearest would be so much stronger than them, so when he realized what was happening, they were all dead!” Ulaya finished, wiping her eyes. She had technically told the truth. I had been in an unclear state of mind, and only fully noticed that I had killed them until after. I looked at the judges hopefully, and a few were nodding. However, one of the judges on the right suddenly pointed at Yerna.
“You there. Is what your companion saying, can you agree with it?” Yerna nodded firmly, then looked back at me with hopeful eyes.
“Now, we must know one last thing in order to judge the convicted fairly.” Yerna and Ulaya looked up at the judge that had spoken, the one on the right.
“What is his race?” Ulaya paled slightly at the judge’s words and Yerna began to sweat a bit.
-Why is that important? Does it matter? Wait, Great Mother said that demons are pretty cruel, and warmongers. Are they on bad terms with the Sylvans? Come to think of it, I haven't seen any demon race here. Hmm, maybe… I mean, I’m technically human…-
“Umm, well, Dante… is human?” Ulaya muttered uncertainly, and looked up at the judges. They didn’t react at all.
-Well, I guess I really am human, huh. That’s lucky! Wait… Please don’t tell me I jinxed myself…-
Immediately, all the judges’ masks began to glow a bright light.
-Fuck. Why did I do that?- I thought to myself, mentally face palming.
“You are lying!” The judge bellowed. “A man as handsome and with such an interesting physique can’t possibly be human! Tell us the truth, or we will assume the worst, and immediately pass rightful judgement and punishment!”