After Sabrina found her belongings, it was time to go after Dante.
In this situation, she didn't have to hold back. The cultivator slid across the cave floor, using her shadows as a handrail. Shadow hands hissed in her hair like snakes, ready to follow any command from her mistress.
Nevertheless, she was still afraid to use her Oversoul. Isaac promised he would better explain to her how the demons worked, but so far, there was no time. Meanwhile, she used her newly gained power with caution.
After all, demons were unpredictable. With just one oversight, Sabrina could have her Qi control stolen. After advancing to gold, she had tried to communicate a few more times with the Monster Core, as normal cultivators did. However, it was as if the door to her core was locked. She didn't know how to proceed.
At such times, she wished she could be a normal cultivator. To have a Monster Core, and advance through the stages like the other disciples. But, she knew her advantages were too precious to throw away. Shadow Qi itself offered unfair advantages compared to the other types.
Still, desperate situations called for desperate measures. As she navigated the carven, she summoned her Oversoul. Wings appeared on the cultivator's back, like a cloak of shadows.
Along the way, Sabrina witnessed a few fights between cultivators and members of the Draco clan. Still focused on finding Dante, she did what she could.
A shadow hand here, a shadow hand there. Wherever she went, she tried to destabilize the Draco clan members. The fight had really taken over the whole sect.
But, something was strange. The Draco clan members were many, but they should not make up even a tenth of the total number of disciples. That could only mean one thing. They had got outside help.
That was just one more reason for her to hurry. Rim and Hector had communicated that they were going after Draco, so Dante would only have her help. Only Sabrina could save him.
The problem was, since she hadn't spoken to Dante in a while, she didn't know exactly where he was. She followed in the region of the training rooms they had used, as the logical choice.
As she walked through the darkness, Sabrina couldn't stop wondering about how much stronger Dante was. He had trained for months on his own. Knowing the cultivator, he wouldn't have missed a single second.
When she arrived at the training rooms, there was no sign of Dante. She didn't waste any time.
The disciples seemed to be holding up well there. The Draco clan members were scattered around the cave, dealing with some monsters. The situation was very confusing. Some monsters seemed to be on the Draco side, and others not.
Ordering her shadow hands, she grabbed a member of the Draco clan by the neck, leaving him totally immobilized.
"Where is Dante?" she asked, transparent anger in her voice.
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"Dante? Who is Dante?" the cultivator whispered, breathless from his constricted throat.
Sabrina sighed. "What are you guys doing here? What's the plan?"
"None of your business, you bit-" Sabrina exerted her control over the Qi, and squeezed the torso of the cultivator, who vomited blood.
"I'll give you one more chance."
He looked at her, appalled. "I don't know, I swear. We're just the distraction. We were supposed to attack you in the cave and leave the castle unprotected."
Before releasing the cultivator, the shadows finished the job. The sound of broken bones echoed in the cave, as did that of a body falling to the ground soon after.
After that, she wasn't sure what to do. She needed to help Dante, but that information could make a difference to the Slayers.
At that moment, she thought of Isaac and Fig. With a slight smile on her face, Sabrina knew she wouldn't have to help. They could certainly handle it.
So, she changed her strategy a bit. She started helping the disciples against the Draco, sacrificing a little time for each enemy she encountered.
After several fights and cultivators on the ground, Sabrina felt an unmistakable presence.
In the sea of darkness, loomed a beacon of light.
She stretched out her wings and cut across the path, going full speed ahead. In the cave, all her powers were amplified. There was no sunlight, only darkness, which nourished her Qi.
When she felt Dante close, she stopped. From the sounds, a fight was going on, and he was involved. She approached carefully. If he was in trouble, her attack would work better as a surprise.
Fire Qi illuminated the room. Entering the room slowly, she came across countless lion bodies with black coats.
Advancing a little further, she glimpsed a corpse that made all the others look small. A huge lion-or what was left of it-was thrown to the ground, killed by some kind of fire.
Could Dante have done this? If so, he was much stronger than Sabrina had imagined.
Alpha monsters were at the top of the C-Class food chain. One of them was worth 50 normal class monsters. Sabrina had encountered none in the cave before, nor had she heard of anyone who had.
This was surely another of Dante's mysteries. From the beginning, she knew he had not told her and the others the whole truth about his core.
The story was too convenient to be true. Resources were not handed out freely. There was something behind it. He came from humble origins, and got endless materials somehow.
When she saw Dante, her heart soared. He was facing her back, standing before two members of the Draco clan. Several wounds tattooed his body, as if he had just been injured. He should be without Qi for his regenerative powers to work.
Quickly, Sabrina plotted her course of action.
She ordered her hands to shoot close to the ground in order to surprise her enemies.
Quickly, the members of darkness obeyed. Sabrina's Qi roamed the room like a snake, close to the floor.
When the Qi found its target, the response was immediate. The shadow hands surged up the cultivators' bodies, crushing every bone they found along the way.
With the enemies on the ground, Sabrina fired toward Dante.
She hugged the cultivator, eager for the reunion. She had missed his warmth. Touching him was a feeling akin to basking in the sun on a frosty morning.
However, when she hugged the cultivator, she immediately noticed that something was different. Dante's body was not warm to the touch. It was as if he wasn't even made of skin.
Before she could reason, Dante's body collapsed, crumbling into a goo that caught Sabrina's arms. She tried to free herself with the help of her shadows, but could not.
From outside the room, she heard footsteps coming.
"Looks like we finally caught one of them, huh" said a man in a Draco uniform.
"It's about time. After hunting that boy so hard, at least we caught this pretty girl," said another cultivator, approaching.
Sabrina recognized them as being part of the best of the Draco clan. If memory serves, they were all Gold, and therefore possessed Oversoul.
Sabrina looked at them with death in her eyes. "That's the only way for you guys to really win," she said.
At that moment, all she felt was relief. From what they were saying, they still hadn't caught up with Dante.
Which meant only one thing.
She wouldn't have to worry about leaving survivors.