Dante searched the dark room for anything hidden that might help him to know the origin of his relic, feeling some annoyance for having nothing light to light his way.
Even though his eyes were now sharper than any human's eyes, they still couldn't pierce the darkness. It wasn't like he had night vision.
'It's completely empty.'
Dante frowned, not finding anything in the room, not even a word or rune written on the walls. But suddenly, Fafnir approached him with a wide smile.
Confused, Dante looked at Fafnir's hand and saw an onyx-black ring with a centipede engraved on it.
'Oh, you found something! Good job, dude.'
Fafnir rubbed his nose quickly with the back of his hand, as if proud of himself.
The moment Dante touched the ring, it turned into thousands of crimson particles and went into his soul.
It was a relic!
'Am I really that unfortunate?' Dante wondered as he absorbed the new knowledge.
But after some thinking, he realized that maybe it had nothing to do with only his own luck. He was supposed to be used as a vessel, but the centipede failed and became his relic instead.
In other words, the centipede's misfortune turned into Dante's fortune.
'Maybe I can make a spell with that logic, right? Get benefits from someone else's misfortune.'
Unknown to Dante, his comprehension increased from realising that.
Using some of his spiritual energy, Dante immediately summoned the ring, wore it on his finger and stepped out of the onyx room.
'Now, for the ring's abilit—!'
Crack!
Suddenly, Dante heard a familiar sound under the ground, remembering that the darkness monster was still moving.
'Maybe there is hope to kill it now. I can try the Silver Ether.'
Dante looked down—seeing only absolute darkness under the stairs—and used his spiritual eye ability. Instantly, a silver number appeared in his vision.
158.
Dante: "...."
Fafnir: "...."
'There is no damn hope. Fafnir, gather everything that could be useful.'
Dante rushed with Fafnir to every skeleton and took their cores and weapons. Of course, they didn't forget Beatrice's axes.
Six cores, two swords, two small axes—one of them was broken—and five spears.
Everything was brought before him. Without hesitation, Dante extended his right hand and used the ring's ability. At the same time, he used Appraisal.
A crimson light burst out of the ring and coated everything. Magically, the weapons and cores disappeared.
'It-It's really working.'
At the same time, Dante's runes appeared before him.
Crack!
Hearing another crack, Dante ran to Beatrice's corpse while reading the relics section.
❖ Relics:
[###]
[A Son's Warm Gift]
[Ring of Greed]
⤷ That greedy bastard dares to treat me like a slave. I, one of the three known relic makers, and probably the best of them, being forced to make a dimensional ring for free? I hate him! I hate him from the depths of my heart! I'll keep this message hidden so only someone other than him can see it.
If you've somehow stolen the ring from him, know that I'm grateful! I wish you great fortune!
✧ Passive Abilities:
⟨Dimensional Space⟩
⤷ The ring contains a frozen dimensional space large enough to fit a small room inside. Its size grows with the soul of the owner, and the weight of the ring can't be changed. Are you happy now?
✧ Active Abilities:
⟨Storing, Retrieving, Checking, all these stuff.⟩
⤷ You can store soulless objects within the ring's dimensional space and retrieve them at anytime. Spiritual energy is required to store, retrieve, or even check the items inside the ring. You greedy bastard, I hope that bitch dries up your spiritual energy and vitality.
"...."
'Whoever made this thing really hated that centipede.'
Dante sighed helplessly and continued running. He couldn't argue as the ring was really great.
He didn't know how valuable this ring was, but considering that the greedy centipede had to force someone to make it, it should be really hard to get.
'Maybe I should give the centipede relic a name as well. I'll call it Centipede of Greed for now.'
Standing before Beatrice's corpse, Dante ordered Fafnir to take off all her belongings.
Fafnir took off all her clothes quickly and put them in front of Dante. Without hesitation, Dante put them all into his dimensional ring.
Due to their lack of time, they didn't care about seeing what they gathered.
They could see what she had been carrying after leaving this place. There was still a monster there carving its path toward them.
Using small mana bursts, Dante passed through all the traps and quickly and returned to the first room he woke up in.
A surge of complex emotions hit him when he saw the familiar formation and the corridor.
'I… did it.'
There was no one blocking the path. He was… free to leave… he was free to leave!
His body trembled with excitement. Dante went to the corridor, ordering Fafnir to keep protecting him, and started taking slow steps forward.
Thump, thump, thump.
He could hear his heart thumping louder with every step. He could feel something forming in his eyes, making his vision blurry.
He was getting closer. He was truly getting closer!
A few seconds later, he saw some stairs leading upward. Without hesitation, he enhanced his legs and ran. With all his new strength and vitality—he ran.
He was now more than four times stronger than before his transmigration into this world. Everything about him changed.
Looking upward, a trace of golden light entered his sight.
"I really did it…"
It'd been only a few hours since he found himself in this strange body, so why did he feel like decades had passed?
He had experienced death until he was unafraid of it. He had endured pain until he was unaffected by it. He had faced despair until he overcame it.
All of it for this single moment.
Dante ran.
Ran.
Ran, ran, and ran!
He ran faster and faster, moving desperately toward the golden light.
And finally—!
.
..
…
In a cold land covered in soft snow, there was a metallic black entrance on the ground, showing stairs that led to a hidden place underground.
All of a sudden, a handsome young boy covered in blood came out of it, gasping for the cold, clear air.
He wore a red wolf-fur cloak. His hair was black as the night, and his skin was milky white with a hint of paleness.
His segmented right arm had a long, black centipede tattoo with crimson eyes, and his right index finger wore an onyx-black ring with a centipede engraved on it.
His silver right eye was slit like a mighty dragon, and his left eye was deep black like the abyss, unaffected by even the sun's golden rays.
In the middle of his forehead, there was a strange mark. An upsidedown black crown, looking like a divine crown from the depths of the abyss. There was a black dragon skull wearing it, but the dragon looked cold and tired rather than dominant and scary.
The boy's face froze.
Staring at the sun without flinching, he took a few steps forward.
"I… survived."
The boy fell on his knees, his tears flowing endlessly, his voice and body shaking, and his breath unsteady.
While his tired eyes were shedding tears, and while they were focused solely on the sun, his lips curled into a wide, broken smile.
The ancient ruins' entrance collapsed suddenly, burying all the things that happened inside forever.
❖→Volume 1: «First Morning»←❖