Chapter 41: Shadow Demon
After Dante quickly cleared the room of thugs by unintentionally slicing their bodies in half, the women stayed on the ground, covering their heads with fear.
Megan and Maya had been listening to the warlock on their earpiece, and after retrieving their weapons from Tyler, they made their way back to the first floor to assist him.
Seeing the immovable security guard in front of the backstage area, Maya used Dante's strategy and began flirting with the man, catching his attention and allowing Megan to sneak past.
When she entered the backroom, she found the poker tables flipped with the bloodied corpses lying around, the half-naked women shivering in fear, and Dante holding an unconscious man by the neck next to the demolished bar counter.
"Megan, this was the leader—I knocked him out before he killed himself," said Dante with a nonchalant tone that contrasted with the brutal scene around him, dropping the man like a sack of potatoes on the ground.
Noticing that a second metallic sliding door beside the bar required fingerprints to open, the warlock dragged the supposed leader's body and placed his hand on the console.
"He is here…" Dante muttered, letting Megan know that the demon was behind the door.
The brunette hesitated for a brief second as the door slid open, but the warlock had an evil smirk on his face that caught her attention.
'Is he enjoying this…?' She pondered, breaking her focus when she saw the metallic door closing behind Dante's back.
While Megan rushed to the door to get it to open again, the warlock found himself in an utterly dark room where he couldn't even see his hands when he looked down.
'Demon sight…' Dante thought, activating a spell that allowed him to see in the dark as his crimson eyes glowed slightly.
Detailing his surroundings, he noticed two groups of women whose bodies were stacked on different sides of the room.
'That group is dead…' he thought after inspecting one of the piles of corpses.
However, when he approached the second, his eyes widened in shock as he could see black ethereal chains around the women's bodies.
'Soulbound enfeeblement? —They fed demon blood to these women…' he continued his train of thought.
Sharpening his gaze, Dante stood in the center of the room. "Come on out, already!" he shouted.
Right on cue, a shadowy figure appeared from the darkness right behind the warlock, launching an attack that was easily stopped as Dante tightly gripped the black mist with one hand.
"A shadow demon, huh?" Dante muttered, dispersing the shadowy mist and making the body of the creature materialize.
The humanoid demon was pale and skinny, with deep black eyes, horns, and claws that oozed a dark aura from them. Still, Dante was unamused, and as he held onto the demon's wrist, he stared down with a menacing aura.
"Hmm, do I know you?" the warlock asked, making the demon grit his teeth with apprehension.
"Well, all shadow demons look similar…" he continued, pulling the demon's arm while kicking him in the chest, ripping his extremity as his body was flung to the wall in the back of the room.
"H-Hellslayer…" Uttered the monster before coughing blood from the force of Dante's kick.
"Abyssal chains," the warlock replied, generating a pair of obsidian chains that rose from the ground and snared the demon's body.
"Nghh!" The creature tried to force his way out of the chains, but his body didn't budge an inch.
"You still think you have a chance against me?" Dante asked with a condescending tone.
"You are just a shadow demon. Know your place," he continued, grabbing him by the head and making the monster feel a fearful pressure on his shoulders.
"Name?" Dante asked.
"Ruzen…" the demon muttered.
"Doesn't ring a bell. Who's your superior?" inquired Dante, but the demon bit his lips with apprehension.
"I see. You can't say—It's probably Astaroth anyways…" the warlock said, making Ruzen flinch from his accurate guess.
At that moment, the sliding door to the backroom opened after Megan used the unconscious bodyguard's fingerprints, gazing at the pile of women's corpses on one side and the unconscious lot on the other.
She quickly took out her pistol and turned on the flashlight attached to it, pointing it at the center, where Dante was holding the head of the ensnared shadow demon.
The sight of the monster made the brunette stop her movements briefly. Even though the creature was missing an arm, coughing blood, and unable to move due to the chains around his body, Megan still felt an uncanny sensation.
Nonetheless, it only lasted for a second before she turned her attention to the group of unconscious women, placing her fingers against their necks to check for their pulse.
"Those girls were fed demon blood. The ones on the other side are dead…" Dante explained to Megan.
While still forcefully gripping the demon's head, he said that there were different ways to cleanse the "soulbound enfeeblement."
"Talented priests could lift the curse, but the most effective way to save everyone is killing the demon who is siphoning their life energy," the warlock commented, sharpening his gaze and locking his eyes with Ruzen.
"Is your blood being fed to these women?" Dante menacingly asked the demon.
However, Ruzen gave him a defiant look as if he decided he wasn't going to answer, making the warlock smirk.
Staying calm and composed, Dante raised his right hand beside him, allowing the demon to get a good look.
"Black Flame," the warlock muttered, producing a black and white fiery blaze that covered his right hand.
Megan observed attentively, noticing that the flame in his hand barely generated any light, and pondered the difference between that spell and "destro," which she had seen a few times.
Still, while the brunette indifferently admired the strange fire, the demon's eyes widened with fear as his body began shivering uncontrollably.
"Th-that's…-" Ruzen stammered, biting his tongue in panic.
"What? Did you think I would send you back to hell after you did all of this?" Dante asked, cutting him off from speaking further.
When he finished his sentence, the warlock placed his flaming hand against the demon's chest, and his body caught on fire in an instant, letting out a loud, painful scream.
Megan could see how the black fire seeped within the demon's body, with his eyes and face producing a white glow as it was burnt to ashes.
A small crystal orb appeared mid-air just as the demon's body turned into dust, which the warlock caught before it fell to the ground.
Maya arrived in the backroom shortly after, her face in shock from seeing the corpses of the thugs in the gambling room.
While the pink-haired agent only managed to see Dante putting out the black flame on his hand, she could tell that something strange had happened. Nevertheless, she decided to hear their explanation later.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone