Chapter 38: Greater Demon
When Dante made his way to the house's front door, he tried peeking through a window but wasn't able to see anything with the closed curtains.
The warlock's jacket had a mini-camera that Camille was using to watch his point of view, and he also had an earpiece connected to Megan and the handler in case they needed to communicate something urgent.
The brunette kept looking at Dante from across the street, waiting to see how he would enter the house unnoticed, but her expectations were shattered when the warlock grabbed the door's handle and forced it open.
'That's this plan…?' Megan thought.
Dante entered the dark home and couldn't hear a single sound from any of the rooms, but he could feel different sources of umbra, letting him know that he wasn't alone.
It was a family home with two floors, so the warlock checked the ground floor first, and as he walked to the kitchen, a hooded man jumped out of the shadows to stab him.
Nevertheless, Dante was prepared for the surprise attack as he could sense the man's energy, so he easily avoided his knife, grabbed his arm, and punched him in the neck, knocking him out entirely.
'Only one guy down here…' the warlock thought, making his way back to the staircase leading to the bedrooms.
When he stepped on the first stair, a trap activated, making a spiky metal handle come down from the roof, aimed at Dante's face. Still, he managed to catch the blade with his bare hands before it touched him.
["Careful. These guys are tricky,"] Camille said on Dante's earpiece.
Hearing the sound of the trap activating, four hooded men came out of the bedroom with guns, but when they pointed at the staircase, the warlock was nowhere to be seen.
"Oi, go check downstairs," said one of the hooded figures.
His companion turned around and took a step towards the stairs, but suddenly, he heard the grunts of his comrades behind him, and he didn't have time to check on them before feeling a cold hand grabbing the back of his neck.
"Where's the demon?" Dante asked, his tone low and severe.
The man froze in place and shivered, feeling a strong sense of pressure and fear overwhelming his body.
'H-How does he know…?' the man thought.
"I sense a demon in this house. Speak," Dante continued, not leaving room for negotiations as his voice echoed in the thug's ears.
"B-b-basement!" the man shouted.
At that moment, Dante's hand produced a spark of black electricity, zapping the man's neck and knocking him out instantly.
With the house cleared of gang members, Dante walked back down and looked for the door behind the staircase leading to the basement, where he felt the most dense umbra coming from.
As he calmly went down the stairs, he found himself before a large monster with jet-black skin and horns on his forehead.
"A greater demon?" Dante asked aloud with indifference.
The demon was slightly taller than him. His eyes were glowing brightly red, and his body had glowing veins.
"Who dares disturb my home?" the demon calmly asked, turning around to look at the warlock.
However, as soon as his eyes spotted the man, the demon took a cautionary step back and raised his arm, assuming a combat pose.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Dante commented, taking off his mask and revealing his face to the demon.
"H-Hellslayer!" the demon shouted nervously.
"Hmm, it's been a long time since I heard that…" Dante muttered, calmly inspecting the surroundings of the room and taking a few steps forward, making the demon even more nervous.
"This is my first time seeing you, so I'll be merciful…" he continued, appearing in front of the demon and gripping one of his horns.
The greater demon hunched his back as the warlock held his horn down, not even trying to fight him back.
"Name?" Dante asked.
"Ogmad…" the demon replied.
"Who summoned you here?"
"A man named Sabelio—he used traditional dark magic…" Ogmad said, fully complying with the warlock.
"When was that?"
"Two years ago…"
"Are you the one forcing contracts on innocent people?"
"N-no. Sabelio said there was a general, and the blood in those pills belonged to him…"
"What general?" Dante continued, not reacting to Ogmad's answers.
"I don't know—It seems like the contract doesn't let them talk about him," the greater demon replied.
Dante smirked mischievously and, still holding onto Ogmad's horn, slammed his face on the ground with force, leaving a few cracks on the point of impact.
"And why are you telling me this?" Dante asked, crouching next to the demon and looking down with a condescending stare.
"A long time ago, I was told by a superior that if I ever encountered Hellslayer, I should cooperate…" Ogmad replied, his voice slightly muffled by the ground.
*Pfft* "Hahaha—what a smart guy. Who was that?" said the warlock, genuinely finding the demon's comments funny.
"L-Lord Belial…" Ogmad said.
"That guy, huh? Well, it's your lucky day… Since it's my first time seeing you, I'll just send you back to hell…" Dante said casually, taking his hand off the horn and standing up.
"Thanks for being so merciful…" Ogmad replied, kneeling and looking down in a repentant pose.
"Whatever. You know what will happen if you stand against me again?" the warlock asked, looking down at the demon with a sharp gaze.
"I do. I appreciate it, sir—It won't happen again!" the demon loudly replied while looking up.
"Good. Now don't move, or it's gonna hurt…" Dante muttered, pointing his palm at the kneeling Ogmad, making him close his eyes with apprehension.
"Destro," he chanted, blowing up and destroying the demon's body in the blink of an eye, leaving the monster's feet intact, which slowly disintegrated into dust.
"All done here, Camille," said Dante aloud to the woman on his earpiece.
["Uhh, yeah. Just get out of there. I'm sending some men to pick up the thugs,"] she replied.
'What the hell did I just watch…?' Camille thought after seeing everything in the live feed.
She stayed silent during the entire ordeal since she wanted to see what Dante was capable of, but she wasn't expecting the demon to be docile with him.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone