My Blood Legacy: Reincarnated as a Vampire
Chapter 153: You're more of a hero than a Demon

Dante was sitting on the ground, surrounded by corpses. Part of his clothing was completely torn and drenched in blood, while his hands, arms, legs, and face bore marks of battle. His eyes were fierce as he stroked Vex's head, resting in his lap.

Approximately three hours had passed since he had defeated the knight called Mercedes. He wanted to know more about the woman and what led her to this point, but he dared not interrupt her moment.

Dante had seen and heard many cruel things, but he had never seen a woman suffer like Mercedes. It seemed as though her soul had been ripped from her body, and she only knew how to lament, living deeply in her hell over and over again.

"I cannot deny that I identify with her, but it seems the situation is much more complex," he thought, observing the woman completely battered, mentally and physically.

"Perhaps she could be a good ally to help me," his thoughts were now always focused on one thing. "I need power, wars are happening, and any help could be welcome, especially from a knight with this level of strength. She could match me without using Demon Manipulation."

"What can I offer to convince her? No, first, I have to think about what to do with her before welcoming her. Velryna would be angry if I made decisions about her life without consulting her first."

"First, I need to calm down and understand this woman's story. Depending on that, I can keep her by my side or use her as a tracker in the future. Broken like this, she'll die if left alone."

"My name is Dante," he remarked to the girl, who was in a trance with her hands over her eyes, deeply immersed in dark thoughts.

He waited for a response, but she couldn't manage. Her existence was tainted, and the woman had no capacity to say anything.

"I know it's hard, believe me, I've been through a lot," he continued. "I'm after this organization that kept you hostage. They came after the people I love, and I won't let them live for much longer," he said, still unresponsive, but fortunately feeling the woman's aura calming slightly.

"She has potential, get her to help you at all costs," Dante heard Alter-Dante's thoughts and questioned, "What do you mean by that?"

"She's been bathed too much in demonic energy. Soon, she'll become a Demon. However... the person who conceived her was a spiritual. She might die if you don't help her. Moreover, Spiritual Demon potential is very rare," he said, and Dante understood what he meant.

She had the potential to be a good warrior, and that's what they needed now.

"I'll hunt them all down," Dante said, the atmosphere growing heavy. Finally, he received a reaction: the woman began to rise as parts of her armor fell off, and the sword in her hand started to glow.

"It's dangerous!" Voralith shouted, but he didn't have time. A fierce burst of energy surrounded the area, but not towards Dante, only at the woman.

The wind was very strong with the aura explosion. Dante put his hands over his eyes as he looked at the spot, using Vex's body as a shield.

The energy began to diminish, and the woman began to reappear, but this time completely changed. She was staring into nothingness as tears of blood streamed from her eyes. Her whole body became stronger, not visually, but internally.

Dante looked at that scene and saw a broken woman, as broken as the stained glass of a church. He saw the sword stained with blood as her eyes became completely emotionless. She turned to him and pointed her sword.

"I am Mercedes, and if you help me with my revenge, I will stand by your side until my death," she said, and Dante's eyes opened slightly in surprise.

"Women... are they that easy?" he questioned internally. And Voralith appeared again... "Do you really mean that? These things only happen to you. Stop putting yourself in the same curve as everyone else, damn it!

Look at how many crazy women are by your side? Damn it! You drive me crazy!!"

"Eldrax concurs, you're a magnet for trouble, Dante," came the voice of the little Dragoness. "I usually don't like to meddle, but it's really scary how many women you encounter," Arthur said in his head. And again, "Are you cursed by some Women's god or something?" Merlin commented.

Dante looked deep into his soul and saw Alter looking at him with a completely impassive expression. "You're not going to say anything?" He questioned, and Alter remained silent. "Seriously..." Dante commented, observing the woman in front of him, who seemed like a completely different person.

"Mercedes, are you against aiding a Demon King?" Dante questioned. He couldn't deny his identity to his supporters, as neglecting it could cause problems in the future, and he didn't have time for that now. He needed to address what he came for.

"For the love of God, don't give up on me because of Lilith!" Dante roared internally, but Mercedes's reaction was the strangest possible.

"Have you ever killed without reason?" She questioned. Dante was surprised and replied, "No." She continued, "Have you ever killed children?" Dante replied again, "No." "Have you ever massacred people? Have you stolen their homes and done the worst to all of them?"

"Hm? Of course not, I help people quite a bit. In fact, right now I'm trying to kill the Emperor who was enslaving children for sexual desires. Do you see that demon over there?" Dante pointed to Vex and continued, "She was at an illegal auction, not just her, but several children, beasts, adults." He said.

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"Then why do you call yourself a Demon King? You're more of a hero than a Demon," Mercedes said. Well, she didn't understand the terms very well, apparently, after all, she spent ten years being controlled. Dante understood that.

"I forgot she's still pretty ignorant about the world... she must have just followed orders incessantly and without rest, but she has talent, that's better than nothing," he shook his head and stood up with Vex in his arms, like a princess.

"Can you keep up with me? Let's go to the Palace. I'll explain to you exactly what's going on, and you tell me if you want to help or not," Dante said. He still had to tend to Vex's still open wounds. He was pretty mad at Mercedes for reminding him of this, but he couldn't do anything. Even he knew it was the fault of others, not hers, Vex's wounds.

"I'm going to erase all of you for what you did to her... the only one who can punish my Vex is me," his main thought already said it all. He's going to kill all these idiots who threatened the lives of the people he loves, and this isn't just empty words, it's reality.

Before Dante left completely from the scene, he recited very softly. "Come to me..." and all the corpses began to catch fire, a black fire like the darkness of his soul.

Their bodies began to be absorbed into pure hellish miasma. Dante said nothing and just left the scene, landing on the roof.

"Why are you looking at the moon like that?" Dante questioned, seeing Mercedes cover her eyes as she wiped her tears. She had removed many parts of her armor, and now only the purple dress and some plates on her arms and hips remained.

"On a full moon day, my village was decimated by what you call the Demon Cult. It seems like my memory that I was captured is being relived again," she said, and Dante was speechless.

Dante was intrigued but let her have her time while Little Vex still slept on his arm.

Dante looked towards the horizon in the direction of the castle and felt something bad, something extremely evil.

'Aaralyn.' He called, but she didn't respond. 'Could it be the distance?'

'Damn!' Dante thought and looked at Mercedes, who was still with her eyes closed. "Let's go to the palace, something's wrong!" He shouted and didn't let Mercedes think, just started running between the buildings while his hair changed color to black and his horns disappeared.

Meanwhile... on the other side...

"Lady Velryna, I think you'd better grab a weapon..." She commented as her two daggers were bathed in dark energy.

Around, several assassins with marks on their arms, something evil for sure. Velryna had just returned from her chores and wasn't prepared for this.

SKRASH

Aaralyn turned to see what was happening, and she saw the luxurious dress being completely cut and torn. She saw Velryna's expression.

'A warrior in... that must be why the master accepted her... what if I... No, Aaralyn, you're just a servant.' She looked at the woman with... envy.