"...."
As Dante was left alone in the marble room, his mind formed a theory:
'Maybe they think that the barbarian is a bigger threat?'
In such a situation, he couldn't think of any other explanation.
Dante shook his head and seized this opportunity to see what the skeletons were guarding.
'Hmm? What is this?'
He found an onyx-black door blocked by two chains—one golden and one silver—and it didn't have a handle.
Confused, Dante moved forward until he stood before the door, then he finally noticed a strange symbol painted in the middle of the door.
It was a centipede, black in color but with crimson eyes.
'What now?'
Dante extended his hand and grabbed the silver chain, trying to find a lock or a way to open the door.
Crack!
All of a sudden, the chain shattered at his touch, turning into a wave of tiny silver threads that flew directly into his right eye.
Dante panicked and tried to stop them, but they phased through his hands and entered his eye anyway.
'Damn!'
As Dante waited for his death, he opened his eyes in confusion when he didn't feel the expected pain. Instead, his vision improved significantly!
His eyes widened as he recognised the silver threads. They were the same threads he saw in his first death!
'Why were they here? Wait, does that mean the golden chain…'
He extended his hand and touched the golden chain, expecting something similar to happen. But as his hand made contact with the chain, it turned into inky-black before turning into dust.
"...."
Dante looked at this scene in confusion. Was that because he didn't have a bond for golden Ether?
Creek!
Suddenly, the black door opened, revealing a dark room that even with his new sight, Dante couldn't see through.
'What the hell is that!'
There was only one thing he could see in the room. It was a giant, black centipede with crimson eyes.
Dante took a step back immediately. That thing was as big as a building!
'It can't come through this door, right? Maybe… I should leave now.'
Dante took another step backward. Maybe he could pass through the traps slowly and finally leave.
Boom!
"Argh!"
All of a sudden, a flaming rock exploded against his back, sending him flying into the room.
Ignoring the pain, he looked at his back, only to see the barbarian covered in blood looking at him in fury.
"You think—!"
Bam!
The door suddenly closed, leaving Dante with the centipede without a way out.
'...I hate my life.'
Gulping nervously, Dante moved to the door and tried to push it, but no matter how much he tried, it didn't move.
'It-It's the end, isn't it?'
Dante hesitated for a brief moment before deciding to look at the centipede.
It was still lying motionless in its place, not even making a breathing sound.
'Maybe it's dead? Wait, do centipedes even breathe?'
Without a single noise, Dante sat on the ground, waiting for anything to happen.
There was nothing else he could do, was there?
Tak!
Just then, Dante saw one of the centipede's sharp legs tremble.
'Fuck!'
He froze, aiming his index at the centipede in hesitation.
'If that giant thing suddenly moved, would some demonic bullets… be enough?'
Although he asked himself that, he knew the answer for it.
NO!
NOT EVEN A SCRATCH!!
Silently, Dante stood up. At the exact same moment, the centipede moved.
It magically shifted into the size of a human and charged at Dante, making Dante's eyes widen in disbelief.
'Damn everything about magic!'
Without hesitation, he shot a bullet.
Bang!
As expected, it didn't even slow it down, leaving the centipede's shell without harm.
The next moment, it coiled around Dante's body, squeezing his body tightly. Simultaneously, it crawled to his right hand and started digging into it with its horns.
"No…!" Dante's eyes turned white as enhanced his teeth and bit the centipede.
His teeth shattered instantly. Instead of screaming in pain, he roared and threw his own body into the wall and floor, trying to harm the centipede in any way.
A minute later, he was bleeding from all his holes due to the squeezing. The centipede entire head was already inside his arm, yet Dante kept struggling.
Just then, a dark voice echoed inside his head:
"Stop struggling, this will only increase your pai—!"
All of a sudden, Dante was hit by the sharpest pain he had ever felt so far. It wasn't on his body, he was sure that wasn't physical pain. Still, he felt that pain in his entire being.
"KRAAAK!!"
"AAAAHH!"
Surprisingly, the centipede started screaming as well. Both of them screamed for minutes or hours until their voices broke.
Bloody tears flowed down Dante's cheeks as the centipede suddenly disappeared. The next moment, his eyes darkened.
8 lives remained.
¢¢¢
"...."
The moment Dante woke up again, he hugged himself and started trembling.
Even though the pain disappeared, only the memory was enough to make him remember that long horror.
Even the pain of being eaten alive by the shadow monsters couldn't be compared to 1% of that pain.
A surge of knowledge and information entered his head. He absorbed them silently, but he stayed trembling on the floor.
Now, he only felt… numbness.
'Why is it always… painful? Why pain? Why….?'
That was too much for him and his mind.
Why couldn't he just have some rest?
The barbarian returned, but his mind didn't even register her voice. He only snapped out of his daze when her axe pierced his chest.
Even in his current miserable state, pain followed him again.
Even at his lowest point, he still had to suffer.
Couldn't he even depress in peace now?
Couldn't he even have that minimal amount of rest?
'Why is life so… so cruel?'
Dante glanced at the red-haired woman for one last time.
7 lives remained.