Dante knew now that if he couldn't crush them with absolute strength he would have to go for a swift assassination tactic. swiftly taking out the leaders of the mercenary group and then scaring the rest of the members into submission with the background of the Kinsman Clan.
But a problem with this new plan is that it would require a small yet stealthy group of elites but with disciples above the 7th layer in seclusion, he would need geniuses in the 4th and 5th layer with the ability to skip realms to join him.
Walking to the clan training grounds for disciples Dante stopped to see many youngsters training their various skills with some even sparing against each other with their weapons coated in a vibrant glowing light.
as he approached Dante seemed to see a familiar face. it was Brian
He seemed to be training with a more muscular older man. sensing his gaze, Brian turned around and locked eyes with Dante . in response, Dante gave him a warm smile, but for Brian the smile seemed to belong to Archdevil straight from Hell causing him to tremble in fear with his forehead leaking buckets of sweat.
'Oh God, that Demon, he's back again. What did I do to deserve this ?' thought Brian.
luckily for brian Dante completely forgave Brian, after all, he was just an arrogant kid anyway he was completely and utterly crushed by him back then and the strength gap between them now was like the distance between heaven and earth. And Dante wasn't so petty as to pick on someone weaker than him, well not at least someone he had defeated already.
as Dante walked up to the training grounds he briefly cleared his throat before shouting " I am currently recruiting some people to help me on a mission to the Howling Beast Forest to pick some magical herbs on behalf of the First Elder the reward for this mission would be 30 contribution points !" as his voice rang out across the training grounds there was a brief silence, before the training ground erupted into a burst chatter.
"My God, 30 contribution points !"
"Somebody hit me I must be dreaming! "
"Truly prodigal only the children of major Clan Elders can behave like this"
"I'm so jealous!!"
it has to be known that a contribution point was roughly equal to a gold coin in value. a gold coin was roughly the monthly income of the average family. But that wasn't all, in exchange value Contribution points are roughly priced higher than gold coins as contribution points can be used to purchase things gold coins can't like secret manuals or custom made spirit weapons from the clan.
As Dante was speaking a handsome young man came up behind him and patted him on the shoulder and spoke in a condescending and humiliating tone.
"Don't worry, we all know a weakling like you can't be trusted to go into the Howling Beast Forest by yourself, even your father doesn't want you to lose your life so he asked you to hire some bodyguards "
"Grayson" replied Dante with gritted teeth.
Grayson was one of his bullies, throughout his childhood due to his weak physique Dante was labelled as a piece of trash who would lose to opponents in lower realms so of course he was on the receiving end of some bullying in his past. but which child of regular clansmen had the guts to bully the child of the first elder so his bullies could only be the children of elders with a strong backing or else all it would take would be Dante to complain to his father for their whole family to be dealt with.
looking at Graysonup close and with his condescending smirk, Dante seemed to feel his blood rush to his head. Subconsciously he released the iconic Dragon skill 'aura of dragon fear'. Instantly a furious draconic roar erupted from deep within his body while a maddening aura of fury and domination expanded from Dantes body as his eyes turned into amber serpentine slits staring at Grayson with a smouldering Rage.
"What.. what is this? said Grayson in panic sensing the aura released from Dante
But before he could escape he found himself inside a black void and looking at Dantes position instead of handsome young man, he found a hulking scaly Dragon reeking of a gut-wrenching smell of brimstone and sulfur while its mouth dripped with scalding magma. its eyes stared at him with infernal fury as if it wanted to consume him whole.
"Arrrgh help me, please. I don't want to die. Don't eat me" Grayson found himself sobbing and begging in a pathetic mess
outside of Grayson's illusion onlookers were looking on at his terrible display in shock and horror
"What... What did Dante do to him?"
"Demon, he's a demon just like his father "
looking at the pathetic visage of Grayson although Dante felt some pity for him it was overwhelmed with a great sense of satisfaction he felt having had his revenge.
Turning to look at the crowd with his 'dragon fear aura' still on full blast Dante spoke
"I'm willing to accept any teammates as long as you do better than that piece of trash" as he spoke a twisted smile appeared on his handsome face causing members of the crowd to step back in fear.