Dante quickly realized that he had underestimated the power of this dark creature. The energy it was emanating was something he had never encountered before, and it was clear that his current skills and abilities were not enough to defeat it.
With a sense of desperation, he tried to retreat, but the creature was faster, and it closed in on him, its blade flashing in the dim light.
Dante gritted his teeth, ready to fight to the death if necessary. But then, out of nowhere, a bright light pierced through the darkness, blinding both Dante and the creature. When the light faded, Dante saw a figure standing before him, a warrior dressed in shining armor, holding a sword of pure light. The creature recoiled, its eyes burning with fear, and then it vanished into thin air.
As he observed the scene, he thought it was a knight in shining armor, only to realize that Elrid was playing a prank on him by dressing up. The blinding light vanished as Elrid turned to face Dante.
''What kind of mess have you gotten us into this time? It seems like you're the only one capable of turning a routine dungeon run into a suicidal expedition in an unknown dimension.'' After surveying the unfamiliar surroundings, Elrid uttered these words. Elrid frustrated addressed Dante.
Despite possessing vast knowledge, he was unable to identify the dimension Dante had stumbled upon after his dungeon run. This was not surprising, as such dimensions were extremely rare and one did not usually encounter them in normal circumstances.
Unfortunately, the unlucky kid had managed to do the impossible once again and put them in danger, as he had no idea how they could escape from this unknown dimension.
Elrid muttered to himself, ''I wish I could use my powers at a time like this, but with my intangible body, that's impossible.'' He checked the cards he had and considered which ones he could use to ensure their safe exit from the mysterious dimension.
Dante snapped out of his surprise at Elrid's arrival and replied, ''Then why don't you possess my body once again? With my physical body and magic, paired with the insane amount of Abyssal Energy I could use if you possessed me, we can explore a bit and maybe find a solution.'' He proposed this partly because he felt responsible for their situation and partly because he had gained basic trust in Elrid.
However, before tears start to well up in your eyes, it is important to note that Dante's improvement in trust and general relations with other beings was not based on the usual emotions or gut feelings experienced by others.
Rather, it was a direct consequence of cold analyzing and deductions based on logic. Dante realized that Elrid wouldn't be able to hurt him, since if he died, they both would die. This logical deduction led to a basic level of trust between the two.
Elrid vehemently declined Dante's suggestion. "No, kid. You don't know what you're asking me to do. The first time you were lucky to survive, and that's saying something with your bad luck. But you can't get lucky a second time. Too much of the Abyssal Energy might cause a mutation in your body or even worse." He fully understood the consequences if the possession went sideways and was unwilling to take the risk.
Elrid didn't care if the kid underwent mutation, as his own life would still be intact. It would be up to the kid to decide if he wanted to live with the mutated body and whether he could blend in with human society.
However, the risk of everything going awry was too great, and there could be internal imploding from the imbalance of powers, which could lead to both of their deaths. This was something Elrid was not willing to risk, and he stood by his decision to decline Dante's suggestion.
But Elrid immediately regretted his decision as the ground shook, and stones bounced off the ground. In the near distance, the sound of marching footsteps and screeches resounded through the horizon.
The creature that disappeared earlier upon Elrid's arrival had come back, and this time it had brought five beasts with similar structures.
The skeletons following right behind the heels of the creatures were not the only problem. The real challenge was the huge spider with a menacing aura around it.
Despite standing at the back, it possessed formidable power and was the beast that seemingly kept the orchestrated alliance between the different creatures of obviously different racial makeups.
Dante jerked his head towards Elrid, who returned his gaze with hollow eyes. They locked eyes, recognizing a shared determination in their gazes.
''Kid, you better pray for some luck this time. It seems we don't have much of a choice. These beasts won't let us leave, not after marking us for trespassing. They're bound to be incredibly territorial creatures,'' Elrid said, resigned to their fate.
Regretting their lack of options, Elrid placed a finger on Dante's forehead, and his entire spirit-like body transformed into a black, smoky aura that seeped deep into Dante's pores.
As the aura circulated through Dante's body, it seemed to diminish in concentration, as if intentionally reducing its destructive power.
As the smoky aura seeped into his body, Dante felt revitalized. His old wounds closed up, and a dark substance evolved from his pores, similar to the aura of the alpha wolf that had attacked him. The residue of the wolf's aura evaporated upon contact with Elrid's smoky aura.
Dante sensed a renewed source of strength coursing through his body, and the effects of his level-up finally manifested. The air around him cracked with a sound like thunder, as he became more powerful than ever before.
Suddenly, Dante's appearance changed, resembling Elrid down to even his outfit. He now had pale skin, high cheekbones, and spiky, pitch-black hair with two strands falling on both sides of his face.
His attire consisted of a tattered white jacket shirt with a high collar and black cuffs, black pants, low-heeled boots, and a long, pitch-black overcoat with ragged ends. The transformation was complete, and Dante now looked like a mirror image of Elrid.
The smoky aura that usually surrounded Dante suddenly became tangible and flooded a radius of thirty meters, creating a fog-like atmosphere around him.
As the cloud of Abyssal Energy formed, the beasts seemed to stop in their tracks, sensing that even though the fog seemed weak, they had reason to fear it. The feeling tugged at their bloodline, revealing their inferiority.
But then, the spider let out a piercing shriek, and the beasts seemed to regain their courage. They marched forward, headfirst, undaunted by the fog surrounding Dante.
As the beasts entered the fog, they were suddenly stripped of half their mana and magical abilities. The bones of the skeletons lost their luster, and the icy cold mana surrounding the leading creatures plummeted.
Horror appeared on the faces of the beasts as they realized the extent of their power loss, and even the skeletons cracked their bones together, revealing their anxiety.
Despite this, the spider outside the fog continued to screech, urging them to attack. With the spider's encouragement, the beasts charged forward, aiming for Dante, the demon in human form.
Suddenly, a maniacal laugh echoed from Dante's mouth, accompanied by a strange language that was unfamiliar to the beasts and the skeletons. The laugh further reinforced the idea that the human they were facing had indeed become a demon in their eyes.
Driven by bare bestial instincts, Dante burst towards the creatures, katana in hand, and overflowing with the smoky fog. The blade was coated with the fog to such an extent that it reflected no light and absorbed everything that came in its path.
As Dante charged toward the creatures, the smoky fog around him seemed to intensify, causing the beasts to slow down their advance.
The sword in Dante's hand glimmered in the darkness, and as he swung it, a shockwave rippled through the air, causing the beasts to stumble and fall.
With each strike of the katana, the smoky fog grew denser, and the creatures found it increasingly difficult to see through it.
The creatures burst toward Dante, their feet sinking into the ground as they moved with unparalleled speed.
All six of them circled him, but what was even more remarkable was that despite the tremendous force they exerted, there were no visible cracks in the ground.
As the creatures closed in on Dante with their blades slashing downward, a chill permeated the air. However, as their weapons got closer to Dante, a strange phenomenon occurred - all their magical abilities were devoured, leaving only the physical force behind their attacks.
The six creatures swung their swords down with tremendous force. But Dante remained calm with a maniacal smile as all his other facial features were covered by the fog, his muscles bulging with a strength that seemed impossible for him to possess.
With a loud clash, the blades collided with Dante's katana, and he effortlessly blocked them all without breaking a sweat.
The creatures' faces twisted with shock and fear as they realized the futility of their attacks. Dante's strength and skill were too much for them to overcome.
In a swift motion, he struck all of them. Dante moved like a whirlwind, his movements fluid and graceful, as he sliced through the creatures with ease.
As the last of them fell, the smoky fog around Dante further intensified, leaving him standing amidst the carnage, his katana dripping with the blood of his enemies.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Dante was ambushed by the skeletons hidden in the fog, and a barrage of bone arrows came at him from all directions. This was a result of them realizing that their magical attacks did not affect the immune human, prompting them to switch tactics.
Undeterred, Dante defiantly stood in an open stance and began spinning, causing the fog around him to churn and thicken.
The resulting whirlwind disrupted the trajectory of the arrows, throwing the skeletons off balance and ultimately breaking them apart. Despite swiftly defeating his foes, Dante's thirst for blood remained unquenched, and the fog around him only grew more intense.
Before he could burst toward the spider, since his instincts pointed it as his next prey, the bones joined together as the creatures were once again revived just like the previous time.
Descending into another massacre, Dante finished them off swiftly. But they stood up again and he finished them off. This was the repeated cycle of killing going as the fog gradually diminished which also reduced his range of vision since the fog paired with Infinite Range Awareness granted him a radius of 30 meters.
But now his perception returning to its normal range made him susceptible to the arrow attacks from the skeletons. As the fog continued to dissipate and Dante's range of perception shrank back to its normal level, he began to feel the toll of the intense battle.
His powers waned and his injuries accumulated, and he gradually lost his grip on the situation. With each passing moment, Dante felt himself slipping further and further into a state of exhaustion and pain.
Puchi!
Suddenly, out of nowhere, there was a sickening sound as the spider's two legs burst through Dante's chest and emerged out of his back.
The thick Abyssal Energy fog that had been hovering around him up to a radius of 5 meters was unable to protect him from the unexpected attack.
As the spider's legs struck with tremendous force, Dante was left gasping for air and trying to process the sudden attack, when his consciousness suddenly slipped away, and his breathing ceased with a fading heartbeat, he found himself in a state of limbo.