"HOW FUCKING DEEP IS IT?!" Dante asked with the calmest tone he could keep in his current situation.

Holding the Sin of Greed, Dante stood on top of a creature that could only be described as a real terror.

It was a toddler Frostmaw Maggot, with a form that was much bigger than the newborn.

Its arms weren't small anymore, but big enough to be used in digging and fighting.

Instead of six eyes, it had several more eyes that Dante didn't even bother to count.

The ice-like spikes covering its back were sharper, bigger, and came in greater numbers, and most importantly, its skin was thicker, making the simple act of cutting it a real struggle.

[Img]

That crap wasn't just Rank 1, but it could also be considered more than a simple Elite!

Thankfully, that beast was dead with a hole in its head.

Dante shifted his gaze to Ruby, who was hanging from the ceiling inside a ball of flowers, and shouted: "Are you really trying to hide there? You'll be in real trouble if one of them decides to appear at your location!"

Without waiting for her to answer, Dante jumped off the toddler maggot and landed far away. The next moment, another toddler Frostmaw Maggot fell on the spot that Dante had been standing at.

Unlike the newborns, the toddler maggot kept looking at Dante's figure with fury instead of eating its sibling. It was a bit smarter than the newborns and had a small sense of the concept of revenge.

ROAR!

The beast opened its mouth, the ice-like spikes on its back glowing brightly while its mouth seemed to be charging something.

Shadow Spell — Fire Javelin!

Shadow Spell — Fire Chain!

BOOM!

Dante threw a flaming javelin into the beast's mouth, stopping it from charging its attack. The javelin did less damage to the beast's inside than on the newborn version, but it was enough to buy Dante some time.

The next moment, a bunch of flaming chains wrapped around the beast's arm, mouth, and body. They pulled its arms away, ensured that its mouth would stay closed, and held its body in place.

Dante didn't waste the opportunity, he quickly dashed forward, turning his relic into an arm drill before digging into the maggot's head.

Tsss!

The hard skin produced thousands of shiny sparkles, followed by the blood of the penetrated flesh.

It took only a few seconds before Dante felt the skull. Immediately, he turned the drill into a blade and pierced the beast's brain without harming the core.

[Your Greed Knows No Bounds]

You have slain a Rank 1 Frostmaw Maggot. Spirit absorbed: +0

"Haa…" Dante let out a breath and scanned his surroundings, pushing his blood-covered hair backward with his normal hand.

He saw 8 corpses in total—three toddlers and five newborns.

Usually, that number wouldn't have been a problem, but the nature of these beasts was enough to make Dante a bit exhausted. After all, they attacked from the walls and ground, and their skin was tough enough to force Dante to keep using his relic instead of a normal sword.

"Ruby!" Dante called: "Stop hiding and help me get the cores before anything else attacks us!"

The plant ball suddenly opened, letting Ruby jump to the ground: "Yes sir!"

Holding her dagger, she ran to the first beast and went for its core. As an attempt to save time, Dante helped her by gathering the other two cores by himself.

"Now remove the blood." Dante said before handing Ruby the two cores that he gathered so she could keep them in her backpack.

Ruby nodded and opened her mouth, chanting a long poem. The next moment, a giant flower with a tongue erupted from the ground and sucked the blood off their bodies.

Ruby wasn't fazed by the flower or the saliva-like liquid covering her body and hair, but Dante had a disgusted face: "I'll never get used to this disgusting thing."

Afterwards, the dark compass materialized in Dante's hand again. He checked every tunnel—including the new ones made by the maggots that attacked them—before walking into the right path.

No, they didn't simply walk—they ran!

And because of Ruby's low speed, Dante had to create a shadow wolf and ride it with her.

They were that urgent because they knew that a large number of corpses would be enough to attract something unwanted. Some horrors he read about in his book loved eating the "small" maggots.

After a few minutes of walking, Dante finally dismissed the wolf, letting himself and Ruby collapse to the ground.

"Ruby…" Dante whispered: "It's been a day already… Are you sure your ability never made a mistake? It's been a day already and we're so deep under the ground."

An entire day had passed since they entered the tunnels. Dante was already feeling so tired because of that.

They couldn't sleep here, and finding an opportunity to rest and restore his stamina and mana was rare.

Hell, Dante had to swallow three mana crystals!

They fought more than the maggots. There were some beasts that looked like ants, some beasts had an animal-like appearance—like the apes—and the beasts couldn't even be described.

Thankfully, maybe because Dante had reduced his misfortune significantly, they didn't encounter a single Rank 2 beast. If they did, they'd have either run or—if running wasn't possible—Dante would have revealed his full power in front of Ruby and forced her to stay silent.

How could he force her to stay silent? Dante didn't know yet, but he was now considering a few things, like threatening to expose her ability.

Regardless, after going this far, Dante started to have a small doubt about Ruby's ability.

Hearing Dante's question, Ruby nodded confidently: "It never disappointed me! You can trust me in this!"

Dante fell silent for a few moments before asking: "You said that you got it from a treasure—what was that treasure exactly?"

A look of hesitation appeared on Ruby's face. Her mouth trembled for a few seconds, as though she was struggling to let the words out.

Before she could say anything, Dante shook his head: "Never mind, you have your secrets."

"Thank you…" Ruby said gratefully before leaning her back against a wall and opening her backpack.

Her hand slipped into the backpack, looking for a few items. After a few seconds of search, she pulled out a pot, a few flowers, and some seeds.

Dante looked at her in confusion as she put the seeds and flowers in the pot. Simultaneously, she chanted a few spells, creating a few hot plants under the pot and a hammer-like plant.

"What are you doing?" Dante asked with a puzzled face.

"Simple alchemy." Ruby answered honestly before smashing the seeds and flowers together with her hammer: "Hopefully, nothing attacks us until I finish it."

The liquids of the smashed flowers mixed with the powder of the smashed seeds. With the help of the hot plants, the mix boiled, though for some reason, it didn't produce any smell.

After a few minutes, Ruby smiled as she threw the hot plants away and handed the pot to Dante.

"That's a small mixture that will help your muscles. Trust me, if there is something I can do better than finding opportunities, it'd be alchemy! The flavour might not be the best, though."

"Thank… you?" Dante raised an eyebrow before examining the mix.

It had a disgusting green and brown color and a thick texture. It looked like a kind of poison rather than something for muscles.

Dante didn't expect to receive anything from Ruby all of a sudden, therefore he couldn't help but have some doubts.

'Thankfully, I have a demonic liver. Even if it's poisoned, I might survive it.' Dante thought before closing his eyes and drinking the mixture in one gulp.

Surprisingly, the taste wasn't that bad. It was like the slimy food he used to eat from the trash cans in his first life, so he was a bit used to it.

The next moment, a comfortable warmth spread from his stomach to his muscles, making him feel as though he slept for an entire day on the right side.

It certainly wasn't poisonous!

"That's actually great! Thank you." Dante gave Ruby a nod and smiled lightly while stretching his body: "How much does it cost, by the way? I can pay you after we leave this place."

Ruby puffed her chest out and raised her chin up: "Of course it's great, I made it myself after all!"

She seemed happier than usual when her mixture was praised. The next second, her cheeks flushed as she added: "Ahem… it's for free… I'll die if something happens to you, so I'm only helping. Maybe you can allow me to take anything small from the treasures when we find them."

Dante held his chin thoughtfully: "Again, it depends. But I'll consider that."

After a few minutes of rest, Dante stood up, feeling refreshed, and took Ruby's hand to help her get on her feet.

The next moment, Ruby and Dante walked in the direction that was shown by the compass and continued their search.

A/N: I might start adding ai arts in the comments like now. What do you think? Is it helpful in imagining the beasts?

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.