``How can someone obtain a relic?

It's simple—you have to kill for it.

Everyone after the age of 16 forms a Core of Existence, which is made of the essence of their existence itself.

Their domains, aspects, traits, experiences, feats, and everything that shaped their existence in this world are the essence of their cores.

After dying, there's a tiny chance that essence would fuse with a nearby item that has a deep connection with their essence.

A swordsmaster who loved a wooden sword since childhood might turn that sword into a relic after his death.

A farmer who loved his simple fork might turn it into a relic after his death. Anything could become a relic.

Some theories suggest that the amount of Existence Essence an individual carried before death increased the chance of making a relic, but they were never confirmed.

Regardless, the fact that someone had to die for a relic to be made is certain.

Once a relic is fully formed, you only need to touch it for it to go into your soul, where you can summon it at will. And once you die, all your relics will shatter with you.

If you don't want it, then you can simply make physical contact with someone and imagine summoning the relic inside them to transfer that relic to them. That's how the relics trading works.

Obviously, that led to many scam incidents.``

With the memory of what he read about relics surfacing in his mind, Dante quickly read the runes of his new relic.

[Rituals Dagger]

⤷Once a dagger to complete a dark ritual, now the holder of the essence of a newborn Master of Decay.

✧ Passive Abilities:

⟨Decay⟩

⤷The dagger decays whatever the blade touches.

✧ Active Abilities:

⟨The Last Decay⟩

⤷ Shatter the dagger and unleash a powerful wave of decay.

'A fucking newborn?!' Dante's jaw dropped instantly.

'Was that thing—a Rank 2 monster that I had to use all my strongest attacks to kill—just a fucking newborn?!'

That realization was terrifying. A newborn meant that it wasn't even a toddler!

...Was he just bullying a newborn that was stuck in the gate?

'It has the name Master of Decay, yet it didn't do anything other than swinging its arm. I think it's really a newborn that can't use its abilities yet.'

Dante shook his head and ran to the arm immediately. He summoned his new dagger and decided to test it.

He made a single scratch on the arm's solid, spiky skin. Immediately, the skin started to decay, revealing the soft flesh beneath.

'Damn, this thing is truly strong.' Dante stared at his dagger in awe. No wonder it was called Master of Decay.

With the help of his new dagger, he cut the arm quickly, allowing the chaotic gate to shrink, reaching the size of Dante's fingers.

Unfortunately, it didn't shrink any further, hanging in the air, as if mocking him.

'I will simply wait for Elizabeth to wake up, she might be able to affect these glowing formations.' Dante's gaze fell on the giant arm, his lips curling into a smirk. 'An arm from another world. I might sell it somehow.'

With no hesitation, he put the arm and thr glowing plants Beth carried in his storage and sat beside Elizabeth, waiting for her to regain consciousness.

"Ouch…"

Thankfully, he didn't have to wait for so long.

Elizabeth cast her detection spell to scan her surroundings, feeling immense pain in her head and arm. Then suddenly, Dante shoved a spoon into her mouth.

"Ummm…!"

"No time to think, eat this quickly to regain your strength and heal the dying man behind you."

Elizabeth swallowed the hot stew, her eyes widening as she touched the man behind her. Immediately, she cast her healing spells on him, ignoring her own injuries.

'Tsk, I want a healing spell too.' Dante looked at her with a hint of envy. He had tried to mimic the healing ability of Light Aspect, but it was simply impossible.

It was similar to how he couldn't produce light whether it was by mimicking fire or light itself, and similar to how he couldn't teleport himself directly and needed shadow as mediums.

The Shadow Aspect had limits, and no one could bypass them. Or at least he didn't read about anyone doing that.

After Elizabeth saved the man, Dante explained what happened to her quickly and asked her to attack the blood formations.

BOOM!

A bunch of light balls rained upon the blood formations, destroying them and stopping them from glowing further.

Finally, the chaotic gate disappeared forever.

"Time to go and take our rewards." Dante said, carrying the unconscious man over his shoulder.

Just then, Dante noticed that Elizabeth's head was facing the ground with a depressed expression.

"What's wrong?"

Elizabeth hesitated for a brief moment, then bowed: "Sorry for being useless… again… I'll do my best next time."

'Again?'

Dante looked at her with confusion. Then a memory resurfaced in his mind.

'Oh, she is still blaming herself for what happened in the village? She was more useful than the people who died without doing anything and were considered contributors!'

Dante sighed, ignoring the pain in his heart from the past, and said: "Useless? You can still cook, heal, destroy black magic rituals, and detect lies, right?"

Elizabeth smiled softly, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment: "Y-yesh, I ca—!"

Before she could continue, Dante carried her over his other shoulder: "Anyway, let's leave this cursed place. I don't like the smell here."

Dante immediately grabbed one of Beth's eyes off the ground, intending to use it as proof, and rushed out the cave, heading toward the village.

'Well, she was a bit useless, but I can't just say that on her face. It's not her fault she wasn't born with abilities suitable for fighting, and even the chaotic gate appeared right behind her all of a sudden, which led to her going unconscious quickly.'

At the village, the guards suddenly saw a figure carrying a familiar middle-aged man and a short woman charging toward him with inhuman speed.

"Is that my uncle on his shoulder?!" The female guard's jaw dropped in disbelief.

"Wait, focus on his face. That's the strange mercenary that was supposed to… end Beth's misery…" The male guard recognised them instantly, his voice cracking at the mention of his sister's name.

If they were coming back, then it was either they gave up, or…

After a moment, Dante arrived before the guards, a gust of wind following him due to his speed, then he dropped the middle-aged man before them: "I found this guy in the cave. No need to thank me for saving him… though I won't mind a small bonus."

The female guard fell to her knees and started checking his uncle's condition, while the male guard looked at Dante and asked: "Did you…"

Without needing him to continue, Dante understood what he meant. He immediately took an eye out of his pocket and gave it to the guard before smiling: "Her remains are still in the cave, though she is a bit… unrecognisable and… cough… charred."

The guard collapsed to his knees immediately, biting his lower lip, and with a shaky tone, he muttered: "Thank you…"

"No problem." Dante's smile widened, as if waiting for something, but the guard didn't notice and continued crying silently.

"...."

Dante cleared his throat awkwardly, sat Elizabeth down, and tapped the ground lightly with his foot. Still, the guard continued crying silently.

'...Maybe I should have asked for my rewards before giving him his sister's eye.'

Finally, after the female guard and Elizabeth consoled him, he stood up and said: "Thank you. I left the mana crystals in the Mercenary Guild. You can take them from there."

'You should have said this earlier!'

Still smiling, Dante quickly said: "See you later" before looking at Elizabeth.

As if sensing his gaze, she walked behind his back and climbed onto it by herself.

"Don't run too fast, I almost fell the last time."

"What a strange way to say thank you for carrying me for free."

Once he felt that she was holding him firmly, he immediately started running again, ignoring her request to slow down slightly.

But he wasn't heading toward the town. Instead, he moved in the direction of the Protection Chain.

He didn't forget that disfigured woman.

¢¢¢

After running as though he was in a marathon, Dante finally arrived at the location of the disfigured woman.

"To think that she didn't move from her place…" Elizabeth, whose hair was now a complete mess, looked at the top of a familiar tree with sympathy.

Dante dropped Elizabeth to the ground and created a shadow chain. Immediately, he swung the chain toward the tree, wrapping it around the woman's body before pulling her down.

The woman screamed in a semi-human voice, feeling immense fear as she fell to the soft snow. Before she could react, Dante retrieved a rope from his ring and tied her tightly.

She struggled and tried to cut the rope, but all that was meaningless. She couldn't use magic in her current state, and only one arm wasn't enough to cut the rope.

The next moment, Dante's gaze fell on his shadow: "Sorry buddy, but you'll be the one to carry that crazy woman. I already have a short one to care about."

Fafnir: "...."

Elizabeth: "..."

Fafnir obeyed instantly, carrying the disfigured woman over his shoulder, and adjusted her head away to prevent her attempts to bite him. For a moment, he had the urge to shatter her teeth, but he couldn't do that without Dante's orders.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth scratched her head awkwardly and got on Dante's back before wrapping her arms around his neck.

'...I don't think I'm that short."

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.