Review Responses:
TheRealD3lph0xL0v3r: Could be. Next chapter, Dante's gonna look into it and 'politely' ask who put a hit on him.
setokayba2n: Possibly. Dante will see how his "polite conversation skills" work on a guild of spies and assassins.
Tylus: It would be some very tasty poison.
Chapter 45 – Everyone Wants a Piece
"Graaa!"
The first boss monster they came across lay dead. Keel pulled one of his swords from the chest of the Karma Dog.
"Well, that wasn't too difficult…" Dante looked around. A dozen Karma Dog Familiars were slain around them.
Dante wouldn't call it a pitched battle by any stretch of the word. Still, it was more difficult than the monster fights he's had more recently. Even so, his defense was more than enough to hold them back for his party to kill them.
There was a good balance of experience versus stats in his party at the moment. The two vampires had by far the most combat experience in the group, given how they both fought in wars. Fohl had mostly fought in the coliseum, but her stats were still good from the levels already sacrificed. Even though his level was the second lowest here, Keel actually had the highest stats overall at the moment, aside from Dante. Donavan and Nisha weren't that far behind. The large equip bonuses from the Shield of the Beast King didn't hurt either.
"That's because we trained hard and grew a lot stronger!" Keel declared.
"That you did." Dante agreed. He felt Eclair said something similar at Melromarc's wave.
"What's next, Lord Shield?" Nisha asked.
"I'll absorb the monsters and we'll see how long it takes for that orb to spit out another one." Dante approached the first familiar.
"Mister Dante…" Atla placed a hand on his shoulder as he bent down next to the monster.
"Yeah, I know."
One by one, the monsters were taken in by his shield. He'd take the time to break down one of each after the next round. The two shields he got were decent enough, but still didn't look that great.
I guess wave boss shields and custom made shields will be the best. Unless this Karma Dog Shield upgrades crazy well, that is.
Reiko was standing right next to Dante, having been put there by Keel.
"How do you want to handle this?" Donavan whispered.
"Not sure. We don't have much in terms of ranged attacks at the moment, outside of fire magic." Dante noted. While these trees didn't look incredibly flammable, he didn't want to start throwing fire around too much in a forest.
"The bonus your spell provides us should let us reach them quickly with little risk of injury." Donavan told him.
"Hmmm. Yeah, let's go with that."
They made their plan amongst themselves. Dante's spell still had plenty of time on it, and the trees weren't that far away.
"Shooting Star Shield VI!"
With his skill cast, Donavan, Nisha, and Keel ran out. Arrows started being shot from behind the large trees that surrounded the floating orb the boss monster came from. With their speed, the three of them were able to avoid arrows directed at them, while the ones aimed at the rest of the party harmlessly bounced off Dante's barrier.
"Hah!" Donavan slammed his arm into a tree, catching an archer. Another couple of strikes left them on the ground.
Nisha darted around another tree and coiled her whip around the legs of another archer, dragging them toward her. Keel had the same idea, only using his swords to break their bow.
One by one, the enemies fell. After the first round of adventurers, they all kept alert for another attack. While this group had a better general strategy, Dante felt it was rather poorly executed.
"You know, I thought people with membership to the Dark Guild would be stronger." He commented. Though, it wasn't as if everyone in the group needed to be a member. One person was enough to find jobs.
The people he saw in Zeltoble did seem to have higher levels, but that was the country of mercenaries, in addition to being the main branch of the guild. Perhaps only the stupid would actually try to kill a hero, even if it was the Shield Hero. The reward was likely high enough to make people weigh the pros and cons of fighting the waves without a hero, with the pros seeming to win.
"That's another five, Lord Shield." Nisha announced, dragging bodies behind her.
"Alright. See what you can get out of them, then do the same as before." Dante said. "Just…don't make it weird with the blood this time." He regretted not telling Donavan that before.
The two vampires did their interrogation. Most of the same information was said, with the added nugget of the actual reward amount. It was…substantial. More than he could justify asking from Siltvelt, favor or no. Blood was drunk and bodies were absorbed. Dante considered letting Reiko use them, but thought it would look bad to have strange monsters wandering into town. He doubted they'd last long anyway, since any adventurer finding one alone would figure it's some sort of activation monster.
"Say, Nisha, could you come here for a moment?" Dante called.
"What is it, Lord Shield?" She asked.
"I'm curious what it feels like to have blood drunk. Could you try a bit?" He held out his right arm to her.
Nisha started waving her hands in front of her. "No, no, Lord Shield! I could never do that."
"No?" Dante cocked his head to the side. "Wait, did I just ask for something really personal?" They did show intense pleasure after drinking from the first group of adventurers.
"No, nothing like that." Nisha said. "It would just be highly disrespectful to drink from Lord Shield."
"Oh." Dante understood. It was more of a religious or political thing. "Well, I'm offering it. Seems like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to me."
Nisha seemed to consider his words. "In that case…please excuse me."
Ever so gently, Nisha took hold of his offered arm. With her fangs extended, she carefully bit down into his forearm, near his wrist. Dante could feel the blood slowly leaving him. It was a little uncomfortable, but not too different from simply donating blood.
"Well, that's not so bad. How's it taste?" Dante asked the vampire. In response, the sensation in his arm changed a bit. "Nisha?" His arm started to feel cooler, and there was a rising pain. "Nisha, enough. Stop!"
Dante gripped her head with his free hand and pushed it up. She looked at him with slightly manic eyes, blood dripping from her mouth. Realizing what she'd done, she stepped back and covered her face with one hand while she wiped it clean with another.
"F-Forgive me, Lord Shield." She spoke softly.
"It's fine." Dante looked at his arm, the wound already closing from his regeneration. "How was it?"
Nisha shook her head. "Too much…"
Donavan stepped forward. "Was it really that intense?"
Dante offered his arm to the older vampire as well. It was only fair he got a try too, and it wasn't that bad.
"Don't!" Nisha yelled before Donavan could take hold of Dante's arm. "Don't…"
Donavan looked her over before dipping his fingers in the blood on Dante's arm. He took a whiff of it before tasting. His eyes nearly popped out of his skull when the blood touched his tongue.
"By the Shield…" Donavan took a step back. "No wonder you lost control."
"Was it really tasty or something?" Dante asked.
"It was…magnificent." Nisha said in awe. "Just from that, my stats gained a good boost."
"Wow." Dante remembered they said draining someone completely would do that, but not from drinking a little. "Well, let me know how long it lasts. We might be able to work something out later."
If it was a permanent boost, Dante could offer his blood to other vampires, should they prove trustworthy. It wasn't something that could be done repeatedly. From speaking with a few healers, he found that blood was something healing magic wouldn't replenish easily, like fatigue. Potions and medicine could help, but it wouldn't be instantaneous. His own HP regeneration did seem to increase blood production a little bit. He imagined Liberation level healing magic might be different.
After that, they fought the boss a few more times before heading back to the hotel. Dante had miscalculated how much XP would be gained. Donavan and Nisha were already at 60, and Reiko and Keel were nearly at 40. The hakuko sisters should have enough levels for another growth spurt as well, same as Reiko.
Once back in town, Dante informed the baron about the attacks on him. The baron offered to do what he could, but Dante said it wasn't a big deal. By the time someone he sends to Faubrey returns, the activation would be nearly over. Dante could find things out when he went to get Keel's class up. Besides, those adventurers gave close to the same XP as the boss.
By the end of the day, the bonus Nisha got from Dante's blood was gone. It had started going down quickly, but slowed as time went on. If Dante did end up getting a vampire as a permanent party member, this could be used as a good boost before fights.
Another night came and went. Dante was starting to see results from his party's leveling. Reiko did indeed look to be around where Keel was age-wise. He was a little shorter than the dog boy, but still about the right height for his physical age.
At first glance, Atla didn't grow again, but Dante figured out what it was. It seemed Atla was merely short. Her face started looking less child-like. He couldn't remember it well, but he was afraid her condition might have prevented her from aging much. Either that, or his use of the Whip method. Thankfully, that didn't seem to be the case.
Fohl, on the other hand, really grew overnight. She was nearly as tall as Dante was, same as Sadeena.
Like the previous day, they went out to another boss location. This one was to be the penguin. Again like the previous day, they came across adventurers looking to collect on Dante's head. Some were stronger than others, some were more experienced than others, but they were still no match for the party. Dante's Aura spell was more than enough to help his party outclass them even further.
There was one experience that stood out to Dante.
"Hate Reaction III!" He'd called out when they approached a large group of monsters.
There was a sudden gasp outside Dante's Shooting Star Shield. Standing there was a man in a hooded cowl with a shortsword drawn. He appeared somewhat translucent, the greenery behind him visible.
"Huh…" Dante watched as the party swiftly dealt with the man before turning on the monsters.
Did my skill reveal him? I didn't know it could do that. Also, my Alert Shield didn't pick him up. Come to think of it, I don't remember it alerting me to any threats for a while now.
That day too passed without much trouble. However, that night is when the incident occurred.
~The Wrong Hero~
A knock at the door stirred Dante from his studying of the fire tome he brought with him. Setting the book down, he opened the door to see the elder tiger sister standing there.
"Hey, Fohl, what's up?" He asked her.
"Dante, I need to talk with you. Privately." She said, nodding down the hall.
Dante left the room and followed her, switching to the Humming Shield for added privacy. Fohl had continued to grow throughout the day, reaching just taller than Dante. Once they were relatively secluded, Fohl turned around to face him.
"What are your plans for my sister?" She asked.
"This again?" Dante sighed. "I thought we talked about this."
Atla had made it quite clear to her that she wanted to fight for Dante. Not only that, but she didn't want Fohl to worry so much about her anymore, now that she could do things for herself.
The EP training hadn't produced any results, incidentally. Without a real feel for life force, Dante wasn't able to make his Air Strike Shield so that Atla couldn't break it. Atla had a talent for it, but wasn't able to properly explain it to him. At most, it was more general practice with the ability.
"Not that." Fohl grumbled, still unhappy about it all. "What do you want to do personally?"
"I don't really have any other plans." Aside from eventually introducing them both to Aultcray, whenever it was safe to do so.
"What? So you're just going to have her keep coming to you without any plans for the future?!"
"Ah…"
Dante understood what she was going on about. The night before, Atla tried sneaking into his bed again. He turned her away, saying she was still too young. Though, that only seemed to encourage her to work harder at gaining levels this day.
"So, what, do you want me to say I'll marry her?" He asked.
"No!" Fohl shouted, enraged by the idea.
"Then what? I'm not entirely opposed to her getting closer to me, and honestly I don't think Sadeena is either."
What Dante originally thought was her acceptance of the situation seemed to be turning into something more. She had wanted to join in on the last group he was with. Dante turned her down then, saying it might have been a problem since those women were there because it was owed by him.
"Right, Sadeena." Fohl nodded. "And the weasel woman, Rifana, loves you too, right?"
"Yeah, but don't go spreading that around."
"So you like women with large breasts, and ones that are cute and small. Even young men that are cute work for you."
Dante could see she had been asking around. Keel probably mentioned that time in the baths too. "The last one isn't really—"
"What about other women?" Fohl continued on.
"Well, body type isn't that important." He did have sex with Sadeena in her therianthrope form before. Not to say that was unpleasant or anything. "What really matters is—"
"Then there's a chance." Fohl nodded again to herself.
"Fohl, are you listening to—"
Fohl pushed against Dante, slamming her hands on the wall behind him on either side of his head. Her face began to turn red.
"Then…so you'll stay away from Atla…all I have to do…" Her breathing started to become labored as her eyes wavered.
"What are you—"
Interrupting whatever he was about to say again, Fohl completely closed the distance between them and silenced him with her lips. She brought one hand behind his head to forcefully keep them together.
What the hell is this woman thinking?
"Fohl, stop—" Before he could properly talk this issue out, Fohl wrapped her other arm around him and smashed their mouths together again. She kept her eyes squeezed shut the whole time. She added her tongue to the assault, awkwardly moving it around in his mouth.
She's really bad at this. Okay, that's enough.
Pulling up his status magic, Dante activated her slave seal. Fohl immediately separated from him, clutching at her chest in pain. Dante could have held her back with his strength, but he doubted she would have listened without this.
"Okay, let's set things straight." Dante said as he deactivated the seal. "Yes, your sister is cute. No, I don't have any plans to have sex with her. It'll cause too many problems at the moment, for starters. Once we're away from Siltvelt's nobility, I'd be willing to sleep next to her." Dante emphasized that last part so there wouldn't be any confusion in his motives.
"But why?!" Fohl yelled, recovered from the pain. "Why her?! Why can't you spare her and do that with me in her place? I know I don't have large breasts and I'm not cute, but—"
"Fohl, listen!" Dante yelled back, having grown tired of the ordeal. "I'm not going to have sex with her. Why is that so hard to believe?"
"There were all those women in your room when you brought us back! You slept with those shusaku and lion women in Siltvelt before." Fohl argued, not backing down.
"Those slave women were brought to me because Jaralis's nephew misunderstood my desires. I slept with those other three because their tribes did favors for me and I owed them that. Remember? That's the deal I have with Siltvelt."
"I didn't know that!"
"You…what?" Dante let his mouth hang open for a moment. "What are you talking about? I told you both about that…didn't I?"
"No, you didn't." Fohl crossed her arms.
Dante thought back. He'd explained to them a number of things about what they were planning to do going forward. What he expected out of her, how their party functioned, and a few others. But, he couldn't recall ever explaining the situation with the tribes.
"Then…wait, you've been speaking with the other members of the party, right? No one mentioned that?"
"No." Fohl shook her head, never taking her eyes off of him.
"Huh." That felt like the kind of thing that would have been mentioned by at least one of them. He had feeling Atla already knew about it, though. "Anyway, stop freaking out over it. I'm not about to have sex with her just for the hell of it. I mean, I haven't with Rifana yet either."
Part of that was because she was so shaken by how babies were made. Besides, he was still a terrible person, so he wasn't going to pursue anyone. If someone wanted him, however, that's something else.
Fohl continued arguing with him about it, seeming to switch between keeping Dante from Atla and also making sure he acknowledged her sister's beauty. It was tiresome, but Fohl seemed to understand by the end of it.
Geez, what was your plan anyway? You take me so Atla won't? I'm pretty sure she'd still go for me.
~The Wrong Hero~
The next day, they set out for the third boss of the forest. This one was going to be the rabbit, with the squirrel being tomorrow's target. Given the amount of time it would take to get class ups with the filolial blessing, Dante opted to keep fighting for now. Reiko seemed fully grown, so Dante began lowering his level a little with the Whip method. The same was true for the tiger sisters. Atla ended up just shorter than Keel, same as Reiko, though the fox boy was still the same physical age as Keel. On the other hand, Fohl had another growth spurt. She was a few inches shorter than Khana now. They had to get some new clothes and armor for them in town, aside from what was available in Dante's item drops.
Keel had asked why he didn't bring anyone for their class ups. Aside from the time, Atla and Fohl would only be able to really benefit from it by lowering their levels back to one, since the level cap for the XP boost here was 60. With adventurers and assassins aiming at them, it wasn't something Dante wanted to risk. As for sacrificing lower levels instead of higher ones…
"If I leave a dollar in the bank for a millennia, I'll become a billionaire. It doesn't do much for me in the meantime." Dante said.
"Hey, I get that reference!" Reiko shouted.
"Of course you do."
They always had the option of completely resetting their levels and redoing the whole thing, if that was in fact possible. Dante had the Bubble Shield skill now. It would take a lot of time, even fighting ocean monsters, since levels could only be sacrificed once per day. The same argument could be made about only sacrificing the highest level possible. If it truly ended up being necessary, they'd do it. Until then, the current setup was enough.
Fortunately, there weren't as many adventures looking to pick a fight with them today. It wasn't as if every group of adventurers attacked them, but everyone started eyeing them like they might.
As for the fight with the Karma Rabbit, it wasn't any more difficult than the other two. Curiously, only the Karma Penguin yesterday gave any kigurumi to wear. It gave a nice boost to stats, but no one really wanted to wear one, mostly for the same reason. While it would be embarrassing for most, Atla's reason was because she wanted to keep showing off her cuteness. If Dante could wear armor, he'd have no problem putting one on.
On that note, Dante had given Donavan a pair of Karma Dog Claws from the first boss. While the vampire seemed to favor brute force in fighting, the claws added a nice boost to his strikes.
"Hey, Fohl?" Dante spoke to her on their way back to town. "So, are we good from yesterday?"
"Yeah, I guess." Fohl turned her head away, a slight blush on her face.
"Good. I'm glad we cleared that up."
Atla looked between them. "Sister, you spoke with Mister Dante yesterday? What did you talk about?"
"Nothing!" Fohl quickly said. Dante was tempted to tease her about it, but he didn't want to mention it in front of Donavan and Nisha. Atla would also probably take it as either a challenge or an invitation.
They continued their walk back, fighting any monsters that they passed. There was more overlap with monsters the closer they got to town from the previous days, but deep in the forest had a larger variety.
Suddenly, Dante stopped. "Aw, damn it!" He yelled.
"What is it?" Keel already had his swords drawn as he looked around.
Dante looked at the popup in his status.
Contract Terminated
He turned and informed everyone of what he saw.
"Did the shadow get out of it?" Keel asked. "Like removing a slave seal?"
"No." Donavan answered. "Magical contracts are entered willingly and can only be broken by both parties agreeing, or one or both dying."
"Damn. What a waste." While it was less expensive than what Dante thought it'd be, it was by no means cheap.
"What about the villagers?" Keel looked up at him.
"Hopefully that shadow sent a message about them. I'll check in with Werner when we get back." Dante sighed. "I'd like to stay on a positive streak for once, but I guess things are still looking good. Let's head back and—"
Dante felt a sharp pain in his chest. He staggered back, falling to the ground. He clutched at his chest, feeling warm blood on his hand. A loud boom echoed around them.
"Mister Dante!" Atla cried before rushing to him.
"Back!" Dante called. "Take cover behind those trees! Shooting Star Shield VI!"
Activating his skill, Dante climbed to his feet and ran after his party. There were two large trees nearby, which his party began ducking behind. His barrier was shattered and another sharp pain entered Dante, this time on his right hand.
Damn it! That's my good hand!
Thankfully, the injury looked more like a deep cut. Dante ended up with Atla, Fohl, and Donavan, while Keel, Reiko, and Nisha were behind the other tree.
"What's going on?" Fohl asked frantically, keeping behind the tree while she gazed behind them.
"That was a gunshot, likely from a rifle." Dante felt around his chest injury. A piece of metal was lodged there.
"I didn't see anyone." Donavan said. "That sounded far off. I didn't think Faubrey made any firearms like that."
"They didn't, as far as I'm aware." Dante pulled the bullet from his chest. He held it in his hand. Even with the tip smashed down, he recognized part of it. "Holy shit, this is a .50 caliber round. A BMG maybe?"
"What is it?" Donavan looked at the rifle round in Dante's hand.
"Something from a different world." Dante tossed the round aside and chanted a spell. "Zweite Healing Warmth IV."
"A different world? The same one you and Reiko are from?" Donavan asked.
"How did you know we're from the same world?" Reiko called from the other tree.
"You weren't exactly being slick, Reiko. Now, quiet." Dante looked around.
From where he could see, there weren't any signs of the shooter. This part of the forest was sparse enough of foliage that there'd be a clear shot from a pretty far distance. The shade from the trees didn't help any.
With his hand against the tree, Dante inched his way around it, searching out where the sniper could be.
Wood splintered and Dante fell back again, taking cover. His left hand had a sharp pain in it as he heard blood spurt out, drowned out by another loud boom.
"Mister Dante!" Atla pulled him closer to the tree.
"Fuck…" Dante pushed himself up and leaned his back against the tree. He looked at his hand to see the damage. His eye twitched at what he saw, clicking his tongue at it. His middle, ring, and pinkie fingers were missing.
Not as durable as my real hand, or my Shooting Star Shield absorbed enough of the impact. Either way, I'll have the healers or Rat fix this when I get back. At least it doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would.
His healing spell could replenish HP well enough, but something like reattaching body parts was beyond it.
"I couldn't see where the shot came from." Donavan kept glancing around the other side of the tree.
"Wherever they are, we won't be getting to them." Dante said. The weapon was probably high quality, and their stats and level would be up there too.
I just had to go and say these assassins were too weak. A couple days ago, I even made the joke in my head about hunting the most dangerous game, and now look where we are. Jokes aside, this isn't good.
"Nisha, can you cast some sort of shadow spell in between these trees to provide cover?" Dante asked.
"Yes, Lord Shield." Nisha nodded and moved closer to the edge.
"Good. Make it as dark and tall as you can. I'm going to put a couple shields between the trees, then you all can join us. All Faust Aura VIII!"
Dante cast his spell to give everyone a buff. It would help them get across quickly.
"Zweite Shadow Cloud!"
Light was blotted out in the area between the two large trees and the general direction of the shots. It must have extended out at least 20 feet.
"Air Strike Shield IV! Second Shield IV!"
Dante summoned his shields to act as cover. They didn't completely cover the path between the two trees, but it was something. It seemed redundant, given how the shadow spell was pitch black.
"Alright. Nisha, you come first."
Nodding at Dante's words, Nisha stood and ran. She cried out and fell behind the second shield, another boom echoing.
"Crap! Nisha!" Dante dashed out and quickly grabbed her hand. He pulled her to the tree, ignoring the pain he felt in his side once they were between the tree and the second shield.
"How do they keep doing that?" Fohl asked, holding Atla close to her.
"All Healing Warmth IV!" Dante closed up the wound Nisha's leg, as well as on him. "I don't know, but this plan isn't working."
It was as if they could see through the spell. Dante looked at the distance between the two trees again. He had a better idea, one that only he had to be in danger for.
"Stay here." Dante moved back a little and held up his shield. "Shooting Star Shield VI! Titanic Charge III!"
With his Dark Tyrannosaurus Shield out, Dante dashed through the air to the other tree. Another shot was able to break his barrier, but fortunately it missed his body this time. He stopped behind the other tree, keeping in cover from the shots.
"Dante, you okay?" Keel started looking him over, stopping at his missing fingers.
"I'll be better once we're out of here." Because of the activation event, his Portal Shield couldn't be used. They'd have to completely leave the North Ferret Forest to get away.
"What's the plan?" Reiko asked, shaking a bit.
"I'd carry you and charge back, but I don't want to risk that guy hitting either of you. I'll redeploy my shields and we'll all take cover under Tower Shield. Stay behind me the whole time."
Dante wouldn't be able to run with that skill active, but it would greatly increase his defense.
"Let's go. Air Strike Shield IV! Second Shield IV! Shooting Star Shield VI! Tower Shield III!"
With his enlarged shield between them and the shooter, the three of them made their way back to the rest of the group. Shots started to come at them at regular intervals. The two erected shields were able to absorb a whole bullet each, but he still took a hit on his shield after Shooting Star Shield shattered.
The Tower Shield skill was able to reduce the damage quite a bit, but Dante still cast his healing spell to replenish what was lost.
Thankfully, they were able to regroup with no major injuries.
"Everyone alright?" Dante looked over his party. Aside from Nisha, no one else received any damage.
"Lord Shield, I've narrowed down where the shots are coming from." Donavan indicated the direction.
"Good work." Dante checked their surroundings. "Okay, now's the easy part. Town is that direction. We'll go this way first to stay mostly in cover with the tree, then change course once we're far enough away."
"That might still leave us open to attack." Nisha pointed out.
"Which is why I'll be taking up the rear." Dante said. "I'll keep my shield on my back to reduce the damage and throw up a few skills for extra cover. But first, here." Dante tilted his shield over, ejecting a few potions.
"Aren't these…" Keel gazed at the bottle in his paws.
"They're the potions I've been selling in Zeltoble. They'll boost all our stats, including our speed. I still haven't worked out all the kinks, so they're still a bit addicting. Don't worry. Once we're out of here, I'll detox you all."
With his assurance, everyone took one of the potions. Dante took a different one as well to replenish some of his spent SP. With the plan set, Dante cast his Shooting Star Shield VI again and they set off running. His barrier was shattered barely before he took a step from the tree, but none of them were hit. He threw out his two summoned shields as they ran. He took a hit on his back after the first one was destroyed, but the second one remained.
Once it was off cooldown again, Dante brought back up his Shooting Star Shield VI. This time, no other shot was heard. Once they passed enough trees, they started heading to town. The only sound around them was that of the forest, and the sounds of combat from other adventurers fighting monsters.
When it felt safe to do so, they came out of their sprint and into a jog. With their levels, they were able to keep up that pace until they were close to town. Once there, Dante told a guard his group would be leaving and to inform the baron about the attacker. He didn't think anyone else was in danger, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Not wanting to stay any longer than necessary, they quickly grabbed what they brought from their rooms and headed to the edge of the forest. Dante kept testing out his Portal Shield, waiting for it to become available.
Finally, a list of destinations appeared in his vision. He informed everyone and they stopped their retreat.
"Portal Shield!"
In an instant, the party faded from the lightly forested area and reappeared in Dante's room in Siltvelt's castle.
"Well, that was exciting." Dante looked over his missing fingers again.
"We could have died!" Fohl shouted, still holding Atla's hand.
"But we didn't." Dante joked, before regaining his seriousness. "All kidding aside, you're right. Outside of leaving after the first attack, there wasn't much we could have done. I doubt the guards could have done anything about the sniper. I didn't expect someone like that to be there."
"What now, Lord Shield?" Nisha asked. The injury on her leg had been completely healed.
"You two can go about your business." Dante told them. "We won't be going back there. The rest of us will be heading to the village once I check in here."
"As you wish, Lord Shield." Nisha crossed an arm over her chest, with Donavan mimicking the motion.
"We thank you again for allowing us to travel with you." The elder vampire said before the pair left.
Dante was left with the rest of his party. He needed to see Werner and inform him of what happened, then see a healer about regenerating his fingers. After the initial shock of getting shot at, Dante was pretty calm about things.
At least I have a pretty good idea what happened to Takt's soul now.
Author's Notes:
I've never fired a .50 BMG round before, but it's definitely on my bucket list. They're like $4 a round and about as long as your hand with the casing, it's crazy.
I was never going to spend too long on the North Ferret Forest. The monsters wouldn't be all that strong compared to what was fought in the last few waves, except the Karma bosses and familiars. Even then, wave bosses are tougher.