Chapter 34: Esabella vs Dante

Esabella’s smile vanished, replaced by a ruthless expression. With a sudden flick of her wrist, she snapped her thorned whip forward.

SNAP!

The whip cut through the air like a bolt of lightning, aiming straight for Dante’s neck.

Dante didn’t try to dodge. He stood perfectly still, intending to use his SSS-rank passive defense to finish the fight instantly.

BOOM!

The thorns struck his left shoulder. The Vajra Mirror Body initialized instantly, creating a massive invisible shockwave that doubled the force and blasted it straight back along the whip.

However, Esabella didn’t look surprised. The moment the reflected force traveled up the line, she let go of the handle, letting her own weapon shatter into pieces. "Did you really think my vanguard commander didn’t send a mental message before he died? I already know your skin is a mirror, human!"

Before Dante could step back, the shattered metal thorns didn’t fall to the ground. Instead, they instantly dissolved into a thick, purple hypnotic fog that wrapped tightly around his arms and legs.

It wasn’t a physical strike, so his mirror passive didn’t trigger. It was a binding curse.

Dante felt his joints instantly lock up. The raw gravity of the floor pressed down on his chest like a mountain, forcing his posture to break as his knees bent slightly.

"A human is just a human in the end," Esabella laughed mockingly, gliding forward with her hips swaying seductively. "Your little cheat skin can’t save you if you can’t even move your limbs. Now, become my pet."

Her tail suddenly whipped forward like a switchblade, the jagged bone-shards popping outward as the obsidian arrow tip lunged straight for Dante’s exposed throat to pin him down.

Esabella thought the fight was over. She thought she had completely dominated him.

But, she was completely wrong. Dante was hiding his true skills, but his baseline physical strength was still monstrous. His teeth ground together, and the muscles beneath his hoodie bulged as he forced his raw physical density to its absolute limit. With a brutal roar, he violently tore through the purple hypnotic fog, shattering the curse with pure muscle power.

Void Step!

Before Esabella’s tail could touch his throat, Dante’s body turned into a dark blur. He didn’t retreat backward. Instead, he lunged forward, diving right past her dangerous tail and entering her absolute blind spot.

Esabella’s red eyes widened in pure shock.

"What?!"

Before she could pivot her hips or call upon her hidden magic skills, Dante appeared right in front of her face. His movement was too fast, too brutal, and completely ruthless. He reached out with both of his bare hands and violently grabbed both of her wrists, slamming them together in a vice-like grip.

BANG!

The force of his grip was immense, completely locking her arms above her chest. He pushed his body forward, forcing her back a step until her spine hit one of the large stone pillars.

The twelve guards let out a collective shriek of terror, raising their spears to charge. "Let go of the Queen! You filthy human!"

"Stay back or I’ll snap her neck," Dante ordered in a freezing, deadly voice, not even looking behind him.

The guards froze in pure panic, their faces pale as they looked at their trapped Queen.

Esabella was completely pinned against the pillar. She tried to pull her wrists away, but Dante’s hands felt like solid iron clamps, completely overpowering her raw demon strength.

Because they were chest-to-chest, she could feel the intense heat radiating from his body. She looked up, and for the first time, she saw his face from just inches away. Dante was looking down at her with a completely cold, handsome, and ruthless expression. There was zero fear in his eyes—only the calm, calculated gaze of a apex predator who was fully prepared to kill her right then and there.

"You think you understand my limits because you watched me fight with some low level demon?" Dante whispered, his voice dropping to a dangerous vibration right next to her ear. "I was holding back because my sword was heavy and i need to find a way to get out of here. But if you think a little shadow fog is enough to trap me, you are severely mistaken. I can end your life before your guards can take a single step."

Esabella stared at his handsome face, her breath catching deep inside her throat.

Her chest rose and fell against her black lace corset, her heart pounding so violently. In the demon world, she had spent hundreds of years surrounded by weak, sniveling monsters who ran away from her aura or bowed like dogs. She had been completely bored, starving for a real challenge.

But right now, this human man was looking down on her, physically overpowering her, and threatening her life with absolute, beautiful brutality.

A strange, intense flush crawled up her white neck, turning her cheeks a soft pink. Her attractive red eyes completely dilated, turning from cold pride into a wild, fanatical obsession. Her bladed tail, which was trapped against the pillar, began to thrash excitedly against the stone, leaving deep scratches.

She didn’t feel angry that she was losing. She felt an intense, overwhelming rush of love.

"Ah..." Esabella whispered, her red lips parting as a breathtaking, manic smile stretched across her face. She leaned her head forward slightly, staring into his cold eyes with absolute adoration.

"You are... you are so incredibly strong and ruthless. So handsome. So perfect."

Dante’s brows furrowed. He was expecting her to struggle or trigger a hidden trap, but her sudden change in expression made him realize something was deeply wrong with her mind. This woman is completely crazy.

"I decided, " Esabella said, her voice shaking with an intense, possessive excitement as she stared at his lips. "You aren’t a snack, and you aren’t a pet. You are my King. You belong to me now, and I will never let anyone else touch a single thread of your clothes. If anyone tries to take you away from me, I will tear their souls into pieces."

Dante stared at her crazy, obsessive expression for a microsecond before he calmly let go of her wrists and took two steps back, keeping his deadpan expression. " Are you gone crazy? I told you, I’m only here for the core. I don’t care about your delusions."

Esabella rubbed her bruised wrists, her manic smile never leaving her face as her hips swayed gracefully, her red eyes locked onto his body like a hunter targeting its ultimate prize.