Modern World Warlock-Chapter 138: The Mysterious Cathedral

At Camille's tower, the non-combatant groups were watching the raid going down in real-time, wondering how Dante managed to tame the banshee.

Lilith, who was also familiar with the demon, explained that Saris had met Dante around the same time that he met the succubus queen, so she was well acquainted with him.

Yet, one question lingered in the handler's mind, a dispute that she couldn't shake off—Why did Dante persistently label Astaroth as a coward?

Camille didn't understand why he did it at first, thinking that he had given him that nickname as his scheme with the Jade Dragons was a cowardly move.

However, after hearing him say it so many times, she believed that the warlock had been calling him that for way longer.

"Well, he isn't wrong… Astaroth was, indeed, a coward," Lilith commented.

It happened over a hundred years ago when Dante was traveling through the hellish lands to hunt down the Demon King, Satan.

As he crossed an area surrounded by hellfire and lava waterfalls known as Ragerift, he was halted by a towering demon standing in his way—General Astaroth.

Dante's playful and sadistic nature was non-existent at the time, glaring at the archdemon before him with disdain.

Astaroth was one of the ten demon generals working under the King of Wrath, Satan, and he had been sent by his superior to kill the warlock.

However, when he stared into Dante's crimson eyes that oozed a malevolent aura, the archdemon hesitated, knowing that his soul would be destroyed.

In his eyes, the human warlock standing in front of him seemed scarier than any of the demon kings, making him believe that Dante would truly complete his quest of killing Satan.

Not wanting to share the same fate as his other general comrades, Astaroth decided to betray King Satan and avoid conflict with Dante.

Still, as Dante walked past the massive archdemon, he gave his single and last warning to never stand against him.

"Eventually, Dante killed Satan and his other nine generals, so Astaroth was labeled a coward for not fighting for his king…" Lilith said.

"I see… And then he became the new king since he was the only one who survived," Camille deduced.

"Well, no… Not exactly," Lilith clarified.

Whenever a demon killed a Demon King, the victor would obtain the title of the deceased king and rule over their lands.

This meant that after Dante killed Satan, he became the new King of Wrath. Nonetheless, the warlock was utterly indifferent about the title and rejected it, leaving Ragerift without a ruler.

Dante had been the only human ever to murder a Demon King, but the rules still applied to him as warlocks and demons shared the same type of magic.

After Dante returned to his world, Astaroth took the chance and started ruling over Ragerift. However, his power was nothing compared to the other demon kings who were still alive.

"So, he is just a substitute? Is it really that easy to take the king's spot?" Camille pondered aloud.

"As long as the demon is powerful enough to cast the 'Malevolent Art,' then they are official contenders for the king's seat…" Lilith replied.

"Malevolent Art?" Camille inquired.

"Ugh, he hasn't even told you about those?" Lilith answered with a slightly annoyed tone.

"Well, it doesn't matter… You will see soon enough," the queen continued, gazing back at the screens.

When the succubus noticed that Dante was inside the cathedral, she spotted the same strange symbol on the altar and froze momentarily.

"Camille… what is that place?" Lilith asked, her curiosity turned to concern.

"The cathedral? It's just an ancient building… Why?" Camille asked back, sensing the succubus anxiety.

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

"That's the symbol of the Pantheon of Four… The gods of Terra," Lilith said, shocking everyone in the room.

Paige bolted up from her seat as her cigarette fell on the floor, her eyes shimmering with interest, saying that it was a huge discovery.

However, Lilith clicked her tongue and frowned, asking why such filth was present in that world.

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Inside the cathedral at Highpoint Town, Dante stood frozen momentarily when he spotted the insignia of the gods from his previous world.

His smirk turned sour at the sight of the emblem as he scanned the rest of the church's aspect, seeing that one of the unbroken window mosaics portrayed the appearance of a goddess he was familiar with.

"Aelara…" Dante angrily uttered under his breath, turning his gaze back at the archdemon.

"What is this place, Astaroth?" Dante asked, his tone and expression cold and unchanging.

Astaroth stood firm, saying that he didn't know the origins of the mysterious holy place as it wasn't relevant to him.

The simple fact that the church belonged to the Pantheon of Four was enough for the archdemon to defile it with his presence.

"Heh, well… We can agree on some things," Dante said with a smirk.

"Let's tear this holy place down," he continued, grinning wide and locking a ferocious gaze on Astaroth.

In the blink of an eye, the two appeared in the center of the altar room, with Dante releasing a powerful discharge of black lightning while Astaroth produced a wave of hellfire, blowing away the last remains of the building's windows.

Dante followed up his moves with a kick in Astaroth's chin, then a punch in the gut that pushed him to the back of the room.

"That fighting style…" Astaroth muttered.

"Not bad, huh? I've been learning some martial arts," Dante said, proudly smirking as he showed off the moves that Megan taught him.

Outside in the plaza, Sabelio stood up from the ground with a bleeding skull after getting blasted away by Dante's backhand, finding himself before Zac and Megan.

The old man looked to the side and saw Dr. Sylva shyly hiding behind a potted dead tree on a platform, making him grind his teeth with anger.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Sabelio madly muttered.

It was Zac's job to get the doctor to safety, but he didn't want to leave Megan alone at the plaza with Sabelio and the rest of the demons around.

Anxiously, the redhead decided he would protect Dr. Sylva while supporting Megan in battle, wondering if he could even manage to do something like that.