I Know the Secret to Surpass Level 100

A bond shared by two Behemoths is special. It is connected through power and training, mixed with unlimited fights. It was a special bond that not everyone could understand.

A bond between a student and teacher Behemoth was even more special, some even more special than romantic relationships. They share so much bond and power that they have shared every time they cross their blades that their souls start to merge in a platonic sense.

It was a bond that Trinidad and Dante shared.

"Prince Irus!" Dante ran towards Irus and hugged the man. "I never thought I'd see you here. It's been so long."

"You're here as you fight Trinidad with Trinidad and then worried my friends," Irus chuckled. "You really are a show off "

"Friends?" Dante looked at the people behind Irus. "You made friends? The incredible and ruthless Irus made friends?"

"Don't act so surprised. I assumed you already knew what happened?" Irus asked, smirking. "You know everything, Dante. We all know that."

"That boy behind you has shared a bond with you," Dante hummed. "Where is he?"

Elliot realized that Dante meant him. They shared a bond when Irus was still suck inside the Manual and Elliot was borrowing his powers. The Behemoth turned to look at him and nodded so he would come to him.

Elliot made his way closer to them. Dante stared at him for a second before he shook his head. "You must be Elliot. It's good seeing you. But then I also know something about you. Malice has been dormant for several months and you haven't seen her move.

Do you know why?"

Elliot was caught off guard. He turned to look at Irus but the man was only staring at Dante. He returned his gaze to Dante. "I haven't been bothered by any of the Demons or Paragons for a while. We have a lot of enemies, and now the Angels are coming for us too."

"It's been a while, but I think this is the time for us to unite," Dante said. "Malice's end, the prophecy for her death, she knew it wasn't like that. She's protecting something– or more like someone. Elliot, you need your battles to come in order. Malice comes first. The rest can suck it up.

I'll stop them for now."

"Dante has a huge network of different powerful people," Irus said. "The ones that you guys defeated earlier were part of the court guard of the Forsaken. Dante has been infiltrating them for weeks."

"I am the source of all information in my organization," Dante smirkes. "Spying is my specialty."

He then turned to Trinidad, and frowned. "Teacher..."

"You don't have to worry about anything," Trinidad looked down. "I'm fine."

"You're cursed," Dante said. He raised his hand and swiped it, burning the thin sheet of fake skin on Trinidad's arm. The woman was shocked for a few seconds, but she must have figured out that Dante would not back down.

She just let the silk-like sheeth on her arm vanish into nothingness, revealing the grotesque form of her arm. Elliot covered his mouth in shock while the rest could only stare at it.

There was nothing but dark purple flesh and bones in Trinidad's right arm. The skin had seemed to rot in most parts and there were marks of tattoos in the flesh itself, markings that were not familiar to Elliot.

"This is why you don't deal with the Beyond," Dante said. "We have to take care of this, teacher."

"I said I'm fine," Trinidad said. "Now that you have Elliot with you, you have to discuss your plans. I have Behemoths to stop."

Trinidad forged another sheeth in her arm and covered it. She then walked away, seemingly to find other Behemoths who were after Elliot. The boy was yet to ask why Trinidad had to do such a thing and why he was being targeted.

He knew that the prophecy or the Manual are not the only things that Trinidad has been hiding from him. There must be something more that she's not letting him know.

"We have to get inside Malice's castle," Dante said. "Elliot, you have to lead us there because you have to be there."

"Me?" Elliot asked. "Why? I don't even know anything in that castle."

"Bruno will help you inside," Dante muttered. "There should still be several Vassals who are allied to Bruno. They are faithful to Malice, but the woman has long since lost her touch. She is not mean to fit the Queen of Hell anymore."

"But she's still forcing herself to," Lance added. "Why?"

"You'll know when we get there," Dante said. He turned around and grunted. "The closest I can get to Black Castle is about a mile away. Other than that, we'll get spotted easily."

"We go there now?" Elliot asked. "But why?"

"Time is of the essence," Dante smirked. "The more time we spent idling here, the harder it will be for our future considering you still have two more things to take care of after this one."

"When will I get my rest?" Elliot sighed but followed anyway. The portal was like a hole in the air, but it led to another realm. It was his first time visiting Hell and he knew what to expect just from the name alone.

The area that they entered was a barren land. It was filled with darkness and depression with nothing but dead soil and trees as far as the eye can see.

"So, this is Hell," Elliot said as he looked around. "I'm not actually quite shocked about this but I think it's because I don't know if I should be. I expected something like this, but damn."

"This place is shitty," Connor said. "You don't have to sugarcoat it."

"You haven't seen the Den," Irus chuckled. "It's the worst place to be."

"I can't imagine something lower than this," Elliot whispered. "You guys must have it rought, huh?"

Dante and Irus looked at each other before laughing. Elliot was clueless about what he just said, so Dante made him understand.

"We were born to that place and it was the normal for us," Dante said. "Well, I was born in a lab and doesn't know a lot of things outside unlike Irus but I speak for the both of us when I say that we didn't mind it like that before."

"You didn't mind?" Elliot asked. He opened his mouth and was about to say something more when a hand held his shoulder. It was Lance.

"Elliot, normal is not the same for everyone," Lance said. "Since all of us grew different, my normal can't always be your normal."

"But we have to agree that some normals are too far and some should be the standard," Elliot said. "And this isn't something that we should tolerate just because we didn't grownup like them. This Hell is too far, and we should not tolerate that."

"No, but I guess you're right," Lance chuckled awkwardly. "I don't know. It just didn't cross my mind."

"I don't mean to change everything," Elliot smiled. "I just want for people to get their chance in life, you know. For them to have another ray of hope."

"What a poet. Come on let's go," Connor rolled his eyes playfully and dragged the two to follow Dante. "We have a Malice to defeat."