Modern World Warlock-Chapter 68: Zac’s Mother

While Dante and his group stood behind Zac, who was letting out his tears next to his mother, Krom said that the woman’s life force was leaving her body rapidly.

"Is it Astaroth’s blood?" Dante asked the imp.

Krom nodded confidently, though his body kept shivering from the demonic umbra flowing from the woman.

The warlock deduced that Astaroth opted for the option of gathering less strength by quickly absorbing the lives of his victims.

When Dante hunted the shadow demon that was hiding in the Devil’s Den Nightclub, he explained to Camille and his group how the demons’ life siphoning worked.

If a person had been forcibly fed a demon’s blood without a contract, they would be afflicted by the "soulbond enfeeblement" condition, leaving them paralyzed as the demon absorbed their life force.

At that point, the demons had two choices:

They could increase the speed at which they absorbed their victim’s life force, which would give them a quick boost to their abilities.

Or, they could prolong the curse for years, giving them a much stronger boost in the long run.

Dante knew that Zac’s mother had been afflicted with soulbound enfeeblement for years, so the fact that the curse had started to rapidly take away her remaining life force was a sign that Astaroth was preparing for something.

"Isn’t there anything we can do…?" Victoria muttered to herself, loud enough for the others to hear.

The brunette felt frustrated and sad. The impotence of knowing that there was nothing she could do to save Zac’s mother made her tears roll out uncontrollably.

The source of this c𝓸ntent is frёeweɓηovel.coɱ.

"The best way to free them from the curse was killing the demon… Right?" Megan replied, looking down with a hint of disappointment.

The group was aware that even if everyone in the room hastily looked for Astaroth, it would take much longer than an hour to find him. Moreover, Dante was the only one who could fight the monster, so it wouldn’t make sense for the others to encounter him.

Camille was checking her phone with a somber expression, seeing that the news was talking about the illness, prompting Sophia to turn on the TV inside the room.

["This is Nova News, coming at you with the recent developments from the people infected by an unknown disease…"] The news anchor stated.

["We are getting reports that thousands of patients’ conditions got worse overnight. The doctors have no idea how to stop the symptoms… They say ’to the families of the ill, be prepared for the worst…’"] the anchor continued, making everyone in the room grit their teeth.

The scene then changed to a reporter on the streets, interviewing random people outside a hospital.

["What do you think of the recent developments of that unknown disease? Doctors say it can’t be cured…"] the interviewer asked.

["Well, you know? It’s sad for the patients and the families… But if that disease was contagious, wouldn’t this be the best outcome? — Ah, sorry! That sounded very insensitive-..."] the random interviewee was cut off.

["And there you have it, folks. People believe that with all the infected dead, it won’t be possible for it to spread,"] the news anchor said, irritating everyone inside the hospital room.

["We salute all the infected for their sacrifice-…"] the man continued, getting cut off by Sophia, who angrily shut down the TV.

While the girls grumbled in a corner, Camille approached Dante, who stood in the center of the room without taking his gaze off the ill woman.

"What do you see?" the handler asked.

Without saying a word, the warlock placed his hand on Camille’s shoulder and covered one of his eyes, sharing his vision with her.

When Camille gazed at Zac’s mother, she saw her body producing a massive, dark red cloud as ethereal black chains burned her skin, sending shivers down her spine.

As she took a preemptive step back from the overwhelming pressure, Camille’s shoulder lost contact with Dante’s hand, returning her vision to normal.

*Tch!* The handler scoffed, biting her lips in exasperation.

Dante took another look at his redhead friend, crying and kneeling on the ground next to his mother while holding her hand.

Victoria was silently crying in a corner while Sophia was trying to comfort her. Megan stood on the side, looking somberly at the floor, and Camille was tapping her foot with frustration as she bit her nails.

’This feeling… So unpleasant,’ the warlock thought.

"Camille, please lock the door…" Dante said, taking a few steps forward toward the ill woman.

The handler complied and locked the room with everyone inside, wondering what the warlock was thinking.

"This isn’t a curse I can break with a warlock’s ability… A powerful priest from my world could have," Dante commented, but Zac wasn’t listening to his friend.

The warlock gently placed his hand on the redhead’s shoulder. "Stand back, Zac… Just for a moment," he said, his voice soft and reassuring.

Zac covered his face with his arm, embarrassed from the tears that kept rolling down his cheeks, and took a step back.

Taking one deep breath, Dante looked up slightly and closed his eyes, making the background hospital noise wholly silent.

"Sorry, Beatrice… I’ll have to borrow your powers for a bit," the warlock whispered, with Zac being the only one able to listen to him.

Dante followed his words by placing his hands together like a cup, where a radiant, white light generated in his palms.

’That looks way different from his usual powers…’ Megan thought.

Anytime the brunette saw Dante casting magic, she noticed that the energy that gathered around him had a purple and black hue. However, this spell produced a completely different color that didn’t match any of his previous casts.

As the light being held by Dante’s palms got brighter, it blinded everyone inside momentarily, spreading a white and green mist around the room that felt warm to the touch.

Krom took a few steps back, and Camille noticed that the imp looked somewhat shaken, making her wonder why the demon was so apprehensive when Dante’s spell seemed relatively inoffensive.