Chapter 42: Chapter. 42: Interlude: Nightmare fuel 

He had become stronger than her, had he not?

Everything was a blur past a certain point, Dante just couldn’t remember what happened. He had stalked her, prowled, followed her⁠ ⁠— trying to figure out her secrets of strength, but she hadn’t done anything surprising. No, she was just normal, perhaps killing a few beasts, yes. But she didn’t seem to have any tricks up her sleeve aside from that weird skill of hers⁠ — her skills rather. No matter how many times he saw the skill list, he couldn’t find a single skill that fit the description in his mind.

But, it didn’t matter. He simply followed her while sometimes killing some beasts, and eventually he matched her level and even surpassed her. She seemed strong on paper, but suddenly Dante felt that he too could do everything she was doing. He had managed to almost one hit an Everwood Moose by sneak attacking it.

And then, she met with the demons. Dante didn’t look at the onslaught from how messy it was, but he knew the elf would survive. And true to his thoughts, she did. Surprisingly the supposed Emperor of the demons had showed up, and more to his surprise he was lower level than him or the elf. But Dante didn’t dare attack, the other demons were still present after all.

He simply listened. Very carefully, he listened. And he heard of something; a secret that the elf seemed to hold dear.

The System Assistant.

He had seen her in the visions, as well as the demon emperor. He was somewhat sure the emperor had beaten the foe, but just judging by the elf’s appearance, he knew for a fact she had run away.

Eventually the emperor left, and soon he too was going to leave. He had found the elf’s secret. He was almost sure he was stronger than her at this point, she just slacked off too much in his own opinion. With everything in mind he was going to begin an epic quest in getting a System Assistant. Everything was going swimmingly, as they say. The elf too left after picking some loot, which Dante regretted not taking, but he feared her strange powerful bow shots. That said ⁠— that was everything she was, just some elf that could shoot anti-material rounds. If he could dodge them, then she would be helpless.

Or so he thought.

It all happened in an instant, a Prophecy had fallen, one unlike Dante had ever seen. But just as she was about to rush, the elf showed up with Matt. He scoffed at that moment, it was dumb to give it to Matt, if she kept it to herself perhaps he would’ve had second thoughts about fighting her, but no⁠— he couldn’t let Matt keep it, not after the gaze he got. Matt looked at him as if he were nothing but scum, it was something Dante couldn’t comprehend, something that insulted his very being.

He was going to put Matt in his place, or that was until the elf interrupted him. In the end he couldn’t help but scoff and go after her instead. The faster she died, the more experience he would get after all. Dante hadn’t killed any humans or elves, but he knew he would have no qualms about it. Not after finding the rotten body of a child anyway, ransacking it wasn’t pretty, but it reminded him that this place was one without laws or morals. Rule of the strong. With everything in mind, he chased, preparing to do what he had come to call a stealth reset. That was until the elf threw an arrow, one reminiscent of a glow stick. Of course, he dashed right through it⁠—

Dante barely remembered anything after that.

It had exploded⁠— the kinetic energy launched him straight towards her, and then his vision closed. A shock bolted through his very being, his very brain trembled at that moment. Something, something, had broken, but he didn’t know what. He didn’t know what happened after he woke up a second later, his entire body was in pain. What had she done to him? A trump card?

He had thought that he saw everything, especially after the Knell Boar encounter. But it seemed he was wrong. Still⁠— if he hurried up⁠— if he. His hand trembled reaching for his pouch, he barely managed to open a potion and drink it. The immediate effect brought his hazy consciousness back, and soon he managed to stand up, surely this time he wouldn’t be caught off-guard. He just had to gather his mana to his feet and dash. He did a quick scan of the battlefield just to make sure⁠—

Why was she in front of him?

Numb. In an instant his whole body numbed. He couldn’t tell where he was hurting, or what had happened. But his vision slowly darkened as he stared at the forest, where nothing was there.

Where had he gone wrong? Dante lamented everything. He should’ve been more careful with the elf. But⁠— he worked harder than her, he grinded harder than her, and all she did was laze around and yet⁠— he lost?

The only thing that lingered in his mind was unfairness as he blacked out. He felt warmth shortly after, but ultimately he just. Passed out.

◇ ◇ ◇

Dante jolted awake from a System notification, in an instant pain traveled throughout his whole body. What had happened to him? He looked at the notification first, he always liked to make sure he never missed anything.

[The opportunity for Ancient Power has come to a close. Those who were worthy have become stronger, those who are unworthy fall behind. The opportunity to acquire ancient power has ended. For now…

The stars halted. Making their judgment once more.

The power to change fate? Show your worth to the stars when the time comes. And maybe then, you will have a calling.]

Dante slowly processed the words through his pain. The opportunity to acquire a Prophecy had come to a close… He now had no choice but to wait another two days. He gritted his teeth. All the Prophecies he could find had stupid requirements, and then when he finally found one⁠—

THE ELF.

Dante shook, instantly coughing up blood. His whole body throbbed once more, his insides felt messed. He quickly grabbed a potion from his satchel and drank it. The liquid felt lukewarm, and soon warmth spread through him, bringing a brief sense of calm. He looked at the timer to check how long he had been out.

[Incubation Period: 3 days 11 hours 59 minutes]

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10 to 20 minutes give or take. Dante calmed himself. He hadn’t lost that much time yet, he couldn’t keep hating on the elf. He barely remembered her name, but he refused to even acknowledge it. She was just a stepping stone for him, yes. No matter how many setbacks. No matter how much humiliation she put him through. He was going to get back stronger than ever.

He had been defeated by her twice now. But there would be no third time.

There would be no third time.

He slowly got up with wobbling legs. His whole body was still suffering from the pain of humiliation. Dante limped towards the forest, doing his best to leave the clearing. The fire was fizzling out, and according to his calculations it wouldn’t take long for monsters to come. Normally he would’ve welcomed so much fresh blood for monster bait, but this time around he was too injured to take advantage of it.

As he reached the nearest tree he couldn’t help but look back at the skeleton, where the Prophecy had been.

He was going to repay this pain tenfold…

⁠◇ ◇ ◇

Dante didn’t know how long he traveled, the only thing on his mind was moving forward. Away. He had gotten a bit of rest, but for the first time in ages he had nightmares. What was once his brief respite, the getaway from this awful new-world had been taken from him as well. Everytime he closed his eyes he would see her swinging something towards him. In the end he got maybe a nap’s worth of rest.

He knew the forest like the back of his hand, or at least the places he had been to anyway. That said, he also knew he had to move⁠—he had to go towards new places and find new things. Find stronger monsters. All for getting stronger. He wasn’t strong enough yet, but if he fought enough E ranked monsters then he would eventually be able to kill a Knell Boar.

Dante had been having random pains since recovering, for some reason his sides would not stop hurting. Phantom pains? He didn’t know.

However, it didn’t take long before he stumbled upon something interesting. Near the mountains, on a small clearing at the edge of the forest there were traces of activity. Dante smiled to himself, he was low on potions, and with some luck he might be able to find some. It was still night-time and visibility was rather poor for him, the wind was chilly as ever, but for the first time in a while he felt warmth. This was going to be his comeback.

Slowly. He moved with silent steps towards the cave. He was simply going to search, maybe even find somebody asleep, rob them and leave. Dante was a generous man in comparison to that elf.

He entered the cave, the moonlight shining on his back. The entire place was pitch black, no trace of anything, or smell for that matter. But he was sure there was somebody in there. Just the tracks outside of the cave indicated so; messy footsteps, put out ashes, he had even seen a piece of metal briefly.

Dante stepped on the cave. In an instant he saw a bright flash⁠ — a deadly glint. His breath skipped and he dashed into the darkness. Next thing he felt was a cold blade pressed onto his neck.

“Stranger, Human…” A cold voice spoke. “What brings you here?”

Dante froze and tried to choose his words carefully. “I was just wandering about… I was looking for shelter after the Prophecy armageddon subsided…”

“Really?” The voice asked. “A level 15 only looking for shelter?”

Dante wanted to kick himself. “Yes…”

“Liars belong only in one place, Human. Deceit is paid in blood where I come from.” The blade cut through his flesh⁠—

“Stop!” A husky voice hissed. “Perhaps he can be useful.” The person that held him still didn’t move. “Humannn, speak of the Empire and its situation. No, you wouldn't know anythinng.” Finally, at the corner of his eye he saw someone.

It was a hunched person, but that wasn’t the strange thing, no⁠—their eyes were like honey, reminiscent of the elf, it was enough to set him off, or it would have been if those weren’t atop its head: horns. Protruding up high into the moonlight.

A demon?!

[Via Demon. Lvl. 13]

The other one that held Dante, finally kicked him into the cave and he got to see the two. Two demons.

“Optionsss,” the ashen one with a husky voice began. “Die or help bring down Arkaram, your choice.”

Dante cursed himself. Nothing had been going his way as of late.

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