Chapter 68: The Impure

Dante laughed when he saw Juno keep attacking. He let her make those very short movements, her predictable lightning bolts trying to hit him from common angles. He clenched his fist, dodging a direct attack, and moved forward.

His fist stopped abruptly, right in front of Juno's face. Dante pulled back his arm and spun into a roundhouse kick. Before Juno could move, an immense air pressure slammed against her face. She turned her head to the right, barely having time to react. The blow came fast and direct, striking her chest with a force that stole the air from her lungs.

The impact reverberated through her entire body. For a moment, she felt the heat spreading from the impact, a latent pain growing by the second in her ribs.

Her feet slipped backward, desperately trying to find balance, but the ground seemed to have disappeared. Juno staggered, her eyes fixed on the old man in front of her, but her vision blurred, as if the world around her was dissolving into smudges. Despite the pain, something inside her began to grow, a silent, almost primal rage that threatened to take over every rational thought.

"Oh, shit," she heard Dante say, a little concerned. "Did I hit too hard?" Then he let out a mocking laugh. "Sorry, I thought you could take more."

A sound echoed beside them. Sebastian had fallen to his knees, a fierce look on his face, biting his lower lip, struggling to control the rage that seemed to seep through his gaze.

"You're mocking us, you worm." His words were heavier than Dante expected, as if they bothered him more than the wound on his shoulder. "We are… the famous… GreamHachi."

Was that meant to give himself confidence or strike fear in Dante?

Dante merely raised an eyebrow, staying silent until he scoffed.

"And what do I have to do with that? You're getting beaten up, and you still want to talk about where you're from?"

He could never understand people's obsession with declaring their origins, as if that information were some secret weapon capable of changing the course of any conversation. It was always the same superior tone, as if simply mentioning their homeland granted them some kind of moral or intellectual advantage.

It was always the opposite.

"GreamHachi is the most technological city, bigger than any other, and it has none of those tainted creatures," Sebastian spoke with disgust, both toward Dante and the Felroz. "You were born with them, came and will die like them. And you think you're better than us."

"What the hell are you talking about, you idiot? I never even said anything like that. You know what? I think one shot wasn't enough." Dante looked into the darkness again. "You can shoot this one; he's starting to get on my nerves."

Another dry click from the ISE carbine echoed in the air. Fear spread immediately. It was instinctive, as if each click was a countdown. Anyone there was within the shooter's range, and Dante enjoyed that advantage.

Watching the man crawl on the ground, his hands desperately searching for shelter that didn't exist, brought an unexpected smile to Dante's face.

"See?" He made Sebastian look at him. His eyes were filled with tears. "Your home won't save you, so try not to be too cocky. The one aiming at you would love to take another shot. Ah, even better, what if I tell you your city committed such a great cruelty that it deserves punishment, and you're the one who got it?"

Sebastian let out a whimper of fear. The sound escaped his lips without permission, a pure reflex of terror. Dante loved seeing the most arrogant ones scared shitless.

"Dante…" Juno's voice echoed from afar. She was leaning against the wall, her pale fingers pressing against the rough surface as if she needed that support to stay on her feet.

Her eyes were locked on him, but not with the intensity of someone ready to confront him, it was a calculated gaze, almost studied, as if she were analyzing his every move, every expression, with extreme caution.

As he had predicted, this woman was special. Different from the others he had seen in the Capital or even here in Kappz, her spirit didn't break. She had potential, she had strength, but she was just a person walking without direction.

The boredom in her eyes betrayed her.

"You've never fought seriously, have you, Juno?"

Jix quickly nudged Dante, pointing upward.

"You need to hurry."

Up above, the cracks had become more than mere marks. Now, they were extensive, irregular lines spreading across the surface like hastily drawn spiderwebs. Small creaks echoed, a warning that the fractures were growing, threatening everyone present.

Behind him, the walls had also gained the same marks. He had used too much force, more than he should have. Now, if he stayed there any longer, he could jeopardize the entire mission.

"Alright, alright." Dante rolled up the sleeve of his red outfit and forced a firm look at Juno. "Vick, give me the location. Marcus, fall back two points."

The golden marker pulsed rhythmically, indicating the way forward. It hovered in the air for a few seconds before smoothly gliding in the opposite direction of where Marcus had hidden.

The glow cut through the darkness, tracing a clear path amid the shadows. The marker gradually moved away, descending in an arc until it disappeared into the darkness a hundred meters away. Dante quickly glanced at Marcus and Jix, making sure they understood the signal before adjusting his stance.

Sebastian then gathered all the courage in the world to stand up. He had found his fallen sword and pointed it in Dante's direction.

"You filthy Impure. You're not leaving here even if I die. You think this is a joke?"

That word. Impure. It carried the same weight as "Foreigner" in the Capital. Being called that, the same way Marcus had said they killed his parents. That man shouted, raged.

Dante didn't want to do this. He really didn't.

"You little foreign shit, do you even know who I am?", The Sergeant's words still echoed in his mind.

He no longer heard Sebastian, but he saw the face of the man who had tried to rape his mother and sister right in front of him. His expression twisted into a mask of fury. His jaw clenched, his teeth grinding slightly as the wave of repressed emotion took over every part of his body.

"Dante," Jix quickly shouted.

Too late. His Cosmic Energy surged into his right arm in a direct attack. He didn't even touch Sebastian, stopping just before. The man let out a nervous smile, thinking Dante had actually held back.

"What the h, "

Then the explosion came. The force tore through the Research Center's structure in an instant, as if the very air had turned into a colossal blade. Steel walls bent like paper, wires and pipes burst in a chaos of sparks and smoke.

The ground shook violently as shards of concrete and glass were flung in all directions, reflecting the light in blinding fragments.

Marcus, Jix, and Juno were shocked. The destructive force was so great that the walls, ceiling, and floor seemed to merge, as if they had never been separate things. Sunlight poured through the enormous breach that had formed, but… that man had simply vanished.

The place where he stood was empty, as if he had never been there. In fact, it was as if the place itself had never stood.

"That wasn't necessary, Dante," Jix quickly opposed him. "There are people here. How can you be so reckless? Are you crazy? What if the ceiling had collapsed on all of us? He says one word and, "

Marcus watched as Dante lifted his chin while Jix kept scolding him about all the consequences that hadn't happened. The old man, unhurried, looked around with surprising calm, his eyes smoothly gliding over the rubble.

When he finally found the shooter, his gaze softened even more, and a gentle smile formed on his lips, a smile full of silent understanding, as if he had just fulfilled a task he always knew was inevitable.

Now visible to everyone, Marcus stood and lowered the carbine.

"I owed you that," Dante told him. "A small part of my debt."