Chapter 734: Blind.

If it were a matter of quality alone, Dante’s android clone was good enough to be considered a Level 3 in terms of power and durability. Though he could use it as if it were his own body, he decided not to test his luck and took things a bit more slowly. That’s how he ended up in the spectator seats of his underground arena, with Merry on his left and Bella on his right.

"The big guy seems a little excited today." Said the hero.

"Well, he did get a new heart," Dante replied.

It was almost as if he were watching a completely different fighter. Riot had always seemed reluctant when sparring against him, only doing as little as he could get away with. Now that his soul was back to its proper shape, he seemed to have gained quite a bit of enthusiasm, even volunteering to spar with Wolf on his own. The two were duking it out at full speed, taking and dealing blows as if they were seriously trying to kill each other.

Riot looked like a red ogre with his soul manifested, and with that massive grin on his face, one could only wonder who the real monster was.

"To think one could get this far with martial arts alone..." Muttering to herself, Merry seemed to have all her attention on the match before suddenly turning it to Dante.

"Say, Dante. You’re free a couple of days from now, aren’t you?"

Glancing at her and seeing that bright smile, Dante couldn’t help but smile in return.

"Hm... let me check my schedule..."

"C’mon! I know you have nothing to do! Let’s go out and see a movie like last time!"

"Sure, why not?"

The moment he voiced his agreement, the entire underground arena was suddenly flooded with bright light. Though he was unaffected, being an android and all, Dante noted that Bella was almost blinded, though she seemed to have anticipated the unintended flash attack and prepared herself accordingly.

"Hey! What the heck was that!" Riot cried out from the ring. Apparently, the light came at the worst time, obstructing his movements and allowing his opponent to land a nasty blow.

Wolf didn’t seem that affected, likely having experience dealing with his teammate’s sudden emotional outbursts, whether positive or not.

"Let’s take a break."

Undoing his transformation, the werewolf stood in the center of the arena, his body covered in sweat. The bruises Riot had left on him were quickly healing, but it was clear that the process consumed a lot of energy. As he tried to catch his breath, the hero turned to glass at Dante. Though he didn’t show it on his face, it was apparent that he had noticed that something was off.

Though the android was made to appear identical to him, a Genome with the nose of a wolf would surely notice that something was off about him. Dante couldn’t be bothered to care, however. He wasn’t going to possess his android body again going forward.

’I feel blind...’

It had been a while since he last had his Absolute Awareness off, and since he was perceiving the world through the sensors of his android, it felt as if he was trapped inside his mind. He had both visual and audio output, and Volcan had programmed a filter that allowed him to have access to infrared, radio, and sonar inputs, but even then, it still felt as if he was trapped in a dark room.

-Shouldn’t you try getting used to it?-

[Dante, we got a situation.] Volcan spoke.

’What is it now?’

[One of your team has been ambushed in megacomplex 6. It’s not looking good for them.]

’Any casualties?’

[One seems to have suffered a fatal gunshot.]

’Damn it...’

Right now, Dante was stuck inside 7-6, so he couldn’t teleport to help them out. To make things worse, he was also underground, so he couldn’t even beam the attackers from a distance.

’Send one of your androids to handle it. You may kill the attackers.’

[Understood. I will be diving into the local network to slow them down.]

’Send an aerial ambulance to the location. Have them pick up the injured by the time you’re done.’

-Managing an organization sure is hard, huh? Especially when you couldn’t care less about it.-

"Is something wrong?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, Dante turned to the orange-haired hero, smiling on reflex.

"Nothing? Why do you ask?"

"Because you haven’t heard a thing I said."

’What was she saying?’

[She was talking about the plans you are supposedly having on the fifth of this month, which coincides with your birthday.]

’My birthday?’

Dante recalled that the orange-haired hero had asked him about it a while back. He answered casually back then, but now that he thought about it, what she intended to do seemed pretty obvious.

’Why did I tell her in the first place?’

His mind dived back to the aforementioned day, and certain images began to flash in Dante’s mind. An empty, slightly cracked, yellow wall. An old road right outside an even older gas station. A pile of plastic bags flanked by a rusty dumpster. The shifting surface of a boundless ocean.

"Hello~! Is anybody in there!?"

Dante watched as the hero waved a hand in front of his face, then started pouting when he didn’t react. Things might turn out to be a little different this year.

-Why are you acting as if it’s all up to chance?-

Once again, the voice returned with its mocking tone.

-You did it. After almost five years, you have obtained what you need. Congratulations.-

-You have the weapon.-

-You have a fighting chance.-

-Only one step left.-

"Sheesh," Merry gave up and started sulking almost immediately. "It’s almost like you aren’t here."

"Sorry, sorry." Dante smiled apologetically. "I just have a lot on my mind right now."

"Let me guess, you were thinking about your plan to take over the world or something?"

"Hey, that’s a pretty close guess."

"What!!? Really!!?"

"Just kidding."

Dante had no interest in taking over the world—he couldn’t care less about his territory here in Hollowgrid, and with how much he was struggling to run it, the idea of ruling the entire world seemed like it would bring way too many headaches.

"If it’s not world domination, then what is it?" Merry asked.

"Why are you talking as if I’m some really ambitious super villain?"

"You aren’t?"

"Hey, yours truly is a very normal, very innocent civilian."

"One who’s constantly targeted by assassins and bounty hunters."

"And heroes, apparently."

The two shared a short laugh that quickly faded away. For a moment there, Dante forgot all about the girl’s nature. She was a Genome, meaning one of Eidolon’s products. Though it felt like she truly came there just to hang out with him, the truth couldn’t be clearer.

-What are you waiting for?-

As their conversation resumed, Dante’s eyes just happened to fall on Merry’s neck.

-Just kill her already.-