CHAPTER 409: WHAT A SHAME.

When Dante portaled into the vault, his attention was immediately drawn to the weapons filling it. He didn’t pay much mind to the lights being off, since that was the case for the other rooms. The door was closed, of course, so he didn’t pay it any mind, either.

The click he heard was accompanied by a faint hiss, and before the guess of what it source might have been formed in his mind, lights flashed on, and the room suddenly brightened.

[Dante...]

’Yeah...’

The door hadn’t budged, which means the sound he heard was that of the lock sliding into place, and with that happening soon after he entered the room, the only explanation would be that he had triggered something.

Ghost Mode had been active long before he arrived at the church, and Volcan had already assured him that, unlike the office building they had visited, its systems weren’t tampered with, with most still accessible through its network. Nothing should have been able to detect him.

’Unless...’

A faint screech interrupted his thoughts, drawing his attention to one of the corners. There, a small white box hung near the ceiling, the black circle at its center indicating that it was a speaker.

[Whoa... this is insane... I really can’t see you...]

A voice echoed through the vault. It was soft, carrying a bit of youthful excitement. Dante didn’t care about the voice itself more than what it implied. His presence had indeed been discovered somehow, though if he were to believe what they had just said, it might be that Ghost Mode had yet to be seen through.

’Maybe I should just get out of here...’

As logical as it was, Dante found the idea quite unappealing, and thus, he shut it down right away. He didn’t come all the way here just to flee at the slightest sign of being discovered. Grasping his nerves, he forced them back in their place, only for them to slip once more when the voice filled the quiet room once more

[I have to say, never thought we would be targeted by you, Ghost.] They said. [Maybe this whole mess really is bigger than we thought.]

Something didn’t feel right.

’Ghost?’

Something told Dante that the word didn’t refer to a common specter. The way the stranger spoke almost made it sound like they knew who they were dealing with.

[Well, I can’t see you from here, so I will just talk as if you’re listening.] The speaker cleared their throat. [You have caused us a lot of trouble, Ghost. Black Skull was always a pain in the neck, but we managed them just fine. Thanks to you, we now have to waste resources on crushing them. Well, I won’t lie, some of us were looking for an excuse, but those with brains knew starting a war when Mr. Strongest is in town is a very bad idea.]

It wasn’t as if he didn’t take that into consideration when he started this plan. Well, to be more accurate, he didn’t change his plan much even after Paragon decided to move into the city, even if that caused the risk of them running into each other to shoot up. Dante knew that was almost like asking to be found, and he tried not to think about it often.

[Well, we gotta do what we have to do, whether it’s crushing Black Skull, or capturing you.] Said the voice. [Hope you’ll tell us your reasons once you wake up.]

A sharp beep echoed from the speaker, and the transmission seemed to end there, and Dante was left standing in silence. He realized his enemies did not know he could leave whenever he wants.

[Dante,] Volcan spoke with a hint of urgency in his voice. [The robots in the corners have started moving]

Turning around, Dante saw several of the tin cans unfold as the lenses decorating their front glowed red, turning to what looks like mechanical crabs. All of them seemed to lock onto him, and a second later, their pincers snapped in his direction. The rectangular holes at their end suggested that the incoming projectiles weren’t simple bullets.

’Volcan,’ Dante lowered his posture and prepared to move. ’Shut them down.’

[There are no signal receptors. They are entirely offline.]

A faint crackle reached Dante’s ears, and the bots fired. Dante had already enhances his perception to the max by then, and though he had done the same with his reflexes, he still waited to the very last second before moving. That last second preceded the projectile leaving the bots’ cannons, however. If he waited any more than that, nothing would have saved him from taking the shots.

Each metallic crab had fired a bolt of glowing yellow electricity in his direction, and all of them hit the same spot, scattering into the air before sinking into the closest piece of metal. A few tendrils fell on Dante as he rolled on the floor, but they only danced on 8-3’s surface before fading away.

’It’s insulated?’

[Please avoid direct hits if possible.] Volcan replied. [Unlike Type 3, other armors do not have perfect insulation.]

The Crab-bots were already preparing to shoot again. As he moved to dodge, Dante guessed that the yellow bolts might be intended to stun, and not kill. Of course, even with that being the case, he never intended to take any of the shots head-on.

As the rectangular barrels dropped to the floor, following right after him, Dante lunged at the closest bot and gave it a good slap. His hand didn’t bounce off the alloy shell, however. It sank right through, erasing everything that came in its way.

The first bot twitched to a halt then dropped to the floor. Rolling once more to evade another round of bolts, Dante went around the room and dealt with the crabs one by one, taking less than a minute to dispose of them.

’What a shame...’

He had planned on taking them on his way out. Though he doubted they would earn him that much, he believed he could make use of them in some other ways, but that wasn’t possible now that they were in this state.

[Dante, it seems that the composition of the air in this room has changed.] Volcan said. [I advise that you do not remove your current armor.]