CHAPTER 445: DREAM.

A piercing noise filled his ears, and the world around him blended into a blur. Things seemed to move in front of him, but he couldn’t tell what was what.

[Dante? Dante! Do you hear me!]

Despite all other sounds reaching him as muffled nothing, one voice seemed strangely clear to him. He recognized the voice, and he soon recalled who it belonged to, leading him to understand why he could hear it.

’Oh... shut up...’

A spark of pain coursed through his body. Dante gritted his teeth and tried to move. His entire nervous system flared, and his brain felt like it had been set on fire. His efforts failed, and he couldn’t even push himself up. He tried again, but the results were the same.

’Damn...it... what’s... happening...’

His thoughts became fragmented, and he struggled to form a single line.

[It was a car, it...] The voice in his head said. [Dante, it was not an accident. They crashed into you on purpose.]

’Wha... what?’

[I checked the security footage. The car that hit you seems to have accelerated on purpose just as you started to move]

In a moment of clarity, Dante remembered stopping at a red light and looking at the Flame Guard tower. He was just about to make a turn when he noticed a car heading in his direction, but before he could get out of the way, he found himself on the ground.

’It’s not... an accident?’

Something had crashed into him while he was distracted. It came from the opposite direction he was looking, moving silently while making use of a blind spot. It was impossible not to see it as what it was. He had been attacked, and he failed to react to it in time.

’Vol...can. What’s... what’s happening...’

When he tried to move again, Dante realized that he didn’t have the power. His limbs refused to respond, and his vision wasn’t getting any clearer. His thoughts grew more sluggish by the second.

[Dante, they’re-........]

At some point, even the voice in his head grew faint and distant. Darkness crawled from the corners.

’Volcan... Vol...’

~[ ]~

Neon lights flashed by, tracing colorful lines on the dark background. Seconds passed, and the sight grew blurry, disappearing behind the translucent reflection of a young boy staring out of the closed window. The ride back should have been his favorite part of the night, yet the deep frown he wore said otherwise.

That frown soon vanished, and a look of realization overtook the boy. An instant later, his face changed entirely. He looked older. He looked tired. His face was littered with scars, and his eyes had no light in them.

He looked outside the window, then turned his sight to the rest of the car. Staring at the driver, he then glanced at the passenger seat, and then he turned to the seat beside him. A girl with pure white hair sat there. Contrary to the memory he had of the dream, the white haired girl was sitting straight, staring forward with an impassive look on her face.

A second passed, and she seemed to notice his gaze. When she turned to look at him, her eyes widened a little.

"Hey," Dante said. "It’s been a while."

Hannah blinked at him a couple of times, then a small smile tugged on the corners of her mouth.

"Hey, Will," Hannah said. "You... don’t seem to be doing well."

"You think?"

"Yes. You have a lot more scars than last time."

"Well, I have been through a lot."

He never paid it much attention, and no one ever mentioned it. His wounds might have healed, but the scars have been accumulating in the last few months.

"Oh, right!" He looked up with a start. "Guess who I fought this time?"

Hannah frowned, puffing her cheeks a little.

"Is that why you’re hurt?"

"No, I think." Dante touched his face. "I just got into a little accident while riding my bike."

"Is that so?"

Realizing that she was still giving him a doubtful look, Dante couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.

"Hey, I’m telling the truth! It was just a little accident!"

Continuing to give him the same look, the white haired girl heaved a long sigh and turned away.

"Well, if that’s what you say." She said. "So? Who did you fight this time?"

"Oh, just some small-time hero." He shrugged. "I think they call him Paragon."

"... You fought Paragon?"

"I sure did."

A moment of silence passed, but it was soon broken by the shouting voice of the two sitting at the front. As the argument heated, the white haired girl turned to look at Dante, a nervous look on her face.

"You... you aren’t dead, are you?"

Dant snorted.

"Are you?" His response caused her mood to sour, and he found himself hurrying to fix that. "Hey now, I wouldn’t be having this dream if I were dead, right? Besides, it’s not like we fought to the death or anything. Besides..." Pausing, he turned to the window and rested his chin on his hand. "I just hit him once and ran."

What he did looked a lot more impressive in his memory, but when he thought about it, it wasn’t that big of a deal. His opponent was alive and well, and all he did was kill a bunch of filthy elites. He did defeat a Level 4 Genome, but that didn’t matter as much in that one fight.

As the silence was stretching for far longer than he anticipated, he turned around to check on the girl. He found her looking in the opposite direction, her shoulders trembling slightly. Seeing that she was holding a hand to her mouth, he understood the reason she had yet to respond.

"Hey! It wasn’t easy, okay!? How many people do you think faced him and got away!?"

"But... but you said..." Hannah held her stomach and burst out laughing.

"Yeah, I ran away. So what?"

Huffing, Dante leaned against the window once more. His frown didn’t last long, and soon enough, he found himself smiling again.

"Well, what matters is that I’m now powerful enough to hit him." He said. "It won’t be long before I crush him completely."

"I see." Having run out of breath, Hannah sank into her seat. "You... have grown powerful..."

"I... still have a long way to go."

After everything he went through, it was a simple car crash that got him in the end. He remembered Volcan saying it wasn’t an accident, which only made it worse. It wasn’t a powerful Cyborg, a high-level Genome, or a newly developed weapon. He was done in by a car. A simple car, and nothing more.

"By the way." Hannah said. "How long had it been since we last met? In this... dream, I mean."

"Hm? A couple of months... I think?"

Last time was a few weeks before the heist, so it was closer to three months. When he thought about it that way, Dante realized how weird it was that he didn’t have the nightmare for that long.

"A couple of months?" Hannah cocked her head. "Strange..."

"You haven’t noticed?" Dante asked. "Is that why you haven’t paid me any visits until now?"

Hannah furrowed her brows.

"It’s not like I didn’t want to, but..." Her frown deepened. "This isn’t easy to pull off."

"I guess haunting my dreams isn’t an easy feat, huh?" Dante said sarcastically.

"Weren’t you the one who asked why I don’t visit more?"

"Right..." Pausing for a moment, he turned to her with a smile. "So? Do you have any words of wisdom for me this time?"

"Words of wisdom?"

"Yeah, didn’t you tell me to stop being angry at dad?" He said. "You also told me to take my time and figure out what I want to do."

When he thought back to it, Dante realized that he hadn’t given the matter as much thought as he had wanted. He had long since figured out what it was that he wanted to do, but when it came to the matter concerning his father, the only time he ever thought of him was when discussing Catalyst with Lev.

"Guess... guess I still hold a grudge, huh?" He said, glancing at the driver’s seat.

"I guess you do." Hannah replied, sounding wistful.

The silence settled between them once more, and the end of the dream seemed fast approaching. Dante tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to mind.

"Words of wisdom, huh?" Hannah muttered, holding a hand to her chin. She seemed to be taking the latter seriously, but her expression as she did so was more funny than anything else. After a while, she held a finger up as if she had figured something out. "I know! How about "look both left and right before crossing the road"!"

Dante stared at her for a moment, then his face dropped.

"Way to rub salt on my wounds."

"You asked for words of wisdom, and I gave them to you." Said Hanah. "This is all I have got this time."

"Well, you’d better come prepared next time."

"I will try, but don’t hold your hopes up. It’s not like there are many books here."

A silhouette appeared in the distance, and time seemed to slow down as the car swayed. As he felt the dream reaching its gruesome end, he turned to get one last look at his white haired sister.

"Don’t be so sad." She said. "I will come visit soon."

"You sure about that?" Dante raised an eyebrow. "It has been months since your last visit."

"Don’t worry. I’m starting to get the hang of this,, so... maybe a month?"

"Well, I will look forward to it."

The sharp screeching of tires pierced his ears, and then his body was jerked forward. Darkness enveloped him the next moment, and the next time he opened his eyes, the place he found himself in was entirely unfamiliar.