Chapter 171: Motivation

“Nothing…”

“Nothing…”

“Nothing…”

“Nothing…”

Dante waited and waited and waited, but nothing happened.

He was now sitting alone in a dark alley, waiting to regret his decision of destroying that relic.

Four days had passed. The pain had stopped, but the mental effect remained.

Ruby was with Emeralda and Jin after Dante told her that he needed time alone. Convincing her was difficult, but Dante managed to do it.

“Greed… Why is nothing happening?” Dante asked with a depressed voice: “Come on, man. Either say you were lying or tell me to wait. Don’t stay silent like this. I don’t like surprises, you know.”

However, Greed didn’t respond.

He hadn’t appeared even once since Dante had destroyed the relic.

The only thing he could do was to wait, smoke, and eat.

Dante inhaled half a cigarette in one go and exhaled it immediately. Then, he took a cup of hot chocolate from his ring.

He found it in a store and immediately bought gallons of it. He didn’t know if it tasted the same as the chocolate on Earth, but the smell was close enough.

Next, he took a box filled with sugar from his ring and proceeded to put spoon after spoon into the chocolate.

After the cup was full, Dante took his first sip and returned the sugar box to his storage.

“Yeah, that’s the life I wanted…” Dante smiled upon tasting the sugar in the chocolate.

If it were his old body, he’d likely have ended up with diabetes from the first sip. But his current body could eat mud and stay okay, not to mention some sugar.

After finishing the chocolate, he threw the cup into the wall and took a second one from his ring.

That could be the last time he drank anything sweet, so he had to enjoy it, or so he told himself on every single day of the past few days. After all, Greed refused to tell what would happen and when.

“You look terrible, kid.”

At this moment, Dante heard a voice behind him.

He turned his head to the left and saw a familiar face. It was a man with cascading black hair and a pair of sharp red eyes.

“Aren’t you supposed to be protecting the city?” Dante tilted his head while putting sugar into the chocolate.

The man crossed his arms: “Yes, and I’m doing my job while being here. I have good eyes, you see.”

Dante focused on the man’s red eyes, seeing nothing special about them.

But who was he to judge? Dante himself had weird eyes and his mask was what made them look normal. That guy might be similar.

“Anyway, why are you looking so depressed? That can’t be the behaviour of a participant who might get married to the young mistress.” The man asked.

Dante was confused: “Why are you even asking?”

He didn’t care about the fact that the man somehow knew that he was a participant, nor did he care about the fact that the man had been watching him.

Maybe it was a part of the security. To ensure that everything was going alright, maybe he had to keep observing all the foreigners who suddenly came to participate or watch the competition.

But why did that guy care about Dante’s depression?

“Just some curiosity.” The man responded honestly: “You caught my attention the moment you gazed upon my soul. I also saw that strange man who replaced you, but that was none of my business.”

Dante’s eyes widened briefly, realizing that the man really noticed Dante’s activation for the ability.

The man continued: “But my curiosity only grew when you returned in that terrible state with your soul shaking. I know enough about souls to know about that pain. Oh, you endured it so well, by the way.”

“So well, huh?” Dante inhaled his cigarette with a heavy expression.

He had tried to cut his finger before and felt nothing. The soul pain was so overwhelming that the pain of his finger getting cut wasn’t even registered.

He didn’t feel happy because of the man’s compliment. He was just glad that it ended.

“Regardless…” the man continued: “I feel like your current depression isn’t entirely from pain. I’m just curious about a potential future duke’s mental state. Would you mind telling me what’s happening to you?”

Dante was silent for some time before responding: “I won’t become a duke… I won’t marry the Duchess’s daughter if I win. I’m here for other reasons.”

“However… Maybe I don’t even want to participate in the competition now. I might just let the other guy do it.”

“Hmm? Is he like your second half?” The man tilted his head: “Well, your soul looks young, so I understand that you may not like the idea of responsibilities and marriage right now. But why give up entirely? There are other rewards there.”

“Because I don’t know what to do.” Dante lit another cigarette and put it on his mouth: “I don’t know if I should grow stronger or not. I’m stuck in a situation where every action I do might be the wrong one.”

“I don’t even have serious dreams to begin with or a reason to live, yet I’m unable to decide what to do. I never had a real choice, and when I did, my choices were all terrible!”

“Why should I care about those stupid rewards if they might just benefit someone else? If I become stronger, I’d just turn into a stronger toy. I’ll get no benefit from that. I don’t even know if I can kill myself if I wanted. If I succeeded, it might be just what one of them wanted to happen!”

Dante sighed and grabbed his own hair, looking at the man suspiciously: “Maybe you talking to me here is a part of his plan. Maybe you’re the person who will make me regret my decision. Maybe you’re about to use me and take advantage of me like all of them!”

Taking a deep breath, Dante continued, his eyes widening as if having a sudden enlightenment: “Yes, the whole competition is just a trap, a trap to find a toy to become the next duke like a puppet. That duke would be happy with the marriage and the power, but he’d secretly be just a puppet who gets manipulated by you daily.”

“Every single step he makes would be a part of your plans. Every single word he says would be just him saying what you want him to say.”

“He’d think that he has freedom and the right to make his own choices, he’d think that he’s in power and that he’s growing gradually due to his talent, but all that is just a lie! Everything is a lie!!”

The man listened to Dante quietly all the time. Not once did he mutter a word, not even to ask a question.

And honestly, he didn’t understand 80% of what Dante had said.

’And what’s that talk about choosing a future duke? The duchess has other children. Becoming a duke from marrying her daughter is just a possibility, not a certain result!’ the man thought inwardly, though he didn’t dare to say that to Dante right now.

After Dante finished talking about his unorganized, random thoughts, the man sat behind him and placed a hand on his head.

“Sooo… You’re telling me you were used, right?’

“Yes…” Dante nodded.

“And that you feel like all your choices were either not your choices or just made everything worse.”

“Mhm.”

“You don’t have a reason to live, right? What about those friends you had?”

Dante fell silent for a moment before responding: “Maybe staying with them is just putting them in danger. I… I don’t know what to do.”

The man nodded: “Understandable. Oh, you also think that growing stronger is basically useless because you aren’t the one who is going to benefit from it. Am I understanding you correctly so far?”

Dante nodded again, confirming it for the man.

The man felt a headache as he thought about Dante’s situation. What could possibly be the reason for all this?

’Is that kid a hidden prince or something?’

After a moment of thinking, the man suggested: “Then just grow stronger, kid. It’s that simple.”

Dante was about to curse before the man continued: “I know a person who felt similar to you. You know what she said?”

“If you have a problem that you can’t fix, if you feel like you’re under someone’s control, you simply lack power!”

Dante shook his head: “They want to see me get more pow—”

“Then get more than they want you to have!” The man cut Dante off: “Make your growth faster than they expect. Surpass what they can control and stand next to them instead of always being under them.”

“You don’t have a reason to live? Imagine them screaming, crying blood, and begging for mercy under your knees. Make that your goal and everything will be solved. You can get a better dream later. For now, focus on the competition and how to make them regret.”

Dante froze while listening to the man. He subconsciously remembered Greed’s shaky voice after Dante destroyed the relic.

That was… satisfying.

“Maybe you’re right…” Dante smiled softly: “I think I should start focusing on the—”

All of a sudden, Dante’s eyes widened in shock and fear.

The man frowned upon seeing this. Dante’s eyes showed more terror than anything he had ever seen. But when he scanned the area, he saw nothing different.

“Are you alright—”

“No, no, no!”

Immediately, Dante stood up and swapped with Fafnir, an inky-black sphere covering his body.

“DAMN YOU! JUST SEND ME THERE!” Dante roared, concerning the man behind him.

The man stepped backward in confusion. He had seen Dante using this before, but not with such urgency.

After a moment, Dante’s face paled before disappearing.

In front of the man, Fafnir fell silently.

But that wasn’t the Fafnir he used to see.

He wasn’t wearing a mask now, showing his face clearly, but that face held different emotions that the man couldn’t describe.

Was that… Shame? Shock? Guilt? He couldn’t see it clearly.

Additionally, It was only half of him…

Literally… That was just Fafnir’s upper half.

His lower half was missing!

“…Huh? What’s… this?”

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