When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the night sky, blanketed with stars.
He could not remember how long it had been since he last saw something so peaceful, though in his condition, peace was the one thing he did not feel.
He tried to move his arm, but every muscle responded sluggishly.
His body felt heavy, clumsy, as if gravity itself had decided to crush him.
He let out a low sigh, his voice struggling to come out.
"Burroughs…"
Nothing.
Only the sound of the wind dragging dry leaves around him.
His breathing was uneven, and the damp ground felt icy against his back.
He was barely wearing what remained of a black pair of pants, torn and frayed, reduced to little more than ragged shorts.
Where am I?
He tried to turn his head, but pain flared in his neck as he did.
"Burroughs…"
[...S-system rebooting… Master… I'm here… sorry for the delay.]
"You sound terrible… what happened to you?"
[Critical damage. My primary processes remain unstable. I can barely maintain operational status.]
"What happened to us? Because I don't exactly feel like I'm in ideal condition."
[You were attacked. Your body was almost completely destroyed. Only your right thumb remained.]
Dante frowned and fell silent for a few seconds, staring at his own hands with a doubtful expression.
"My… thumb?"
[Yes. You reconstructed yourself from that fragment. However, the process is far from perfect. Your internal structure and my core remain damaged.]
"Great…" He muttered, trying to sit up. "I guess that explains why it feels like I got hit by a train."
[If you prefer, I can tell you it was worse.]
"Thanks for the encouragement."
He planted a hand on the ground and forced himself to breathe slowly.
His head ached as if something were drilling into his skull.
The air smelled of smoke, ash, and something else.
He lifted his gaze when he heard the distant echo of a fire.
Had something exploded not far from here?
"Perfect. I wake up half naked in the middle of nowhere, and on top of that, in a place that's on fire."
[I do not recommend moving, Master. Your body is still unstable. If you strain the regenerated fibers, they could—]
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. I'm not staying lying here."
With a grunt, he searched for something to lean on. A thick branch would do.
Using it, he forced himself to stand.
Each step was a small reminder of how fragile he was.
The fire in the distance partially illuminated the forest.
From there, he could see buildings on the outskirts of a city, half consumed.
What the hell happened here?
"Ugh… this doesn't look good."
[You should not approach. You are not in condition to fight.]
"I can still use magic."
[With the energy you have, you could barely cast a spark.]
"Something is better than nothing. Besides, I still remember how to use good old reliable Bufu."
[Do not do something stupid.]
Dante exhaled in resignation.
"Yeah, yeah. I was just saying."
He started walking, slow but determined.
The forest branches tangled in his long hair with every step.
"Damn it…" He muttered, tugging at a strand that had gotten caught.
The cold, rough ground did not help.
"This is ridiculous… pants torn down to shorts, and a stick for support. If anyone saw me, they'd think I escaped from a mental institution."
[Your ability to complain remains intact, at least.]
"How comforting to know my sarcasm survived."
[Proceed down the slope carefully. Do not use Bufu to descend. Creating an ice ramp in this condition would be quite stupid on your part.]
"You really suck the fun out of life."
[I saved your life. Or what? Do you want to end up on the operating table of some lunatic?]
A brief silence followed as he made his way down the hill.
When he finally reached solid ground, the city lights burned before him.
Several streets were completely engulfed in flames; others were plunged into total darkness.
"Looks like the set of some damn zombie apocalypse." He murmured under his breath.
[Stop thinking about absurd things. Head to that nearby boutique. Then find a shoe store. I can't keep looking at you like this.]
"How exactly is this?"
[Like a strange mix between a vagrant and a talentless stripper.]
"Charming."
He shrugged and walked toward the indicated shop.
The doors were broken.
Looking inside, there didn't seem to be anyone there.
He went in without much concern and searched for something he could use.
A decent pair of black pants, a white shirt, and a pair of shoes to match.
When he was done, he looked at himself in the reflection of a cracked mirror.
"Much better."
He gathered his hair and tied it into a low ponytail that rested over his shoulder.
As he headed for the exit, he noticed the posters and signs.
The characters looked fairly familiar.
Which made him wonder if he was in Japan.
[Do not rule out other regions. We still don't have exact coordinates.]
"Well, at least the language looks familiar."
He crossed the street toward a small shopping center.
The storefronts were intact, aside from the dust and flickering lights.
"This could work. Maybe there are supplies here, or something to defend myself with if it comes to that."
[Prioritize supplies. Do not assume you're alone. You said this looked like a zombie movie, right? Then you really should watch your back.]
Dante nodded.
Inside, the dimness greeted him with an unsettling silence.
The shelves were still stocked.
Some food packages had been opened and scattered across the floor, but they didn't look old. Some of the prepared food at nearby stalls was still slightly warm.
The blood smeared across the floor also looked fairly fresh.
"Okay. This is getting more and more depressing." He muttered as he approached a body crushed beneath a large piece of debris. Judging by the uniform, it might have been a police officer or something similar, so at least it seemed like a good bet to check if he had anything useful.
"Just a teaser? Well, I can probably make some use of this." Sighing, Dante stepped into an electronics store and grabbed a few phones. "Can you use these as material to synthesize a new temporary body?"
[Hmm… yes. That doesn't look bad at all.] Burroughs commented as a magic circle appeared beneath the phones, bathing them in a pale blue light. When it faded, a black phone remained, its case decorated with the image of a cup.
"Nice."
...
[Scan indicates the food was prepared less than a day ago. Destruction of the area occurred between four and five hours before your arrival.]
"So recent? Then whatever caused this could still be here."
[Probability: 67%.]
"Fantastic. I'm starting to feel right at home."
[Your sense of humor remains alarmingly stable.]
"I'll take that as a compliment."
He continued searching the place. He found a backpack, some canned food, and a couple of bottles of water.
The logo was unfamiliar.
Dante looked around once more.
Everything was far too quiet.
"Burroughs, what would be better? A car or a motorcycle?"
[Are you planning to steal one?]
"'Borrow.' Big difference."
[You seem to be adapting to this far too well.]
"Just your imagination. I'm a law-abiding citizen."
[Of course. A model of civic virtue.]
He walked out to the exterior parking lot.
Several car alarms from wrecked vehicles were triggering on and off by themselves.
There was plenty of destruction—enough to make him wonder what had happened here.
Amid the rubble, an almost intact motorcycle gleamed under the light of a streetlamp.
"Definitely cooler."
[Just because you can ride it one-handed and do stunts doesn't mean you should.]
"Relax. I promise I won't crash… maybe."
[That does not reassure me in the slightest.]
He started the engine.
The roar echoed through the empty streets, shattering the silence of the night.
He planned to look for some kind of shelter, but that plan fell apart immediately.
A roar sounded not far from where he was. He might have simply left if that had been all he heard.
But another sound reached his ears—a loud crash, something collapsing, and amid it all, a sharp scream.
Dante frowned and, with a sigh, let go of the motorcycle.
An energy signature caught his attention.
It was weak, but familiar. He couldn't identify it, and yet it felt disturbingly close.
"That feeling…" He murmured. "Iknow it. I just can't remember from where."
Unfortunately, he didn't have time to dwell on it when strange creatures began trying to attack him. He had no choice but to leave that nice motorcycle behind.
"Shit."
He turned down a narrow street, vaulted over the remains of an overturned car, and dodged fragments of a collapsed building. His breathing grew slightly heavy; his newly regenerated body wasn't ready for running like this, but he had no other option.
The sound of a dull impact forced him to stop after he spent part of his limited energy creating ice obstacles.
A few meters ahead, something had been hurled into a wall with such force that the concrete cracked. When the dust settled, he saw a white-haired girl clutching her stomach, trembling from the impact.
He didn't know who she was. And he was sure he had never seen her before.
But when he looked at her, his heart skipped a beat.
Why?
Why did he suddenly want to knock the teeth out of whatever had hit her?
For an instant, a name flashed through his mind like lightning.
"Kevin…?"
Her facial features were quite similar, though far more feminine for obvious reasons, and a warm, familiar sensation spread through his chest—before he quickly pushed it aside.
It wasn't him. How could it be? Kevin was undeniably a man; at most, this was just a strange coincidence.
The mutant's roar snapped him out of his thoughts.
It was so grotesque it could have crawled straight out of some idiot's gore-soaked fantasy, dark flesh riddled with cracks, a hunched posture, and one deformed arm covered in spikes of violet energy that pulsed as if it were about to explode.
The girl struggled to her feet. Her clothes had been torn by the impact, but she didn't seem to dwell on it; she looked ready to fight, even though it wasn't clear how strong either side was. From Dante's perspective, at least, it was obvious who had the worse odds.
Dante pushed aside whatever thoughts still lingered and let his body take over.
Even without the speed he once had when his body was in peak condition, he could still run.
The mutant raised its arm, ready to crush her.
"Go on, try it!" The girl snarled as she prepared to dodge.
Dante threw himself toward her. He could have fled on his own. He could have left her here to her fate.
Call it instinct, or whatever you like—but something inside him told him that if he did that, he would carry a regret that would gnaw at him for the rest of his life.
The blow from that ugly thing came down like a hammer. Dante managed to shove her out of the way, but the deformed claw grazed his side. The impact felt like getting hit by a truck.
"Ugh…" All the air was knocked from his lungs as he slammed into the ground.
[Master, that thing… it has a peculiar energy signature. Would you like me to attempt an analysis?]
"Do it."
Dante got back up before the pain could fully settle in. He was used to the sensation by now.
The girl stared at him as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"Who the hell are you?!"
The roars of the other creatures pursuing him were growing closer, and he doubted he could kill this one.
"Bufu!"
A shot of frost burst from his fingers, striking the mutant's torso. If he couldn't kill it, at least he could disable it for a while.
The monster growled in rage, but Dante just snorted and turned back to the girl with a grin.
Had he looked cool enough? He honestly hoped so—but there was no time to think about that. Right now, they needed to run.
"Run!"
She hesitated, then sighed, nodded, and took off. Dante followed, ignoring the burning pain in his side.
Behind them, the mutant roared in fury as other roars drew closer. The ground began to shake as the enraged footsteps of the creature grew heavier while it tried to keep up.
They crossed an intersection littered with wrecked cars, dodged a fallen streetlight, and slid beneath a concrete beam.
"This way!" The girl shouted as she turned into a narrow alley. Dante made sure to use the last remnants of his magic to create more ice obstacles before following her.
The alley ended at a collapsed building, and among the rubble there was a narrow opening.
After the girl slipped inside, Dante followed her, cursing the tight space.
The mutant reached the alley shortly after they vanished from sight. A pack of beasts crowded behind it. It roared in fury and smashed several nearby objects before finally leaving.
Looking through an opening in the wall, Dante finally collapsed to the ground after confirming that they were truly gone.
He silently gave thanks that most of his supplies were still intact in his backpack after so much shaking.
...
Dante let himself slump against a fallen concrete block. Perhaps from overusing magic, he felt a bit drowsy.
The girl watched him in silence, a confused expression on her face. After observing him for a few moments, she moved to check the situation outside. Once she saw they were alone, she decided to approach him.
Dante blinked in confusion when he felt a light tap on his forehead. It didn't hurt at all, but it caught him by surprise.
"You're an idiot!"
She sounded genuinely annoyed, but Dante had trouble understanding… why? Why was she angry?
Had he done something to upset her?
The girl crossed her arms, watching Dante stare back at her with his head tilted in confusion. He almost looked like he had a question mark floating above his head. That, somehow, only made her more irritated.
"You're hurt! You were staggering the moment I saw you, and you still did all that! What the hell were you thinking?!" She growled, grabbing him by the shoulders so he would look at her. "Were you trying to pull off some stupid, ridiculously elaborate suicide attempt?!"
Dante sighed as he looked into the girl's blue eyes.
"I thought…" He hesitated for a moment, unsure how to put it. "…that I couldn't let you die."
She stared at him intensely.
"Idiot…" She muttered, before dropping down beside him. "I… don't need help like that. I could have handled it on my own… it's happened before."
The wind whistled through the cracks of the ruined building.
"…Still, thanks." She murmured softly, stealing glances at him from the corner of her eye.
But Dante wasn't paying attention. His breathing stalled as a sharp pain bloomed in his chest; for an instant, he thought he heard manic laughter in his mind.
A shiver ran through his body.
Completely unaware of his condition, the girl hummed quietly as she kicked her legs in the air. After a brief consideration, she spoke again.
"My name's Kiana. Kiana Kaslana. And you?"
Dante opened one eye and looked at her, skillfully hiding his surprise at hearing her last name.
"Dante. Dante Angello Alessio."
Kiana snorted.
"That's a weird name. Are you some kind of aspiring mobster?"
"Hey, it's never too late to join the underworld." He chuckled. "In the future, I might even rule a country from the shadows."
She laughed too, but her thoughts soon drifted to that strange ice ability she had seen earlier.
"Are you a Valkyrie?"
Dante shook his head.
"No. As you can see, I'm very much a man."
"Then what are you?"
Dante looked at his hands.
Hands that once could set cities ablaze, freeze oceans, and destroy monsters effortlessly.
Now… they could barely summon a basic spell.
"Someone who's lost. Cold… and a little hungry." His expression darkened slightly as he sighed, trying to ease the tension. "You know… the classic homeless guy. Just with a few extra perks, if you get what I mean."
Kiana blinked, somewhat confused.
So… weren't their situations fairly similar? That thought struck her as oddly curious. She couldn't help but wonder if he, too, was searching for someone he had lost.
"Then… would you like to travel with me until you find your path?"
Kiana's eyes widened as she realized what she had just said. But it was too late to take it back—and besides, she was a woman of her word. Once said, she definitely wasn't going to retract it.
There was also a faint hope in her heart… maybe, just maybe, they weren't so different. If that were true, could he understand her?
She couldn't help but have a few expectations.
Dante looked at her, confused.
It was an extremely stupid idea to put into practice with a stranger—especially with a man. To make matters worse, he was injured and fairly useless in his current state.
And yet, he nodded. Once again, that strange sensation surged in his chest, pushing him to accept Kiana's proposal.
Kiana smiled as if she had won something important.
"Good. Then stop acting like you're about to die and tell me… do you know how to cook?"
Dante stared at her as if she had just said the most insane thing he'd heard all day.
"What?"
Kiana puffed out her cheeks in frustration.
"If we're going to stick together, someone has to cook." She coughed into her hand, trying to hide her embarrassment. "…And even though, as the great Lady Kiana Kaslana, my skills are unmatched, the truth is I need a break from that exhausting task!"
Dante sighed and rubbed his forehead, looking at the cute girl who stared at him proudly, chest puffed out with exaggerated confidence.
"Why do I feel like this has already happened to me a thousand times…?"
"I guess I can." With a tired sigh, he accepted his fate. Such were the things one had to do to avoid enduring loneliness.
Kiana clapped happily.
"Great! Then when we get out of here, you're cooking something."
Dante rolled his eyes, but a small smile crept onto his face.
Maybe—just maybe—it wouldn't be so bad to have her as a traveling companion.
***************
The sun was beginning to sink toward the horizon, staining the sky a deep red. Dante and Kiana were still taking shelter in the ruins, recovering their strength before moving on.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was nearby, Dante went back along the path they had taken and managed to recover the motorcycle. Aside from a few scratches, it was in perfect condition.
Using it, he was able to move around with Kiana and retrieve the things she had lost along the way. Fortunately, they weren't noticed.
Maybe those things needed to sleep too. Or maybe someone else had already taken care of them.
Either way, Dante had no intention of sticking around long enough to find out.
[Master, it has been determined that the energy contained within that mutant could accelerate your recovery if absorbed in moderation.]
"Do you mean my current state, or my condition?" Dante asked as he started down the road with Kiana riding behind him.
[Both. As stated before, do so in moderation.]
...
After driving for a few hours and a couple of minutes, they had to stop because Kiana needed to use the bathroom. Fortunately, they came across a gas station.
While Kiana was in the restroom, Dante made use of his degraded version of Illusionist to subtly suggest that the attendant let him fill up the tank for free.
He felt a bit sleazy having to do that, but he couldn't afford to be picky. He couldn't forget that he was stranded—without identification, cash, or anything that could validate who he was.
People like that didn't have many options. At least he hadn't harmed the poor man.
"Burroughs… give me an updated status."
[Total capacity: 2.4%.]
Dante let out a tired sigh and turned off his phone screen.
This was going to take a damn eternity.
"Were you playing video games?"
Kiana glanced at him curiously as she adjusted her clothes. Dante barely managed to hold back his laughter when he noticed the piece of toilet paper clinging to the sole of Kiana's shoe.
"Yeah."
At this point, lying was something he could do better than before. It wasn't exactly something he was proud of.
"And which one was it? By the way, how are you holding up?"
Dante chuckled.
"Huh? A little better, though if possible I'd really like to find a place to rest soon. And you?"
"Same here. We should try to find a nearby town. If we're lucky, we might find a cheap place to spend the night. I can proudly say I have a sixth sense for spotting cheap places!"
Kiana immediately hopped onto the motorcycle and gave it a light tap as she shouted, "Giddy up!".
Dante shook his head as he started the engine.
Off in search of a cheap place to sleep, then.