’... what the hell am I doing?’
The thought came to Dante out of nowhere, bringing his attention to his gauntlet-clad right hand. Currently, he was wearing Type 9-3, Volcan’s recommended armor for dealing with the two wizards he was fighting, both of whom were Level 2.
His resident AI wasn’t exaggerating when he said Type 9 specialized in dealing with anything Aether-related. Type 9-3’s main ability, Aether Distortion, forces the deactivation of any magic by disrupting the cosmic energy fueling it.
Using that ability, he forced the deactivation of whatever spell the enemy relied on to hide themselves. It should have been a moment of triumph. He had just made his superiority clear and established his victory as something inevitable, but instead, all Dante felt was that he was making a very, very big mistake.
Turning to glance at one of the spies who had stalked him for the past few days, he tried to think of what brought him all the way to this point.
Neo-Vatra, city hall plaza, shortly before Flame Guard’s arrival.
[Dante, I do not believe it is a wise idea.]
As they let the tide of rioting protesters lead them to the city hall, Dante had explained the new plan to his resident AI. The original would have ended with him getting shot or arrested. It was a perfect plan that would have cleared him of suspicion if he had gone through with it, but Dante just had to get that idea after the Catalyst-born Genomes appeared.
[Would attacking those two not lead to more suspicion being placed on you?] Volcan asked.
’Yeah, I can see that happening...’ Dante thought. ’But... It just doesn’t feel right to let them go.’
Dante was tired. He was tired of people spying on him, and he was tired of just letting them get away with it. Allowing his anger to influence his decisions was the epitome of stupidity, but he was going to do it anyway. Worst-case scenario, he could always disappear.
[Flame Guard is going to show up soon as well. You would be risking being discovered by them.]
A big part of the new plan was blaming everything he’s going to do on Neo-Vatra’s protectors, the superhero team stationed at the City Center. However, since he was going to be using VOLCAN the entire time, he risked them seeing him in it as well.
A month ago, Dante had killed their leader using one of the armors granted to him by the relic. He was sure they were on guard for any signs of its presence, so using it in a place so close to an incident they were involved in was like asking to be caught.
’Let’s... treat this as an experiment.’ As they approached the gates of the city hall, Dante made his final decision. ’We will try to finish things without being discovered, and if that happens, we will use that opportunity to see if we can escape.’
The more he thought about it, the more his plan seemed like a very bad idea. Dante was still going through with it, however, and he had no intention of stopping now.
The rioting protesters stormed the city hall and quickly spread through its interior. They went around destroying the furniture and decorations, breaking everything that could be broken, and stealing anything worth stealing.
Pretending to do the same, Dante messed around for a few seconds before choosing a place to hide. He then asked Volcan to activate Ghost Mode.
Funnily enough, the security system in a government building turned out to be far weaker than that of a hotel. In just a few seconds, Dante became invisible to all its cameras and sensors, allowing him to move around without being detected.
After making his way to the back of the building, he sneaked into one of the rooms that had yet to be ravaged and got out through one of the windows. The back of the city hall had a huge garden sealed off by a high fence. Since he didn’t have the time to look for an exit, Dante decided to jump over it.
’Alright, Volcan, ’ He thought. ’Give me 5-1’
Threads of light erupted from Dante’s chest and quickly wrapped around his body. In no more than two seconds, he was clad in another one of Volcan’s armors.
Its design resembled that of Type 3-2, which he had used before. Most of it was flexible fabric with harder material around the feet, arms, and chest, with a helmet to cover the head. Its colors were mostly dark, and with how sharp the plated sections appeared, it reminded him of Type 5-6, the first armor he used.
As expected, the familiar strain assaulted his body as soon as the armor took form. As it was only a Level 1 armor, the pain was nothing more than a mild annoyance, and it would remain that way for at least the first five minutes. Dante tried to ignore it and looked at the updated status window that had appeared.
Baseline Retention: Intermediate (95%)
Computing Power: 7 (+5)
Neural Interface Module (C)
Optic Augmentation Module (C)
Instant Acceleration.
Type 5 was entirely focused on speed, so it wasn’t strange to see that the biggest stat boost he received was in Agility.
’Still...’ Dante frowned at the numbers. ’Five times, isn’t that a bit...’
He decided to go straight to the testing, taking a moment to stretch his limbs before that. Walking out of the shadows, making sure to be careful with each step he took, Dante faced the long stone road that stretched through the garden.
’Alright...’ He took a deep breath and moved his right leg, taking the first step. ’Let’s do this!’
As he was careful not to make any sudden moves, the boost in Agility he received wasn’t apparent until he actively tried to increase his speed. The first steps were no different from his standard jogging speed, but then he started to feel a strange force pushing him forward, moving his legs a little faster.
His feet started to reach the ground earlier than expected. The changes kept stacking and the strain caused by the armor increased along them. At one point, Dante noticed that he had started sprinting even though it felt like he had yet to reach the maximum speed granted by the armor.
Volcan had once told him that Type 5 put a lot more strain on the body than Type 3, and only now did he understand why. Remaining still reduces the strain, which meant moving around did the opposite. Since Type 5 required constant movement to make use of its abilities, it was only natural that the strain would be greater than Type 3, which specializes in lightning and electricity.
’Goddamnn it...’ he grinned behind the visor of his helmet. ’Why does it have to hurt ?’
The pain was still nothing he couldn’t handle so he lowered his posture and accelerated even further. In a matter of a few seconds, he broke beyond the natural limit of his body and reached a speed he never knew was possible for humans.
He crossed the garden and found himself on a collision course with another part of the fence surrounding it. Glancing at the building to his left, Dante made a decision on the spot and let his body bend in on itself before channeling all his strength into one jump, launching himself into the air and bouncing off the white building, gaining more than enough altitude to pass over the fence.
Flying a couple dozen meters in the air, Dante felt his face stretch thanks to the maniacal grin he was wearing behind that helmet. The thrill of the feat he just performed was intoxicating, but all of it went away as the asphalt road quickly approached.
It was only as gravity began pulling him down that he realized he hadn’t given any thought to the landing. With no time to think, Dante let his natural reactions take over. The height of his fall might’ve exceeded anything he had survived, but the concept should still be the same.
Timing his movements, he relaxed his joints and allowed his body to roll on the ground, dispersing the force of the impact before seamlessly transitioning back to a sprint.
Dante knew his parkour skills weren’t much to speak of, which is why he was exhilarated to have pulled that off. Adding to that the thrill from the speed granted to him by the armor, his mind was hit by a wave of dopamine he hadn’t experienced in a very long while, causing his thoughts to become hyper fixated on one thing.
As if responding to that thought, the armor activated its one and only ability, granting him exactly what he asked for. His body kept low, he put all his strength into his right leg, kicking the ground to launch himself forward. Instead of taking a single step, however, he suddenly vanished.
An instant later, the street behind the city hall exploded with a sudden boom.