Dante stormed down the corridor, jaw clenched, fists tight.
There was a strange emptiness in his chest — one he knew all too well.
The soul link… severed.
Ginny… she was gone. Ripped away ? Dead ? Taken ?
His mind refused to accept it. No — she was alive. She had to be.
His eyes scanned every door, nothing.
Then, at the end of a narrower hallway, he stopped. A door stood ajar.
He placed a hesitant hand on the knob, turning it slowly. It creaked open.
A nursery. Toys scattered across the floor. A mobile hung from the ceiling above an empty crib.
Dante stepped forward, crouched down, and picked up a teddy bear. One eye was missing... but the other gleamed unnaturally.
He frowned, examining the toy.
And then — a voice, sudden, from nowhere :
— "Hey there, Dante. Been a while…"
Dante shot to his feet, scanning the room.
The voice seemed to come from the dolls lined up on a shelf. Hiddenspeakers ?
— "Who's there ?! Show yourself!" he barked.
— "You've already forgotten me ? Your beloved big brother ? That hurts."
Dante's stomach twisted. Big brother ? His vessel didn't have one. Not that he knew of.
— "I don't know you."
— "Oh, but I know you. Intimately. I was there… through all your sleepless nights. When you cried alone. When you raged against the world. I was the shadow lurking behind your pain. The architect of your misery."
— "Bullshit. Whoever you are, you're delusional."
— "Then let me gift you a memory… a little family tale," the voice purred.
"A mother falls head over heels for a man, leaves her husband and kids behind, runs away with him. One of her sons — already unstable — watches his world crumble. Treated like a mistake. And still, she carries on, carefree, gives birth to another child. Maybe the husband's. Maybe the lover's. Who knows ?
But her affection turns entirely to that unborn child. The eldest son ? Forgotten."
The voice grew darker, laced with venom.
— "He tried everything to win her love back. Even pushed her down the stairs… while she was pregnant."
Dante stepped back, eyes wide.
— "You're crazy…"
— "No. I'm clear-headed. I'm the product of what this family made me.
And now, that same mother — that filthy whore — wants my fortune for her bastard children. For you, Dante. And that little Jophiel."
The voice burst into laughter.
— "I want to see you fall, begging. Killing you would be too easy… too quick."
— "Remember your girlfriend? The one you found strangled in that empty park?
That was me."
Dante's legs went weak.
— "Your father's death? Me again. Your mother's endless misfortunes? Guess who.
I've been pulling the strings from the start, Dante. You've just been my puppet."
His head dropped, black hair falling over his eyes.
— "You're just a spoiled brat… a child playing god because you think your suffering makes you special."
— "I bet you're dying to see me, aren't you ?"
— "Not really."
— "Oh, but you will. You have no choice. Meet me in the Patriarch's Chamber.
That's where your story ends… or truly begins."
A sharp click. The voice cut off.
---
Massive doors creaked open, echoing through the manor's west wing.
The room was vast. Old-world decor, tapestries, portraits. And at the far end, a raised stone throne.
His gaze dropped to the floor first.
Tristan Caledron's lifeless body lay sprawled out.
Eyes wide open, mouth frozen mid-scream. No blood, he hadn't been dead long.
On the throne sat Doc C, idly spinning a cane between his fingers, as if bored.
— "You kept me waiting," he murmured, not even glancing up.
Kang didn't answer right away. He stepped forward.
— "You killed Tristan."
— "So what? You were planning to do it yourself."
Kang clenched his fists.
— "Where's the last eye? The one from our mother."
A smirk tugged at Doc C's lips.
— "Ah. So that's what you're after.
Still chasing scraps of a woman who never loved you the same.
Tragic, isn't it?"
Kang stepped closer. Fury rising.
— "I didn't ask for your opinion. Just tell me where it is."
— "And if I don't? You gonna fight me? Like Malek? That clown?"
He chuckled.
— "Is he still breathing? Or did you have to scrape his remains into a spoon?"
Kang didn't reply. His jaw tightened. He was seconds from striking… but held back.
Doc C rose slowly to his feet.
— "Enough talk. I suppose this is the part where you think you've got a chance."
He opened a small chest beside the throne — an ancient box, carved with chinese symbols.
— "What the hell is that…"
Doc C cast him a sideways glance, amused.
— "An old Chinese tradition. A Gû. They stuff monsters together and force them to kill each other.
The survivor is the chosen poison — the deadliest of them all. That's what's going to kill you."
He pressed a seal at the center of the box. Kang instinctively stepped back.
Something slithered out — a massive creature with far too many limbs.
— "Lorenth," Doc C whispered. "My last mutant. Mutation's getting boring — I want to explore deeper things."
The creature let out a scream.
Kang froze — completely paralyzed.
His body refused to move even though he wasn't scared, it was as if someone or something was bothering him.
The monster raised a hand.
— "Goodbye," said Doc C coldly.
Everything went black. No sound, no sensation. Nothingness.
Then — a light. A presence.
Kang opened his eyes to a void space. A young man stood before him, hands behind his back, expression calm.
— "Kang Soo Jin, It is an honor to be owned by you."
The young man bowed gently. Kang didn't understand at first.
— "I'm Dante Godwin."
Kang frowned.
— "Why now ?"
— "Because this is my battle. Not yours.
He hates me. He wants me erased.
And it's my mother he want to murder."
He walked a few steps through the void. His voice was quiet, but firm.
— "I saw you fight. I saw your heart.
Despite what the propaganda says… you're trying to save people. I'm just trying to save my family."
Kang crossed his arms.
— "You got a plan ?"
Dante smiled.
— "I just want him to know… he'll never win."
— "Then go. Take over."
— "Thank you, master."