'What now?'

Staring at the vast sky, Dante lay on the snow while straining his mind.

He didn't want to be among people anymore, not before he could fix the problem of his misfortune.

It might take him weeks, months, or years. But he didn't care. Considering that his bloodlines and stats would increase his lifespan, enduring a few years to have a happy, guiltless life for decades was manageable.

'But what about the Sin of Greed?'

He also had to find a way to deal with the centipede. He had only four years, according to the dark entity. After that, he'd have to expect a mental invasion at any moment. He'd certainly wait for Dante to be at his lowest before striking.

And the dark entity himself was another problem. He made Dante open his eyes to the real dangers of this world.

'I can't kill one of the darkness monsters, and the dark entity was ruling over thousands of them. An entire town is about to be erased because of a hidden Ether treasure.'

That showed Dante how fragile a town could be in this world. If a higher being wanted something, it wouldn't care about innocent humans and the rulers of the kingdom.

'But what did he mean by an Ether Treasure? Wait, could that be the reason why Silverwood is silver?'

That might be possible. If a magical item related to silver Ether was hidden there and leaking its effects into the trees, then it was only a matter of time before someone could discover that.

And apparently, the higher beings could also use Ether. Dante suspected that after seeing the Ether chains inside the ancient ruins, and seeing the entity's interest in an Ether treasure almost confirmed that.

'Well… I know only one thing that I can do.'

Dante stood up then focused on Fafnir's senses. He saw that Fafnir was worried, hesitating between staying like that or killing himself. He was still with Elizabeth, seemingly as a result of the regression.

'Don't kill yourself, not yet. You'll still help me in gathering cores. We have to reach not only Rank 2, but even Rank 3 as fast as possible.'

The plan was simple, yet effective. He and Fafnir would keep fighting, one in the forest, and the other in the war. Gathering cores was now their priority.

He knew that advancing in ranks would give him more abilities. Who knows? He might get an ability that could let him control his own misfortune.

Additionally, he knew that the dark entity was a Crowned Existence, just like Dante. Dante had a slight hope of becoming at least half as powerful as the dark entity. By reaching such a high level, Dante would be able to show at least some resistance.

Of course, Dante would first need to confirm that the giants were the real villains. He couldn't blindly trust the newspapers.

'So, where should I go now?'

Dante had already decided not to go near any civilization. The food and water stored in his ring should last for a month, and he could simply hunt some beasts to replace the food he'd consume.

However, he still didn't have any safe place to go. He was in a forest filled with monsters. Although he was okay with fighting beasts, the Rank 2 beasts were beyond his capabilities.

'Perhaps I should make a tree house and live here now, or maybe I should travel and try to find a good place for gathering cores. Should I toss a coin for this?'

Dante immediately channeled his mana, but as he was about to make the coin materialize, he changed his mind midway and dismissed that thought.

'Next time I trust this thing, I might find myself surrounded by demons.'

That coin had sent him to the town that was obviously a certain death. It might be useful sometimes, but it wasn't absolute.

Maybe he needed to improve that coin spell before using it again. Until then, it was better not to use it unless absolute necessity.

Sighing helplessly, he walked deeper into the forest, going far away from the convoy. He found himself a good flat spot to spend the night, so he brought a tent out of his ring.

The common tents in this world weren't as advanced as the ones on Earth, but they'd be enough to block the cold wind.

After a few minutes, Dante set up the tent, wrapped himself with a blanket, and made a small campfire to warm himself himself.

All that time, he was focusing on Fafnir's senses to entertain himself, giving himself a fake feeling of companionship.

He listened to the mercenaries, helped the convoy when they needed him, and spent time with Elizabeth secretly. He didn't want anyone to know that the mysterious shadow was related to her.

He was communicating with her by holding her hand and making her write and sense and the words he wanted to say.

He told her that he had a small problem with the merchants, which made him decide to travel alone.

'Why don't I tell her about what had truly started the war?'

As fast as this thought formed in his mind, he shook his head and dismissed it immediately.

'Because I'm a selfish, greedy bastard. I'm still manipulating the poor girl into thinking that I'm a honest person. After knowing about what started the war by herself, she'd simply think that I didn't know about it and therefore didn't tell her.'

Dante's expression turned grim, but then he noticed that his thoughts were suspicious.

'But if I tell her now, while I am incapable of getting newspapers, she'll know that I knew this for a long time and didn't tell her. If that happened, she wouldn't need much intelligence to know that I waited for her to leave before telling her.'

"..."

'Yeah, it's definitely that fucking centipede.'

Dante suddenly heard himself chuckle: 'That fucking centipede isn't a hypocrite at least. Stop ignoring your true nature and change your pathetic mindset.'

'You know that not telling her would lead to better results for you, so accept it! Or you can ignore me, ignore your nature, and see how your misfortune will turn the simple act of telling her the truth into a calamity.'

Dante shook his head: 'That can't happen, you're just exaggerating to weaken my mind again.'

'Why would I do that?' Greed laughed: 'My mental power is sealed by that kid, I can't harm you for four years. I'm genuinely trying to help you, as it'd be a shame if you die before the four years end because of your stupid morals.'

'Go and try. Tell her and see how the fragile friendship between you and her will shatter. When she doesn't trust you as a friend anymore, her chances of telling her kingdom about you will increase, especially with your cursed misfortune.'

'In the best case, tens of holy knights would come into Ashton Kingdom searching for you, intending to hand you over to the giants as a sacrifice to end the war.'

'In the likely worst case, they might stop the war immediately and cooperate with the giants to catch you, even King Valor himself might come searching for you. Of course, everything I said is just two possibilities out of countless possibilities, but are you willing to take the risk?'

'Would discarding your greed because of a meaningless guilt be the wise option in your situation?'

Dante gritted his teeth, but he didn't say a single word.

Sin of Greed was right—telling Elizabeth about that now might be dangerous, as the odds of her trying to sell him would increase after knowing by about the war by him. But not telling her would mean accepting Greed's words and nature.

'Damn you!'

Eventually, he decided to just rest tonight and think of all that later.

'Good boy. Next, you'll realize that killing her would be even safer. I'll be waiting for that moment.'

"...."

Dante regained the urge to cut his arm.

"Are you sure we aren't just lost?"

"Don't underestimate me, I know that he's near."

Dante suddenly heard the voices of two people, a man and a woman, speaking. He felt that they were familiar, so he searched in his mind for the source of that familiarity until he finally remembered them.

'Did they follow me? But how? I'm far away from the convoy.'

He had used Shadowstep and even ran with his fastest speed for some time. They weren't supposed to be able to find him.

After a moment of waiting, two familiar mercenaries appeared in his sight.

The first was a blonde man with golden eyes. He wore a backpack, holding a golden sword in one hand and a bag filled with alcoholic drinks on the other, and he walked toward Dante with unfocused eyes.

Obviously, that drunk guy was Jin.

The second was a woman with red hair and matching red eyes. She had nothing other than her clothes and a small dagger, and she was very familiar to Dante.

'Isn't she the merchant who lost her carriage?'

Dante couldn't help but look at them with confusion, especially the merchant. Why and how did they follow him?

After a few seconds, they finally came out of a bush, standing right in front of Dante, who looked at them with his arms crossed.

"Told you my ability is absolute!" The merchant laughed in pride.

Jin rolled his eyes: "With how you described it, then it might have been leading us to his clothes and sword, not him."

The merchant's smile froze: "Oh… it's possible."

Tap!

Dante tapped the ground brutally in annoyance, piercing the layer of now and reaching the solid ground.

The merchant flinched, and Jin casually looked at Dante with semi-sleepy eyes, making Dante certain Jin was still drunk.

Glaring sharply at them, Dante hissed: "Why are you here?"

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