"Why are you here?"

The merchant felt a hint of fear at his question. She was Rank 2, someone who had gathered a thousand Core of Existence. But she felt so weak against Dante.

That was so common in this world. The only requirement to reach Rank 2 was absorbing 1000 Cores of Existence. And as a merchant, she didn't have to kill a thousand beasts to collect them.

She wasn't trained, she didn't have talent, she lacked experience, and her class wasn't giving her the potential to be a good fighter in the future.

That was why although most people would reach Rank 2 before their death, they'd still live as weak individuals even against fresh Rank 1 individuals. The real difference between ranks started from Rank 3, where they'd obtain the title of "Master" by the World Runes.

"Why? Because I have nowhere else to go, maybe." Jin shrugged, his eyes regaining their clarity: "Let's say I believe you when you say an entire town is about to be erased, where are you planning to go now? I plan to follow you for a while."

Dante ignored his question and glared at the merchant, waiting for an answer.

The merchant noticed his gaze and coughed awkwardly: "I-I have lost my carriage, so I want to follow you as well."

Dante sighed: "I won't go to that town, so now I'm going on my own path. I have no destination and will likely stay in the wilderness for a while. Go back to the merchants and try to convince them to return. Staying with me will lead you nowhere."

The merchant smiled: "They're fighting there over whether they have to believe you or not. Those who have families in the town aren't willing to change the direction of the convoy, some paranoid merchants and mercenaries decided to be safe and listen to you, while others want to send scouts to confirm that."

"So, I decided to ignore all of them and follow the great regressor who warned us. I'm sure this is the safest option."

Dante's eyes twitched: "And who said I'd accept that? I'm leaving, and you better return."

Before they could respond, Dante cast a spell instantly.

Shadow Spell — Shadow Flash!

Immediately, Jin and the merchant temporarily lost their vision. Seizing the opportunity, Dante ran to the tent, stored it back in his ring, and cast another spell.

Shadow Spell — Shadowstep!

He disappeared and emerged far from them. Without hesitation, he turned into shadow form and moved in a random direction.

Why would he waste time arguing with them when he could simply leave? He was faster than both of them.

After some time, he finally stopped at a good-looking suitable cave.

'Well, it seems like I found a better place because of them.'

A cave was indeed better than sleeping among the trees. It was safer and provided more warmth.

Dante walked to the cave casually, but suddenly, he saw a bear.

Growl!

The bear lunged toward Dante, its mouth showing rows of sharp teeth. But as it was about to bite Dante…

Splash!

Dante enhanced his demonic arm and delivered a rapid punch to the bear's stomach. His arm penetrated the bear's thick fur, bones, and muscles, passing through everything and emerging from its back.

The bear's blood and organs splashed across the ground. After a moment of shock, it fell lifeless to the ground, its stomach showing a wide hole like a donut.

'Oh, I forgot how fragile the rankless beasts are. I was trying to simply send it away.' Dante stared at the blood covering his arm with a raised eyebrow.

Next, he shrugged before retrieving the tent and setting it up again. Now, all that was left was a small campfire.

'Tsk, I should have killed them for interrupting me.'

Dante felt some annoyance as he remembered the bastards who…

'Damn you!' Dante gritted his teeth, realizing that it was another thought from Greed.

Or was it…?

"Are you sure he's here?"

"Did I disappoint you last time? Just shut the fuck up and follow me!"

"Huh?" Dante looked at the entrance of the cave, puzzled by the voices he had just heard.

'Did they return?'

After a few seconds, he saw the merchant and Jin stepping into the cave casually and smiled at him, as though that was the most normal thing to do.

'Fucking bastards!'

Dante stared at the merchant and Jin in confusion: "Why— no, how did you find me?"

Jin glanced at the merchant, who smiled innocently in response: "Every good merchant has a few secrets."

Dante glared at her in annoyance, causing her to flinch briefly, and hissed: "Don't follow me again if you want to walk on your two legs again."

"Man, why are you suddenly having anger issues?" Jin scratched his head, taking a big sip of his alcoholic drink.

Irritated, Dante decided to give a portion of the truth: "Listen, I have a curse related to misfortune, the kind of misfortune that causes lightning to strike your ass. Following me is no different than asking for death!"

Jin raised an eyebrow, looking at his own bag: "Did I really make him drink something?"

"I'm not lying, and absolutely not drunk!" Dante yelled.

A daze returned to Jin's eyes as he casually placed his hand on the merchant's shoulder: "Well, this woman here seems to have an ability to sense fortune opportunities or something, which helped her to sense your location. She said she knows how to make us rich and needs both of us for this, which means your curse has vanished or something, so cheer up!"

"Hey, you promised not to tell him!" The merchant angrily tried to punch Jin, but he easily dodged her.

She had told him about her ability because he was easy to convince, but she didn't know whether Dante would accept her offer or not.

She planned to lead him to the opportunity without him noticing, and Jin promised to help her.

Unfortunately for her, Jin was too drunk to remember that promise.

Dante's brows furrowed, looking at his own luck. Sadly, it was still growing slowly and leaking misfortune into the merchant and Jin's Wheels of luck.

On the other hand, the merchant seemed to truly have something strange in her luck. The fortune section in her Wheel had three silver arrows, leading her toward Dante, Jin, and another direction like a kind of compass.

'Am I really a fortunate opportunity for her?

It was his first time seeing such a phenomenon. He had seen luck that was silver in color before, but an arrow was new to him.

However, he didn't want to risk it and be the cause of another person's death, so he shook his head: "So what if you see a fortunate opportunity? I don't want to participate in that, you can go and… and become rich yourself."

'You bastard, you see this? I don't have a greedy nature, I can resist this!' Dante shouted inwardly, expecting Greed to hear him.

"I can't!" The merchant shouted, looking at Dante with begging eyes: "If my ability says you're needed, then we can't do it without you. Please, please, please, I'll make sure you'll be satisfied with whatever opportunity we're going to find. My ability never led me to a small fortune!"

The merchant seemed to be really desperate for Dante's help, likely because of her significant loss when the mysterious figure stole her carriage.

She had just lost everything she worked hard for, she had to seize this opportunity to recover if she wanted to live a good life.

Unfortunately for her, Dante wasn't willing to accept this: "No. And get yourself out of my cave, it's the night."

"Wait, listen to—!"

Before she couldn't continue, Dante pushed her until she was outside the cave. Then he glanced sharply at Jin.

"I'll leave myself, no… no need to use force." Jin smiled and stepped out of the cave.

Next, Dante took a nearby boulder and used it to block the entrance of the cave, ignoring the desperate merchant.

'Now, if they wanted to go into the cave, they'd cause noises.'

Dante's senses were so sharp now, so he would be able to easily wake up if they tried to sneak into the cave.

He ate a small meal, satisfying his stomach, and went into his tent.

He retrieved a sleeping bag from his ring, intending to provide himself more comfort. It was a good alternative for beds.

'Hopefully, these two won't be here by morning. And hopefully, the convoy listens to me.'

Finally, Dante closed his eyes and let the darkness cover his vision, only to open them again and retrieve a lantern from his ring.

With the light of the lantern illuminating the cave, he closed his eyes and slept peacefully.

Apparently, the dark entity gave him some trauma.

Dante was now afraid of sleeping in darkness.

✧A/N: Just saying hi to my readers in the pirate sites. Supporting me with powerstones is free btw.✧

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