Dante lay in his room, his head resting on Vexion's lap as she calmly brushed his hair. She gazed down at him with quiet adoration, no longer the flustered girl who stumbled over her words. Instead, she had become composed—still prone to blushing, but able to speak casually, though never without reverence.
At times, she would act as though simply being by his side was an unimaginable blessing, a divine favor he had granted her.
Dante never corrected her.
In truth, her usefulness was outgrowing even what he had expected. His lack of having experience in the romance field didn't really bother him though. 'If she likes me she likes me why question the complicated things?,
It was simply too easy, too quick and annoying that a few years around her caused such a 'weakness' in his mind and heart. Nonetheless, all he needed to do was be strong enough to protect her and have her be strong enough to protect him and herself, hence the methods of training her, were deeply ruthless.
At the end of the day, sexy was useless if he was about to die. So he 'cared' if she was useful. And from what he gathered she was proving to be very useful.
It was because of that, that he often considered granting her another skill— but he always held back. Each time she professed her love, admiration, or loyalty, he gained a surge of loyalty points. The skill itself was of little use to him, but the sheer number of points it generated more than made up for that. On an average day, just from Vexion alone, he gained between two to three thousand points.
The only restriction was that he couldn't force someone to express their devotion, he tried to. It had to be sincere. But if they did, he could extract a maximum of three thousand points from them daily.
Dante sighed contentedly, eyes still closed, as Vexion continued brushing his hair with long, careful strokes.
"I'm giving you a mission, by the way. I won't be involved much in it."
Vexion immediately straightened, her expression shifting into one of intense focus. But beneath her composure, a thrill of pride and excitement surged through her.
Her first mission.
Dante lazily opened his status panel alongside hers.
Name: Dante
Origin: Sandrian Empire, Northeast Continent Age: 16 years old Race: Elf Moral Alignment: Evil, Vile, Heinous, Unstable, Malevolent, … (etc.) MEP (Mastery Experience Points):Loyal Skill Bestowal – Legendary Tier: Lvl 4 (10%) Martial Apex – Legendary Tier: Lvl 10 (21%) Mental Domination – Mystical Tier: Lvl 1 (40%) Spatial Body – Mystical Tier: Lvl 1 (46%) Second Mind – Legendary Tier: Lvl 15 (99%) Abyss Veil – Legendary Tier: Lvl 10 (3%)
Name: Vexion
Age: 19 years old Origin: Sandrian Empire Race: Half-elf (Half-demon, Half-elf mother; Half-beastkind, Half-human father) Moral Alignment: Evil, Heinous, Destructive MEP (Mastery Experience):Malevolent Reign – Legendary Tier: Lvl 5 [20 %]
Dante clicked his tongue in irritation.
'Why are her skills so much stronger than mine? Tsk. It's fine. I need her to be as close in strength to me as possible. I can't afford to let her die. She has to be strong enough to survive whatever comes.'
Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes.
"We will be making a detour."
Vexion continued brushing his hair as she blinked "To where Master?" Dante continued "Pick up another piece of the great Dante's chess game, specifically Lexa"
Vexion's heart twisted with jealousy, but she merely pouted and listened obediently.
"Apparently Lexas people are at war" Vexion turned her head as she asked. "You mean the dark elves?". He nodded "Their in some difficult shit apparently. For them that is" He smiled as he scratched his nose "Good timing for me for me though".
Vexion covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. 'Master is so shameless,' she thought fondly.
"She's going to need some help, I plan on using this opportunity to gain further favour and trust from her and teach her some moral lessons". He continued
"I need leverage. Once I save her, I want her to feel deeply indebted to me. To do that, her parents must survive whatever happens. I have to ensure they do."
'I need her loyalty to be high enough after all'
He sat up slightly, his white-silver-ish hair cascading over his shoulders. "I'll be heading into their territory first to negotiate with someone—a Mythical Being." Vexion listened intently, nodding as he explained. She then paused.
"Master" Dante looked at her his head turning in her lap. She took a deep breath her heart beating at his beauty so near her. "Did you say you're going to...negotiate with a Mythical being?"
"Mhm"
"…"
He chuckled "Relax. In any case My father said there are, as far as he knew, a few but no more than five Sovereigns in the Dark Elf-controlled empires. They're keeping the Dark Elves from being completely wiped out." He smiled as he continued "Those old bastards are also why I'm taking a softer approach. But the war is a good opportunity to head there unnoticed"
He stood up from the bed and walked to the window "Imagine the continent as a rough square" His hand drawing one lazily in the air. "This side , is where we are"His hand pointing to the left or the west side , it moved again to the east as he said "Here we have the barbarian tribes" He smilled as a placed his finger in the middle "Guess who's here"
Vexion eyes widened a bit "The dark elves?". He nodded "Everyone is out for the poor guys". She nodded and asked again, "So their trapped" . Dante nodded turning around as he placed his hands in his pockets "Bingo, trapped and desperate and desperate people make mistakes and mistakes make opportunities"
Vexion absorbed the information, her sharp mind processing the implications.
"Lexa's father recently became a True Sage, and his wife followed soon after entering the sage realms, I have no clear understanding what level in skill is given which title , but its not important i kow enough in to determine who to run from , who to be cautious of and who to kill If I want to."
...
"They also have a Mythical Being as an ancestor. That complicates things. I don't know much about him, but that's fine.." He paused, gauging whether she was following. Seeing her nod, he continued.
"I plan to convince a Mythical Being from a rival Dark Elf empire to act against them. Ideally, both will die but that's not too important. More importantly, I want to witness a battle at that level."
Vexion turned her head as she asked "Master looks lazy but you tend to know a lot of information"
He chuckled as he scratched his ear thinking "During our training I did do some reckon and roughly figured out some information, from the maids and solders"
"Lexa's ancestor is a apparently a Level 2 Mythical Being. The Mythical Being from the rival empire is also Level 2. If I can't force him to act, I'll ask my mother for assistance. But I'd rather avoid that for now. She's supposedly on the verge of becoming a Level 5 Mythical Being I don't know if it's true but if so I need to save my trump cards for now. My entire family is honestly, I have a big feeling that they're more powerful than they let on"
"The info is also muddy so those guys could be level 3 either way I know enough to say I cant fight such a powerful being, more so seeing as my skills haven't budged since I was born and started training.
Vexion nodded, committing his words to memory. Then, unable to hold back any longer, she asked with a slight pout, "Do you want her as your woman? Is that why we're going to get her?"
Dante chuckled. "Perhaps. you jealous now? "
She huffed, crossing her arms. "No"
"Oh that sounded super convincing"
"….Master"
Dante laughed as he neared the bed looking into her eyes as he caressed her hair "Relax If I wanted another women that badly, Id have already don't something. Right now shes useful that's all. As a subordinate she would be very useful , worth investing in if things pan out the way I want them to"
His eyes neared hers as he bent on the bed his forehead against her's "But your my masterpiece, theres no need to compare yourself against someone Im merely recruiting"
Vexion face grew redder with each second. She barely could say anything, managing only a "hmm". Dante smiled as he stood upright.
'If I can ensure her absolute loyalty, I can mold her into something useful. That said, none of my subordinates will ever surpass you."
Vexion's pout melted into a pleased smile. "Master is too kind." Date laughed 'She's so easy'.
"What I need from you," Dante said, locking eyes with her, "is to ensure everything goes according to plan."
Dante walked to the window, gazing out again this time as if looking at something with a small smile. Vexion caught his reflection in the glass, her heart fluttering 'Master, has grown far too beautiful' .
"Your job is to cause chaos in her empire while this war is ongoing. Then teach her that the world is far crueler than she believes it to be. And when things seem desperate, I will intervene, the hero saving the day. Father will expand into their territory soon—Dark Elf lands are the most mineral-rich on the continent after all. So you could say I'm sparing her life, because once Father sends his other subordinates, especially those in the mystical tier, things won't be pretty."
His voice carried amusement, but his eyes were cold. "But back to your role. I want you to cause chaos. You're no match for whatever the "True Sages" are as of yet, but you're more than capable of handling the kings of their kingdoms. Start by leading a bloodbath in the middle of the war—make it a spectacle of torture. I need her to grow.
'Lexi will thank me in due time, it's essential for her character development… or something like that, indeed, I'm being kind'
Dante chuckled at his own words, entertained by the thought, while Vexion simply shook her head with a soft laugh. "Do you want her to be tortured, or to witness torture?" she asked, her tone filled with intrigue.
Dante turned, shrugging. "You can decide how you go about it. I just need her to feel the need to grow stronger and to understand how truly evil creatures can be. I won't provide you with any funds, so how you gather an army in the midst of this and cause further chaos or convince others to commit heinous acts alongside you is entirely up to you."
Vexion watched as Dante's form began to shimmer, fading from sight. Smiling, she stepped forward, and in an instant, they both vanished from the room.
They reappeared in a space that existed between the third and fifth layers of space time. Dante had only scratched the surface of understanding these spatial layers, yet he knew one thing for certain—he was possibly the only being at least whom he knew capable of entering the third to fifth layers of the spatial realm. These layers weren't separate worlds, but rather, nested dimensions existing within the same reality.
The concept, as explained by the system, was akin to standing in a room inside another room, inside yet another, until one reached the fifth room. Each layer was enclosed within the previous one, like a series of nested dolls, yet all remained within the same overarching structure—the "house" that represented their world. The true challenge wasn't just navigating these layers but even recognizing the first threshold or doorway that led into them.
As Dante stood in this liminal space, he contemplated just how much deeper he could go. The knowledge tantalized him, but for now, there were other matters at hand. He turned to Vexion, his eyes gleaming with amusement. "Let's begin."