Dante let out a long breath.
The second the system prompt chimed in, he dispelled his Blood Butcher form without hesitation.
When Butcher emerged from his chest, he looked a little tired but didn't immediately pass out like Ion Shark.
That, of course, was the difference between the Blood Butcher form and Ion Man.
Blood Butcher was all brute stats. Ion Man? Could literally bend time and rewrite reality.
Totally different energy bills.
Looking at it from that angle, yeah—Green and Yellow Lantern Beasts really were the powerhouses of the seven Corps.
[Mission Characters: Hal Jordan, Selina Kyle, Agatha Harkness, Wanda Maximoff, Chthon, Moon Girl]
[Acquired Willpower: Hal Jordan]
[Acquired Passive Bonus: Selina Kyle – Top-Tier Charm]
[Acquired Companion: Agatha Harkness's Demon Cat – Ebony]
[Acquired Magic: Wanda Maximoff's Chaos Magic]
[Acquired Title: Chthon's Old God Status]
[Acquired Ability: Moon Girl's Mental Link]
---
"Dante, why are you zoning out?" Butcher's voice poked into his ear.
"I was thinking of something happy."
He snapped back to reality, habitually patted his head, and tucked hi. back into the Red Lantern Furnace for rest.
Then he started going through his reward panel.
Hal Jordan's willpower? Holy crap.
Good news: Now he had Hal Jordan's willpower and Bruce Wayne's. His Green Lantern stats were basically cracked.
Bad news: He was now officially stuck with a Green Lantern setup.
But once he read the system description more carefully, he got the full picture.
Willpower wasn't just added like 10 + 10 = 20.
It was added, then multiplied by a coefficient, then averaged out.
So the final conclusion?
[Current Willpower Strength: Approximately 1.5x Original Level]
Keyword: "approximately." Because willpower wasn't completely quantifiable, and it fluctuated based on mood swings and how much coffee you've had.
Still, Dante was pleased.
He hadn't expected to get anything useful from Hal Jordan. The guy's real power came from the ring, and the rest was just flying and cheesy monologues.
But then came the next reward and his brain short-circuited.
["Top-tier charm bonus."]
He understood every word.
Together? He had no idea what the hell it meant.
Was it… was this because he joked about Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne hooking up earlier?
Was this… real?
Dante knew his Selina wasn't simple. I mean, she turned the Batman into a helpless simp.
But what was this thing on him now?
Was it compatible with the male body?!
Just as he was wrestling with the metaphysical implications of magical seduction stats, a rustling sound came from the nearby bushes.
Dante turned to look.
Something black launched straight at his face.
Then—darkness.
A soft thud and—
"Meow!"
"WHAT THE—Whose damn hair clip is this?!"
Dante ripped the creature off his face.
It was a sleek black cat, fluff as dark as a new moon. Four little paws curled pitifully, staring up at him with glimmering golden eyes.
Adorable.
"Is this… Agatha Harkness's demon cat?"
Curious, Dante flipped it over, checked the fur, the paws, the little bell around its neck...
Shouldn't system rewards be, like, skills?
Why was he getting a whole living animal?
Then he felt it.
The moment he made contact, a strange pulse ran through his body.
Symbiosis.
A familiar-style bond.
No wonder it counted as an "ability."
Once bonded, the demon cat shared his magic stats and recovery capabilities. He could even project his consciousness into it.
"Ebony, huh? Lame name, but whatever."
Ebony the Demon Cat perched on his shoulder while Dante returned to skimming through rewards.
Next up? The real power bomb.
[Acquired Magic: Chaos Magic – Scarlet Witch]
What's "terrifying"?
Chaos Magic.
Even without Wanda's mutant gene enhancements, it was already stupidly powerful.
This was Chthon's ace-in-the-hole. His signature move.
Don't get it twisted—Chthon might've gotten bodied by Dante, but that wasn't peak Chthon.
If he'd shown up in top form, Dante still would've won—but only after tapping every last resource, and even then, it would've been a coin toss on who made it out alive.
But a win was a win.
The winner never reflects. The loser? Already digested.
And with Chthon's soul gone, Dante received.
[Acquired Title: Old God Status – Chthon]
"Old God status? Am I a god now?"
Dante examined his hand.
Looked the same.
So this was the only reward he didn't fully understand. Still, deep inside, he had a weird feeling that this one would matter someday.
Then came the last item.
[Acquired Ability: Moon Girl's Mental Link]
No need to explain, this was her Inhuman ability.
But unlike Moon Girl, who was passively soul-linked to Devil Dinosaur from day one, Dante got to choose his link.
Once. Permanent.
He scoffed.
He thought about linking it to Ebony, but since Ebony was already bonded, that'd be a waste.
Better to wait. Who knows? Might come in clutch later.
After collecting everything, Dante flew back toward Storybrooke Town.
There were still loose ends to tie up.
When he passed the old town sign that used to say "Welcome to Storybrooke Town," he noticed it had morphed into a tacky scenic area billboard.
Beer ads. Hotels. Amusement parks. Camping packages.
The reality distortion had fully unraveled.
But inside Storybrooke, he found that the unconscious fairytale characters scattered around hadn't disappeared.
That was... a problem.
Meaning they weren't illusions conjured by Chaos Magic, they were actual workers abducted from some fairytale universe.
These poor souls were literal princes and princesses, dragged into a magical sweatshop.
Dante recalled how obsessed they were with working and honestly, he felt bad.
The only one actually affected by the distortion was Selina Kyle.
She was lying unconscious in Bruce Wayne's arms, expression soft and peaceful.
Too peaceful.
Bruce looked frantic.
Everyone else, including Hal Jordan, was holding back laughter.
Batman, the man who could detect a lie from a half-blink and read a heartbeat at fifty paces… couldn't tell his fiancée was faking unconsciousness.
Even Hal figured it out.
Dante just left them to it. Relationship cringe was not his lane.
"Darkhold, bring me the darkhold."
Out of context, that sounded weird. But in this moment, it made sense.
The darkhold, still possessing Moon Girl's body, stepped forward and picked up the real darkhold, which contained Moon Girl's soul.
It dramatically flicked off some blood and sighed.
"Here. Let's swap back already."
Dante took the book, but the moment he touched it—warmth flooded into his body.
Something entered him.
Something subtle but real.
The darkhold leaned in and whispered:
"Chthon's truly gone, right? Well, since you now hold his Old God position, the divinity that was once stored in me just flowed into you by default.
In simple terms… You're now Chthon's official replacement on the Old God board."
"So, I'm a god now?"
"It's just a title.
If you went back to ancient Earth and declared yourself a god, even the Creator and Gaia would reluctantly let you sit at the lunch table.
Now hurry. You're radiating Black Magic and Aether like a beacon. Swapping our souls will be a breeze."
"Wait. Where is the Aether Particle?"
"Dude. It's in the book. You saw it when Agatha was casting her spell!"
Dante flipped it open.
On the once-blank title page was a vivid image of the Aether Particle.
Except… it was moving.
A still image in dynamic motion, flickering between two and three dimensions.
Classic Aether nonsense.
Enough gawking.
Time to fix the kid.
Dante activated Chaos Magic, infused it into the title page, grabbed the two souls, and shoved them back where they belonged.
From an outsider's perspective?
Scarlet light surged from the book. Moon Girl's eyes snapped open, and she immediately bolted into Devil Dinosaur's arms.
Yeah. That was peak thirteen-year-old energy.
He shut the book.
Just then, Harley Quinn and Hela approached.
Hela pulled Dante into a full embrace.
One word came to mind:
Dainty.
Because standing next to a 2.13-meter goddess will do that.
Harley then casually slipped a communicator into his ear… and gave his stomach a couple friendly taps with her Adamantium bat.
"Agent Dante, I see you're still breathing."
Maria Hill's voice came through.
"Looks like the reality distortion event's been contained."
"Commander Hill, happy to be back."
"We're moving the cleanup team in. You'll meet up with them soon, along with the rest of the Star Team."
"Great. I'll see you there, Maria."
"Right. And after this call, switch to top-secret channel 114514. He's waiting for you."
Dante sighed and swapped frequencies.
[Voiceprint Recognition Required.
Please state internal code name.]
"Goddammit. Fury, really? …Fine. Code name: Immortal."
[Voiceprint matched. Access granted.
Agent Dante Alighieri has joined frequency.]
Busy signal.
Then the voice he'd been dreading.
"YOU SON OF A—WHY DID YOU DUMP THIS MASSIVE MESS ON ME?!"
"Nick Fury, I swear to God—have some shame!"
Dante practically shouted into the mic.
"If YOU didn't lose your car, I wouldn't have had to run halfway across the multiverse chasing it down!"
"…Wait. Who was driving my car?"
"I was! So what?! Even if I'm ninety-nine percent wrong, aren't you still one percent guilty?! The way you're dodging blame is making me furious."
"Wait… what are you even yelling about?"
"You're confused? Then go reflect! Think more! Watch more! Read a damn manual!
Also—reimburse me for that damn trunk deposit!"
Call ended.
Back in Fury's office, Ada and Hunnigan looked at each other in stunned silence.
(To be continued.)
***
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