"What are you saying?"
Dante stopped suddenly for a brief moment, looking at the person. He tried to understand what that person truly meant.
"Yes, it is your naïve desire that caused the damnation of your family.", the person said.
"You should have accepted the proposal, and join our Family."
"Now, see...with your own eyes, what have you done. Hah..hah..HA..HA..HAHA."
He laughed maniacally, mocking the already broken Dante. As Dante heard it, his breath calmed slowly.
It returned to the normality. His mind clouded by rage became calmed, but don't take it as though the anger was subsided; no but he simply accepted his losses and now only one thing in his mind now….
Vengeance…
Retribution to those who did it to his family.
"So, just for that only? Huhhh…"
"You Crooks destroyed my family, just because I refused you."
He asked the person against him, his voice tinted with calm, controlled anger.
Hearing this the shadow only laughed.
"Yes, just that. And as for killing your family..."
"So what? Do I need a reason to kill a lesser? Except you they are not even Stage 10, What worth did they have?"
"But I am surprised nonetheless, even in the rage you find the serenity. I will offer you once again. Come join us, join our Crook family."
Hearing this Dante did not say anything for a couple of seconds, only stood there in the air.
"This is not the serenity born from acceptance; it is the one born from the vengeance. It will destroy you and.... your Crook family.", Dante said coldly.
"Heh..heh.. You, a stage 10 newbie… will destroy us? our family. You surely know how to jest even in the grief of yours young Dante."
The shadow laughed.
"We will see about that.", Dante stated as he leaped towards the person.
Suddenly a naginata appeared in his hand, as he approached the person.
He sliced against him a gust of wind formed and launched towards the person.
The person shrouded in the shadow defended effortlessly but a blade appeared just near the neck. As the neck of the person is about to get decapitated, the blade of naginata phased through it.
"You didn't seriously think I will be killed that easily, still... Impressive. If there is someone in my stead they would have killed even before they know, as expected of Gale Reaver."
Dante didn't say anything instead; instead, he created gap between them. What he used before was one of his abilities he created— 'Gale burst', it accelerates his body by making nodes of pressured air, the more he used the more acceleration. But it has a fatal weakness, it puts tremendous pressure on the body.
"You bark too much.", Dante said coldly.
The shadow's expression twisted.
"What did you say brat. I thought I will spare you, so you will leave with guilt, but now— die."
The person said angrily. He then rose his hand towards Dante. Suddenly dark viscous tentacles appeared from the beneath his feet and launched in the direction of Dante at tremendous speed.
Dante saw this and created three nodes— shoulder, waist, feet— instantly, then dodged to right in a blink away from those tentacles. Then he shifted those nodes to change the directions of him in the mid-air to dodge them with ease.
Even after all this the tentacles still followed him relentlessly, like opposite poles of a magnet.
"Hahaha..haha. these are not something you can dodge you, either you destroy them which is not possible or destroy them, there is no other solution."
Dante stopped as he heard this… then use the Gale Burst once again… but towards the direction of the shadow. And just stood before him at length of his naginata and sliced vertically.
"Naïve.", the person muttered seeing Dante repeating the same move once more. Just as he expected Dante then disappeared to his back to attack again. But this time something different, before the person could protect himself from Dante, his own dark tentacles collided with the person.
Contrary to anything the tentacles didn't do anything to the person, but that's not Dante wanted. All he needed is that momentary lapse of distraction, so that his naginata could cut successfully.
It played as he planned, the momentary distraction that came from collision of the tentacles gave him the opportunity he needed.
The naginata found its mark, it sliced the neck of the person. But could it be ended that quickly… No.
The naginata could not move more than a couple inches, only causing some bruise and successfully drawing some blood.
As Dante saw this he immediately retracted the blade of naginata and retreated to his original position in an instant.
"See this is the gap between us, even after all that, what did it do— a mere bruise. And that is also healed in an instant."
"What are you saying you will destroy our family? Heh… with that meager strength of yours you could not go even the past of guard post."
The person only laughed loudly as he saw the futile attempt of Dante. Mocking the weakness of his and his powerlessness.
But his laughed stopped suddenly, for the first time, from the beginning his felt disbelief. The shadow, that shrouded him as of the beginning started to disappear. It slowly faded away from the existence revealing the person inside it.
The revealed person has dark raven hair with the crimson red eyes, standing there calmly from his previous disbelief expressions.
The one in disbelief now is Dante, because the person revealed him is none other than him. It is an exact replica of him, mirroring every tiny detail— even the blood of his family, splashed onto him.
"How was my act, Dante? Is it to your liking?", the replica laughed at the face of Dante.
"What is this twisted move of yours?", Dante shouted at his replica. His voice seethed with rage.
"Did you really think, you have done something to me— heh it was all just a ploy from me. How does it feel to see the murderer of your family has the exact same face as you.", the replica taunted Dante to further degrade his psych.
And he saw the shift in Dante, but it is not what he expected.
Dante finally broke down completely, his serenity faded away, a madness appeared on his face. Then a laugh echoed in the atmosphere. A maniacal laugh, devoid of any tinge of humanity.
The Psion erupted like lava from the volcanoes, the wind around him started to behave frantically. Small explosions started to appear periodically.
An expression of fear crept into the face of the replica, disbelief formed, not the one that of acting, but that of real. The replica was confused as well as frightened about the recent development.
"Whh…What is happening? What did you do to you?", the replica stuttered, as the pressure emitted from Dante only increased.
Soon the maniacal laugh of Dante came to an end, he glared at his replica. His already crimson eye glowing with the rage due to Psion giving him an image of a devil, that crawled out of the hell. Then he opened his mouth.
"See yourself. I became what you wanted me to be. You wanted me broken— now I drowned in madness. You wanted me to feel the guilt of my family's death — now I am shrouded in it. And now take it upon yourself... the very monster you molded with your hand, the one you yourself unleashed."