Path of the Demonic Villain

Dante winced and sat upright with an irritated expression.

’Miss Vi is a Tier 2 rogue. Tsk. Things would have been much simpler if Ezio was already out of prison. Since he’s not, I have no choice but to proceed. I might not have another chance if I miss this. From what I know so far, she was captured last night, and she will be escaping the Circus of Miracles tonight.

’I have to prepare. Fortunately, I have the advantage of the element of surprise. If I play my cards right, this shouldn’t be impossible, though I still need to thread the needle. I have to keep in mind that even though she might be exhausted and in a bad way, she is still a rogue so many levels above me.’

After a bit of thought, Dante stood up and threw off his quilt. Then, he made his way out of his room, heading down the hall toward Caterina’s.

When he got to her door, he knocked twice. When he didn’t hear an answer, he knocked again, and again, rattling the wood continuously until a furious voice yelled from inside. "I am coming! Stop that!"

Caterina opened the door with an irritated expression, but when she saw who it was, her expression slowly melted.

"Huh? What’s got you up by this time?" she asked in a confused voice.

Dante scowled as he invited himself in. "What do you mean? I used to wake up far earlier than this back in Ravena. Or have you forgotten already?"

Her room was painted off-white, unlike his, and it made him feel almost uncomfortably exposed. He began making his way over to her drafting table by the tall windows where she had been busy painting before he came to disturb her.

There was a wooden easel standing beside it, and resting upon it was a half-finished watercolor painting of a woman in loose silk, the fabric slipping past her shoulders leaving little to the viewer’s imagination.

Dante looked at the painting, then at Caterina, then at the painting, then at her again, before finally clearing his throat.

"By the way, can I borrow your Cloak of Dusk?"

Caterina subconsciously pulled her silk robe tighter around herself, and without any hesitation, she nodded. "Of course."

She walked over to her tall, carved armoire and opened the double doors. Reaching inside, she pulled out a sweeping garment. It was deep black, but depending on how the light caught the fabric, it looked silver or twilight blue.

"You know you can only use it at night, right?" she warned as she tossed it to him.

Dante caught it smoothly against his chest. "I know."

The Cloak of Dusk was a Tier 3 artifact that could disguise the wearer by making their outline look blurry. If they were far from a target, they would become completely invisible, but the closer they got, the more their silhouette would reappear. To remain invisible close to a target, they had to stay completely still.

The main drawback was that it could only be activated at night, and it made whoever was wearing it increasingly sleepy the longer they kept it on.

As Dante draped the cloak over his arm, he gave her a faint grin. "Thank you. You’re the best."

That small compliment caused her face to light up with a smile.

’She’s so easy. If only Francesca were like her,’ Dante thought to himself as he began walking away.

Caterina, on the other hand, began walking back to her easel, and as she picked up her paintbrush, she tugged her hair behind her ear and added, "I just remembered. You need to call Mother. Last I spoke with her, she was depressed and whining, saying that it’s been ages since you last spoke to her."

’Ages?!’ Dante groaned internally. ’It hasn’t even been a full week since I left her. I was actually planning on speaking to her maybe near the end of next week.’

He sighed and stepped out. "Alright. I’ll speak to her tomorrow."

"Okay."

Dante shut her door, then began making his way to Francesca’s room, though along the way, he handed the cloak to Elio.

By the time he got close to her room, he could already hear loud music vibrating through the wooden door. It was the kind of music with distorted guitars, driving drums, and moody vocals. It sounded completely out of place, and it kind of weirded him out.

When he got to her room, he knocked just twice and waited for her. A few seconds later, Francesca opened the door looking disheveled and wearing just an oversized silk button-up shirt that hung loosely off one shoulder. She shot him a blank look and asked, "What do you want?"

"So..." Dante began, glancing past her into the noisy room.

"Get straight to the point. You know I’m scatterbrained." Francesca scratched her hair, leaving it even more messy than before.

Dante smiled and exhaled. "I want to borrow three things."

She gave him a look that said, "What, and be careful with your next words."

"I need one of your pistols," he said, gesturing vaguely toward her nightstand. "Specifically, an artifact with tracking and precision enhancements."

That caused her to frown.

She adjusted her glasses and tried to look convincing. "I don’t have a gun with me."

Dante scoffed. "Come on. We all know that you are responsible for the missing guns back in our training range."

Her eyes widened. "W-wha... you-you all know?!"

Dante nodded. "Of course. Who else would steal from us other than the black sheep of the family?"

She blinked.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, she shrugged. "I don’t know. Arno maybe?"

"Just give me the damn pistol." Dante rolled his eyes.

Francesca swallowed.

After a moment, she exhaled resignedly and opened the door wider tentatively.

"By the way, can you turn this down a bit?" Dante raised his voice slightly as he stepped inside her room.

It had a darker vibe and was a bit messy with theater posters pinned up, sheet music scattered across the rug, and clothes draped over the chairs. Even the velvet curtains over the windows were drawn tight, blocking out the daylight.

She grumbled and walked over to the brass gramophone, lifting the needle off the spinning record to turn it off completely, then went over to her tall nightstand.

She opened the bottom drawer and pulled out an oversized, blocky revolver along with a small box of ammunition. Setting the weapon on the nightstand, she began loading the brass bullets into the cylinder one by one. But somewhere halfway through, she paused.

Her fingers froze over the cylinder, and she slowly looked up at Dante with a suspicious glare. "Wait a second. Why do you need a gun in the middle of the day? Who are you going to shoot?"

"No one." Dante shrugged. "I’m just going to The Crimson Gallery to practice my aim."

The Crimson Gallery was the name of one of the training ranges in the Academy. It was open every day and every time and it was almost always filled with people.

As a student, he could go there anytime, although if one was going during the weekend, they needed to go with their own weapons. It was the perfect excuse.

As for why he needed a gun even when he had powers? That was because from what he had to learn during the time he spent playing this game, combat with different classes needed different strategies.

While he could go to attack a warrior with a sword, or a mage with divine power, to face a rogue, one needed something faster and more unpredictable to match their speed. That was why he needed a gun as one of his items.

Just in case.

’Practice your aim with a gun that helps with tracking?’ Francesca narrowed her eyes.

After a few seconds, she turned away and continued loading the remaining cartridges into the cylinder with a click.

"Okay."

Once she was done, she turned to him and asked, "What are the other things you needed?"

Dante pointed at the drawer. "Your Tier 3 muffler."

She stared at him for a few seconds before turning back to her open drawer. Then as she took out a round metal device with a crystal in the center, she asked tiredly, "Why can’t you just say everything you want at the same time?"

’That’s because I know the third request will piss you off.’ Dante smiled and said, "The third thing I want is your hover —"

"No." She didn’t even let him finish.

"Come on —"

"I said no." She walked over to him and extended the gun and the muffler. "Take this and get out. I have precious hours of my life to waste, and you’re ruining them."

Dante was silent for a bit before saying, "If you don’t give it to me now that I am asking politely, I will steal it."

Francesca arched a brow.

It was silent between them for a moment, before she finally exhaled. "If anything happens to it, I’ll kill you with my bare hands."

Dante smiled and took the items, then turned to leave. "I love you too."

"Tsk."

The hoverboard was with the footman downstairs, so he would get that later.

Just before he opened the door, however, Francesca mumbled, "Just... watch where you point that thing, okay? I don’t feel like explaining to Mother why you shot yourself."

Dante didn’t say anything and just waved the gun casually over his shoulder.

Once he got to his room, he placed the items on his table. Then he sat back in his chair, sighed, and began to mentally prepare himself.