Chapter 111: 111 | Congratulations, Sir Dante

Emma came down to the dining hall after washing up, still looking a little groggy.

Natasha was already bringing food out of the kitchen with Dante right behind her, carrying the rest of the plates.

The three of them sat down and started eating while chatting about nothing in particular.

Halfway through the meal, Dante set his fork down and looked at Emma with a smile. "You remember what I said about the metallic ball, right?"

"Yeah." Emma nodded, taking a bite. He told her it was worth far more than the Grand Zenith Tower, but she still had her doubts. That building was worth over 10 billion rollads.

Natasha listened quietly.

She knew it was about the item Dante had bid on at the auction, the same one that ended with Emma buying the entire tower.

'Even I wouldn't have thought of buying the entire building.' She had to admit it was one hell of a power move. At the same time, it reminded her once again just how much Emma cared about Dante.

Dante had a mysterious smile on his face as he reached into his storage ring and pulled out Crimson Requiem.

The double-bladed scythe rested in his hand, gleaming under the morning light. "What do you think?"

Emma and Natasha both stopped eating. Their eyes were glued to the weapon but the shock on Natasha's face was on a completely different level.

She could feel the sinister and deadly aura radiating from it the moment it appeared. 'They got something like this for a few billion?'

"You..." Emma put her fork down slowly, her eyes still locked on the scythe. "Don't tell me this is from that metallic ball?"

Instead of answering, Dante just grinned at her.

Emma stared at the scythe and then back at him. The answer was obvious from the look on his face.

While she had no idea how a small metallic ball turned into something this terrifying, it meant every rollad she spent was worth it. "Did you know about this from the start? Is that why you bid for it?"

Before Dante could answer, Natasha spoke up with a calm smile. "How could he have known? He probably sensed the mana inside the item and took a chance on it. Right, Dante?"

She turned to him with a look that said "just go along with it."

Dante saw her covering for him without even being asked and smiled back. 'Thank you, Master. I'm going to need you to do this a lot more in the future.'

"Haha, Master, you caught me. I was just bluffing when I told you it was valuable." Dante said with a hand on the back of his head, then looked at Crimson Requiem in his hands. "I honestly didn't expect it to turn into something like this."

"Since when is your luck this good?" Emma raised an eyebrow.

'She has a point.' Natasha thought. 'Was the curse suppressing his luck too?' It made sense now that she thought about it.

'This weapon is worth several times more than a normal Legendary weapon and he got it from a random auction. Seriously?'

She controlled the urge to roll her eyes.

Her luck wasn't bad by any means, but the people she surrounded herself with made her feel like the most ordinary person in the room.

Natasha held out her hand and Dante passed the scythe over.

She examined it carefully, turning it in her hands, running her fingers along the shaft and the edges of both blades.

After a while, she looked up at the two of them with a serious expression. "This weapon is easily worth hundreds of billions."

"WHAT?" Emma nearly choked on her food.

She knew anything related to the awakener world was expensive since she ran companies like RavenLabs, but this was still way beyond what she expected.

This was easily one of the top investments she had ever made without even knowing it.

Natasha handed the scythe back to Dante and stood up from the table. "Alright. Emma, let's not waste any more time. We have a lot to cover today."

"Yes, Master." Emma answered and the three of them went back to eating.

After breakfast, Natasha took Emma to the study for her first lesson.

'I have a whole day free.' Dante stood at the door with a smile. 'Might as well pay those two a visit.'

***

Felix and Freya were stationed at a small building near the mansion. Close enough that they could respond to anything within seconds.

When Dante walked in, Felix was in the yard training shirtless, covered in sweat, while Freya was sitting cross-legged on the wooden floor with her eyes closed.

Both of them tensed up the moment they sensed a presence.

"Sir Dante." Felix stopped and looked at him with a smile, grabbing a towel to wipe his face. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." Dante walked in and sat down on the couch without any formality. "I came to ask you two for a favour."

Freya opened one eye and glanced at him. "A favour?"

"Spar with me." Dante said with a grin.

The room went quiet.

Felix and Freya exchanged a glance.

"Sir Dante, I'm afraid we can't do that." Felix said in a careful tone. "But I can arrange for someone to spar with you if—"

"If you get hurt, Madam Natasha will have our heads." Freya cut in bluntly. "Both of them."

Dante expected this reaction.

To them, he was still an ordinary person. The news of his recovery was still a secret. Of course they wouldn't agree to fight him.

After learning about the curse, Natasha had given him an artifact that hid his cultivation and told him to only reveal his recovery to people he truly trusted. Everyone else could wait until he was strong enough.

Dante was a bit speechless as the consequences of all his secrecy came back to bite him, but he wasn't against it either. He also wanted to get stronger before letting outsiders know.

But these two weren't outsiders.

"There's something I need to tell you both." Dante leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "From today, you don't need to follow me around everywhere anymore."

The air in the room shifted instantly.

Felix's face darkened. The hand wiping his face slowly dropped to his side. Freya's reaction was immediate. She uncrossed her legs and stood up, anger already visible in her eyes.

"What do you mean?" She asked in a sharp tone. "Are you dismissing us? You know that's not for you to decide, right?"

"We won't stop until Madam orders us to." Felix added with a strained smile.

"Did we do something to displease you?" He asked quietly.

Dante looked at the two of them and realized they misunderstood his words. "That's not what I meant."

He stood up from the couch and released his cultivation. Mana Awakening Mid Stage. Then he raised his hand and sent a gentle wind technique at Felix, blowing the sweat and heat off his body.

Felix's hair flew in every direction but his eyes were locked on Dante. Freya's mouth fell open in shock.

Dante said with a calm smile. "I'm cured."

Neither of them spoke for a long moment.

"When?" Felix was the first to ask, a hint of excitement slipping through his usual composure.

"A few days ago."

'The same time as Madam...' Both of them had the same thought. They had received word about Natasha's recovery days ago but heard nothing about Dante.

Natasha hadn't shared his recovery with the Phantom Force. There had to be an important reason she kept it hidden.

But the fact that Dante came here and told them himself, meant something else entirely.

It meant… he trusted them.

Both of them were at a loss for words. Felix stood there, his body trembling slightly. He didn't expect Dante to trust them this much.

Freya, who was usually the first to have something to say, was completely silent.

Felix closed his eyes for a moment and a memory surfaced from not too long ago. The conversation he had with Freya in the alley after they joined Crimson Hollow.

'Someone like Sir Dante can't cultivate. Don't you think that's a waste?'

'I hope we find a cure for both Madam and him someday.'

Back then, neither of them truly believed it would happen. They just said it because it was the only thing they could say.

And now here he was, standing in front of them, fully cured.

Felix opened his eyes and slammed his fist against his chest in a deep bow. "Congratulations on your recovery, Sir Dante."

Freya stared at Dante for a few more seconds before walking up to him and punching his shoulder hard enough to make him stumble.

"What was that for?"

"For not telling us sooner!" She turned away but not fast enough to hide the red around her eyes.

"Freya." Felix said quietly.

"I'm fine." She wiped her face with the back of her hand and turned around with her usual sharp expression back in place.

"Hey, why are you two acting like this?" Dante looked between them with a helpless smile. "If someone walked in right now, they'd think I just told you I'm dying."

He clapped his hands together. "Anyway, about that spar. Who's coming first?"

"You sure about this?" Freya rolled her shoulder and the sharpness returned to her eyes. "Felix and I won't hold back just because it's a sparring match."

"I'm counting on that." Dante grinned.

Felix picked up his towel from the ground and tossed it aside and a rare smile crossed his face. "It's been a while since I've had a reason to look forward to a sparring match."

The three of them stepped out into the yard.