CHAPTER 415: ON THE OFFENSIVE.

The black spot vanished a moment after the stranger in the dark armor sank into it. An instant later, the five basement floors and the church above them shook violently.

Fortunately, whoever built the structure had the foresight to ensure it was as sturdy as it could be. Some walls were easy to break, but the frame itself was slid enough that a massive explosion did nothing to it.

[... Boss...] Watching flames rise from what was once an elevator, Kindjal came back to his senses and snapped his head in the direction of the one who had just caused that mess. [I just told you he could reflect attacks.]

"So?"

With a thick haze rising from it, Jaguar gradually lowered his right arm and the gauntlet encasing it. He turned to look at his subordinate, fixing him with a stern gaze that contained more disappointment than anger. Since his mouth was an unmoving jagged line created by two metal parts, his eyes and brow were the only way he could express how he felt.

"If you had captured him, I wouldn’t have had to interfere, much less shoot the bastard down."

[You say that as if it were easy] said Kindjal as he pushed himself up. Or tried to, at least. His green power suit seemed to lag for a moment, causing him to fall back to his knees. [Damn it...]

"What?" Jaguar drew his brows together. "Don’t tell me you already broke the thing."

[Damn... those... bastards...]

Watching him struggle even more, the frown on Jaguar’s face grew deeper.

"This is...gonna be a problem..." he said. "Were they that strong?"

[Didn’t I tell you already? The fucker is a hero killer. You think anyone crazy enough to fight those monsters would be weak?]

That was the opinion Kindjal held after the short fight they had. Later on, after watching the footage from the hidden cameras, he would learn that whoever was under that dark armor, he was undoubtedly holding back while fighting them.

"Ghost, huh?" Jaguar muttered. "Don’t know why the hell he is after us..."

[It can’t be that he just wants to steal from us... right?]

Every time they get targeted, some of their most prized possessions are lost. Hundreds of shards, expensive cars, important documents; it felt as if their mysterious enemy was trying to bankrupt them a little at a time.

"Whatever... we just have to make sure there won’t be a next time."

[And how do we even do that?] Kindjal scoffed. [That motherfucker can get anywhere anytime.

Turning around, Jaguar took a step toward the stairs.

"We go on the offensive."

~[ ]~

Dante woke up feeling like shit. Not only was his body aching all over, but he had also slept on solid concrete, making things much worse than they already were. That’s how it should have been, at least.

Though he was still feeling as if he had been run over by an angry mob, he was warm and comfortable, so much so that he didn’t want to get up at all. It didn’t take him long to realize he was sleeping in some bed, and just as he began to question how he got there, a familiar voice spoke in his head.

[Good morning, Dante.]

’Good morning...’ Pausing, Dante quickly arrived at a conclusion. "Did you carry me here?"

[That is correct. According to previously collected data, sleeping on the ground can be detrimental to one’s health. For that reason, I made the decision to carry you here.]

"... I really should have one of your androids out at all times..." Dante said. "Thanks. You’re a lifesaver."

The plan was to turn one of the Gear Cult androids into Volcan’s new body, but it turned out that it was impossible to achieve. Unlike Jake, Volcan wasn’t stored on some hard drive that could be placed into some other machine, so he was left operating the androids remotely.

[I am only doing what is required of me.] Volcan replied. [You have been asleep for approximately six hours. Type 8-3 is still under repair.]

"Only six hours?"

If felt like he had slept for longer than that, but at the same time, it felt like he hadn’t slept that much at all. Thinking about it for some time, Dante decided to get out of bed and opened the [A]rmor screen from the shortcut on his field of vision.

He checked on 8-3’s progress, grimacing when he saw it was still 34% complete. He then switched to 8-4’s page, and after agonizing over whether he should use it or not, he bit the bullet and put on the bulky dark armor. Once he was done opening a portal to the original dimension, he passed through without hesitation, then removed the armor.

It was five in the morning, so the world was still shrouded in a darkness that made the neon lights in the distance shine brighter. Dante made his way from the outskirts connected to Hollowstreet and returned to his building.

On the way back, he absent-mindedly checked the messages he had received while in the pocket dimension. Everyone seemed to be doing just fine, which put his mind at ease.

He checked the news next, and sorting through thousands of meaningless articles, he finally found some relating to his battle under the church. Apparently, the incident had been played off as a boiler malfunction and nothing more. It was to be expected. The Daggers wouldn’t want anyone to know what was happening under that church, so they made sure to stress that no one for hurt.

Of course, few bought that explanation thanks to the strange beam of light that pierced one of the neighboring buildings. Though a lot were convinced that something had happened in that area, few were willing to investigate it, which meant the incident would soon be forgotten by the city and its people.

’Guess the heroes were too busy to participate in this one...’

New City had yet to recover from the mess that followed Operation Wolf Slayer, and their main hero team was still inactive. That said, there haven’t been that many Enhanced Individual incidents since then, so maybe burying the truth was better for all parties involved.