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🕑 Added 2024-12-29 09:14:49 +0000 UTCWind in the Smoke
Chapter 81 - The Song of Blood, Part 2
"The hotel has been surrounded. What are your orders?" Crocodile had reported that armored buses had arrived at the hotel's gates.
Dante, adjusting his black suit that covered him entirely, didn’t respond immediately.
"Not everyone needs to die here for a fight that isn’t theirs. I’ll stay and do what I can. The rest of you will fall back and secure an escape route, while Crocodile’s group covers my back. Coordinate with the outside teams so they’re ready. Don’t worry about my safety—focus on your own. I know how to take care of myself."
These words made Steven nod reluctantly.
"I could stay with you to protect your back. Are you sure you don’t need me?" Steven asked, hesitant to be away from Dante.
"I’ll be fine. Crocodile is enough help," Dante replied, fastening his pistols onto his suit.
Though this suit was meant for daily wear, the night had fallen on this city before he could change course. Using it tonight was inevitable.
Even though many would die tonight, Dante didn’t feel guilt—none of these people were innocent. All of them had blood-stained hands and lived knowing they could die at any moment in their line of work.
His behavior might be judged as good or bad, but Dante had long accepted he wasn’t a good person.
At least now, he could act on his desires without fearing judgment. The burden of maintaining a reputation had been left behind in his previous life, so now he simply followed his heart.
Yet Dante believed that protecting Susie—a woman who had never lived by her own desires—was part of his responsibility tonight.
He had never encountered someone who truly understood him. Most people regarded him indifferently, as just another man. But Susie was different. She was the perfect woman to whom he could dedicate the most special parts of his life.
Dante felt that giving up on Susie, who could conquer the world by his side if she wished, was unthinkable.
But involving her in this fight might cost her life.
To avoid that, Dante had to be sure of his actions.
As he walked down the corridors looking for the rest of his men, he encountered Jack, who watched him from afar.
"I don’t even want to ask what’s going on. Why don’t you go find Susie?" Jack said.
"You know the answer to that. Do you think it’s wise to make my girlfriend cry and be alone when she’s about to marry? Your safety comes first. If you’re safe, she won’t make mistakes," Dante replied, not referring to himself as the man Susie might marry—Jack’s adorable sister.
Jack smiled slightly, impressed by Dante’s demeanor. "Are you good at killing?"
"I’ve killed plenty of beasts unworthy of my attention. Besides, do you think someone who doesn’t know how to protect themselves could rise to my level from nothing?" Dante replied with a faint smile, not seeing a reason to be modest.
"I see..."
Dante noticed Jack’s battered appearance and asked, "Are you alright?"
"I am. I won’t let anyone else protect my sister," Jack replied. He still hadn’t fully accepted Dante but was grateful for his help after learning about the traps set in the fight.
Unfortunately for Jack, the blows he’d received from the Ripper were far from weak. His bloodied face was evidence of his condition.
"Sir, they’re approaching."
"How many?" Dante’s expression turned cold. He and his twenty bodyguards, positioned in a perimeter to repel any attack, prepared themselves.
Crocodile murmured through a computer on his arm, "Forty targets, not counting the men on the buses."
"They underestimate me," Dante muttered, taking a Japanese sword in a black sheath from one of his men.
"Prepare yourselves."
"Understood."
Dante turned to Jack and said, "Ready to see who wants to kill us?"
Jack nodded, walking beside Dante, and whispered, "Take my sister, no matter what. Don’t worry about my safety at all."
"Is this really worth it?" Dante could understand and not understand at the same time.
"That’s not for you to know," Jack replied. For some time, the safety of his family had been tested. As Susie’s older brother, his sole responsibility was to protect her.
Even with Susie’s boyfriend here offering support, Jack’s pride in always prioritizing her safety above all else wouldn’t waver.
Dante didn’t argue. Instead, he donned his white mask and followed Jack, who had already confronted the leader of the assassins.
Although mentally exhausted from bloodshed, Dante knew this had to be done.
"I’ll make sure those who don’t enjoy this life meet their end..."
Tonight, blood would surely rain.
