Apocalypse system: I have unparallel comprehension-Chapter 71 - 72 - Peak Tier 2

The world seemed to slow.

Dante reached inward, not to the unstable swirl of mana, not to healing, not to reinforcement.

Deeper.

To the thing he shouldn’t have been able to touch before. His stored energy. His trump card.

Space.

The energy he had absorbed didn’t burn like fire or roar like wind. It was quiet and heavy. Dante dragged it out. The moment it surfaced, the air screamed.

Space folded around his palm, collapsing inward, then stretching thin like glass about to shatter. The energy coated his hand, not glowing, not flashing just absent, as if reality itself had been scraped away and replaced with nothing.

A perfect copy of Julius space energy.

It formed a blade. The wind stopped.

Snow drifted down from the gray sky slowly, silent flakes settling onto Dante’s blood-soaked shoulders, onto Kale’s boots, onto the ruined earth where a forest once stood.

White against red.

Cold against heat.

Soon there will be only one left in the battlefield.

Kale’s eyes widened. He moved his body but it was too late. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Dante stepped forward and swung. There was no sound.

The space-blade passed through Kale’s chest without resistance, without friction, without pause like slicing through an empty air.

Everything it touched vanished. His hand consumed everything.

The line of the slash lingered for half a heartbeat, a thin distortion hanging in the air, before reality rushed in to fill the void.

Kale froze mid-motion. Snowflakes landed on his shoulders.

Then his body slid apart. Clean and perfect.

Kale’s upper half separated from his lower, drifting away as if gravity had briefly forgotten which direction it worked. The edges didn’t bleed. There was nothing to bleed from.

Space had taken all from him.

The wind returned in a low whisper, brushing past Dante’s hair, carrying snow through the gap where Kale’s body had been.

Kale’s eyes remained open, shock locked in them.

His mouth moved but no sound came out.

The mirage skill activated instinctively but there was nothing left to protect. Space energy consumed everything it touched.

Silence reclaimed the battlefield.

Snow continued to fall, blanketing the scorched earth, settling over blood, broken stone, and the place where Kale had stood moments ago.

Dante’s arm trembled violently.

Pain detonated.

Dante dropped to one knee, coughing blood into the snow. Steam rose from his body as heat met cold, red staining white beneath his hands.

His core screamed. But he was still alive.

The wind passed through him, gentle now, almost respectful.

Dante looked up at the empty space in front of him, snow brushing against his face.

"...Sorry," he muttered, not sure who he was saying it to. He felt a deep sadness.

It was a shame that he could learn everything from Kale. Dante looked down, his eyes passing the split corpse and landed on his hand.

He stared at his black ring. It was burning hot a few moments ago and now it calmed down.

"What’s wrong with it?" Dante muttered.

He sighed and turned around. His rage had now calmed down and he didn’t have any desire to pursue Ashar.

But he probably would try to kill him when he met him again. For that, he was certain.

Dante expanded his eyes and noticed someone staring at him from afar.

"You can come out now." He said. He brushed off the snow on his body and pumped mana into his robe.

The fabric was loosely restored, warping around his body like a heat seeking snake.

Tendo landed gently beside him, wind lifting up his body. He looked around and finally landed his eyes on Dante.

"Are you calm down?" He said, his eyes now moving past Dante and staring at Kale’s body.

He walked over and crouched down, not expecting an answer from him.

Dante scratched his back and nodded. "Yeah."

Tendo closed Kale’s eyes and stood up. He extended his hand and aimed at Kale. Mana conjured out from his palm and shaped into the runic circle in the air.

Mana poured into the circle and flame came out, enveloping Kale’s entire body.

Dante stepped beside and looked at the flame.

"Why did you use your mana like that?" He asked.

Tendo was about to answer but Dante stopped by lifting up his palm. Dante waved his hand and grabbed his face.

His mouth wide opened, shook by the thing he just did. Why can’t his hanger be satisfied?

’Do I really have no emotion left? Am I a monster?’ Dante yelled out in his head. But no matter how he rationalized his mind, he couldn’t feel anything other than wanting to know more.

He was not like this at the start. He was sure of it. Sure, he wanted to know how Thomas and Julius abilities work but it was not this intense.

Was his bloodline influencing his mind?

"What’s wrong?" Tendo asked. His voice carried a small hint of worry.

Dante waved off and walked away. "I need to cool down a minute."

"Sure. I will wait out the flame." Tendo said, eyes narrowing.

Dante sighed, a breath forming a mist. He looked up and let the snow fell onto his face. He formed a defeated smile and shook off the snow from his face.

He went to the nearby tree and sat down. He manipulated the mana and transformed into the fire mana with the help of his concept. He spread the fire mana around him and willed them to warp around him.

He felt the warmth instantly and closed his eyes, resting his head on the tree trunk.

He looked at his hand.

’The bloodline.’ He said to himself.

The bloodline couldn’t be passed down to the descendant. But your descendant can have mutated version of the bloodline.

There can’t be the same bloodline in the world of system.

Manifesting bloodline depended on Fate, Body function and Will.

That is what he was told from reading the manual from the system shop. There was no mention of the side effect you can have from the bloodline.

But right now, Dante was not sure he could believe that.

He chuckled.

"A sage. A grand name and yet I can be such a psychopath." Dante said out loud.

After contemplating his decision for a while, he stood up, rubbing off the snow from his pant.

Now, his clothes was fully restored to the original state. The mana core was also stable. He could draw mana without stressing his core.

He got many good things from this fight. His manipulation of the energy was now deeper than before.

He thought he would gain the skill but there was such notification from the system.

He also got a surprising power up. He now entered to the perfect stage of Tier 2.

Instantly, he had a feeling that he was not ready to enter to the Tier 3.

He noticed something was thrown into his direction. Dante’s reflex kicked in and he caught the object.

It was his black cane.

He looked at the person who thrown the cane.

"Are you good?" Tendo asked, scanning at Dante. "Oh, Look like you are going to undergo the advancement. I suggest you advance after resting yourself for a few days."

Tendo gave his advice. "And you will get a surprise when you reach Tier 3."

"I see." Dante murmured. "You have any other advice?"

Tendo nodded. "I have a lot but this is not a good time to talk. The sun is going down in a minute and we have to cover pretty vast areas."

Dante put the cane on his back and nodded. "Yeah. Let’s go."

They both began to run.

It took them about 30 minutes. When they arrived at the High Heaven’s base, the sun was now gone. The stars were now the main focus of the sky.

Dante jumped down to the dark abyss and entered to the cave.

He avoided the people with the help of Tendo and immediately went to his room. He close the door.

As soon as his head hit the soft pillow, sleep pulled him away, hugging him tightly.

***

Dante woke up. He didn’t dream. He expected to have a nightmare at least but he slept through the night like a baby.

A soft smile formed on his face, his lips curled. He shook his head and sighed.

"I don’t know what’s going on." He said.

Dante stood up and washed his body and face. He came out from the bathroom, feeling like a cat. His feet was light.

The air around him was soft. He noticed the small increase of strength on his body as well as the increase reserve of his mana core.

Dante left his room and went to the kitchen. There was only an old man cleaning the kitchen. The old man looked up at him and nodded at him.

’Do I know his name? Nah. I don’t think I do.’ He squinted his eyes, staring at the old man.

The old man seemed to sense Dante’s heart and said. "I don’t have the name, Sir Dante."

"But if you want, you can call me Shadow."