The climb back up felt longer than the descent.
Elise's legs burned with every step as she half-carried, half-supported Dante through the winding corridors of the Isole. The iron chill of the dungeon clung to them both, but where Elise shivered from the cold, Dante trembled for another reason entirely.
They emerged from the stairwell into a wider corridor—and Elise nearly stopped in her tracks.
Bodies littered the stone floor.
Ardentian soldiers lay sprawled in broken heaps, some slumped against the walls, others collapsed face-down, weapons scattered uselessly around them. None moved. A few groaned faintly, but most were utterly still.
Dante stared, eyes as wide as he could open them.
"...What happened here?"
"I'm guessing Caelus," she answered, adjusting her grip on him, making sure his weight was evenly distributed, "and Mira. But mostly Caelus."
His gaze shifted to her, unfocused but searching. "You said... Caelus?"
"Yeah," she nodded, "I'm Elise. A friend of Caelus and Mira. We came to Ardent because we heard a Celestial Blade was seen here."
"…I see." His voice faltered. "I barely remember how long I've been down here. But I did sense something... like a storm was raging above me."
"Probably Caelus again." she chuckled
They walked on.
The higher they climbed, the heavier the air became. Not physically—if anything, the pressure that had filled Elise's chest near the lowest levels was lifting—but something else had taken its place. A strange unease, barely present yet increasingly persistent, like a calm sea before the raging force of a storm.
Dante winced suddenly.
"H-Hey! Are you alright?" Elise asked, tightening her hold
"I... don't know." he pressed a hand on his chest, "My body feels... wrong. It feels warm—no, hot. Like something wants to explode out of me."
"W-What could it be?" she asks shakily
"My head's too fuzzy to remember..." he replies, putting a hand on his temple, "It could just be my mana."
Elise shifted her gaze slightly and found that his face gave a different conclusion than his words: a sickly, hollow and fear-fuelled energy was what she found dressed on his face in that moment.
They turned another corner—and nearly collided with Mira.
Mira stood in the corridor, sword lowered but still in hand, her clothes scorched at the edges with small tears in several places. At her feet lay the last traces of a skirmish: cracked stone, scorched marks, a shattered spear.
"Elise! There you are! I'm happy you're safe!" Mira said, a look of relief flickering across her face before she turns and sees the man being carried on Elise's shoulder, "Dante?! Oh my goodness, you look like you're barely alive!"
"Hey, Mira," he greets tiredly, "long time no see."
"I found him chained at the bottom cell. He has just enough energy to walk, but—"
Mira stepped closer, studying Dante with a sharp, assessing look. "You shouldn't be exerting yourself. Your body's in terrible shape."
"You sound like a commander." he laughs weakly
"Old habits..." she paused before straightening her posture, "Caelus forced the remaining guards out toward the entrance. The Isole's effectively breached—at least for now. We need to get out before reinforcements from outside the city arrive."
"Captain's still crazy as ever, I see." Dante chuckles
"You'll see him soon enough." Mira smirked faintly
Now reunited, the three continued upward together.
As they climbed, Dante's steps began to slow. His breathing grew uneven, shallow. He stumbled, again and again, grabbing the wall as if the stone itself was shifting beneath him.
"I feel worse..." he muttered, "It feels like something is bubbling in me."
Mira's jaw clenched.
"Dante," Elise said calmly, "do you know why you were imprisoned?"
"…No." he shook his head, "They sent me here the moment they learnt my name... I was just bound, barely fed, and monitored. Anytime I asked, they simply ignored me."
Elise exchanged a glance with Mira.
Something didn't sit right with them.
They reached the upper stairwell—the final ascent to the entrance level. Light from Lumestone lanterns spilled down from above; the brightest thing Elise had seen in a while.
"Stay here. I need to find Caelus!" Mira spoke, moving ahead
She broke into a sprint.
Elise barely had time to react before a shaky voice rang out from an area out of sight.
"S-Stop right there!"
A lone soldier stepped into view from the corner of the entrance hall. His armour was simple yet cleaner than that of his peers, his spear gripped tight enough that his trembling hands were visible through his gauntlets.
His panicked gaze wasn't focused on Elise.
It was focused on Dante.
"Put him down!" the soldier continued
"We were just leaving, if you don't mind..." Elise replied hesitantly
"Put. Him. Down." he said again, his face filled with fear, "Slowly."
"Elise…?" Dante spoke, shifting his face toward her
"What the hell is happening?!" Mira calls out as she comes back from scouting the situation outside
"Stay back!" the watchman barked, lowering his spear an inch, tip trembling, "If he moves another step, I'll kill him. Or die trying."
Elise took a step forward.
The watchman lunged.
Everything happened at once.
Elise shoved Dante away from her, twisting her body to avoid the spear's path. The weapon slammed into the stone where her chest had been a moment earlier, scraping sparks.
Dante hit the ground hard.
Moments later, he laughed.
Low. Broken. Wrong.
"Dante? What's wrong?" Elise checked in as she propped herself up quickly
He was shaking.
Not in pain.
In delight.
"How long has it been?" Dante whispered, fingers curling into the stone, with a voice that was like what she had heard from Dante before but was somehow inhuman at the same time
The air warped.
A pressure rolled through the entrance hall like a wave, knocking Elise off balance. The wind started flowing erratically, as if it was heralding a calamity.
Dante let out a scream.
His body convulsed, muscles bulging unnaturally as veins of black pulsed beneath his skin, which began taking on an paler pigment. His spine arched as something pushed outward from within, bones cracking and reforming with sickening force. His skull slimmed into something that resembled that of a horse's.
"No—no, no, no…" the watchman staggered back, face drained of colour
"Fuck!! This can't be happening right now!" Mira raged, drawing her sword
"What did you do to him?!" Elise asks, grabbing onto the watchman
"W-We had to contain him... contain this..." he replied shakily
Dante's hair grew all over his body, spreading like ivy, now covered in something akin to ginger fur. His shadow twisted independently of his movements, stretching long across the stone.
His laugh rose—louder now, layered, no longer human.
The watchman dropped to his knees.
"You don't understand," he said desperately, "that man wasn't imprisoned for the reward on the Celestial Blades."
Dante's head snapped up.
Eyes filled with an orange glow.
"Our general imprisoned him because he walked through Ardentia with a great danger sealed within him: one of the Supreme Powers of Tiravel, Larfrei of Greed!!"
"Dammit, I didn't think the seal would have weakened!" Mira raises her sword, anticipating something deadly
The transformation had been completed, accompanied by a thunderous pulse of mana.
Dante stood—now replaced by a monstrous presence.
A smile lay across his face, it wasn't with kindness or confusion—but with ravenous amusement.
"I am free from that bastard's seal at last!!" he shouts ecstatically, voice overlapping itself
He threw his head back and laughed—wild, manic, unrestrained.
Free, at long last.