Dante was forced to make this choice in a very small frame of time, given that he was in the middle of an active battlefield. The cacophony of sounds, like metal clashing, horses neighing, people cursing, screaming, or begging, all sounded in his ears and seemed to scramble yet also focus his thoughts.
The young man thought of his upbringing, his thoughts on killing, human life, and how to treat others. He thought about his chances after acquiring his superpower and everything that happened afterward.
His mind cast onto his loved ones, what they would think of him if he made either choice, as well as what he would do if someone harmed them. He thought about his captives on Earth in the icy cave within McDonald's Island who were waiting to be fed by him.
He thought of Ulysses, the Pantheon, all the forces hidden on Earth, and the various forces of the home universe that might stand in his way of conquest.
It was then that Dante understood. If he wanted to continue on this path he had set for himself, he could only make the right choice, which was the second choice. If he chose the first choice or any other, he would be setting himself up for inevitable failure and difficulty down the line.
ραΠdαsΝοvel.cοm Walking along the riverbank, and you are bound to get your shoes wet. It was impossible for him to think of conquest without taking lives. If not earthlings, then definitely alien species. Dante was not naive enough to think that everyone would bow and scrape then hand over their freedoms with respect, did he?
Dante closed his eyes and made the second choice. Immediately, something seemed to change about him entirely; his youthful features of being a young man who had just matured possessed a certain air of depth.
When he opened his eyes, they flashed with a certain determination and surety that was detectable. There was no madness nor brutality of a crazy killer, just a sure drive to continue forward without doubting his own actions at every step.
Just in time for him to sidestep a full body swing of a young man who had messy brown hair and crazed eyes from the other side. Dante swung his halberd with ease and without hesitation, performing a natural and almost beautiful decapitation of his foe.
The expression of the young man was filled with hatred and killing intent even as his head fell to the ground, not realizing that he was dead.
Dante watched his head fall almost in slow motion, following its movement and the expression on the young man's face throughout. He felt a twang of regret in his chest, but not the type of regret he previously felt.
Previously, it had been 'oh no, what have I done? How could I do this?' and now it was 'sigh, why did you have to do this, my guy? Oh well.'
Discerning eyes could see the fundamental difference between the two.
Dante tore his eyes away from the corpse, and the memory fell to the back of his mind. Now that he had made this choice, he was not going to be childish or melodramatic and do something like engrave the faces of all those he killed in his mind, as if that would suddenly make him a great bloke and mitigate the consequences.
He didn't know this guy, and he didn't want to know him nor remember him. He was just a casualty of his own actions and the situation at hand.
Dante raised his head, and his eyes sharpened as he dashed forward. Due to the need for space, the battlefield had become a gory mess of blood and mud as everyone split into small pockets of fighting.
Dante did not search for lone targets but rather chose to ambush those in the midst of battle against his allies, with their backs to him. He would smash their backs with his halberd and give his ally a chance to deal a fatal blow, if not deal the fatal blow himself.
What was truly interesting was the look of pain, fear, and regret on the faces of the enemy faction members who were killed as they fell, contrasted with the look of relief, gratitude, and admiration from his allied faction members as he saved them.
This fact helped refine Dante's newfound mentality and wash away the impurities and confusions within, allowing him to be more energetic and decisive in what he did.
The battle lasted for over 3 hours before a horn sounded, and both sides disengaged slowly before retreating backward.
Panting deeply, Dante was covered with blood all over, most of it being from his enemies and a little from himself, as he did not yet have spirit sense or the like which allowed him to see 360°. As such, he could be locked in battle and be slashed at the back, causing him injuries.
When he inspected both forces, he saw that apart from the spotless Iron Legion who did not fight, the Master Marksmen and the Swift Riders had sustained virtually no casualties, but were out of ammunition or had their stamina completely depleted in the case of their steeds.
Only the Vanguard Shock Troops and the Warriors of Indra sustained casualties, with the former sustaining heavy amounts, the entire echelon only having less than 40% of their total number return, while the latter sustained light casualties with over 85% of their echelon returning.
As for the enemy, it was utterly terrible. They had less than 55 of their initial number remaining, and most of those who remained were severely injured and in need of medication. It was entirely possible for their army to rout this opposing force, but the generals must feel it was not necessary.
Dante also understood, not because he had insight into the plans of the upper echelons, but he had the education of the modern world and could use simple critical thinking.
The Kingdom of Indra, to which he belonged, was a country of unknown rank or power. They could be strong or weak, Dante could not tell yet, but what he did know was that the king was unsatisfied with how things were and wanted to expand.
This was in the world description. If one wanted to expand, you could claim unclaimed land, but if there was none, you gotta claim the claimed land. Usually, the one who owns the claimed land was not willing to give up, and so gave birth to wars of conquest.
The Kingdom of Indra was invading this opposing kingdom which Dante did not know of which was also of unknown power. They could be high up in the rankings globally or a weak kingdom, but he did not know.
What he did know was that as sudden and surprise aggressors, they had caught this other kingdom off guard, so they couldn't muster a useful defense right away.
You thought the force they just decimated was this kingdom's true defense? That would be a laughable joke. What they had just slaughtered were 20% border defense forces and 80% civilians forcibly conscripted from nearby villages and towns to defend.
Against a true army like this, it was natural they could not hold. Seriously, the opposing force did not have any cavalry, archers, or vanguard of their own, how could they survive? This fight was in no way representative of the difficulty of this world; otherwise, it wouldn't be ranked in the top 5 among students.
This was obviously a tutorial fight for players to get adapted to this world quickly. Dante was not the only one who went through this crisis, every student who attempted this world went through the same
thing and came out differently depending on the choices they made.
Dante shook his head and threw these thoughts away. He reacted to the fellows among the Warriors of Indra and even the few Vanguard Shock Troops he had saved with his actions in the battle, who came and thanked him.
Dealing with it one by one during the battle, he did not know how many fellows he helped, but now that the battle was done and they came to him, he was shocked to see that they were a huge amount.
Dante was emotional. Look at how these guys were excited to be alive and grateful to him for his intervention. It was likely that they and their families would throw a party for Dante and treat him like a miniature messiah.
However, the corpses lying on the field, assuming that their entire family line did not die here, would have their remnants at home burst into tears and agony at their loss. If they knew Dante was the cause, they would point at him and curse with hatred, calling him a monster and a demon.
Dante could almost see the contrasting scenes in his eyes, the left side being those who praised him and the right side being those who cursed him.
It was at this moment that Dante truly understood that this is war.
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