The message came out of nowhere, which was usually the way for Dante's Alchemist friend. However, what made it different this time was that he had used the emergency channel they had set beforehand, and that showed how truly dire the situation is.

"I'm going."

Without hesitation, Dante equipped 8-6 and activated Teleportation, choosing a location based on the 3D model of the city they had previously obtained. The scenery before him should have immediately changed, but a second passed, and he was still there.

'What's going on?'

[We are being blocked.] Volcan replied. [Something strange is happening in that area.]

Dante tried opening a portal next, but the results were the same. Spatial Awareness was soon done with a quick scan, and the results brought a grimace to Dante's face.

There was a large black spot where White Hill should have been, showing that the area couldn't be scanned. Similar blind spots were scattered around the country, and as he had learned a while ago, those places blocked his spatial abilities, making it impossible to get inside through portals or teleportation.

"Is… is there a problem?"

Seeing how he had yet to vanish after putting on his armor, Larry was right to be worried.

[It's okay. Just a little inconvenience.]

Trying once more, Dante opened a portal to the edge of the black spot, dismissed his armor, and equipped the oni mask. Not stopping after he crossed to the other side, he moved between rooftops and circled around Lev's building, having already spotted the problem.

The sky was filled with helicopters and aerial vehicles, and the narrow, vein-like alleys down below were clogged with police cars and tortoise tanks. It was a raid, and not a small one at that.

Having turned invisible, Dante sneaked closer to the center of it all and tried to get a better reading on the situation. What he saw didn't look good.

[

Dante: What did you do, man?

Lev: Why are you asking as if I wasn't wanted all along?

Dante: Yeah, but…

Isn't this a bit excessive?

]

The alchemist was considered a villain, sure, but wasn't this force a little excessive?

'And they got a new team, huh?'

It was easy to spot the clowns standing among the cops thanks to their colorful costumes. Dante made a quick search and found info about their identities and powers, though it wasn't much, seeing how they joined the BEO only a couple of months ago.

[

Dante: Hey

How the hell did it get to this?

Lev: Are you seriously asking that question?

]

It was indeed a stupid question. Lev, the Alchemist, was one of the most wanted villains in the world. Not only was he a big producer of some of the top-shelf drugs, but he also messes with big pharma by releasing perfect recreations of their drugs for a fraction of the price. For those reasons, he had been on the authorities' radar for a very long time, and from the looks of it, they have come very close to catching him.

[

Dante: Don't know, man. Doesn't seem like I can get you out of this.

Lev: Don't give me that! I know you can teleport!

Dante: That's the thing. They're blocking me.

Lev: Oh…

Guess I'm screwed.

]

In a way, he was. Dante didn't think he could do a clean extraction given the current conditions. If the bastards came in prepared for teleporters, they were likely ready for everything else.

'Hey, mind checking what's blocking us?'

[Already on it.]

Dante went around the siege, spending a few seconds in some spots to see if his resident AI could detect anything. Not being able to make use of his favorite Type 8 was truly annoying.

This wasn't a case of Spatial Awareness being incapable of gathering data about the location—he already had that prepared, and even if he couldn't update it, he should have been able to teleport or portal into it without a problem. His inability to do so raised the risk factor quite a bit, and the only time he experienced that was when Nobara trapped him in her spell. It meant that he couldn't make an emergency retreat whenever he needed to. In a way, it felt like he was walking into a trap.

'Why not just kill them all?'

The mission was to help Lev escape. If possible, Dante wanted to do it quietly.

'5-6 could end all of them in a flash. A silent one.'

That would make the incident much bigger than it should be.

As he thought about what to do, Dante recalled an important detail and opened another contact.

[

Suzuka: Don't worry about me.

I have made it virtually impossible to find my place.

]

Suzuka's secret lad was only a few blocks away, so Dante was concerned about what might happen if it got exposed by accident. Thankfully, it seems his favorite Gearhead had taken countermeasures to ensure she doesn't get caught.

'Maybe I should have her do the same for Lev…'

[Dante, I believe I have found the source.]

Volcan spoke up just as Dante snuck close to where the team of clowns was waiting.

'Don't tell me it's one of them…'

A red line washed over a short, muscular man dressed in tight sportswear. He was sitting with his legs crossed, as if in meditation. Dante had wondered why the others were guarding him while he had his yoga class in this place, but apparently, there was a lot more to it than just that.

[Level 3 Intermediate Genome. He is radiating an odd energy.] Volcan said. [It seems to stabilize the space and give him control over it, though I cannot tell the exact extent of his influence.]

'Off with his head, then.'

Cloaked in the Silent Breath, Dante could walk up to the hero, snap his neck, and get out before anyone could notice. That's not what he was going to do this time, however. He already had more than enough problems on his hands, and he didn't want to antagonize the BEO more at the moment.

In truth, he wanted nothing more than to massacre those freaks right then and there, and saving his bony friend had nothing to do with it. That made turning away quite the battle, but he managed to do it with some effort.

'Guess we have to do it the hard way.'

Dante weaved through the army waiting for the signal to invade and climbed the building they were surrounding, sneaking in through one of the many broken windows. Once inside, he made it into the corridor and dismissed his mask, equipping a new armor right after.

Type 6 might have been one of the sets he rarely used, even though it had some of the best abilities, in theory, at least. Its armors were both bulky and heavy, focused entirely on defence and durability. While he could barely move while wearing one, even now that he has bionics that enhance his strength, as well as 4-3 Modules, he would always rest assured that no harm would befall him while wearing one.

The ability that made the Type rather useful was one unlocked at Level 4. Barrier Creation allows Dante to establish a barrier around any place he wants, sealing its interior from the exterior. Said barrier might not be indestructible, but it could hold quite a bit, without him having to supply it with energy.

Bracing himself, Dante activated the ability. He put most of the armor's energy into it and watched as a translucent orange wall formed outside, using the footage Volcan captured using the bots outside.

The chaos started right away, and Dante didn't waste time going on the move. Removing 6-4, he equipped his oni mask and vanished once more. He zoomed through the corridors, reaching the first floor in a single second. A few cops in low-level power suits were there, frozen by the noise they likely heard from outside. Those were the recon squad, and they didn't make it far before Volcan disabled their suits.

Arriving at the entrance to the disabled elevator, Dante opened the emergency hatch and lipped into the shaft, dropping to the bottom.

[Dante: Open thee door.]

The blast doors opened one after the other, and Dante walked through them with hastened pace. Before long, he arrived at the last obstacle and entered the alchemist's lab. Only then did he remove the Silent Breath art.

"Holly mo-"

Lev had been squinting at the door and was startled by Dante appearing right by his side, to the point that he almost collapsed into a pile of bones. recovering right after, he tackled Dante, pulling him into a tight hug.

"LIL' BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Dante could only sigh as his bony friend shook him back and forth, but eventually, he had to put a stop to it.

"It's about time you calm down." He said, pulling away. "You screwed up big time, man. Why did you let it get to this point?"

The Alchemist wasn't an easy villain to catch, and even when his hideouts are exposed, he always manages to find a way out before they get to him. This time, things were different somehow. Either the authorities upped their game, or the bony man screwed up.

"Lil' bro, do we really have the time for this?" Lev said.

"Yeah, we got some." Dante looked at him with half-lidded eyes. "I gotta gather your stuff, so you better give me something by the time we're done."