Chapter 211 “Blessing”
Vanna’s already somewhat dazed state of exhaustion instantly tensed up at the recognition. She rushed over to the side and noticed the arm coming out of the car window twitching, which instantly brought a wave of relief to her heart.
Uncle is alive!
Vanna reacted instantly, stabilizing the car’s posture with one hand and pinching the deformed door frame with the other. This allowed her to check Dante’s vitals and injuries before taking him out of the vehicle, which she promptly did after confirming he’s safe to move.
“Ahhh… Vanna… You’re back…” These were the first words Dante said after opening his eyes and getting medical help from Vanna.
“Yes, I’m back,” Vanna didn’t notice anything wrong with her uncle’s phrasing and subconsciously held his hand, “How do you feel now? Can you still get up? I’ll take you to the cathedral…”
“No… don’t bother with a burden like me,” Dante shook his head and grasped Vanna’s hand hard. “I should have thought of such a day… They will come and take the price… You leave now before they find you… Leave Pland and go to a place where no one knows you…”
Her uncle’s plea startled Vanna as she realized something was amiss here. With a slightly trembling voice: “What do you mean? Who are you referring to? What is the price to take? You… did you already know what was happening in the city?!”
Dante struggled to keep his eyes open after the ruby prosthetic eye shattered somehow. Blood flowed down the wound from the socket, and only the remaining human eyeball reflected any of the flames occurring outside Vanna’s barrier. “Ender Missionaries… and the subspace they worship… Vanna, do you remember that fire eleven years ago?”
“The fire eleven years ago…” Vanna’s eyes widened slightly, “You actually remember that fire?!”
“How could I not remember… It burns before my eyes every day,” Dante smiled wryly, “but I thought I could lie to myself for the rest of my life.”
Chaotic thoughts boiled in her mind, and Vanna seemed to forget her exhaustion and pain at this moment. Instead, she stared closely at her uncle’s eyes, which had begun to turn murky from recalling the past in his mind. “But what does this have to do with subspace and the Ender Missionaries…? And me, what does this have to do with me? Why are ‘they’ coming for me? What ‘price’ are they going to take!?”
Vanna instantly regretted asking the questions in this manner because it’s the same tone and attitude she used when interrogating a prisoner. But Dante was no prisoner. He was her uncle, her only family member in this world whom she’s lived with for eleven years. She had no right to behave this way before him.
“When that fire burned, I glimpsed… into a projection of subspace. When that extremely dangerous truth descended, I made a wish to subspace.”
“You made a wish to subspace?” Vanna stared at Dante in disbelief, “What wish?”
“I wished that nothing happened; I wished for your… life’s return.”
All the expressions on Vanna’s face instantly froze.
Dante quietly looked at his niece in front of him, the expression on his face seemingly sobbing and bittersweet. Then, with a raised hand, he gently stroked the lady’s hair: “Vanna… You grew up… I’m sorry, I’m really sorry. Uncle is useless back then… I couldn’t save you…”
“But I remember you taking me out of that fire…”
“All I brought out of the fire was a pile of ash,” Dante whispered. “It was only a momentary thing, and before we had time to react, you were turned into a pile of scorched ash… I was desperate to escape that nightmare and get everything back before the catastrophe. I cried out to anyone that would hear my plea, gods, demons, and even subspace… Then, something responded to my wish, and it took me many years after that to understand what it was that responded to me back then…”
As she peered down at her hands, Vanna no longer seemed to hear what Dante was saying. She couldn’t believe this body of hers wasn’t real, or at least, not the original…
After an unknown amount of time, she finally broke the silence: “So, in a sense, my survival is actually the result of the blessing from subspace?”
Dante closed his eyes, for he couldn’t answer the question like this.
“That… How did I become a saint then?” Vanna asked incredulously. She was asking her uncle but also asking herself this. “How could the Storm Goddess allow a person who survived because of the blessing of subspace to become her own follower? She even blessed me with great power!”
“I… I don’t know,” Dante shook his head slowly, “maybe only the goddess herself can answer your question…”
Vanna fell silent again, her thoughts more chaotic than ever. The belief that had supported her life for so many years had just shattered into pieces, and even her own existence was a blasphemy. No matter how strong-willed this female inquisitor was, such trauma could break her mind at its core.
But after a long while of uncomfortable silence, she slowly stood up and whispered as if trying to convince herself: “In any case, someone must stop this invasion of reality. I must bring everything we know back to the real world.”
“Vanna, you will die,” Dante’s eyes widened in shock, and he tried to pull himself up from the ground. “You can’t stay here. The foundation of reality here is breaking, so you must leave Pland, leave this vision until it completely disappears from your memory. Listen, if your survival is the result of the blessing from subspace, then correcting history will likely lead to your own demise. This paradox conflict cannot be fixed by ordinary people…”
Vanna, however, just stared at her uncle quietly, her gaze gentle and calm.
“Uncle, didn’t you say that you love this city and everything in it?”
Dante nearly cried before making a resolute face: “… Of course, that’s why I will stay here and face the same fate as the city. Whether I survive or die in the end is something I’m willing to meet. But you’re different, Vanna, you can’t…”
“Me too,” Vanna interrupted softly, “I love this place and am ready for everything… Just like how you taught me since I was a child.”
Dante watched his niece with awe, feeling both proud and guilty at the failure on his part to protect her.
He knew that words would no longer work in persuading this child.
So, he sighed and used the last of his strength to stand up, using the nearest street lamp as support.
“Then go,” he said softly, “I will wait here, wait here for you to come back.”
Vanna lowered her head and met her uncle’s gaze.
In her memory, he had always been tall and resolute like a mountain, yet the person present here had become so small and frail that she now had to peer down to meet his gaze.
“… If all goes well, the familiar Pland we know will return to the real world. When that happens… don’t forget me,” her voice now low and gentle like she’s leaving a will.
Dante didn’t say anything more and just nodded lightly.
With a straightened posture, Vanna knew it was time to go. However, a disturbing vibration suddenly rocked her feet that originated elsewhere the next moment. Immediately looking towards the source, she saw the dust cloud rising up into the sky created by a collapsing building.
Vanna had never felt more frightened and uneasy than she was at this moment, and the next second, her eyes had confirmed the source of this unease.
From where the cathedral should be, the smoke had abruptly dispersed following a blinding light rising up from below. It’s as if a miniature sun had manifested in that area, devouring everything within its vicinity.
But that’s not the worst of it; something even more terrible has happened.
More explosions came, more shrill noises, and more soaring fireballs rose into the air across the various branches of the church.
The bells that had never stopped even when the city burned had finally ceased!
Vanna’s mind almost became a blank there, and for the next while, she couldn’t think and only charged towards the largest flash of light at the Storm Cathedral.
