Chapter Text
“Now Dante, please select the extraction button.”
Standing close to the window, Dante felt an ominous sense of forbidding as he stared at the numerous chains entwined to a circular orb that beat like the heart within his chest. Beside them stood Faust, one of their… sinners. This whole Manager thing was so new, so unexpected that they weren't quite sure how to feel or act about it except to follow the directions given to them. Maybe… if they extracted someone strong, they wouldn’t have to worry about leading the sinners so hard. A guilty desire, nothing more.
So with a nervous tick emitting from their clock, they pushed the button to extract a singular time.
—-----------------------
Faust knew all, including how this extraction would go. In every world, the first extraction from Mephistopheles would yield the Executive Manager the identity of one Shi Association South Section 3 Ishmael. While extractions afterward were… difficult to foresee due to the sheer amount of possibilities, this first one was a fixed constant, one that the Gellschaft was nigh certain about at a 99.99% percent confidence rating.
Which was why her eyebrows had raised approximately a centimeter as the shaking heart of Mephistopheles began to glow golden. The singular chain that had shot out had snagged onto a much farther out possibility then foreseen. With the sound of metallic snapping, the chain broke… before a voice could be heard as a window into the mirror world made itself manifest.
“Keep perfectly still, or else you’ll be torn apart.”
The voice behind it was instantly identified due to the distinct dialect as sinner number thirteen, Gregor- but he spoke in a manner most distinctive from his normal tone to one far more suiting of an emotionless robot. The window fully opened, and Faust could now fully view the impossibility. He wore a sleek black trenchcoat tied with a black belt at the waist. A rusted metallic helmet covered the lefthand side of his face, with a singular emotionless eye looking forward on the right alongside an uncaring expression. A similarly rusted gauntlet covered his left arm. His head and arm were decorated with three Serums- The green one atop his head originating from K Corp, the blue one atop his shoulder from W Corp, and the orange one near his elbow from R Corp.
It was unmistakable as to where this Identity had originated from.
An Executioner of the Claw.
Reaching a possibility like this should have been utterly impossible- there was no way for Dante to have grasped such a possibility this absurd before their descent into hell could even begin. Just how…?
<Faust, what exactly do I do with this?>
Blinking out of her confusion, she took a look at the identity card resting within Dante’s hand. Well, for now… the Gellschaft seemed utterly certain that what had transpired was for lack of a better term, a fluke. An impossibility that would never occur again. While the sinners would certainly be shocked and express their disbelief, it would fade with time as they acquired stronger and stronger identities through their travels.
“That is an Identity Card, Dante. Insert it into your tablet like so…”
—-----------------------
“So this is how it ends before I can get my hands on her… killed by a Claw.”
“OI, WHAT IN THE BLOODY HELL IS A CLAW DOIN DRESSED AS THE BUG GUY!”
“We’re all going to die from an Arbriter, we’re all going to die for real this time…”
“Hoh, I W.H.O.B.W.A.W.G.E.”
“Ahaha, I don’t quite think we’ve broken any rules of the head, so I don’t see them lashing out to obliterate our company~”
“Indeed. There is a distinct lack of rules on dressing up as an Executioner of The Claw.”
The sinners' reactions were… mixed to say the least. After Dante had equipped the identity at the behest of Faust, everyone’s attention was now directed straight at Gregor. From resigned (Ishmael) to scared shitless (Sinclair) to surprising nonchalance (Hong Lu), everyone was reacting in their own unique way.
<This “Identity” really had everyone spooked, huh…>
“Hah… you can say that again, Manager Bud.”
Gregor seemed to be rather glum at everyone’s reactions- after all, they had basically isolated him from them, making him an Outcast. He reached into his pocket, looking for something- only to realize it wasn’t there. With a tsk of annoyance, he looked back towards them.
“Mind turning off this ID here for me so I can get my cig back?”
<O-oh, my bad!>
Hastily, they pulled open their tablet and were about to close it until…
“I’d hold off on that, Dante. It looks like we have some hooligans blocking the bus… and I do wonder what their reaction would be to a Claw of all things stepping out.”
<Alright…>
Gregor’s half hidden face turned noticeably gloomier after that statement from Vergilius- he clearly wasn’t a fan of using the ID. With a sigh of annoyance, he walked towards the exit of the bus.
<Uh…. Ishmael, Yi Sang, Rodya, and Don. Can you guys also fight in the forefront with Gregor?>
“Verily! I doth cherish the chance to see what such a Claw can do against these common crooks!”
“If you are quite certain that we will not be getting in the way, I see no reason to deny your solemn call.”
“Haah… what the hell, why not.”
“Mmmm, I dunno if we can contribute much compared to whatever Greggy will do, but we’ll try our best~”
With those remarks, the sinners stepped off the bus, with the rest staying close beside them for protection.
—-----------------------
“Now Dante, I’ll be showing you how to utilize the Sinner’s EGO in combat. First off…”
<Faust…>
“....once enough resources have been generated by…”
<Faust…!>
“...touch the sinner’s combat profile to…”
“Oi, clockhead, why aren’t you telling her to shut her trap already?” “Can she s-see the figh-” “Executive Manager, you must speak up!”
“Please stop interrupting, as I am in the middle of explaining the mechanics behind using our E.G.O in co-”
<Faust… they’re already dead.>
..hm?
Faust blinked in surprise as she finally took in the battlefield- no, the massacre. Yi Sang, Ishmael, and Rodya were standing around awkwardly while Don Quixote was excitedly talking to Gregor wiping a trace of blood from his mask. Behind him stood a mound of bodies, the remains of the hooligans that had threatened the bus.
<He absolutely destroyed them in a few moves.. the only thing that took time was catching the ones who fled after he crushed one of their heads like it was a fruit.>
Well, that was to be expected. Any rarer identity would certainly be able to utterly clear through the prologue of Dante’s journey… though she was a bit miffed that she hadn’t had the time to finish her explanation.
“For the next encounter, then. Faust would like to state to not become too reliant on Gregor’s first identity. Despite being the strongest identity you will have for a time, it is still nerfed by the contract you have entered… and not being uptied. As it is now, Executioner of the Claw Gregor is a shade of his true potential.”
<I see…>
Hopefully, Faust’s advice would yield fruit. There were far too many worlds in which the Executive Manager mindlessly ordered the sinners to attack instead of putting thought into strategy.
“Let us depart for our destination, Dante.”
With that, the sinners clambered onto the bus as Dante unequipped the Identity. A relieved Gregor finally got the chance to smoke a cigarette in peace, mulling over the newfound memories in his mind.