Chapter 312 A Year Later
Dante was currently lying on a long couch that had a raised portion for the upper body, holding up a holographic tab which was playing some Tom and Jerry cartoons while Antonia comfortably lay on his chest while giggling to the silly antics.
In a year, the infant had grown to the size of a 5-year-old child and had intelligence surpassing one. She now wore a cute little frilly dress that was purple and blackish-red, her two favorite colors according to her.
Her hair had grown out and was tied into cute little twintails by her mother a few months ago. Her now golden eyes were bright and full of mischief as well as cunning, and even while watching the cartoon, her eyes darted around playfully.
Dante noticed this and suddenly tickled her with his free hand. "Look at you, you begged me to watch cartoons and now you're distracted."
Antonia shifted and giggled trying to swat Dante's hands away. "Ah, Daddy! Stop tickling me!"
Dante was amused by her futile resistance but decided not to worry her too much. He had mostly taken a calm and lax disposition to raising his daughter, mostly mimicking his own father.
Suddenly, Beatrice entered the room wearing her usual conservative casual wear. When she saw father and daughter being so close and affectionate, she smiled helplessly.
"The two of you are inseparable. You, Antonia, are you trying to take mummy's husband away from her?" Beatrice joked as she came and sat on Dante's lap.
Antonia crawled into Beatrice's arms and lay her little head on Beatrice's huge breasts that were the little one's favorite soft pillow.
"Hehe, but he's also my daddy too, mummy. How can I steal him from you?"
"Look at you acting cute, trying to avoid the blame. It's working though." Beatrice teased Antonia with a gentle smile.
Dante casually supported the two on his lap and hugged them closer, allowing the small family to share a moment of warmth and peace. Antonia especially enjoyed this feeling, as she had largely been brought up in love and safety.
"Hm? Oh right, it's time for your etiquette lessons from Grandma Aileen. Time to go." Dante was reminded by his A1 chip and made a move to take them away.This content originates from n0v3lbin•
Antonia frowned slightly but could only obey. Dante saw this and rubbed her head, understanding deeply how she felt. His mother had also been very strict with him during his youth and instilled the goals-oriented lifestyle into him from a young age, which was mostly why he grew to be ambitious and relatively capable.
However, Aileen was even more serious about this thing with Antonia, claiming that she was counterbalancing the lax raising method that Dante and Beatrice dished out due to their personalities and experiences.
In the matter of a few hours, Beatrice was rendered in the exact state she expected to be in when she made those bold claims, while Dante simply cleaned her up with the help of the android maids as well.
After doing so, his quantum clone came back to stay with the sleeping Beatrice while his main body returned to the front lines. He appeared within an established bare area full of mechanized androids and the slightly older and more mature Ricky.
When Ricky saw Dante appear, he knelt down subserviently and placed a hand on his chest.
"Greetings, Lord Dante!"
Dante casually waved a hand. "Rise."
That's right, at some point during their time together, he had turned Ricky into a hellfire demon, specifically into one of the Seven Deadly Sins!
Surprisingly, Ricky had adapted into the form of Sloth!
It was as ironic as Humphrey becoming Gluttony because Ricky only ever seemed like a determined and hardworking youth, but that was only a front he put forth. He was actually clumsy, forgetful, and extremely lazy when not under pressure to do anything.
His demonic form was that of a relatively smallish red-skinned demon like the others, but his was more decayed. The skin was lifeless, and the body was slightly withered, and just looking at him made one feel like their energy was being scattered to the wind.
"Where are the others?" Dante asked as he sat in the main set of the command center of this base.
Ricky had an android help him serve Dante some refreshments respectfully. "Lust is currently still in the Radiant Swamp area, having successfully seduced and controlled the leader of the Union Universe's vanguard. She can erupt at any time and take over around 3 to 4 of their territories at once."
"Envy has also infiltrated the territory of the Blazing Universe and caused intense civil unrest by igniting the covetous emotions of all their upper echelon. The entire universe, both within the First Gate and without, is embroiled in an intense and calamitous civil war. If you want, he can abandon the plot and spare the universe the final outcome, though the current damage is irreversible."
"Gluttony has teamed up with the Gorgon to assist Madam Portia in her battles on the other side. Many upper universes have tried to assassinate her in recent months, and even Gluttony and the Gorgon are feeling great pressure. I... guess they could be recalled for other purposes, but it would also leave Madam Portia slightly more vulnerable since they have specifically sent those with soul powers and esoteric/rule-based powers to take her down."
"Finally, Pride. Well, you know how he is; he arrogantly declared that he would do the work of all of us combined and set off to mimic you in claiming only unclaimed territories by passing the test. Due to his special power, he is probably the only one who can kill his own doppelganger among us and had claimed many tenitories at the Master Rank of difficulty."
Ricky then scratched his head. "Well, as for me, I've been here trying to coordinate our three brigades, the Superpowereds, the Demons, and lastly, the Martial Artists."
