Silence.
Not the kind that settles.
The kind that erases.
Dante stood still, not because he chose to, but because there was nothing left to move against. No pressure. No pull. No resistance. Even the space felt… absent, like it had been stripped down past emptiness into something that didn't allow change at all.
He turned.
Nothing.
No Victor. No Camille. No her.
Just a flat, endless expanse that didn't even bother pretending to be real.
"…You separated us," he said.
His voice didn't echo.
It just… stopped.
The figure stepped into existence a few feet away not arriving, not crossing distance. Simply there.
"Yes."
Dante's jaw tightened. "Bring them back."
"No."
Calm. Immediate.
"They are no longer relevant to this phase."
Dante took a step forward
and this time, the space didn't push back.
It didn't respond at all.
His movement felt wrong. Unacknowledged. Like it didn't matter whether he moved or not.
