Dante's Ruin and Isabella's Temptation
If someone asked me which character from playing Dawn Star Academia up to now stuck with me the most, I'd pick Dante without hesitation. In the main story, he was just Protagonist 1. But in the DLC, he was the protagonist—the only male character you could control. And the last character I'd played before getting isekai'd into this game was none other than him.
The DLC had launched right when I'd cleared my 28th playthrough, so there were no guides or anything. He was a character you'd start from rock bottom with. The story was brutally bleak compared to the main game, too. Not a single heroine or even a decent ally survived. The delinquent Second Prince finally got his act together late in the game, rallying the non-humans, only to hand everything over to the protagonist Third Prince before dying.
With Kyle's death as the final blow, all his family was gone. Naturally, that left him as the scapegoat for the throne. And then he fought. Like the heroes in legends, shouldering the weight of every life on his frail shoulders. Stepping over countless sacrifices, he finally plunged his sword into the heart of destruction itself.
But no one praised him. No one cheered his victory. Not even Dante got his reward. By the time he slew destruction, the world was already destroyed.
He'd tried to kill destruction to save what he wanted to protect. But to kill destruction, he had to sacrifice what he wanted to protect. A paradoxical tale. And then, right before the ending credits rolled, the final CG showed a landscape where everything he'd fought to save had turned to ashes—despite defeating destruction.
That haunting image of Dante, dazed and lost in the ruins, was so striking that it burned itself into my memory.
I'd planned to come back from work and start my 30th playthrough with him... but, well, things happened. I got isekai'd here instead, so no other endings for me. Not that I know if there even were other endings besides that one.
"Ah, so you're Ian...? Kyle... bro mentioned you. Said there's this amazing guy in the swordsmanship department."
"It's nothing special."
Truly the protagonist of that unfairly punishing DLC, huh? His level was right up there with Angelica's. Among the male leads, probably second only to Cassian bro. In the game, he was top student if the player was, and runner-up otherwise, so this made sense. If Donnesia hadn't pulled Rossinante from that spring, he might've snatched her runner-up spot?
But what really bugged me was the info from my Insight Eye. Hiding something? Dante wasn't a shady character in the game. Probably did something in the dorm while I was gone. No wonder the door was locked.
Dante gave a soft, wistful smile and continued.
"We're both new students anyway, right, Ian? Same age, so let's drop the formalities."
"Sure... then."
No need to stand on ceremony.
"......Why isn't anyone coming?"
The woman slumped in her chair, staring at me with hollow eyes and a dazed expression, was Eirin de Astoria. The First Imperial Princess of the Astoria Empire and the club president desperately trying to save her dying club.
"No, we've got Lady Donnesia and Lady Angelica! So why! Aren't they coming?!"
She was deep in denial, flailing about wildly. Complete with cat-like hisses. Yesterday and today, she'd been leading the charge in shattering the imperial family's image. The sad part? No one was around to see it.
Donnesia, beside her, sipped her tea as if the princess's tantrum had nothing to do with her.
Angelica, meanwhile...
"Ian? Sparring today too?"
The duel-loving youth was gearing up to thrash me again.
"Why won't they come? What's wrong with our club?"
The princess was half-right. Before she joined, it was a minor-among-minors club with only seniors. But with top student Angelica and runner-up Donnesia of the Logres Ducal House joining, it gained serious clout—from an obscure hole-in-the-wall to one buzzing on cadets' lips.
That drew crowds. But...
"What do you think, Ian?"
Eirin slammed the table again, glaring daggers at me. Half that golden gaze was pure resentment.
"It's not my fault."
"No! All the recruits take one look at you and bolt!"
Why rub salt in the wound like that?
Yes. The club's buzzkill? Me, of all people. Every cadet who'd come with an application fled in terror at my face.
Was my face that scary? But it wasn't entirely unfair—Donnesia had explained.
"You crushed Owen once, right? Word is you're a 'person of interest' among the nobles now."
After I disciplined Irien and the Owen family fell out of favor with the Second Prince, I'd become infamous among noble kids—for all the wrong reasons. In cheap terms: Don't mess with that guy; he's bad news.
But that wasn't my fault. It was that idiot's for not knowing his place and threatening me with a sword. If it bothered him, he should've been born a ducal heir.
"Anyway, it's your fault!"
"Weaklings who flee at the sight of my face have no place in the Ancient Literature Club."
"This isn't a swordsmanship club!"
That's why we recruited Donnesia. It takes guts to snag a beauty. Better yet, it weeds out the girls who joined just for her. Silver lining, right? Think positive.
For reference, I'd casually mentioned the club to my swordsmanship classmates.
'How could we join a club with you and Lady Angelica...'
'If those two are in it, nobodies like us couldn't even get in.'
Guys, it's not that kind of club. Maybe I'd set the bar too high with all the sparring? They weren't even considering it. Even after I explained, they insisted it was beyond them.
Admiration is the emotion furthest from understanding, it seems.
Then, a knock echoed from the club room door. Another moth to the flame?
Eirin, expecting nothing, mustered a feeble,
"Come in...."
The door slid open with a rumble.
"Looks like I found the right place."
A woman with radiant platinum blonde hair and ruby-red eyes gleaming with seductive mischief. Isabella von Eternia.
...Why?
How does nobility end up in this dump?
"Isabella!?"
Eirin, recognizing her, slammed the table and stared. That desk was doomed soon. How many hits had it taken from the princess?
Come to think of it, Isabella had broken off her engagement to Kyle... So Eirin's shock made sense. To an imperial like her, Isabella must be awkward.
"After dumping that jerk Kyle, you could've at least texted. Kinda rude, no?"
"I've been busy, sorry."
Nope. Contrary to my expectations, they seemed super close. I'd assumed bad blood from the broken engagement... Guess the Second Prince's delinquency was that bad for them to stay friends. What the hell was he doing before reforming? Even Dante seemed wary of her. How do you end up with zero allies?
"So, what brings you here...?"
"Why else visit a club room? To join, obviously."
Isabella pulled an application from her inner breast pocket. As she did, her already ample chest jiggled with the motion.
Where the hell does she keep that paper?
And she's joining our club? Things were escalating.
Academy top student, runner-up, powerhouse mage on par with them, and now the club president. A lineup that could raid demon realms for artifacts and stroll out alive.
"But don't you have another club already, Lady Isabella?"
"Nope, none."
What? Unlike us loner transfers, wasn't she the social butterfly of the academy, the 'Flower of Eternia'?
And she had no clubs?
"Then why...?"
"Don't tell me... for me?"
Eirin jumped in, eyes sparkling with hope. But,
"Sorry, no. I didn't even know the Ancient Literature Club existed."
Her blunt honesty shredded the princess's heart. Eirin clutched her chest, curling up in the corner. At least no table slam this time.
"If I had to pick a reason..."
Isabella closed her eyes thoughtfully, then,
"It's you."
Pointing right at me.
"Me? Why?"
"You haven't noticed, but rumors are flying. Lady Donnesia, Angelica, even Lady Iris... Word is you're a total womanizer. Heard it?"
Holy crap, that was the most bullshit rumor yet. How could anyone think I had a playboy streak? With this face? I was just the guy taking beatings from Angelica all day, praying sparring ended pain-free.
"Me too."
She sauntered closer.
"So, time to drive the wedge in."
She lifted my chin. Donnesia flinched; Angelica stayed stone-faced. Isabella just grinned, staring me down.
"That should quiet the 'playboy knight' talk, right?"
Her finger trailed to my chest.
"Wanna test it out? Ian de Logres."
..........?
Test what, exactly?