Chapter 108: The Path of Gods and Demons, A Sealed Letter

Before Dante could initiate the fast-travel sequence to Aethelgardia, the system interface hitched.

A private direct message pinged violently across his vision and completely bypassed his standard notification filters.

It wasn’t from a player.

[System Ping - Sender: Master Sun]

[Message: Outworlder. Do not use the transit network. Return to the appraisal shop immediately. The parameters of your progression have changed.]

Dante lowered his hand. He looked at the massive swirling blue portal hovering near the central fountain.

"Hold on," Dante told his squad. "I need to make one last stop. Do not go through the portal without me."

"Are you abandoning us, buddy?" Garrick asked. His voice was filled with genuine concern, and he gripped his rusty iron shield tightly. "Because I can handle the aggro here while you handle your business! Just point me at the boars!"

"There are no boars in the city, Garrick," Dante said flatly. "Just wait here."

He turned and quickly navigated the crowded cobblestone streets. He headed back toward Master Sun’s Antiquities.

The premier appraisal shop was heavily guarded by its clockwork golems. Dante pushed the heavy wooden doors open.

Master Sun wasn’t sitting behind his mahogany counter.

The heavyweight NPC was standing in the center of the shop and looked incredibly anxious.

His glowing blue monocle was whirring aggressively to scan the localized environment for eavesdroppers.

"You are making a lot of noise, Master Sun," Dante said and closed the door behind him. "What is wrong?"

"You cannot use the standard transit network to enter the Capital," Master Sun stated bluntly.

The artificial voice of the NPC was stripped of its usual professional cadence.

"The Orthodox remnants have completely locked down the arrival plazas in Aethelgardia. They are scanning the localized cosmic weight of every single player transferring from the frontier cities."

Dante frowned. "Silas has his armies camping the spawn points."

"They are not looking for an army," Master Sun corrected. "They are looking for you."

"The density of your Zenith-tier skills and that primordial blade on your wrist will trigger their detection arrays the exact millisecond you materialize. You will be vaporized before your loading screen finishes."

"So I fly there," Dante suggested and gestured to his [Mantle of the Void-Dragon].

"The airspace above the Capital is heavily fortified by Divine-tier anti-air barriers," Master Sun shook his head. "You would be shot down. No. You require a backdoor."

Master Sun walked over to the corner of the shop. He tapped a series of glowing blue runes etched into the polished stone floor.

The runes flared violently and projected a small unstable dark purple portal.

It didn’t look like a standard system transit gate. It looked incredibly dangerous and spit localized sparks of raw void energy.

"I have forged a one-way bypass portal," Master Sun explained and gestured to the swirling purple energy.

"It will deposit you directly into the outskirts of Aethelgardia to entirely avoid the centralized detection arrays. It is unstable, but it will hide your localized arrival."

Dante looked at the portal. "Why are you helping me so much?"

"Because you are the Vanguard," Master Sun said softly.

The eyes of the NPC dimmed slightly. A deep sorrow bled into his voice.

"And because the Blade-Saint told me what the system did to your class advancement."

Dante crossed his arms. "The system called me too dense."

"You possess too much cosmic weight for the standard NPC mentors," Master Sun clarified.

"A basic class tag cannot contain your data. If you wish to find a Hidden Class capable of handling your multiplier, you will not find it in a pavilion or a beginner dungeon."

Master Sun turned and pointed a heavy finger directly into the dark purple portal.

"You must venture into the Path of Gods and Demons," Master Sun declared.

Dante recognized the phrasing. It wasn’t a standard zone name.

"That is an endgame forbidden zone," Dante said. "The forums say it is completely inaccessible until the second year of the cycle."

"It is inaccessible to standard Outworlders," Master Sun corrected. "But you are an anomaly."

"The Path of Gods and Demons is located just outside the walls of Aethelgardia. It is the only environment dense enough to house the ancient primordial classes you require. Seek the True Sovereign within the Path."

Before Dante could ask for more specific coordinates, the heavy wooden door of the shop violently banged open.

Blacksmith Tang marched into the room.

The massive NPC was carrying a small heavily sealed parchment letter. The wax seal was a brilliant glowing white snowflake.

"Outworlder," Tang grunted and tossed the letter directly at Dante.

Dante caught it. It felt freezing cold in his iron gauntlet.

[Item Acquired: Sealed Letter]

[Tier: Quest Item (Unique)]

[Description: A highly encrypted message. Intended recipient: Alysia, the Frost Sovereign.]

"Alysia?" Dante asked and looked at Tang. "Who is the Frost Sovereign?"

"She is a legendary Guardian stationed within the Capital," Tang explained rapidly.

"The system restricts us from communicating directly with the inner sanctum. Take that letter to her. It contains intelligence regarding the Orthodox remnants gathering in the city."

"You guys are treating me like a cosmic courier service," Dante sighed and stored the freezing letter in his infinite inventory.

"We are treating you like the only entity capable of surviving the delivery," Master Sun countered smoothly.

The appraiser pointed to the dark purple portal.

"Gather your vanguard, Champion. The portal will only remain stable for a few minutes. Step through, and do not alert the Orthodox to your arrival."

Dante didn’t waste any more time. He nodded to the two Hidden Masters and sprinted out of the shop.

He navigated the crowded streets of Ironhold and rushed back to the central fountain.

His squad was still there.

Lila was nervously tapping her Dark Demon staff, and Mei was bouncing her colossal pan.

Casanova was trying to flirt with a passing NPC merchant, and Garrick was standing at rigid unblinking attention. He was completely ready to tank an invisible threat.

"Change of plans," Dante ordered and walked up to the group.

"We are not taking the main gate. The spawn point in Aethelgardia is a death trap. We are taking a backdoor."

"A backdoor?" Lila asked. Her blue eyes widened. "Dante, system bypasses are incredibly dangerous. If the portal destabilizes, we could get dropped into the middle of an ocean."

"I trust the guy who built it," Dante said and checked his private party interface.

The roster was full. Seven members.

Dante.

Lila, Astral Arcanist.

Mei, Brawler.

Casanova, Bruiser.

Garrick, Oblivious Tank.

And standing slightly behind the group, having arrived from the real world just a few minutes prior, were Sera and Nyx.

Sera was wearing incredibly sleek professional-looking merchant robes. She held a glowing digital ledger.

Nyx, the top-tier analyst, wore dark leather armor and her signature dark glasses.

They had logged in specifically to ride the coattails of Dante into the Capital and secure the real estate for their auction house.

"Are we really doing this?" Sera asked and looked at Dante. Her voice was strictly professional, but he could see the nervous tension in her eyes. "If Vanguard’s Legacy catches us, they will absolutely blacklist Astral Vanguard."

"They will not catch us," Dante promised. "The portal drops us outside the city walls. We walk in quietly."

He led the seven-man squad through the commercial district and quickly returned to Master Sun’s Antiquities.

The NPC appraiser and the blacksmith were waiting. The dark purple portal was violently sparking, and the localized void energy clearly struggled to maintain its shape.

"Go," Master Sun urged and waved them forward.

"I will go first!" Garrick volunteered loudly and raised his rusty iron shield. "I will draw the aggro if there are any monsters on the other side! Cover me, team!"

Garrick didn’t wait for a tactical brief. The middle-aged man sprinted forward and enthusiastically threw himself head-first into the sparking purple void.

"He is incredibly motivated," Casanova noted and stepped through the portal next.

Lila, Mei, Sera, and Nyx quickly followed.

Dante stepped up to the edge of the portal. He looked back at Master Sun and Tang.

"I will deliver the letter," Dante promised.

He stepped into the void.

The transition was violent.

It wasn’t the smooth silent float of the standard system fast-travel. It felt like being dragged through a digital washing machine.

The dark purple energy violently spun his avatar. The pressure heavily compressed his Gold-tier armor.

A fraction of a second later, the chaotic spinning stopped.

Dante hit the ground hard. His iron boots skidded across thick lush green grass.

He didn’t immediately stand up. He drew the [Dawn-Breaker Blade]. His Intuition stat was absolutely screaming.

The portal hadn’t dropped him into a quiet forest outside the Capital.

The air was completely silent, but the physical environment was wrong.

The grass was trampled. The ambient light was entirely blocked out by a massive towering wall of heavily armored players.

Dante stood up slowly.

Garrick, Lila, Mei, Casanova, Sera, and Nyx were standing in a tight circle directly behind him. They looked absolutely terrified.

They were standing in a massive open clearing surrounded by towering white marble walls. It was the outskirts of Aethelgardia.

And completely surrounding the clearing, standing shoulder-to-shoulder in a flawless military formation, were three thousand players.

They all wore the gleaming gold and white tabards of the Gilded Syndicate.

"Welcome to the Capital, Dan," a voice echoed across the massive clearing.

Dante didn’t even need to look to know who was speaking.

Silas stepped out from behind a massive wall of tower shields.