Chapter 217: Sanctuary of the Emporium
He was going to bypass the entire bounty hunt of the server and drop directly into the inner sanctum of the gods.
"I am going with you," Nyx stated. She stepped up beside him and adjusted the cuffs of her dark leather armor.
Dante looked at the analyst. "You are a squishy rogue, Nyx. We are talking about the home base of the Celestial faction.
If the Celestials decide we are hostile, they will delete you with a single stray area-of-effect spell."
"I have the [God of Shadow] class now," Nyx reminded him and pushed her dark glasses up the bridge of her nose. "And I have Violet.
If you are infiltrating a Celestial Sanctuary, you need someone who can bypass magical tripwires and scout ahead."
Nyx gestured to her own shadowy silhouette. "Your [Veil of the Unseen] hides your physical avatar, but it does not disarm environmental traps. I do. Violet can sniff out systemic wards before we even step on them."
Dante considered it. She was right. Infiltration required more than just absolute invisibility. It required careful systemic manipulation.
"Fine," Dante agreed. "Stay in my shadow. If things go bad, you trigger your extraction talisman immediately. Do not try to fight a god or a paladin."
"I am an analyst, not a brawler," Nyx smirked. "I know my mathematical limits perfectly well."
Dante pulled the dark gray [Spatial Stone] out of his infinite inventory.
He didn’t need to visualize a specific set of numbers or coordinates. He just needed to focus on the general geographic region of the Celestial Sanctuary.
It was a massive floating continent located high above the clouds of the Veridian Alliance.
The incredible systemic authority of the Holy-Forbidden artifact would handle the rest and force a direct path through the spatial code of the game.
Dante crushed the stone in his dark purple gauntlet.
The artifact didn’t shatter into physical pieces. It dissolved instantly into a swirling vortex of deep gray energy that completely enveloped both Dante and Nyx.
The ambient noise of the Emporium courtyard was instantly silenced.
The transition ripped them through the server architecture at terrifying speed. It felt like being dragged through a digital woodchipper.
Dante didn’t close his eyes. He prepared himself for the hostile environment waiting on the other side.
The gray vortex collapsed and spat them out onto a pristine surface.
Dante landed silently. His iron boots touched down on flawless polished white marble.
He instantly triggered [Veil of the Unseen] and completely erased his digital footprint from the area.
Nyx didn’t hesitate for a microsecond. She activated [Shadow Merge] and melted seamlessly into the dark shadow cast by a massive towering statue of a winged angel.
They had arrived.
The Celestial Sanctuary was absolutely breathtaking. It wasn’t a standard city. It was a massive floating temple complex composed entirely of white marble, gold trim, and cascading waterfalls of pure glowing mana.
The sky was an eternal perfect sunrise that painted the clouds in shades of pink and orange.
The air was thick with the suffocating overwhelming cosmic weight of hundreds of high-tier Celestial entities.
"Stay quiet," Dante whispered through the private comms. He stood perfectly still while invisible.
Two heavily armored Celestial Paladins marched past the statue. They were completely oblivious to their presence.
Their glowing spears rested on their shoulders, and their chins were held high with absolute arrogance.
"Where is she?" Nyx whispered back. Her voice was barely a breath over the comms.
Dante activated [Dragon’s Insight].
His vision shifted to the analytical grid. He scanned the massive temple complex and filtered out the blinding ambient holy magic.
He searched the data streams for a very specific absolute-zero thermal signature.
He found it.
Deep within the eastern wing of the Sanctuary was a massive concentrated core of pure frost magic. It was isolated in a private meditation garden far away from the bustling main halls.
"Follow me," Dante ordered.
He moved silently through the pristine corridors of the Sanctuary. He bypassed dozens of elite guards and glowing magical wards. He moved like a ghost through the home of the gods.
The [Veil of the Unseen] functioned flawlessly. High-tier Celestial Paladins glowing with holy magic walked right past him without a single glance.
His digital footprint was completely erased from the detection grid of the server.
Nyx followed closely behind. She utilized her [God of Shadow] class to slide seamlessly from one shadow to the next. The analyst was completely untargetable. She was a literal phantom slipping through the pristine halls.
"The security here is incredibly arrogant," Nyx whispered over the private comms. "They rely entirely on passive detection wards. They do not even have active scouts patrolling the inner halls."
"They are gods, Nyx," Dante replied smoothly. "They do not expect anyone to break into their house. It is a localized ego problem. They think their cosmic weight alone is a deterrent."
Dante kept [Dragon’s Insight] active. He followed the massive concentrated core of pure frost magic radiating from the eastern wing of the Sanctuary.
They reached a massive set of double doors forged from frosted glass and silver.
The doors weren’t guarded by paladins. But the system interface flashed a harsh warning as Dante approached.
[System Alert: Divine Ward Detected.]
[Unauthorized entry will trigger immediate localized execution protocols.]
"I have got it," Nyx murmured.
She detached herself from the shadow of Dante and slid along the marble floor until she reached the base of the glass doors.
She didn’t use a standard rogue lockpick. She reached into her inventory and pulled out a small jagged vial of pure dark matter she had harvested during the siege.
Nyx carefully poured a single drop of the dark matter directly onto the glowing silver ward.
The dark magic didn’t explode. It acted as a systemic virus and aggressively ate the holy code of the ward in complete silence. The silver glow sputtered, flickered rapidly, and died.
[Divine Ward Bypassed.]
"Clean," Dante noted approvingly.
He pushed the heavy glass doors open and slipped inside before they swung shut.
The room beyond wasn’t a grand hall or a military war room. It was a sprawling open-air meditation garden.
The environment was completely frozen. Intricate ice sculptures depicting ancient celestial battles lined the pathways, and a massive frozen waterfall served as the centerpiece of the garden.
The air was incredibly cold. The ambient temperature was easily below freezing.
But the [Frost-God Constitution] of Dante made it feel like a comfortable autumn breeze.
Sitting cross-legged on a bench carved from solid glacier ice and facing the frozen waterfall was Alysia.
The Frost Sovereign wasn’t wearing her massive intimidating white armor. She wore a simple elegant silver dress. Her stark white hair fell loosely down her back.
She looked entirely serene.
Dante didn’t try to sneak up on her. He didn’t want to startle an entity that had just recently broken through to the Mythic Realm.
He dropped the [Veil of the Unseen] and materialized a dozen feet behind her.
"Alysia," Dante said softly.
The Frost Sovereign didn’t jump. She didn’t summon her greatsword or trigger a defensive aura.
She slowly opened her icy blue eyes and remained seated on the frozen bench.
"You are incredibly foolish to come here, Outworlder," Alysia said. Her voice was calm, though it lacked the booming aggressive authority she used in combat.
"The Arch-Administrator has placed a global bounty on your head. If the Grand Sovereign senses your cosmic weight in this garden, you will be unmade."
"I took precautions," Dante said and stepped a little closer.
He stopped a polite distance away and kept his hands away from his weapons.
Alysia finally turned her head to look at him. Her eyes swept over his dark purple armor and the glowing gold trim.
When her gaze met his, the serene untouchable facade cracked slightly. A faint almost imperceptible flush of pink colored her pale cheeks as the memory of their last encounter in the ice dome violently resurfaced.
Her newly unlocked unsealed emotions were clearly making it difficult for her to maintain her stoic Guardian persona. The ice beneath her boots actually cracked slightly from her internal tension.
"We agreed we were strangers," Alysia stated tightly. She turned her gaze back to the frozen waterfall to avoid looking at him. "We have nothing to discuss."
"We do not," Dante agreed and completely ignored the awkward romantic tension hanging in the freezing air. "But Vane does."
Alysia stiffened. The flush faded instantly and was replaced by a cold sharp focus. The temperature in the garden dropped another ten degrees.
"The Architect," Alysia whispered.
Dante reached into his inventory and pulled out the [Token of the Crimson Spire]. He tossed it lightly onto the frozen bench beside her.
The dark red token pulsed with its sickening corrupted energy. It completely contrasted the pristine holy ice of the garden and tainted the clean air.
"I took that off the Guild Master who tried to kill me," Dante explained. "He was allied with Vane. The token is actively pinging the server architecture right now. It is a tracking beacon."
Alysia picked up the token. Her icy eyes narrowed as she analyzed the corrupted code embedded in the artifact.
"He is transmitting," Alysia confirmed. Her voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. "He is attempting to re-establish a connection with the Void-Blight anchors on the surface."
"Can you track it?" Dante asked.
Alysia stood up. The simple silver dress dissolved into mist and was instantly replaced by her massive gleaming white armor.
She summoned her frost greatsword. The weapon crackled with absolute-zero energy and bathed the garden in a harsh blue light.
"I can," Alysia said and turned to face him fully. Her demeanor was entirely professional again. "But tracking him is only half the battle.
If Vane has re-established his laboratory, it will be heavily fortified with administrative-level code locks. My raw power cannot bypass systemic architecture."
"That is why I am here," Dante said and tapped the hilt of [Voidsever] on his wrist. "My sword cuts code."