Started with a 10,000x Multiplier in a Game World

Dante stepped forward, holding the massive, light-devouring bulk of [Voidsever] with both hands.

His health bar was sitting at a miserable 2,550 HP. A stray spark from the roaring inferno surrounding the arena could kill him.

The safety net of [Fire Roc’s Nirvana] was gone, burned away by the supernova.

He was a Level 74 Warrior operating entirely as a glass cannon, facing a Level 80 Celestial Boss with over three million health points.

Envoy Catacombs didn’t look arrogant anymore. The Celestial Boss stared at the jagged black greatsword in Dante’s hands.

The white-hot fire in the NPC’s eyes flickered, recognizing the profound, crushing cosmic weight radiating from the weapon.

"The shattered blade," Catacombs whispered, his voice trembling slightly. "You bound it. You truly bound the executioner of the First Cycle."

Catacombs didn’t try to cast another massive, arena-wide spell. He knew he didn’t have the time.

The Envoy gripped his magma-woven staff with both hands, dropping into a desperate, aggressive melee stance.

He channeled every ounce of his remaining thermal energy into the weapon. The jagged volcanic core at the tip flared with a blinding, intense heat, turning the entire staff into a solid beam of white-hot plasma.

"If you are the Vanguard," Catacombs roared, lunging forward with terrifying speed, "then prove it!"

Dante didn’t wait for the boss to close the gap.

He had [Asura’s Heart] active. His movement speed and attack speed were doubled.

He activated his ultimate assassination skill.

[Skill Executed: Phantom Waltz]

The purple, pulsating invulnerability frames enveloped Dante’s avatar. He vanished from his position in the center of the scorched arena.

Catacombs swung the plasma staff in a devastating sweep, aiming directly for where Dante had been standing a fraction of a millisecond earlier.

The sheer thermal force of the strike melted the air itself, but it hit completely empty space.

Crack.

Dante materialized directly behind the Celestial Boss.

Because of Voidsever’s [Absolute Severance] passive, he didn’t need to aim for weak points. The primordial greatsword ignored 100% of the target’s physical and magical armor.

Dante swung the black blade in a brutal horizontal slash across the Envoy’s back.

The 36,000 base attack power, multiplied by the 1,000% damage boost of the Zenith-tier assassination skill, hit the boss with the force of a falling mountain.

[-1,080,000! Critical Hit!]

The massive damage number exploded in bright red text. Catacombs screamed, staggering violently forward, nearly a third of his health pool instantly vaporized.

But Dante wasn’t finished. The [Phantom Waltz] animation consisted of five instantaneous strikes.

Crack.

He teleported again, appearing directly above the stumbling Envoy. He drove the black blade straight down, burying it deep into Catacombs’s shoulder.

[-1,080,000! Critical Hit!]

Crack. Crack.

Two rapid, intersecting diagonal slashes across the chest.

[-1,080,000! Critical Hit!]

[-1,080,000! Critical Hit!]

The Envoy was physically lifted off the ground by the sheer, overwhelming kinetic force of the rapid-fire strikes.

His health bar plummeted, completely emptied before the final strike of the sequence even initiated.

But Dante didn’t stop. He needed to execute the fifth strike to complete the animation.

Crack.

He materialized directly in front of the airborne boss.

Dante pulled Voidsever back for the final, devastating horizontal sweep.

The Zenith Protocol’s combat engine suddenly hitched.

Dante had 100 points in his hidden Luck stat. He was swinging a cursed, primordial weapon that fed on absolute destruction.

The boss was already technically dead, sitting at zero HP, but the system had to process the final hit of the skill.

The cosmic dice didn’t just roll. They shattered.

[Hidden Trait Triggered: Doom’s Echo]

[Multiplier Applied: 1,000,000,000%]

The black spatial fracture passing through the Envoy suddenly pulsed with a deep, violent crimson light.

There was no sound. The sheer mathematical volume of the damage output completely muted the game’s audio engine for a full three seconds.

The massive, impenetrable dome of white-hot fire enclosing the arena didn’t just fade away. It violently shattered, completely blown apart by the concussive force of the strike.

The explosion of raw, unmitigated true damage sheared the top of the mountain off entirely, launching millions of tons of black rock and ash high into the sky above the Obsidian Crags.

Above Catacombs’s head, the damage numbers didn’t pop up cleanly.

The font broke. The numbers overlapped, glitching in bright, aggressive red static, completely overflowing the visual parameters of the game’s interface.

[-OVERFLOW ERROR! TRUE DEATH! OVERKILL!]

Envoy Catacombs didn’t explode into a shower of blue and silver polygons.

The towering, Level 80 Celestial Boss was instantaneously and flawlessly vaporized. He didn’t even leave behind digital ash. His avatar was completely deleted from the server’s memory in a single frame.

Dante materialized on the ground, perfectly balanced, his iron boots crunching against the scorched rock.

The purple invulnerability frames faded from his armor. His buffs expired, returning his stats to their normal, absurdly high baseline.

The air was completely silent.

Dante slowly lowered Voidsever. The black blade hummed softly, completely satisfied.

Aura, hovering desperately near his shoulder, instantly pulsed her [Resurgence Wave]. The massive, percentage-based heal washed over him, completely refilling his health bar from the critical low of the [Blood Sacrifice] back to a comfortable 25,500 HP.

Dante dismissed Voidsever, the black blade dissolving back into the brand on his wrist.

He took a long, slow breath, letting the heavy, aggressive adrenaline fade from his system.

"Well," Dante muttered, looking at the massive, smoking crater where the boss had been. "I guess that answers the question of whether or not I’m worthy of the legacy."

The system interface suddenly chimed warmly.

[Target Eliminated: Envoy Catacombs (Level 80 Celestial)]

[Experience Gained. Level Up!]

Dante watched his level tick up to 75. The sheer volume of raw data absorbed from the Celestial boss, combined with the earlier slaughter of the fifty Cinder-Mages, provided a massive influx of progression.

He didn’t have to wait for the loot drop.

Because the boss had been completely vaporized by [Doom’s Echo], the system simply deposited the rewards directly into Dante’s infinite inventory.

He opened his interface to check the spoils.

Sitting in the first slot of his newly acquired loot was a small, intricately carved medallion forged from dark, cooling magma.

It looked incredibly similar to the [Ashen Seal] Catacombs had used to trap him, but it didn’t radiate a hostile aura.

[Item Appraised: Cinder-Mark]

[Tier: Divine]

[Type: Faction Token]

[Description: A token of absolute respect from the Sect of the Scorched Earth. Grants the user permanent, absolute immunity to all environmental fire and heat-based damage. Marking the user as an official ally of the Ashen Peak. The Sect will not engage the bearer in hostile combat.]

Dante smiled. A flat immunity to all fire damage. It was a massive upgrade, completely freeing him from having to rely on consumable talismans or Aura’s shields when navigating volcanic zones.

And the faction alliance was arguably more valuable. Silas had tried to hire the Sect as assassins. Now, Dante was officially recognized as an ally.

The Patriarch would likely ignore any future bounties placed on his head by Vanguard’s Legacy.

Before Dante could close the interface, a small, glowing projection flickered into existence a few feet away.

It wasn’t a respawning boss. It was a recorded message left by the Envoy.

The translucent, ghostly image of Catacombs stood in the center of the crater. The NPC didn’t look angry or hostile. He looked incredibly calm, bowing his head respectfully.

"You have conquered the flames, Outworlder," Catacombs’s recorded voice resounded softly. "You wield the Asura’s wrath with the discipline of a Vanguard. You are worthy."

The projection pointed a finger toward the north.

"A warning, Champion," Catacombs continued, his voice dropping into a serious register. "While we tested you here, your enemies have not been idle. Silas has realized he cannot fight you alone. He has abandoned his pride and sought out the other ’Kings’ of your kind."

Dante frowned, crossing his arms.

"The Sakura Nation and the Apex Coalition," Catacombs revealed. "Silas has offered them a share of his corporate backing.

He has united the three massive armies once again. They are no longer fighting each other.

They have formed a unified, three-nation alliance with a single, absolute goal: the complete annihilation of Aegis Vanguard."

The projection flickered slightly.

"They are currently marching on the Sky Demon Forest," Catacombs warned. "They intend to establish a massive, impenetrable siege camp around the demonic nexus, claiming the territory to force you into an open war. Prepare yourself, Champion. The true battle for this cycle is about to begin."

The projection dissolved into sparks, fading completely.

Dante stood alone on the shattered peak of the Obsidian Crags.

"A three-nation alliance," Dante murmured, running a hand through his hair.

He had routed them individually. He had embarrassed them publicly. And now, they were teaming up.

Fifty thousand players, fully coordinated, heavily armed, and actively looking for revenge.

It was a staggering logistical threat. Even with zero cooldowns and infinite stamina, fighting an organized army of fifty thousand players was exhausting.

They would use suppression arrays, synchronized magical bombardments, and endless waves of disposable frontline tanks to grind him down.

Dante opened his private party interface.

[Dan: The escort is clear. The convoy is safe.]

[Sera: Dante! Thank God. The global forums are completely melting down. Cipher just broke the news. Silas, Ryujin, and Gawain signed a public treaty. They formed an alliance. They’re calling it the ’Orthodox Vanguard’.]

[Dan: I know. They’re marching on the Sky Demon Forest.]

[Sera: Dante, they have over fifty thousand active players deployed. They are mobilizing siege weaponry. We cannot fight them. We need to lock down the Emporium and wait them out.]

Dante didn’t reply immediately. He looked out over the jagged peaks of the Obsidian Crags, staring toward the distant, dark green expanse of the Sky Demon Forest visible on the horizon.

He could hide. The [Bodhi Heart Seed] made the Astral Emporium completely indestructible.

He could sit inside his safe zone for weeks, letting the massive alliance slowly bleed itself dry paying upkeep fees for their fifty-thousand-man army.

It was the smart decision.

Dante closed the interface.

"Aura," Dante said softly.

The tiny silver fox chimed, floating down to nuzzle his cheek.

"We aren’t hiding," Dante told his pet, a cold, dangerous smile spreading across his face.

He didn’t use the [Spatial Stone] to teleport back to the capital. He didn’t want to regroup. He wanted to maintain his momentum.

Dante activated the flight passive on the [Mantle of the Void-Dragon].

He launched himself into the sky, soaring high above the clouds, banking sharply to the north.

He was heading straight for the Sky Demon Forest. If Silas wanted a war, Dante was going to give him one.

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