Chapter 18: let’s keep moving

The lift moved upward Inside it Dante stood with his left hand holding the golden keycard inside his hoodie pocket. Yenna stood at his flank, her black cat ears flat against her hair, her breathing quiet.

"They are waiting right outside the panels," Yenna said, her eyes scanning the text data on her screen. "Ten guards. They have heavy mineral shields locked together to block the passage. They are not checking badges this time, Zero. The moment the front panel slides, they are going to drive their spears inside."

Dante did not shift his posture. His face remained completely still under his black hood. "Let them drive them."

The lift came to a sudden halt. And the lift open slowly.

The moment the opening appeared, a wall of ten massive shields blocked the entire view. Behind the shields, ten elite guild guards in red armor roared together, driving ten long spears straight into the lift compartment with maximum force. The iron tips of the weapons were aimed right at Dante’s throat and chest.

Dante did not step back. He did not draw his invisible blade. He simply took one step forward, walking directly into the path of the incoming spears.

The sound of the simultaneous impact shook the entire lift shaft. The spear tips struck Dante’s hoodie, but the fabric did not tear, and his skin did not receive a single mark.

Instantly, the SSS-Rank [Vajra Mirror Body] initialized. The total physical force of the ten elite guards lunging together was calculated, multiplied by two, and blasted straight back through the shafts of their own weapons.

The spears violently shattered into tiny metal fragments. The double-strength shockwave traveled up the guards’ arms, instantly snapping their fingers and shattering their elbows. The front line of five guards let out short yelps of pain as their heavy mineral shields were blown backward into their own chests, cracking their rib cages and throwing them flat onto the grey floorboards of the plaza outside.

"What kind of defense is that?" the guard captain at the back screamed, his face turning pale under his helmet. "He didn’t even use a mana shield! Get the backup units! Surround him!"

Before the remaining five guards could reform their line, the dark jade token on Dante’s belt flared with its dim crimson text notification.

[System Notification: Sovereign’s Tax initialized.]

[Draining 5% of attributes from all hostile targets within 100 meters.]

[Host temporary attributes increased by +50.]

The remaining guards suddenly stumbled, their movements becoming sluggish and heavy as their baseline speed and strength were stripped through the air.

Dante pulled his right hand out of his pocket. His palm looked completely empty, but his fingers were wrapped tightly around the leather grip of the invisible [Seven-Sins Asura Blade]. He glided through the broken shields using his weightless boots, making zero noise on the ground.

One guard tried to swing a short iron axe at Dante’s head. Dante simply leaned his torso to the left, letting the axe pass through empty air, and swung his empty-looking hand in a quick horizontal movement.

The invisible metal sliced cleanly through the guard’s iron neck protection like it was soft paper. The man didn’t even see the weapon before his life force was pulled directly into Dante’s palm. He collapsed onto the floorboards, completely still.

[System Notification: You killed an elite guard.]

[Soul Reaper has absorbed the target’s attributes.]

[You permanently gained: +3 Strength, +3 Speed.]

Dante felt a warm current of energy surge through his muscles, making his movements even faster. He didn’t stop. He stepped into the center of the remaining four guards, his empty hand moving in a rapid blur of clean diagonal strikes.

The invisible blade ignored their armor entirely, cutting through their joints and chests. Three more guards dropped to the floor instantly, their eyes rolling back as their lifeforce drained away into Dante’s weapon.

The last guard captain backed away, his boots scraping against the ground as he dropped his broken spear shaft. He reached for a communication crystal on his belt, his hand shaking violently from pure terror. "Guild Master Marcus! The vanguard is dead! The intruder is—"

Before he could finish the text transmission, Yenna materialized directly behind his shoulder. Her Domain Silence completely snuffed out the sound of his voice, turning the hallway into a silent void. Her fingers extended, and sliced through the captain’s throat in a single fluid motion.

The captain slumped forward onto the pile of shattered mineral shields, his crystal falling and breaking on the floor

Dante stood in the center of the quiet corridor, surrounded by the ten dead elite guards. His hoodie didn’t have a single spot of dirt on it. He slowly shoved his right hand back into his pocket, his eyes looking toward the stairs at the end of the hall.

"Floor twenty-three is next," Dante said, his voice flat and calm. "Marcus knows his blockade failed. Let’s keep moving before he can send more meat down the stairs."