Chapter 45: Understood my king

’Balor isn’t even in the fortress,’ Dante said. ’He took his main elite squad to investigate Akon’s death. That means the front defenses are currently hollow. It’s a perfect window.’

Down below, the first captain let out a rough snort. "Akon was a fool to get caught off guard. But even if someone sneaks past the front gates, they can’t touch the core. The Warlord already rigged the containment matrix with that upper-floor tracking mechanism, didn’t he?"

"Yes," the second captain replied, shifting his weight. "The secondary tracking trigger is fully active. The moment an unauthorized energy signature touches the runes, the system won’t just trigger a local alarm. It will instantly broadcast a high-density alert signal to the upper floor and the human marcus who exchange wierd kind of things with our kind balor and it is also said that he have connection to many powerful clans ."

’Marcus...’ Dante’s said in his mind, . ’The traitors who dropped me down the shaft aren’t just running the guild in the upper floors. They are actively utilizing Balor to monitor this graveyard and ensure I never climb back up .’

Dante slowly backed away from the grate He turned his head toward Esabella and Gideon.

"The warlord is away from the fortress," Dante said in a quiet tone. "But the core is rigged. If we touch it carelessly, it will alert everyone."

" Dante? Tell me what to do. I will help you slaughter these two captains before they can even look at the ceiling."

Gideon leaned on his bone staff, his scarred face turning grim. "If the core is linked to the upper floors, we can’t just smash the containment field. We need to disable the transmission array first, or the tower rankers will drop down on our heads before we can leave the sector."

Dante checked his invisible blade, feeling the stable energy pulsing.

"We clear the room first," Dante ordered his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper as he looked at the grate. "No noise. No survivors. We take them out before they can touch the main alarm lever."

Dante stood next to the rusted ventilation grate, he looked down at the two demon captains pacing around the glowing purple core matrix.

"Listen to me," Dante said turning his head slightly toward Esabella and Gideon. "The captain on the left is closer to the wall panel where the main security lever is located. If he moves even an inch toward it, our plan fails. I will take him out first."

Esabella’s red eyes were fixed entirely on his face, her expression serious and alert. She held her uncoiled thorn-vein whip loosely in her right hand, her long red nails dug into the dark handle. "What about the second one?"

"The moment my boot hits the floor, the second captain will react," Dante replied smoothly. "I leave it to you, just Don’t let him shout."

"Understood, my King," Esabella murmured, her red lips tightening into a firm, determined line.

Gideon gripped his bone staff, stepping back to guard the rear tunnel entrance. "I’ll keep watch on the corridor. Make it quick, kid. If they get a single scream out, the guards outside the main vault doors will flood the room."

Dante didn’t answer. He turned back to the grate, raised his left hand, and pushed against the rusted bars with his physical strength. With a quiet creak, the iron structure detached from the wall. Dante caught the grate before it could fall and set it down silently against the catwalk floor.

He looked down one last time, calculating the three-meter drop.

Void Step—

Dante stepped through the open gap, his body instantly blurring into a dark streak as he dropped down from the high catwalk. The air pressure shifted around his ears, but he didn’t make a single sound as he fell.

The first demon captain was standing right next to the wall panel, his halberd resting against his shoulder armor as he yawned. He didn’t feel a single trace of mana fluctuation, nor did he hear anything.

Before the demon could even turn his head, Dante materialized directly behind his neck armor. His right hand moved in a rapid, horizontal blur, swinging the invisible edge of the Seven-Sins Asura Blade with his baseline physical density.

SLASH!

The unseen edge cut cleanly through the thick volcanic iron plates, severing the demon’s head at the base of the skull. The strike was so fast and precise that no blood sprayed yet. The massive three-meter body simply went completely limp, its knees buckling as it began to tip forward toward the floor.

Dante reached out his left hand, catching the falling stone halberd before it could hit the ground and make a noise, while his foot gently wedged beneath the demon’s torso to slow its collapse. The soul of the captain was instantly sucked into the hilt of his invisible sword, sending a cool ripple of energy into his arm muscles.

At the exact same instant, the second captain on the other side of the floating core noticed the sudden movement. His glowing red eyes went wide as he saw his companion’s head slide off his shoulders.

"What the—" the second captain gasped, his jaw dropping as he reached out his hand toward his weapon.

But Before the demon could finish his sentence or yell for help, a vine covered in hundreds of metallic thorns shot down from the dark ceiling catwalk like a striking viper. The whip wrapped tightly around the captain’s throat three times, the barbs instantly cutting into his neck scales to choke off his airway.

"Gurgle...!" the captain choked out, his white eyes bulging in shock as his voice was completely strangled inside his throat.

Esabella stood on the upper catwalk, her muscles tightening beneath her black lace corset as she planted her heels firmly against the stone ledge. With a ruthless, violent pull of both arms, she used her demon strength to yank the armored soldier straight off his feet.

The captain’s body was dragged into the air, his foot kicking frantically against the empty space as he hung from the ceiling. He tried to reach his hands up to tear the thorned vine away from his neck, but the pressure was too immense.