Chapter 236: The Infiltration of Theria, True-Sight Totems

Dante, Thane, and the four Shadow-Stalker scouts crouched low in the dense, overgrown brush on the outskirts of Theria.

The Beast-Kin capital city was a sprawling, terrifying monument to primal military strength.

The outer walls were fifty feet tall, forged entirely from smooth, polished black obsidian that offered absolutely zero footholds for climbing.

Massive, automated siege ballistas tracked back and forth along the battlements, scanning the cleared killing fields that surrounded the city.

Tens of thousands of heavily armored Beast-Kin guards patrolled the perimeter. Their eyes burned with the same aggressive, mind-controlled green static that had infected the army in the valley.

"Silas has locked the city down completely," Thane whispered, his golden eyes scanning the massive walls.

"The Emperor’s royal decree wasn’t just a bounty. He mobilized the entire capital garrison. They aren’t looking for an army, Dan. They are looking specifically for you."

Dante didn’t look impressed by the sheer volume of troops. He had already proven that massive, disorganized numbers were mathematically useless against his Zenith-tier area-of-effect skills.

But a frontal assault on a fortified capital city was a different tactical scenario entirely.

If he triggered [Cyclone of Ruin] or [Starfall] to breach the gates, the resulting collateral damage would be astronomical.

The system’s automated defenses would lock onto him, and he would be forced into a grueling, hour-long war of attrition against millions of respawning NPC guards before he even reached the inner city.

He didn’t have time for a siege. He needed to get to the royal vaults before Silas extracted the [Primal Earth Core].

"I’m not going to fight the entire city," Dante said, keeping his voice low.

He didn’t draw a weapon. He opened his system interface and activated his highest-tier stealth ability.

[Skill Executed: Veil of the Unseen]

The system interface flashed a brilliant, stealthy silver.

Dante didn’t just turn invisible. He was completely erased from the visual spectrum. The heavy, gold and purple plating of his celestial armor vanished.

The system algorithms actively ceased to register his physical presence, rendering him entirely untargetable by standard detection mechanics.

"I’m taking the lead," Dante’s voice echoed softly from the empty space next to Thane. "Stay close. My aura doesn’t cover you, but if the guards spot you, I’ll clear the path."

Thane swallowed hard, nodding at the empty air. The young panther-kin signaled his four scouts. They activated their own, high-tier stealth skills, blending seamlessly into the dark shadows of the brush.

They moved out.

The squad crept silently across the wide, open killing field.

Dante walked confidently, his [Phantom Tread] passive completely silencing the heavy crunch of his iron boots on the dry dirt.

The massive, automated ballistas on the walls swept their targeting lasers directly over his position, but the system failed to register the anomaly.

They reached the base of the towering obsidian wall effortlessly.

"The main gates are too heavily guarded," Thane whispered over the private party comms, his voice tight. "Even if we slip past the sentries, the inner courtyard is packed with patrols. We need to find a blind spot."

"We aren’t going over the wall," Dante replied smoothly. "We’re going under it."

He didn’t deactivate [Veil of the Unseen]. He activated the secondary passive on his [Evil Dragon Helmet].

[Skill Executed: Dragon’s Insight]

Dante’s vision instantly shifted, replacing the physical wall with the analytical grid of underlying system code.

He scanned the foundation of the massive wall.

He wasn’t looking for a secret door or a hidden lever. He was looking for structural weaknesses in the game’s architecture.

"There," Dante noted quietly.

About fifty yards to their left, hidden behind a thick cluster of thorny bushes, the foundational code of the wall flickered weakly.

It was a microscopic glitch in the rendering engine, a tiny gap where the massive wall hadn’t perfectly synced with the bedrock below.

Dante led the squad to the bushes.

He didn’t swing a sword to break the wall. That would trigger an acoustic alarm.

He reached out, placing his invisible gauntlets against the solid obsidian.

"Stand back," Dante whispered.

He triggered [Asura’s Heart], but he didn’t use it for the massive attack power boost. He used the burst of pure combat adrenaline to momentarily spike his physical Strength stat.

Dante dug his fingers into the microscopic, glitched gap between the wall and the bedrock.

With a low, controlled grunt of effort, he leveraged his massive, 5,110 base Strength to physically pry the localized system code apart.

The obsidian didn’t crack or shatter. It groaned, the massive block of stone slowly, agonizingly shifting upward by exactly three feet, creating a dark, narrow gap leading directly beneath the city walls.

The four Shadow-Stalker scouts stared at the empty air where Dante was standing in absolute disbelief. The anomaly was literally lifting a section of the city wall with his bare hands.

"Go," Dante ordered, his voice strained from the sheer physical effort of fighting the game engine’s gravity.

The scouts didn’t hesitate. They scrambled through the narrow gap, diving into the darkness beneath the wall. Thane followed quickly, sliding under the massive stone block.

Dante let go.

The massive obsidian block slammed back down, perfectly resealing the gap with a heavy, muffled thud.

Dante stepped through the wall a fraction of a millisecond before it closed, utilizing a micro-burst of [Meteor Stride] to instantly reposition himself on the other side.

They were inside Theria.

The environment was a stark contrast to the open plains. They were standing in a narrow, dimly lit alleyway in the outer residential district. The architecture was primitive but incredibly sturdy, built from heavy stone and thick timber.

"We’re in," Thane breathed a sigh of relief, dropping his stealth. The maintenance of the skill was draining his stamina rapidly.

Dante kept [Veil of the Unseen] active. "Don’t relax yet. The royal vaults are in the absolute center of the city, directly beneath the Emperor’s palace. We have a lot of ground to cover."

Thane took the lead, guiding the squad through the labyrinthine alleyways, expertly avoiding the main streets where the heavy, mind-controlled guard patrols marched.

They moved quickly and silently, slipping past merchant districts and massive, open-air training grounds. The city was on high alert, but Silas’s paranoia was entirely focused outward, expecting a massive frontal assault. The inner city was relatively quiet.

They reached the edge of the inner sanctum.

The royal district was separated from the rest of the city by a massive, secondary wall forged from pristine, glowing white marble.

The gates were open, but they were heavily guarded by towering, elite Beast-Kin warriors wearing ornate gold armor.

"The Blood-Mane Legion," Thane whispered, stopping the squad in the shadows of a nearby building. "The Emperor’s personal Royal Guard. They are all Level 50 Dark Demon elite units."

Dante evaluated the guards. Level 50 Dark Demons were a significant threat, but he had wiped thirty of them in the magma tunnels.

"I can clear them," Dante offered, ready to drop his stealth and trigger [Phantom Waltz].

"No," Thane warned sharply, grabbing Dante’s invisible arm. "Look at the pillars."

Dante activated [Dragon’s Insight] again.

He didn’t look at the guards. He looked at the massive, intricately carved wooden totems positioned every twenty feet along the white marble wall.

To the naked eye, they just looked like decorative architecture.

But through the analytical grid, the totems were glowing with a harsh, aggressive, blinding yellow light.

[System Identification: True-Sight Totem]

[Tier: Administrative Artifact]

[Description: Projects a massive anti-stealth field. Automatically dispels all invisibility, shadow-merging, and optical illusions within a one-mile radius. Triggers immediate, automated hostility from all defenses upon detecting unauthorized entry.]

Dante paused.

He couldn’t just walk past them. The moment he or the scouts crossed the threshold, the totems would instantly strip their stealth mechanics.

The system would automatically sound an un-cancellable alarm, instantly drawing the aggro of every single Level 50 Royal Guard in the inner sanctum.

He couldn’t fight an entire legion of endgame elites in a confined courtyard while trying to protect five low-level scouts.

"Silas isn’t taking any chances," Dante muttered, deactivating his vision skill. "He locked down the detection grid."

"We can’t sneak in," Thane realized, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "And we can’t fight them all."

"We aren’t sneaking," Dante said, his voice dropping into a cold, calculating register. "And we aren’t fighting them all at once."

Dante didn’t retreat. He didn’t try to find another glitch in the wall.

"Thane, take your scouts and fall back," Dante ordered firmly. "Get out of the inner district. Wait for me by the outer wall."

"Dan, I can’t leave you here," Thane protested. "You’re walking into an execution squad!"

"I’m not walking," Dante corrected him smoothly. "I’m making an entrance."

Dante didn’t wait for them to argue. He didn’t want them caught in the localized blast radius of what he was about to do.

He stepped out of the shadows, walking directly toward the open gates of the inner sanctum.

"Dan, wait!" Thane hissed desperately.

Dante ignored him. He crossed the threshold.

The moment his invisible boots passed the first carved wooden pillar, the Zenith Protocol reacted with absolute, mechanical certainty.

The True-Sight Totem violently flared with blinding yellow light.

The system actively, forcefully overwrote his Zenith-tier stealth skill. The [Veil of the Unseen] shattered into silver dust, instantly rendering Dante completely visible to the entire courtyard.

The heavy, gold and purple plating of his Celestial armor gleamed in the sunlight. The massive, starry fabric of his cloak billowed aggressively.

A massive, blaring siren erupted across the inner sanctum.

[System Alert: Unauthorized Entity Detected.]

[Executing Defensive Protocol: Blood-Mane Legion.]

The elite Royal Guards didn’t hesitate. The mind-controlled green static in their eyes flared brightly.

Dozens of towering, Level 50 Dark Demon warriors raised their massive golden halberds and charged Dante simultaneously.

Dante didn’t run. He didn’t activate his invulnerability frames.

He stood perfectly still in the center of the gate, casually holding out his right hand.

The black brand on his wrist violently erupted.

[Voidsever] materialized, the primordial greatsword letting out a high-pitched, predatory scream as it eagerly devoured the ambient light of the pristine white courtyard.

"Let’s make some noise," Dante smiled.