Chapter 102 – The Weight of Fame.

The afternoon at the Iron Cauldron Outpost was bustling near the unloading yard of the northern caravans.

Diana walked along the side of a dark timber warehouse, carrying a sack with three rye loaves and a slab of cured meat she had bought for dinner. She kept her black leather coat's hood pulled low over her brow, concealing her obsidian horns and the amethyst circlet, hands resting in her jacket pockets.

It was as she passed near a heavy cargo wagon, pulled by two six-legged beasts, that her 76 Perception picked up a conversation in hushed tones.

It was not the raspy, drawling speech of the local Third Circle ogres.

It was the polished, brisk accent of caravan merchants from the Ivory Citadel.

“Look over there...” a male voice murmured from behind a stack of wooden crates. “That black leather coat with silver buttons and the dragon chestplate underneath...”

“Get real, Vardis,” another voice replied in a skeptical tone. “The leader of Arcane Greed fell in the cave-in at that sanctuary nearly two weeks ago. The Second Circle guild report said the entire chamber collapsed into a bottomless pit.”

“I know that armor!” the first voice insisted, hushed and nervous. “I bought a hundred vials of healing potion straight from her hand at the central plaza stall last month. The shape of those dragon scales is unique, forged by Master Volkan. It's her!”

Diana did not stop walking.

She did not quicken her pace and did not turn her neck. She kept the rhythm of her steps steady on the packed earth, but her mind calculated the risk in that very second.

***

Being recognized by local hunters was dangerous.

The first complication was purely bureaucratic: she was in the Third Circle at Level 39, without having crossed the official border portal and without holding an entry permit seal from Beelzebub's Inquisitors. If the city guard discovered an undocumented traveler operating outside immigration rules, a Level 60 patrol would be dispatched to arrest her.

The second complication came from the Second Circle: if caravans spread rumors that Diana had been seen alone and without her squad in the Circle of Gluttony, rival guilds or opportunistic nobles might attempt to test the defenses of the Bastion of Greed, believing the faction was unguarded.

Diana turned the corner of the warehouse and entered a narrow dead-end alley, leaning her back against the granite wall and waiting.

Footsteps on the gravel confirmed her suspicion.

Two men entered the alley with cautious steps: a middle-aged merchant with reddish skin and short horns wearing a velvet traveling coat, accompanied by a bodyguard armed with a Level 48 shortsword.

The merchant stopped five meters away, looking at Diana standing in the wall's shadow.

“Commander Diana...?” the man asked, his voice a blend of doubt and astonishment. “Is it truly you?”

Diana took a step out from the wall's shadow, letting the reddish afternoon light fall over her face.

She pushed the hood back with her left hand, revealing the two obsidian horns and the vertical pupils ringed in gold.

The bodyguard took a startled step back, gripping the hilt of his shortsword, shocked by the Archdemon presence radiating from the girl.

The merchant, Vardis, widened his eyes:

“You... your race... what happened to your human appearance?!”

“The human shell stayed in the Second Circle, Vardis,” Diana answered, her velvety, calm voice making the air in the alley feel suddenly heavier. “You used to buy batches of healing potions from my Stall Number Fourteen in the noble sector.”

***

Vardis swallowed hard, offering a quick bow of commercial respect.

“Yes, Commander! I am the caravan master of House Vardis,” the man explained, wiping sweat from his brow. “We crossed Beelzebub's official portal last night. When news of the Titan Sanctuary's cave-in reached the Citadel, everyone assumed you had died in the fall. Lord Cassius's Silver Legion posted sentries at your Bastion's gates to keep the nobility from trying to seize the property, but the entire city is talking about your disappearance.”

Diana processed the information rapidly.

Cassius had kept his word on the military pact. He had stationed soldiers to shield the Bastion from the vultures of the Noble Council while she was away. The Level 36 commander's loyalty was proven.

Diana took two steps toward Vardis.

The bodyguard tried to move, but Diana fixed the man with her golden-ringed gaze and a spark of mana crackled across her obsidian horns, freezing the soldier where he stood.

Diana looked directly into the merchant's eyes:

“Vardis, you are a businessman. You know what information is worth in Hell.”

“Y-Yes, Commander...”

“If you open your mouth to any guard or inquisitor in this outpost about my presence here in the Third Circle, I guarantee your caravan's potion supply in the Second Circle will be cut off forever. And when I climb back up, I will personally smash the wheels off every one of your wagons.”

Vardis paled, waving his hands in the air. “I won't say a word! I swear by the ashes of my ancestors!”

Diana reached into her jacket pocket and withdrew one silver coin and fifty bronze, placing the metal into the merchant's hand:

“On the other hand... if you keep your mouth shut during your stay, and deliver a verbal message directly into Rhea's hands at the Bastion when you return to the Second Circle next week... I guarantee an exclusive ten percent discount on all future purchases your caravan makes at my workshop.”

Vardis looked down at the silver coin on his palm, then back to the Commander's cold eyes.

Fear yielded to the natural greed of a veteran trader. A ten percent discount on pure potions from Arcane Greed represented a fortune in profit for his trade runs.

“What is the message, Commander?” Vardis asked with professional gravity.

“Tell Rhea the shortcut is clear,” Diana dictated coldly. “Tell her to keep the squad focused on gravity training in the courtyard and that I will be back through the main portal before the season ends. No one enters the Bastion without her permission.”

“The message will be delivered in person, Commander,” Vardis said, stowing the coin and giving a respectful bow. “House Vardis knows how to keep profitable secrets.”

***

The merchant and his guard backed out of the alley and blended into the plaza crowd with quick strides.

Diana pulled her hood back over her horns, adjusting the leather collar of her jacket.

With the silence and courier fee paid to Vardis, the total balance in the faction vault adjusted to an untouched 382 Silver Coins (38.2 Gold Coins).

Diana emerged from the alley and walked back toward The Smoking Boar Tavern under the reddish dusk mist.

The encounter had been contained, but the Commander knew time was slipping away faster.

Rumors in Hell traveled fast. She could not spend weeks more hunting lone boars in the hills.

She needed to reach Level 40 immediately, unlock the recalibration of her Sin System, and carve a path through the deep dungeons of the Third Circle before Beelzebub's inquisitors took notice of her presence.

Diana mounted the inn's stairs with resolute steps.

The next hunt would be on a grand scale.