Chapter 86 – The Gaze of the Citadel.

Leaving the Bastion of Greed that morning was accompanied by a clear shift in the behavior of people on the street.

Diana walked along the light cobblestone sidewalk with Rhea at her side. She wore the new long black leather coat crafted by Madame Vespera, silver buttons fastened up to chest height, keeping her gloved hands in her pockets.

Previously, when crossing the southern sector, veteran hunters and merchants would look at her with curiosity or that veiled contempt natives of Hell reserved for any human. A human girl in expensive armor was still viewed by many as prey that had gotten lucky in a few dungeons.

Now, no one held her gaze for more than two seconds.

Two local militia soldiers leaning against a gas lamp shut their mouths the moment Diana passed. Their eyes drifted down from the sharp tips of her obsidian horns, past the golden rings spinning in the depths of her vertical pupils, and settled on the sharp black nails peeking past her glove cuffs.

A potion merchant wiping down a glass display case slowly drew back his cloths, took a step back, and kept his head bowed until Diana disappeared around the corner.

The transformation of a human soul into a pureblood demon was something most inhabitants of the Ivory Citadel had only heard of in ancient legends about contracts with Supreme Lords. Seeing it in the flesh right in the middle of the street sparked a quiet dread, the kind that made people clear the path without needing to be shoved.

Rhea walked with her night-blue coat swaying gently, alert to every reaction around them.

“They are afraid of you,” Rhea remarked in a low voice, making no effort to hide her satisfaction.

“They are doubtful,” Diana replied without turning her head. “Doubtful people think twice before trying to pull a knife or charge a fake tax. It's more practical this way.”

***

As they entered the Forge District, the street's heat hit Diana's face.

Her body did not even sweat. Where hot sulfurous air had once strained her breathing, it now felt like nothing more than a warm, harmless breeze against her Archdemon skin.

They crossed through the gate of Master Volkan's workshop.

The old blacksmith was mid-strike with a hammer against a thick iron plate. When he heard footsteps on the gravel and looked up, the hammer froze in midair.

Volkan's four stone eyes went wide. The demon's forge-mouth hung half-open for ten long seconds as he examined Diana from head to toe, pausing at the black horns with golden grooves sprouting from her brow.

Volkan lowered the hammer slowly, setting the tool down on the anvil with a dull thud.

“By the fire gods...” Volkan wiped his stone hands on his leather apron, stepping toward the workbench with heavy treads. “You disappear for four days after that eruption and return to my workshop with nobility horns from the Fourth Circle on your head?”

“The human shell couldn't take the mana anymore,” Diana said, stopping before the stone workbench, straight to the point. “I had to discard it before it broke.”

Volkan let out a raspy laugh, shaking his head of fire.

“Discarded your humanity like swapping out worn boots... Typical of you, girl.” The old demon crossed all four arms over his chest, examining the horn structure with the clinical eye of someone who understood mineral density. “The bone alloy is flawless. No mana fissures. You were born to carry that structure.”

“Is the order ready?” Diana asked.

“Been ready since last night.”

Volkan turned toward the stone safe at the back of the workshop. He turned three heavy iron locks and pulled out a shallow wooden box lined with black velvet.

He walked back to the counter and opened the lid.

***

Resting upon the dark velvet was the Crown of Arcane Sovereignty.

The piece was a circlet of fine metal, forged from the union of Asmodeus's magic silver and black volcanic steel, crafted with arabesques that left precise openings on the sides to fit flush around the base of Diana's horns.

In the center of the circlet's brow, set in prongs of dark platinum, gleamed the Level 38 Amethyst Emperor's Heart, cut into a deep purple diamond that gave off a steady pulse of light, illuminating the workshop ceiling.

Diana touched the crown's cool metal with the tips of her fingers.

The magical response was immediate: the System interface flickered before her eyes, registering the artifact's attributes.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

[LEGENDARY ITEM EQUIPPED: CROWN OF ARCANE SOVEREIGNTY]

- Origin: Forged by Master Volkan and Diana using the Emperor's Heart (Level 38).

- Attribute Effects:Intelligence +20, Wisdom +10, Max MP +100.

- Passive Skill: [Sovereign's Font]: Grants continuous regeneration of 10 MP per second to Diana and 5 MP per second to all squad members within aura range.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Diana took the crown with both hands and placed it on her head.

The metal frame slid with surgical precision around the base of the obsidian horns, resting against her forehead without pinching and without wobbling.

The second the metal touched the skin of her forehead, the purple diamond at the center connected directly to the mana circuitry of her brain.

The sensation was like a floodgate opening inside Diana's mind.

Her Intelligence leaped from 163 to 183 POINTS.

The clarity of her thoughts became even cleaner, faster, and colder. Her mana pool expanded to 1,160 MP POINTS, and a steady pulse of ten mana points per second began restoring any residual expenditure of energy in her veins.

Rhea took a step back, amazed. “It looks perfect, Diana. It looks like it was made right along with your horns.”

“It was made for that.” Diana adjusted her bangs with her fingers, feeling the artifact's balanced weight upon her head.

Volkan took a dry cloth and wiped the stone counter, regarding the result with the pride of a smith who had just finished a masterpiece.

“The fitting of Asmodeus silver sits cleanly at your temples,” Volkan said, holding out an open rock hand. “The rest of the forge work, polishing the ingots your boy mined, and the diamond catalysts come to five silver coins.”

Diana took five silver coins from her pouch and dropped them onto the blacksmith's stone palm with a metallic clink.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

[FULL FINANCIAL AUDIT]

- Previous Balance: 375 Silver Coins (37.5 Gold Coins).

- Final Assembly Fee for Level 38 Crown: -5 Silver Coins.

- NEW VAULT BALANCE: 370 SILVER COINS (37 PURE GOLD COINS!)

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Three hundred and seventy silver coins stored in the faction vault. Exactly thirty-seven full gold coins.

***

Diana looked at the fifty amethyst steel ingots stacked in the corner of the workshop, ready to be transported to the merchant stall and the Bastion's armory.

She now possessed 183 Intelligence, over eleven hundred mana points, continuous passive regeneration for the entire group, and an Archdemon body that did not buckle under pressure.

She turned to Rhea.

“The crown is delivered and the metal supply is secured,” Diana said, adjusting her black leather coat. “Let's head back to the Bastion. Call Kael, Aurelia, and Seraphina to the courtyard. Tomorrow we enter the Sanctuary of the Fallen Titans to cap out Level 40.”

Rhea smiled, amber eyes gleaming with readiness. “Understood, Commander.”

The two left Master Volkan's workshop with steady strides, walking through the Forge District under the watchful, respectful eyes of blacksmiths and hunters who parted to make way for the black-horned sovereign.