Chapter 95: Chapter 95: The Griffon Flight

Dante left Lila, Mei, and Erebus at the Gilded Boar tavern.

He didn’t want the girls or the reality-warping Celestial toddler drawing any unwanted attention from the heavily armored NPC patrols marching through the commercial district of Ironhold.

He explicitly told Mei not to let Erebus turn the furniture of the tavern into snacks.

He navigated the wide cobblestone avenues alone and headed straight for the Lord’s Keep.

The heavy black iron doors of the fortress were open.

He entered the grand hall. The massive red banners hung motionless in the still air.

The City Lord sat on his elevated gear-driven throne. The scarred gray-bearded NPC leaned forward as Dante approached the base of the red carpet.

"Outworlder," the City Lord boomed. The scripted majestic sound returned to his voice.

"You return from the eastern swamps. Tell me, has the necrotic rot been purged? Has the Sunken Necropolis been resealed?"

Dante didn’t engage in a long dramatic dialogue.

He opened his infinite inventory, retrieved the dark heavy [Crown of the Usurper] he had looted from the Lich-King, and casually tossed it onto the red carpet.

The iron crown hit the floor with a heavy metallic clatter.

The dynamic system of the City Lord hitched for a fraction of a second and registered the unique quest item.

"The Crown of Vane," the City Lord said. His voice dropped the scripted echo and turned incredibly serious and reverent.

"You have achieved the impossible, Champion. To brave a localized SSS-Rank containment zone and emerge victorious is a feat worthy of legend. The Veridian Alliance is secure."

[System Notification: SSS-Rank Hidden Quest Completed.]

[Processing Rewards...]

Dante waited and watched the system interface.

He knew the standard gold and EXP rewards would be massive, but he was waiting for the unique quest item.

The City Lord wouldn’t just hand over a pile of coins for clearing a Catastrophic-level threat.

The City Lord stood up from his throne. He walked down the red carpet and stopped directly in front of Dante.

He didn’t reach for a bag of gold. He opened his heavily armored palm.

Resting in the center of his metal gauntlet was a small perfectly spherical pearl.

It glowed with a soft blinding white light that actively pushed back the dim shadows of the grand hall.

[Item Appraised: Celestial Strike Pearl]

[Tier: Divine]

[Type: Enhancement Gem (Socket)]

[Description: A highly concentrated fragment of pure celestial energy. When socketed into a compatible piece of high-tier armor or weaponry, it permanently grants the user a flat +30% Critical Hit Chance. This effect bypasses all localized critical-hit soft caps.]

Dante stared at the pearl.

A flat thirty percent critical hit chance.

In the combat math of the Zenith Protocol, critical hits dealt double damage.

For most players, achieving a high critical hit rate required sacrificing massive amounts of raw attack power and defense to stack specific Agility and Precision gear.

Even then, the system employed ’soft caps’ to prevent players from reaching 100% crit rates.

This pearl completely bypassed the soft cap. It was a flat, permanent, and unconditional 30% boost.

Dante reached out and took the pearl. It felt warm and vibrated slightly against his iron gauntlet.

"I appreciate the compensation," Dante said. He immediately stored the pearl in his void ring.

He needed to find a blacksmith capable of socketing a Divine-tier item without destroying the base gear.

"Your reward is earned, Champion," the City Lord said. His voice was grave. "But your respite must be brief."

Dante sighed. "There is always another apocalypse."

"The localized threats we face are merely symptoms," the City Lord explained and walked back up the steps to his throne.

"The Beast King in the Steppes and the Lich-King in the Necropolis were acting aggressively because they were being displaced. Something massive is moving in the deep zones."

The City Lord activated a massive holographic map of the Veridian Alliance territory that projected from the center of the grand hall.

He pointed a heavy gauntleted finger at a sprawling dark green mass of trees located several hundred miles south of Ironhold.

"The Sky Demon Forest," the City Lord announced.

"I have heard of it," Dante said and remembered the regional chat logs. "It is supposed to be a mid-game zone for high Level players."

"It was," the City Lord corrected.

"Our deep-recon scouts have reported massive energy spikes originating from the heart of the forest. The ambient corruption is skyrocketing."

"A Demon King, an entity of immense cosmic weight, is actively amassing an army of corrupted beasts."

"If this army marches, they will bypass the Outposts entirely and strike directly at the walls of Ironhold."

The holographic map zoomed in on the dark forest and flashed with dozens of aggressive red warning markers.

"I require a vanguard strike," the City Lord ordered and looked directly at Dante.

"I need you to infiltrate the Sky Demon Forest, locate the staging ground of this army, and decapitate their leadership before they can mobilize. It is an urgent localized directive."

[New Quest Triggered: The Gathering Storm]

[Classification: SSS-Rank (Invasion Prevention)]

[Objective: Infiltrate the Sky Demon Forest and assassinate the mobilizing Demon King.]

[Recommended Level: 65+]

Dante read the prompt. Level 65. The scaling of the game was accelerating rapidly.

"I will take the contract," Dante said and accepted the quest.

"But the Sky Demon Forest is hundreds of miles away. Even with my high-speed flight passives, it is going to take me a while to get there, and if they are mobilizing, time is a factor."

"The Veridian Alliance does not send its Champions to war on foot," the City Lord replied.

He raised his hand. A heavy iron ring on his finger flared with blue light.

[System Transfer Initiated: Military Asset Access Granted.]

"I have authorized your access to the elite aerial cavalry of the city," the City Lord said.

"Proceed to the highest tower of the Keep. The Griffon mounts are at your disposal."

"They will halve your travel time and ensure you arrive at the forest with your stamina reserves fully intact."

"A griffon," Dante smiled slightly. "That works."

He turned and walked out of the grand hall.

He didn’t use the stairs to reach the top of the Keep.

He stepped out into the open courtyard, activated [Meteor Stride] three times in rapid succession, and teleported directly up the exterior of the towering iron fortress.

He materialized flawlessly onto the open-air landing pad at the very peak.

The landing pad was massive and constantly buffeted by high-altitude winds.

Resting on the stone floor and chained to heavy iron posts were a dozen massive Griffons.

They had the bodies of armored lions and the heads and wings of giant predatory eagles.

They weren’t standard player mounts. They were massive Level 40 military assets.

Dante didn’t immediately walk over to the mounts.

He opened his system interface and completely ignored the quest log for a moment. He pulled up the regional chat.

The chat was scrolling furiously.

[Regional Chat - ScoutMaster: UPDATE! The allied army has completely locked down the eastern swamp! They have set up a heavy perimeter around the toxic lake!]

[Regional Chat - VanguardGrunt44: We have the swamp totally surrounded. Dan is not getting out. Silas just issued the execute order. We are going in.]

[Regional Chat - IronMage: The Apex Coalition just sent their heavy paladin squads into the marsh. They are going to breach the crypt.]

Dante read the messages. A cold and flat look settled over his face.

Silas, Ryujin, and Gawain hadn’t just marched on the swamp. They had actually formed a cohesive blockade.

They had thousands of players deployed to effectively quarantine the entire zone.

They fully believed Dante was still inside the Sunken Necropolis, trapped in the SSS-Rank dungeon, and completely unaware of the massive trap waiting for him outside.

"They really want this fight," Dante murmured to the wind.

He didn’t bother typing a response in the chat. He closed the interface.

He walked over to the largest and most heavily armored Griffon on the landing pad.

The beast snapped its beak aggressively. Its golden eyes locked onto him. It was trained for war, not for casual transport.

Dante didn’t flinch. He placed his iron gauntlet firmly on the beak of the beast.

His [Charisma] and [Intuition] stats, completely maxed out by his [Zenith Incarnate] title, flooded into the interaction.

The Griffon immediately stopped snapping. It lowered its head and let out a soft rumbling purr. It completely submitted to his cosmic weight.

Dante swung himself up into the heavy leather saddle strapped to the back of the Griffon.

He unhooked the thick iron chains holding the mount to the post.

He had a choice.

He could fly to the Sky Demon Forest, complete the quest of the City Lord, and continue his incredibly fast solo progression curve.

He could ignore the three armies sitting in the mud miles away and let them waste hours searching an empty crypt. It was the smart and tactically sound decision.

Dante grabbed the heavy leather reins.

"We are going south," Dante told the Griffon.

He wasn’t going to ignore them. Silas wanted a war. Ryujin wanted to salvage his broken pride. Gawain wanted revenge for the regional penalty.

Dante was going to fly directly into the Sky Demon Forest, find the highest and most visible point in the zone, and wait for them.

He wasn’t going to fight them in a swamp where the environment could interfere. He was going to fight them on solid ground.

He pulled the reins.

The massive Griffon shrieked. It was a piercing and eagle-like cry that echoed across Ironhold.

The beast flared its massive armored wings and kicked off the stone landing pad with explosive kinetic force.

They launched into the sky.

Dante didn’t use the [Mantle of the Void-Dragon] to boost his speed.

He let the Griffon do the work and saved his own stamina for the fight ahead.

He soared high above the towering steampunk city while the wind roared in his ears.

He banked hard to the south and aimed directly for the sprawling dark green mass of the Sky Demon Forest visible on the horizon.

He opened his private party interface.

[Dan: I am heading south to the Sky Demon Forest. Stay in the tavern. Do not leave the city.]

[Lila: Dante! The chat says the armies are breaching the swamp! They think you are still in there!]

[Dan: I know. I am going to send them a ping when I land. Let them come to me.]

[Lila: You are insane. You are actually insane. You cannot fight three massive guilds at once!]

Dante closed the chat. He didn’t answer.

He checked the dark brand of [Voidsever] on his right wrist.

He checked the [Legion Summons] token sitting safely in his infinite inventory. He checked the [Celestial Strike Pearl].

He wasn’t insane. He was perfectly and mathematically prepared for an execution.

The Griffon banked and accelerated through the clear blue sky. It carried Dante directly toward the convergence point of the hatred of the entire server.