Timeline 882-Alpha - Blackcrag OutpostDay 2 (Post-Shift)
The walk to Blackcrag was silent.
The landscape was familiar, yet wrong. The trees were slightly taller. The wind blew from the east instead of the north. But the cold was the same.
When the crumbling walls of Blackcrag came into view, Dante stopped.
It looked... worse.
In his timeline, he had arrived to find a ruin, but a functional one. Here, the gate was hanging off its hinges. There was no smoke rising from the chimneys. The snow in the courtyard was undisturbed, save for a few tracks.
"It looks abandoned," Elara whispered, clutching Dante's arm. "Where is Kaelen? Where are the people?"
Dante checked his ammo. He had zero shells for the shotgun. He was armed with nothing but his knowledge and a terrifying new System capability.
"Stay close," Dante ordered.
They walked through the broken gate.
The courtyard was a graveyard. Not of bodies, but of hope. Tools lay rusted in the snow. A cart was overturned.
And in the center of the yard, tied to the whipping post, was a skeleton.
It had been picked clean by birds, but the tattered red dress clinging to the bones was unmistakable.
Elara stopped. She made a sound like a dying animal.
"That's..." She pointed a shaking finger. "That's my mother's dress. I... I wore that dress when I..."
She looked at Dante, her eyes wide with horror. "That's me."
Dante walked to the post. He looked at the rope. It wasn't a wolf attack. It was an execution.
[System Analysis][Subject: Deceased Female.][Cause of Death: Blunt force trauma to the skull.][Time of Death: 3 Months ago.]
"The Dante of this timeline," our Dante said, his voice cold as absolute zero. "He didn't save you."
"He killed me," Elara whispered, tears freezing on her cheeks. "Why?"
"Because I have his memories," Dante said, tapping his temple. "I know the man this body originally belonged to. He was weak, petty, and cruel. He likely lashed out and blamed you for all his failures. In my timeline, he died screaming before he could hurt you. Here... he lived long enough to ruin everything."
Clang.
A heavy door slammed open.
From the Keep, a group of men emerged. They looked like bandits—starving, ragged, and armed with rusty swords.
At the front was Kaelen. But this wasn't the loyal steward Dante knew. This Kaelen was missing an eye, and his face was twisted with hate.
"The Ghost returns!" Kaelen shouted, raising a spear. "You have some nerve coming back here, Dante! We thought the wolves got you weeks ago!"
The men fanned out, surrounding them. There were ten of them. They looked ready to kill.
"Kaelen," Dante said calmly.
"Don't speak my name!" Kaelen spat. "You starved us. You beat us. You killed Elara because she dropped your wine!"
Elara flinched behind Dante. Kaelen hadn't seen her yet; she was hidden by Dante's heavy coat.
"I am not the man you knew," Dante said. "That man is dead."
"Madness," Kaelen sneered. "Kill him! Taking his coat will keep us warm for a week!"
The men charged.
Dante didn't move.
[Conceptual Fabrication: Active.][Blueprint: Flashbang Grenade (Magnesium/Potassium Mix).][Cost: 5 Gold (Unavailable).]
Dammit. No gold.
Dante looked at the ground. He saw a pile of raw coal near the smithy.
[Material Detected: Carbon.][New Input: Matter Conversion (Limited).][Fabricate: Carbon Fiber Wire (Razor Grade).]
Dante reached out. The coal pile dissolved into the System.
In his hand, a spool of monofilament wire appeared. It was thinner than a hair, stronger than steel.
As the first bandit swung a rusty sword, Dante flicked his wrist.
The wire whipped out, invisible in the grey light. It wrapped around the bandit's sword arm. Dante pulled.
Snap.
The arm fell off. The cut was so clean it took a second for the blood to spray.
The bandit screamed. The others froze.
"I said," Dante's voice boomed, amplified by the sheer terror of the moment. "I am not the man you knew."
He stepped aside, revealing Elara.
Kaelen dropped his spear. His one good eye bulged. He looked from the skeleton on the post to the girl standing alive in the snow.
"Elara?" Kaelen whispered. "But... I saw you die. Your body is right there..."
Elara looked at the terrified old man. For a second, she considered the truth. We aren't from here. We fell through reality. I am Elara, but not the one on that post.
She looked at the bandits. They were simple, starving men. If she told them about timelines and dimensions, they would think she was mad. But if she told them a story they understood... a story of power...
"He brought me back," Elara said, her voice shaking but loud. She pointed at Dante. "He went into the dark and dragged me back to the living. He has conquered death itself."
The bandits flinched, stepping back as if Dante were a demon. The look in their eyes wasn't loyalty anymore. It was pure, primal terror.
"Sorcery," Kaelen gasped. "Dark magic."
Dante walked past them, toward the Keep.
"Clean up this mess," Dante ordered, gesturing to the skeleton. "Give her a proper burial. Then gather the men. We are marching on the Iron Mines immediately."
"The... the mines?" Kaelen stammered, following him like a confused puppy. "But Baron Voss controls them!"
Dante smiled.
"I know," Dante said. "And I know the code to his safe. I know where his guards sleep. I know exactly how much gold is under his floorboards."
He turned to the group.
"The Dante you knew was a failure. I am going to make you rich. I am going to make you powerful. And all I ask in return is absolute obedience."