Timeline 882-Alpha - The Road to IronholdDay 3 (Post-Shift)
The march to Ironhold was grueling, but Dante didn't feel the cold.
Behind him marched Kaelen and the ten bandits—the remnants of Blackcrag's garrison. They didn't march in formation. They trailed behind, keeping a wide, suspicious distance from Dante and Elara, their hands hovering over their rusted weapons.
"I don't like it," Kaelen muttered, glaring at Elara's back. "Dead is dead. I saw the bones. I saw the dress."
"Stop looking for the girl you knew," Elara whispered, though her voice wavered under his hostile gaze. "She died. The one walking here... I was brought back."
"Brought back?" Kaelen spat, gripping his spear tighter. "Or replaced? Are you a daemon wearing her face?"
He looked at Dante. "And him. The Dante we knew was a coward. He hid in the carriage. When the wolves attacked the first time, he let the guards die."
Dante listened, his eyes fixed on the horizon. "He hid?"
"You know you did," Kaelen hissed, refusing to play along. "You let them die. And when we finally killed a wolf, you took the meat."
"Every scrap," Kaelen continued, his voice dripping with venom. "You locked yourself in the Keep and feasted while we starved in the snow. You said noble blood needed sustenance. Is that why you're back? To eat the rest of us?"
"And then the tax collector came?" Dante asked, ignoring the accusation. "Captain Garret?"
"Don't play dumb," Kaelen growled. "Two days later. Garret and the Red Vipers rode in. You walked out and offered them everything. The wolf pelts, the remaining food... even the women."
Elara flinched.
"The Captain took it all," Kaelen said, watching Dante for any sudden movement. "He stripped the Keep bare. And when they rode away laughing... you snapped. You screamed that it was our fault. You dragged Elara to the post and..."
Kaelen pointed his spear at Dante's back. "You tied her up and smashed her skull in. You left her hanging there as a warning. Then you packed a bag and ran. We haven't seen you for three months. We thought you froze to death. Frankly, we hoped you did."
Dante clenched his jaw. The original owner of this body wasn't just incompetent; he was a parasite.
"He is dead," Dante said firmly, not turning around. "I killed him in the underworld. The man standing before you is the one who climbed back out."
"So you say," Kaelen sneered. "But ghosts don't bleed, and liars don't change."
They crested the hill.
Below them lay Ironhold Keep.
It looked exactly as Dante remembered it from the other timeline. The high stone walls, the patrolling guards, the bustling town.
"We need a siege plan," one of the bandits whispered. "There are fifty knights inside."
"We don't need a siege," Dante said, checking the position of the sun.
"But the gate..."
"Ignore the gate."
Dante pointed to the sheer cliff face on the north side of the castle. It was a vertical drop, undefended because it was considered unclimbable. But Dante knew that directly above that cliff was the Baron's private study.
He turned to the group.
"Wait here. If anyone comes out, kill them with the wire. I'll be back in twenty minutes with the gold."
"Alone?" Kaelen laughed, a harsh, barking sound. "You're going to take the castle alone? You're mad. Or you're suicide-bait."
"I'm making a withdrawal," Dante said, activating the Master Builder Protocol.
[Conceptual Fabrication: Active.][Blueprint: Thermite Paste.][Ingredients: Iron Oxide (Rust) + Aluminum Powder.][Source: Scavenged from rusted bandit gear + local clay deposits.]
Dante reached out. The rust on the bandits' weapons flaked off, swirling into the blue light of the System.
The bandits gasped, stepping back in terror. "Witchcraft!" one shouted.
A tube of dark grey paste materialized in Dante's hand.
"Thermite," Dante explained to no one. "Burns at 2,500 degrees Celsius. Steel melts at 1,500."
He moved.
He didn't march; he sprinted. He used the carbon-fiber wire like a grappling hook, launching himself up the "unclimbable" north cliff with impossible speed.
"He's going to die," Kaelen muttered, watching him go. "Good. When the guards shoot him, we strip the coat and leave."
Dante reached the stone wall of the Baron's study.
He didn't knock. He smeared the grey paste in a circle on the stone blocks. He stuck a primitive fuse in it and lit it.
HISSSSSS.
The reaction was blinding. White-hot sparks showered down as the chemical fire ate through the granite like it was butter. The stone turned to lava, dripping down the cliff.
Clunk.
A perfect circular hole fell inward.
Dante stepped through the molten breach, smoke rising from his coat.
He was in the study.
Baron Voss was there. In this timeline, he wasn't the conquered lord begging for mercy. He was fat, happy, and currently counting a stack of gold coins on his desk.
Voss looked up, his jaw dropping. He saw a man in a black coat step out of a hole in the wall that shouldn't exist.
"Who... how..." Voss stammered, reaching for his sword. He clearly had no idea who this intruder was.
Dante didn't monologue. He didn't ask for the map. He didn't ask for the code.
He already knew it all.
He walked forward, grabbed Voss's head, and slammed it into the heavy oak desk.
CRACK.
Voss slumped to the floor, unconscious.
Dante kicked the rug aside. He found the loose floorboard.
4-4-9.
Click.
The safe popped open.
There it was. The same 5,000 Gold Coins. The same map with the "Old Ones" warning.
He scooped the gold into his inventory.
[System Alert][Funds Acquired: 5,000 Gold.][Master Builder Protocol: Fully Funded.]
Dante stood up and looked down at the unconscious Baron. In the other timeline, he had tortured this man. Here, Voss was just a loose end.
Dante raised his right hand. Red sparks danced across his palm.
[Conceptual Fabrication: Active.][Object: Semi-Automatic Handgun (9mm).][Cost: 50 Gold.]
Matter coalesced from thin air. Steel, polymer, and lead formed instantly, assembling into a matte-black, blocky shape. It wasn't an elegant Arquebus. It resembled a Glock, like on Earth.
Dante racked the slide.
He pointed the barrel at the back of Voss's head.
He didn't say a word.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
Three shots echoed like thunder in the small room. The Baron's head ceased to be a head.
Dante holstered the weapon in his coat. He turned and stepped back through the molten hole in the wall, vanishing into the cold wind.
Seconds later, the heavy oak door of the study burst open.
"My Lord! We heard something!"
A dozen guards rushed in, swords drawn. They stopped dead.
They saw the open safe. They saw the molten hole in the castle wall. And they saw the headless body of Baron Voss.
But the room was empty.
Dante landed in the snow at the bottom of the cliff, startling the bandits who were already preparing to leave.
He tossed a heavy bag of gold to Kaelen.
Kaelen caught it. He opened the bag, bit one of the coins, and stared at Dante with wide, fearful eyes. Then he heard the screaming and the alarm bells ringing from the castle above.
"Real gold," Kaelen whispered. "You... you actually did it."
"Payment," Dante said, walking past them toward the mountains. "Now, we go hunting."
Kaelen clutched the gold, looking from the coin to the man who walked through walls and left castles in chaos. He didn't look loyal. He looked terrified.
"Hunting for what?" Elara asked, running to keep up.
Dante stopped, looking toward the distant peaks where the Forbidden Zone lay. "The Dragon. The Green Death."
Elara stumbled, grabbing his arm, her eyes wide with shock. "What? My Lord, we... in the other life, we barely survived it with an army! We have no weapons! It's suicide!"
"We have every weapon," Dante corrected, tapping his temple. "The restrictions are gone."
His mind raced, visualizing the horrors he could now create. White Phosphorus? A focused Neutron Beam? A miniature Singularity? He wasn't limited to what existed in this world anymore. There were infinite ways to kill a biological entity, and he intended to find the most efficient one.
"Trust me," Dante said.
Elara looked at him, fear warring with absolute devotion. Finally, she nodded. "Always."
Dante smiled, his eyes burning with red light.