Chapter 128: Chapter 128: The Favor Called In
Dante walked out of the Royal Palace, his heavy iron boots resounding loudly against the pristine white marble steps.
The transaction was complete. He had successfully bullied the highest administrative NPC in the Veridian Alliance into handing over the most valuable piece of commercial real estate on the server.
The Astral Emporium was officially secured, and Sera now had the physical, system-recognized deed to prove it.
He didn’t immediately sprint for the eastern gates.
He needed to check his own baseline. The fight with Alysia and the subsequent forced assimilation of her divine essence had completely rewritten his digital physiology, and the physical bleed-over he experienced in his real-world shower was proof that the [Frost-God Constitution] wasn’t just a basic buff.
He found a quiet, secluded garden courtyard near the base of the palace walls. The area was empty, filled with glowing, silver-leafed trees and soft, ambient holy magic.
Dante opened his system interface, pulling up his full, detailed character sheet.
He ignored the standard attributes and scrolled directly to the new, permanent trait locked into his code.
[Innate Trait: Frost-God Constitution (Divine)]
[Description: The user has absorbed a fraction of pure, unfiltered celestial purity. The user’s digital physiology has permanently transcended standard mortal limitations.]
[Effect 1: All Ice and Frost-based damage dealt is permanently doubled. All Ice and Frost-based damage taken is reduced to zero.]
[Effect 2: Grants a permanent, massive baseline increase to HP, Mana, and Attack Power.]
[Effect 3: Hidden Stat Update. Grants a permanent +50 boost to ’Charm’.]
Dante stared at the numbers representing his core stats.
[Participant: Dan]
[Level: 69]
[Class: Warrior]
[HP: 25,500 / 25,500]
[Stamina: 1,200 / 1,200 (Infinite Regen Active)]
[Mana: 4,000 / 4,000]
He was an absolute monster. The raw numbers were staggering. Even though he had lost the [Sun-Forged Cuirass] and the Dark Demon [Skyfire Pants] during his suffocating, fever-induced encounter with the Frost Sovereign inside the ice dome, his baseline survivability had actually increased.
He was currently wearing a mismatched set of Silver-tier armor he had quickly equipped from his infinite inventory, but the [Frost-God Constitution] provided so much raw base health and attack power that the downgrade in armor plating barely mattered.
"I don’t even need heavy armor anymore," Dante muttered, dismissing the interface. "I can just face-tank physical strikes and let the passive health pool absorb the impact."
His private party interface suddenly pinged aggressively.
[Sera: Dante. I don’t know what kind of blackmail material you have on the City Lord, but a royal courier just physically handed me the deed to the plaza building. It’s fully authorized. Tax-exempt for three years. We own it.]
[Dan: I told you I’d handle it. Is the building operational?]
[Sera: It’s massive. We have three floors of display space, a secure vault that connects directly to the regional banking API, and a dedicated VIP auction hall on the top floor. I’ve already deployed the interior design protocols. We’re ready to start stocking the shelves.]
[Dan: Good. I’m heading to the eastern gates now to find my Class Advancement. If Vanguard’s Legacy or the Black Dragon Syndicate try to cause trouble at the shop, let me know. I’ll come back and drop a hurricane on them.]
[Sera: Actually, Dante, we need you to come back to the shop first.]
Dante paused. He frowned at the message.
[Dan: I just gave you the building. What’s wrong?]
[Sera: Nothing is wrong with the building. But Nyx has been analyzing the global market trends. The server is completely starved for high-tier gear because you locked down the Sakura Nation and routed Vanguard’s Legacy. If we open a standard shop right now, players will just buy our stock piece by piece, and the major guilds will eventually out-farm us when they recover.]
[Dan: So what’s the play?]
[Sera: We don’t open a shop. We host a massive, server-wide auction. Tonight. We take the absolute best items you looted from the Spire, the Frostfire Steppes, and the Necropolis, and we force the Guild Masters to bid against each other. We drain their liquid assets completely. But we need a headline item to draw them all in.]
Dante immediately understood.
Sera didn’t just want to sell weapons. She wanted to force them to liquidate their real-world funds to buy digital gear, crippling their ability to recruit massive armies or buy premium suppression scrolls.
[Dan: You want the Guild Creation Token.]
[Sera: Yes. It’s the only Gold-tier token currently existing on the server. If we auction that, every single Guild Master will show up. Silas will literally bleed his accounts dry to secure the official ’First Guild’ system buff.]
[Dan: I’m on my way.]
Dante closed the chat.
He turned away from the eastern gates. The Path of Gods and Demons and his elusive Class Advancement would have to wait.
Crushing the server economy and completely ruining Silas’s financial stability was a far more pressing objective.
He activated [Meteor Stride].
He teleported rapidly across Aethelgardia, leaving faint trails of superheated plasma high above the pristine white rooftops.
He crossed the massive city in less than three minutes, dropping down into the central commercial plaza.
The plaza was completely transformed.
NPC guards, hired directly by Sera through the building’s administrative interface, stood at the heavy oak doors, ensuring the crowd didn’t rush the entrance.
Dante didn’t use the front door. He used [Blink Step] to teleport directly onto the third-floor balcony, slipping through a set of open glass doors into the VIP suite.
The interior of the suite was incredibly lavish, filled with plush velvet seating, glowing magical displays, and a massive glass window that offered a perfect, unobstructed view of the auction stage below.
Sera, Nyx, Lila, Mei, Casanova, and Garrick were all gathered around a large mahogany table in the center of the room.
"You made it," Sera said, looking up from her datapad. Her sleek merchant robes looked perfectly tailored. She was completely in her element. "Do you have the token?"
Dante didn’t hesitate. He opened his infinite void ring and pulled out the heavy, iron token stamped with the crossed sword and shield.
He tossed it onto the mahogany table.
[Guild Creation Token (Gold-Tier)]
"There it is," Nyx whispered, lowering her dark glasses to inspect the item. "The most valuable digital asset currently existing in the Zenith Protocol."
"It’s just a piece of metal," Mei pointed out, casually bouncing her massive frying pan on her shoulder. "Why are they going to pay billions for it?"
"Because of the passive buffs, Mei," Sera explained rapidly, her eyes locked on the token. "Registering a guild with a Gold-tier token grants every single member a permanent 10% EXP boost.
It provides the Guild Master with a massive, impenetrable guildhall that functions as a safe zone. If Silas secures this, Vanguard’s Legacy will permanently out-scale the rest of the server."
"So why are we selling it to him?" Casanova asked, lounging comfortably on a velvet sofa. "If he gets the buff, won’t he just use it to hunt us down?"
Dante leaned against the glass window, looking down at the empty auction stage.
"Because I have two of them," Dante said smoothly.
The entire room went dead silent.
Sera slowly looked up from the table. "You have two?"
"I looted a second one off the Earthfire Behemoths in the Spire," Dante lied effortlessly. The truth is that, his 100% drop rate from the [Zenith Incarnate] title simply guaranteed the drop on every major boss was too complicated to explain. "I’m keeping one to establish our own guild. We’re auctioning the spare."
Sera let out a sharp, incredibly delighted laugh.
"That is brilliant," Nyx smirked, immediately tapping furiously on her datapad. "Silas is going to spend his entire treasury to buy the token, thinking he’s securing the ’First Guild’ system milestone.
And the second the auction ends, you just register our token and take the milestone before he can even click the button."
"He’s going to spend a billion credits for second place," Lila realized, covering her mouth in shock. "He’s going to destroy his own economy for nothing."
"Exactly," Dante said. "But we need to make sure he pays top dollar. We need to drive the bid up."
"I can handle that," Sera said confidently. "I’ve already released the official auction manifest to the global API. The major Guild Masters are currently liquidating their real-world assets and transferring the funds into their game accounts. The bidding war is going to be absolutely ruthless."
Sera picked up the Gold-tier token and carefully placed it into a secure, glowing display case provided by the building’s system.
"The auction starts in thirty minutes," Sera announced, checking the massive clock interface on the wall. "Nyx, prepare the market analysis. Lila, make sure the healing items are fully stocked in the standard storefront downstairs. Dante, you sit back and enjoy the show."
"I intend to," Dante smiled.
He walked over to the plush velvet sofa and sat down next to Casanova. He unclipped his heavy [Mantle of the Void-Dragon], letting the starry fabric rest against the cushions.
He had spent the last two days fighting gods, executing dragons, and clearing impossible dungeons.
Now, he was going to sit in a luxury VIP suite and watch his greatest enemy voluntarily bankrupt himself.
"This game is finally getting fun," Dante murmured, looking out the massive glass window.
