The Royal Capital: Valtoria Industries Shop2:00 AM.
The city of Aethelgard slept. The streets were empty, save for the patrols of the City Watch, who conveniently avoided Merchant Street tonight.
The Mage Guild had paid them well to look the other way.
Five shadows moved through the alley behind Dante's shop. They wore dark leather armor and carried short swords. The leader, a Fire Adept named Pyre, held a glowing ember in his palm.
"Simple job," Pyre whispered to his team. "Torch the warehouse. Kill anyone who runs out. The Grand Magus wants this rat taught a lesson."
They reached the back door. Pyre grinned. It was a wooden door, flimsy and unreinforced.
"Amateurs," Pyre scoffed. He pressed his hand against the wood, channeling mana to ignite it.
Click.
It wasn't the sound of fire. It was the sound of a mechanical relay tripping.
BOOM.
The door didn't burn. It exploded outward.
A shaped charge of black powder, packed with nails, detonated at chest height. The blast shredded the wooden door and the two men standing closest to it. They didn't even have time to scream before they were turned into a red mist.
Pyre was thrown backward into the mud, his ears ringing, his mana shield flickering violently.
"Ambush!" he screamed, scrambling to his feet. "Get inside! Kill him!"
The three surviving assassins kicked through the smoking remains of the door and rushed into the shop.
It was pitch black inside.
"Light!" Pyre commanded. He conjured a fireball, illuminating the room.
The shop was empty. The mirrors on the walls reflected the firelight, creating a disorienting maze of orange flames.
"Where is he?" one assassin hissed, spinning around.
From the darkness of the mezzanine balcony above, a cold voice answered.
"I'm right here."
Pyre looked up.
Dante stood on the railing. He wasn't wearing his merchant suit. He was wearing his black combat armor. And over his eyes, he wore a strange device—goggles with glowing green lenses.
[Item: Night Vision Goggles (Gen 1)][Status: Active.]
"You ignored the warning," Dante said, leveling a heavy, short-barreled weapon at them. It wasn't an Arquebus. It was a Blunderbuss—a wide-mouthed shotgun designed for room clearing.
"Burn him!" Pyre roared, throwing his fireball.
Dante pulled the trigger.
KRAKOOM.
The blunderbuss fired a spread of lead shot and scrap metal. In the confined space, it was devastating.
The shot hit the fireball in mid-air, disrupting the mana structure, and continued on to shred the assassin standing next to Pyre. The man was lifted off his feet and thrown into a display case, shattering a thousand gold coins' worth of mirrors.
"One," Dante counted, pumping the lever on the gun.
Pyre scrambled behind a counter. "He has a mana-cannon! Flank him!"
The last assassin tried to run for the stairs.
Dante tracked him through the green tint of his goggles.
Dante fired again. The assassin's leg disintegrated.
Pyre was alone. The Fire Adept was hyperventilating.
"Come out, Wizard," Dante called out, reloading a fresh shell. "I want to negotiate."
Pyre popped up, desperate, his hands glowing white-hot. "Die!"
He unleashed a stream of flamethrower-like magic.
Dante activated the Industrial Replication interface.
[Fabricate: Steel Wall (1x2m).][Cost: 50 Gold.]
Zzzzt.
Instantly, a heavy steel plate materialized in mid-air right in front of Dante. The fire washed over the metal, heating it red hot but failing to penetrate.
When the flames died down, Dante kicked the hot plate over. It crashed down onto Pyre, pinning the mage to the floor with a sickening crunch of breaking ribs.
Pyre screamed, the magic fading from his hands.
Dante walked down the stairs, the heat radiating from his armor. He stood over the pinned mage.
[System Notification][Combat Efficiency: High.][Threats Neutralized: 5/5.][System Status: Pleased.][Reward: +500 XP. Bonus: 'Predator' Title Unlocked.]
Dante smirked. The System usually nagged him about efficiency, but tonight, the holographic text seemed almost... excited. It pulsed with a satisfied crimson glow.
"You..." Pyre wheezed, blood bubbling from his lips. "The Guild... will destroy you..."
Dante knelt, pressing the hot barrel of the shotgun against Pyre's forehead.
"The Guild sent you to burn my inventory," Dante said softly. "That's bad for business."
"Please," Pyre begged, his bravado gone. "I'm just a mercenary! I can tell you who hired me! It was Magus Vane!"
"I know," Dante said. "But death sends a better message."
He pulled the trigger.
Click.
Empty.
Dante sighed. He stood up and grabbed a shard of broken mirror glass from the floor. It was razor sharp.
"Manual labor it is."
[System Alert][Action Approved.][Brutality Bonus Active.]
As Dante finished the job, the System window hovered nearby, glowing brighter with every drop of blood. For the first time, Dante and the Machine were in perfect agreement.