Chapter 246

Chapter 246: 246

The scrap-iron lift cage didn’t rise smoothly through the center of the basalt fissure; it climbed in three-meter jerks, its ungreased guide cables grinding violently against the raw volcanic rock walls with a deafening screech that threw down showers of red rust and black soot.

Jun-ho stood flat against the rear iron mesh of the cage, his large rubber boots caked in a fresh layer of grey salt crust from the lower docks. He had buckled the stone-gray panels of the Ashen Monarch Core Plate tight over his frayed gray undershirt, the rough rock slabs hummed in a slow, deep circle that kept his skin perfectly dry despite the heavy, humid oil mist rising through the shaft. His left hand kept an iron-hard grip around the new black hemp wrap of The Ash Remnant, the blunt matte-black edge resting quiet near his ankle.

Right at the lower corner of his eye, the solid black status text remained rock-steady.

[ Level: 44]

[Unassigned Attribute Points: 10]

[Mana: 3200/10000]

[ Active Trait: Ashen Domain (Phase 4 – 70-meter radius)]

[ Kinetic Multiplier: 5,000x Strike Weight]

He didn’t look at the rusted lift brackets. He focused his mind entirely on the ten fresh points waiting in his eye. To achieve maximum physical impact before breaching the upper auction terminal, his raw physical framework needed a permanent expansion.

"Put all 10 points into Strength," Jun-ho whispered into his own hood.

[Attribute Allocation Detected: 10 Points to Strength.]

[Applying 100x Multiplier to Resource Logic...]

[Strength increased by 1,000. Current Framework: 6,000x Strike Weight.]

The reaction inside his muscle fibers was completely silent. The frozen lake behind his ribs expanded by another full circle, a deep, heavy density settling into his shoulder blades and his left wrist that made the heavy black wedge of his sword feel weightless against his palm. The air right around his large rubber boots grew thin, the loose grey salt crust beneath his soles rippling in small, rapid circles as his Phase 4 domain frost began to spread across the iron deck plates of the lift.

Lilith slid right up to his left arm, her exceptionally long, smooth legs cutting a clean line through the low purple mist of the cage floor. The tight crimson leather of her outfit pulled dangerously flat across the voluptuous, perfect curve of her round hips, her narrow waist twisting with a deliberate, heavy rhythm that brought her frame right against his denim trousers. Her massive, half-visible chest rose and fell in quick, deep gasps against his bare upper arm, her full red lips parting into a low, breathless murmur that carried the sharp scent of raw sulfur and dark incense straight to his neck.

"The three Tier 5 Executioners are standing right outside the upper ventilation shafts, big guy," Lilith whispered, her wide crimson eyes glowing with a lazy, dangerous fire under her long ink-black hair. Her long fingers, tipped with sharp crimson nails, caught the wet hem of his gray shirt, pulling his torso an inch closer to her shoulder with a teasing, hot friction that made his skin prickle against the frost. Her primitive demon instincts were completely unraveled, her spirit locking onto his presence with a fierce, submissive passion that made her knees tremble against his boots.

"They’re running an automated tracking loop that connects straight to the main harbor terminal. Let me handle the stealth lines with Rea, Jun-ho... we can slip past their visors and clear the upper terminal before the alarm stone can even release a single spark."

Rea slid off the secondary structural rail right behind her shoulder, the high-slashed silk of her black tunic parting all the way to her upper thigh to show the long, smooth line of her leg under the yellow safety lamps. Her golden-blue eyes spun slowly in a lazy, dangerous circle under the gray sky, her full crimson lips tightening into a thin, jealous line as she wedged her own voluptuous hourglass shape tight against Jun-ho’s opposite sleeve, her wild orchid perfume cutting sharp through Lilith’s sulfur incense.

"The demon girl is right about the path for once, big guy," Rea murmured, her bare arm rubbing against his shirt fabric with a heavy, possessive friction that competitive edge turning her tone sharp. "Our Phase 4 rogue speed is high enough to clear the upper shafts without triggering the baseline metrics. But you have the raw mass to break the line right through the center if you want to skip the tunnels. Tell us which option you want to execute."

Eun-bi walked right behind their shoulders, her canvas bag slung tight across her gray flannel shirt. Her dark hair was tied back tightly with the gauze pad, but her sharp face was set in a hard, stubborn line as her gaze stayed locked onto the two women pressing close against his sleeves.

She tapped her silver trauma scissors against her wrist ring with a sharp, impatient click, her regular, flat public-sector drawl steady. "The manual paper logs say the master auction terminal is hidden behind the three-layer steel door, Jun-ho. If you let these two independent brokers crowd the narrow track with their hair and their incense, the system will trace the mana displacement before we can even clear the first cargo gate. The registry belongs to the collective detail, not their private bedroom."

Jun-ho didn’t pull back an inch from any of them. He looked at the massive three-layer steel door of the upper terminal, then down at the dark iron grating of the upper ventilation shafts.

"We execute both," Jun-ho said, his voice quiet and dry.

[Class Skill Active: Monarch’s Decree (Phase 4).]

[Target Group: Upper Spire Executioners (x3).]

[Decree Log: Freeze all active mana channel lines for 120 seconds.]

[Mana Cost: 1,000. Current Mana: 2200/10000.]

A sudden, terrifying rush of white mana shot out from his core plate armor, traveling straight through the iron mesh of the lift cage without making a sound. Outside the upper portal, the three Tier 5 Executioners froze instantly, their massive black iron greatswords staying pinned to their shoulders, their visors turning a dead gray color as their internal logic loops were completely locked by the decree.

"Rea, Lilith, take the shafts and disarm the console," Jun-ho ordered flatly. "Tae-woo, clear the frame."

The two master rogues moved together in a single, fluid blur of red leather and black silk. With their multiplied Phase 4 speed, they dove straight into the dark iron grating of the upper ventilation shafts, their long smooth legs cutting a clean line through the purple mist as they glided through the narrow secondary channels to secure the inner terminal before the executioners could recover.

The lift cage hit the upper platform with a violent, heavy THUD. Jun-ho took two long steps forward, stepping straight through the open iron gates until he stood exactly three paces from the massive three-layer steel door. He raised The Ash Remnant with his left hand, the new black hemp wrap dry and solid in his grip. He let the lake of cold mana behind his ribs break its banks completely, the Ashen Domain - Phase 4 expanding outward in a flat, seventy-meter ring of thick grey frost.

[Ashen Domain Phase 4 Active.]

[Perimeter State: 70 meters (Extended by the Monarch’s Torc).]

[Mana Cost: 500 per minute. Current Mana: 1700/10000.]

He simply snapped his left wrist, driving the sharp matte edge of the six-thousand-fold blade straight down onto the center of the reinforced steel portal.

The sound inside the high basalt spire wasn’t an ordinary blast; it was a localized earthquake that shattered all three layers of the massive steel door into thousands of tiny iron shards. The force of the strike, multiplied six thousand times by the weapon’s bound trait, didn’t just clear the entrance; the shockwave traveled straight through the threshold, fracturing the six steel security vaults inside the main room and throwing the iron deadbolts clean off their brackets.

[Target Neutralized: Upper Spire Main Steel Portal.]

[The Monarch’s Ledger Multiplier Active: 100x Spire Asset Calculation Applied.]

Right through the thick cloud of iron dust and white frost, the interior of the Black Vanguard Alliance auction terminal lay wide open, the six massive vaults pouring a mountain of high-tier unrefined crystals across the granite floor blocks under the brilliant blue glare. Rea and Lilith burst through the inner drainage door at the exact same microsecond, their obsidian blades clean and ready, their golden-blue and crimson eyes spinning in a lazy, victorious circle as they met him at the center desk.

"The security grid is completely dead, big guy," Lilith called out, her voice a deep, sultry purr as her voluptuous hips leaned hard into his right side to mark her territory.

Jun-ho lowered his sword, his fingers uncurling from the rough hemp grip as the solid black text at the bottom of his eye began to count down the final level-up resource values.

The upper spire steel portal is completely shattered, the three Tier 5 Executioners are locked down by The Monarch’s Decree, and the 100x multiplied spire crystals are ready for extraction. Jun-ho is Level 44 and the path out past the twelve-mile reef is open.