Chapter 12: eye of fate

The entrance to the eighteenth level did not look like the grinding canyon below. The moment Dante and Yenna stepped through the open threshold, the environment underwent a complete transformation.

They were standing inside a deep, underground cavern where the walls were made of a strange, crystalline mineral that seemed to sweat under the intense temperature. Deep fissures cracked the ground, and from those openings, a bubbling fluid rose up slowly.

Dante walked forward, stepping directly over the hot mineral crust. Thanks to his new boots, his feet did not leave a single trace, and he could walk right over the bubbling fluid without his soles burning.

Yenna followed a few paces behind, her black cat ears moving back and forth to track the ambient heat. She had to use her new Domain Silence ability constantly just to keep the boiling vapor from burning her skin.

"The text on my screen shows zero human signatures on this level," Yenna said, wiping the sweat from her nose with the back of her sleeve. "Marcus did not place any outposts here because the temperature is too high for normal hunters to survive. But there is a mineral beast guarding the center of the cavern."

Dante stopped his movement. He looked up at the ceiling. The crystalline mineral above was dripping slowly, dropping hot fluid onto the floor of the ancient stone platform ahead.

"Let it come," Dante said. His voice was calm, totally unaffected by the heat. "We have three minutes until midnight. I am not moving until the system resets."

Yenna sat down on a cooler piece of mineral crust, her tail coiling around her knees. She watched Dante. He just stood there, staring into the dark opening of the cavern, waiting for the clock to turn over. His patience was terrifying. Normal hunters always rushed through these hot zones to save their stamina potions, but Dante treated the extreme environment like it was nothing more than a waiting room.

As they waited in the silent, burning cavern, the digital text in Dante’s vision finally started its movement toward the midnight marker.

11:59:58 PM.

11:59:59 PM.

12:00 AM.

Ding!

[System Notification: Midnight reached. You receive 1x Free Daily Spin.]

[The Gachapon wheel is initializing its movement now...]

The giant colorful wheel appeared inside his mind, its segments spinning around in a rapid blur before clicking to a stop on a basic slot.

[Spin Complete!]

[You got: ’Dull Copper Ring’ (F-Rank Common Utility Accessory).]

- Description: A cheap, tarnished ring that slightly stabilizes mana control. Mana recovery speed increased by 0.5%.

A piece of metal materialized in the air and dropped into Dante’s palm. It looked completely worthless.

But one second later, the golden text of his second system come over his vision, rewriting the basic code.

[System 2: 100x Sovereign Multiplier Triggered!]

[’Dull Copper Ring’ (F-Rank) ---> Multiplied by 100x!]

[Calculating Highest Transformation Path... Complete!]

[You got SSS-Rank Divine Relic: ’The Asura’s Eye of Fate’ (Bound).]

- Description: A ring forged from the core of a collapsed star.

- Effect 1: Bypasses all active illusion barriers, stealth skills, and camouflage systems within a five-kilometer radius.

- Effect 2: ’Weakness Extraction’ - Allows the user to see the exact structural flaw or mineral weakness in any target, creature, or building. One strike on this flaw will cause the target to shatter instantly.

The piece of copper in Dante’s palm instantly underwent a massive transformation. It transform into a sleek ring carved with the text of ancient runes. In the center of the band, a small, dark stone opened up like a tiny, reptilian eye, glowing with a faint purple spark.

Dante slid the ring onto his right middle finger.

The moment the ring touched his skin, his vision changed. The smoke, the boiling vapor, and the fake mineral walls of the cavern became completely transparent. He could see right through the solid ground. He could see the deep lava channels running miles below them, and he could see the exact internal core of the monster hiding in the deep dip ahead.

From the deep dip, the mineral beast finally emerged. It was a golem made entirely of living obsidian and red crystal, its body held together by burning magma fluid. It had no face, only a massive set of mineral teeth that ground together with a horrible noise as it walked.

The golem let out a roar of hot fire, its feet hit against the floor as it sprinted straight toward Dante, its massive stone fists raised to crush him into the ground.

With his new ring active, Dante did not even need to wait for the monster to hit him.

He looked at the approaching golem. A bright, glowing red text dot appeared on the left side of the monster’s chest, right where two plates joined together. That was its absolute structural weakness.

Dante slowly pulled his right hand out of his pocket. His hand looked empty, but his fingers were wrapped tightly around the invisible Seven-Sins Asura Blade.

He took one quiet step forward, using his Void Step to glide over the ground without making a sound. The golem swung its massive crystal fist downward, aiming right for Dante’s head.

Dante did not block it. He did not let the mirror body handle it either. He simply stepped sideways, letting the fist slam harmlessly into the black crust beside him, and drove his empty-looking hand straight toward the glowing red dot on the monster’s chest.

The invisible blade slipped perfectly into the tiny gap between the obsidian scales, touching the hidden mineral core inside.

The moment the metal made contact, the SSS-Rank Weakness Extraction skill initialized. The entire five-meter golem froze mid-movement.

A second later, deep cracks spread outward from the center of its chest like a spiderweb. The living obsidian turned gray and brittle, losing all its magical fluid.

The entire massive monster completely shattered into a pile of worthless black sand and tiny mineral chips, collapsing onto the floor of the cavern zone without delivering a single scratch to Dante.

[System Notification: Hostile target shattered.]

[Sovereign’s Tax has collected 5% of the target’s base attributes.]

[You permanently gained: +5 Defense, +5 Magic Resistance.]

Dante wiped his hand on his hoodie and looked down at his new ring. The tiny reptilian eye on the band closed slowly, returning to its resting state.

Yenna walked up behind him, her eyes wide as she looked at the massive pile of black sand. She didn’t say a single word. She realized that Dante wasn’t just getting stronger; he was becoming completely untouchable.

"Floor nineteen is next," Dante said, walking toward the stone archway at the back of the cavern. "Let’s move. Marcus is waiting on Floor 20, and I don’t want to keep his vanguard waiting."