My SSS-Rank Grim Reaper System-Chapter 94: EMPIRE CITY
[Five days later]
Empire City appeared on the horizon before the road reached it.
It wasn’t a surprise. It was that kind of city.
White stone towers visible from thirty kilometers away. The outer wall taller than any building the team, and especially Kira, had seen in Coral Port or Khar’Seth. Constant traffic on the main route — caravans, travelers, guild squads, mounted messengers.
And above all, visible from any angle, the symbol of the Celestial Temple carved into the central tower.
"Big," said Kira.
"Too big. Those arrogant bastards like to be seen," said Raven.
"It’s the continent’s administrative capital, after all," said Maya, checking her map. "Seat of the Temple and the Major Guild. Three million inhabitants in the city and metropolitan area."
"Too big," Kira repeated.
Grim watched the towers from Alex’s shoulder.
**"Here. Again. So many souls."**
"Don’t worry, we’ve been here before. Only this time we’ll try to go unnoticed on purpose."
**"I know."** Pause. **"But there are many."**
---
[Empire City — South Entrance — Commerce Gate]
They entered as what they appeared to be: a silver-rank adventurer team with an unusual summon companion and a nine-tailed fox in reduced form.
[Aura Suppression — active]
Alex’s mark invisible. Crimson eyes barely perceptible in the daylight. Grim at eighty centimeters, completely harmless in appearance.
The gate guard looked at Grim for three seconds.
"Rank?"
"E," said Alex.
The guard noted it. Let them pass.
Kira waited until they were far enough inside to speak.
"There are sixteen guards at that entry point. Four with Temple insignia mixed in with the municipal ones."
"Did you see them while we were passing?" asked Emily.
"I counted them before arriving." Kira kept walking. "I always count before arriving. That information is worth money."
---
[Empire City — Old Market District — The Pillar Inn]
Viktor was waiting for them.
Not in the lobby. In the third-floor room he had reserved three days in advance, with the windows covered and a teapot already served on the table.
The same posture as always — that of someone who has spent decades sitting in rooms like this.
He stood when they entered. Assessed the group one by one.
He paused at Grim.
At Alex’s physical changes.
At Kira, who was new.
"Many things happened," he said.
"Yes," said Alex.
"Sit down. There’s information, and we don’t have time for polite formalities."
---
Viktor didn’t use digital maps — those could be tracked.
He spread paper on the table. A physical map, annotated by hand, with marks that had clearly been updated for a long time.
"The Heralds of the Void," he began. "Their operational base is here."
He pointed to a northeastern area. Between two mountain ranges, in the border territory that ended where the continental map became less precise.
"**Veltharr**. Independent city-state. Mixed population, no direct Temple jurisdiction, active black market, and enough adventurer traffic that any group can pass without drawing attention." A pause. "The **Void Catacombs** are two days north of Veltharr." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
"How much time do we have?" asked Maya.
"Six weeks before the Heralds complete the relocation of their base. After that point, the Catacombs’ location changes, and we lose the window." Viktor folded his hands on the table. "The margin is tight, but it works if you leave Empire City in the next two days."
"Three weeks of travel?" asked Raven.
"If you take the eastern trade route. Less visible than the main roads. Slower but safer."
Alex studied the map.
"What else?"
Viktor looked at him.
"What I didn’t tell you by message." A deliberate pause. "The Heralds aren’t just trying to complete the ritual. They’re looking for the specific anchor of the fourth seal."
Silence in the room.
"They’ve spent decades tracking bloodlines born near the original seals. Families that lived in the ruins. Towns built over the places where the Fragments were contained." Viktor looked directly at Kira. "Khar’Seth didn’t appear on their list by accident."
Kira didn’t react visibly.
Her ears, however, rotated slightly backward.
"How long have they known about me?" she asked.
"Long enough that Matthias was in Khar’Seth specifically. It wasn’t a random population-control mission." Viktor looked at her with something that wasn’t exactly an apology but was as close as Viktor got. "A living anchor in the right place saves them half the ritual. Without the anchor, they need the full process... more time, more resources, more exposure."
"So I was the target all along."
"You were part of the target. The bearer of Fragment 1 was the other part."
Raven looked at Alex. Alex was looking at the map.
Maya had taken out her own notebook and was copying Viktor’s annotations at speed.
"Why in person?" asked Alex. "Why not encrypted message, as usual?"
Viktor picked up the map.
"Because what comes next can’t exist on any digital channel." He tucked the paper into his coat. "The Circle has two informants in the Temple. Both reported the same thing this week."
No one spoke.
"The High Inquisitor reviewed the battle report from the Crystal Mountains. The energy level. The scale of destruction. The Core Resonance signature." Viktor looked at all of them. "He issued an elite squad order. Not immediate arrest — tracking until the bearer is in open ground, far from populated areas."
"Capture or elimination?" asked Alex.
"Preferred capture. Elimination authorized if capture compromises the mission."
The silence was different this time.
"The squad is already in Empire City, gathering the best from several areas where the Temple has jurisdiction," Viktor added. "They arrived before you."
---
[Five minutes later]
The teapot was still on the table.
No one had touched it since Viktor finished speaking.
Raven was the first to speak.
"So we enter Empire City, get the information, and leave before the Temple surrounds us."
Maya didn’t look up from her notebook.
"It’s already surrounded us." She finished copying a coordinate. "It’s just waiting for us to move first."
Grim from the floor stared at the teapot.
**"The tea is getting cold."**
Emily served it because no one else would.
Viktor stood to leave. At the door, he stopped.
"One more thing." He looked at Alex. "The squad leader. He’s not a standard hunter."
"Who is it?"
"**Inquisitor Cael**." Viktor opened the door. "Ask Seraph Nox what that name means. He was the last one to hear it before fleeing the Temple five years ago."
He left.
The door closed.
---
[Empire City — Inn room — Night]
Alex was staring at the ceiling when his device vibrated.
Valeria.
A text message. No elaborate encryption. Direct as always.
*"Cael arrived yesterday. Squad of twelve. All above level 70. He’s level 89. He won’t attack in the city — too many civilians and too much political exposure. But he has his positions established at all major exits."*
*"They have an updated description of you. The physical changes. The mark. The companion."*
*"Leave through the north market entrance tomorrow before 6 AM. It’s the only point where Cael still doesn’t have full coverage. You have a two-hour window before he closes it."*
*"I don’t owe any more favors after this one."*
Alex read the message twice.
*"You’ve never owed me a favor — quite the opposite... But I’m not stupid enough not to realize why you do it. Take care."*
Then he went to the next room and knocked on the door.
Raven opened it in three seconds — still fully dressed, as if she hadn’t tried to sleep.
"What?"
"We leave at five."
Raven looked down the hall behind him.
"Everyone?"
"Everyone."
**"Including me,"** said Grim from Alex’s shoulder.
Raven laughed softly and nodded.
"I’ll wake Maya. You wake Emily. Kira is probably already awake."
"How do you know?"
"Because Kira is always awake."
She closed the door to go pack.
Alex stood in the hallway for a moment.
Three weeks of travel. Veltharr. The Catacombs.
Six weeks.
[Corruption: 57%] — the Anchor Stone still active, crimson veins visible but less than before.
Enough time.
It had to be.
---
[Empire City — North market entrance — 5:47 AM]
The city was still asleep in that part of the district.
The north market opened at six. The stalls were closed, vendors arriving with their loads, the guard on duty at the gate yawning over his cup.
The team passed like another group of early-rising adventurers.
Without incident.
Kira counted the guards on the way out just as she had on the way in.
Outside the wall, on the eastern road that began to open between farmland and the first line of trees, the group stopped just long enough to get their bearings.
"Three weeks," said Maya. Map in hand, already calculating. "If we maintain a pace of twenty kilometers a day on the trade route, we reach Veltharr with days to spare."
"Trouble on the route?" asked Kira.
"Two zones with reported dungeon activity. Avoidable if we take the secondary path at kilometer eighty."
"Lose time?"
"Half a day. Worth it."
Kira nodded. She naturally took the lead.
The group set into motion.
Empire City disappeared behind them as the road curved among the trees.
Grim on Alex’s shoulder looked back once.
**"Is anyone following us?"**
"Not yet," said Kira from ahead without turning her head.
**"When?"**
"Probably on the third day. When Cael confirms we took the eastern route."
**"Good."**
Grim settled himself.
**"Let me know."**
"Always," said Kira.
The eastern road. Three weeks.
The clock was running.
