The Box: Fate
Chapter 59 — The Gates of Aethelgard
The pure white marble walls of Aethelgard, the Grand Astral City, towered over the landscape like mountains made of light. Yet, beneath the violet, bleeding sky of the Monarch, even the capital's golden spires looked cast in shadow.
As Kataki walked at the head of the faction, his silver eyes scanned the massive iron-reinforced gates. Beside him walked Vahn, his grey cloak pulled tight, his face hardened like stone. Behind them followed the rest of the squad: Akira, Murasaki, Kuro, Kyoshiki, Joel, Monk Fish, Anastasia, Hina, and Mikochi.
To the thousands of citizens and low-rank native hunters lining the entry road, this group didn't look like ordinary travelers. They walked with the quiet, terrifying precision of survivors who had conquered the Forsaken Fort.
The whispers began almost instantly, passing through the crowd like wildfire.
"Look at the silver-eyed one... is that the ghost who slaughtered the Under-Realm guardian?" a native vanguard muttered, pulling his child back. "They call him **The Void Reaper**."
"No, look at the ones behind him," a high-ranking mage whispered, sensing the latent, soul-bound magic radiating from Hina and Murasaki. "Those are **The Calamity Tamers**. They say they carry the heavy wrath of ancient spirits in their very chests."
But as the group neared the inner gates, the whispers converged into a single, awe-inspiring title that the capital's bards had already begun to write down: **The Sovereign Vanguards**. To the native people, who knew nothing of levels or WhatsApp links, this teenage squad—ranging from just sixteen to eighteen years old—carried an authority that rivaled the five native Apex Kings.
Vahn, standing at thirty-five years old, felt the immense weight of the crowd's gaze. But his mind wasn't on the titles. Looking at the grand white arches of King Sharon's palace fetched a violent, agonizing memory from the depths of his soul.
***
*Ten years ago.*
*A twenty-five-year-old Vahn stood in this exact spot, his armor pristine, surrounded by his five best friends—the original Iron-Heart Vanguard. They were players, teenagers just like Kataki and Zanaki, dragged into this nightmare by the same cursed link.*
*"We'll clear the Zero Zone, Vahn!" his vice-captain, a seventeen-year-old girl named Rin, had laughed, waving her shortsword. "Then we'll force King Sharon to open the vault, get the Zenith wish, and go home!"*
*But the King had lied. The high council had used them as shields, sealing the gates behind them when the corruption spread. In the deep black of the Zero Zone, where the system interface glitched and turned into static, Vahn had watched Rin's data dissolve line by line. She hadn't just died; she had screamed as the code broke, her eyes turning into empty black voids before her entire existence evaporated into nothingness. He had dragged himself out alone, his soul scarred, his youth stolen, forced to live among natives who couldn't even see the numbers of his grief.*
***
A sharp breath escaped Vahn's lips, snapping him back to the present. He looked down at Kataki, who was only seventeen, yet carried himself with the grim determination of a seasoned general. He looked at Hina and Mikochi, their faces full of youthful resolve, completely unaware of how brutal the deletion could truly be.
Vahn reached out, his heavy, calloused hand resting on Kataki's shoulder. The teenager stopped, looking back with his piercing silver gaze.
"King Sharon's court is a nest of vipers, kid," Vahn said, his gravelly voice thick with a decade of hidden pain. "They don't see players. They don't see teenagers trying to go home. To them, you are just high-tier chess pieces. When my squad walked through those palace doors ten years ago, we trusted their titles. Don't make the same mistake I did. If the King tries to bind you... use the Angel skill. Don't let him take your autonomy."
Kataki looked at the older man, sensing the raw, bleeding trauma behind the warning. He didn't nod, but his silver eyes softened by a fraction.
"I am not you, Vahn," Kataki said, his voice quiet but echoing with absolute finality. "And my squad is not going to dissolve. If King Sharon tries to play chess with us... we will flip the board."
With those words, the Sovereign Vanguards stepped through the palace threshold, walking straight into the heart of human royalty, while twenty miles away, the northern trenches began to scream