Mantle of the Gods [LitRPG / Slow Burn / FTB Harem]

It was a bronze coin.

With a cobra on it.

That was the worst Bandits to have them. Rix had poisoned most of the Bronze Cobras when she escaped to get to the Mantle ceremony, where she'd joined our team. Therus had a bounty out on her head that was up to half a million All, which was enough for the less intelligent bounty hunters to try to get her. Anyone who knew that she was one of Trent's students would think twice about trying to collect the bounty. I knew that there had been some attempts to sneak into the Cathedral and that those individuals had been dealt with by the Temple's Enforcers.

From what I knew of the Bronze Cobras, they were based out of the east of the Ward, which was the opposite side from where Klix was. Since Gesai had killed Sipher almost a month ago, the Bronze Cobras should have been pulling back without his support, not expanding. For them to still be out here meant that either they were a lot stronger than Trent told me, or they had another partner that was helping them expand. Considering that we knew they had access to Dungeon Seeds, I hated to think about what the implication of the Bandits and the Cult working together would be.

"How?" I swallowed as I looked at Gesai. "Did you know they were here?"

The silver woman on my left shook her head. "Therus moved to the Fane Ward. That's one of the only reasons why he never came up to the Bunker. I know he was seen in the area after we got free, but I thought he went back to his new headquarters."

"Therus was seen in the city a few times in the last week." Miel confirmed. "The Scarlets and Dispatchers have been working to try to catch him, but he always seems to slip away whenever one of us gets close."

I wasn't surprised that the Dispatchers were the ones working with the Scarlets. The Authority usually dealt with Mundane issues, and as soon as an Adventurer became involved, they handed it off to the Dispatchers. While the Dispatchers primarily dealt with Dungeon affairs, they were the only group besides each city's private guards that reliably had enough power to police an Adventurer.

"And no one told us?" I glared at the older woman on the other side of the table. "That means you knew Therus had been seen here before we headed this way."

"You want to know about every criminal that we've seen here in the last month?" She leaned back in her chair. "Pinkers from the Shrine Ward was over in the residential sector Tuesday. Bauz from the Temple Ward was near the mall on Sunday. Oh, and that weasel from the Tabernacle Ward was spotted outside the walls almost a month ago." Her red eyes narrowed. "And that's just the leadership. I've got hundreds of reports about minion sightings in just the last week. The downside to subsidizing housing is that it attracts a lot of criminal elements looking for a handout."

I held up my hands. "Fine, you've got your hands full, and having Klix out of the city for so long probably didn't help." I felt the irritation begin to cool. "But doesn't it mean that there's something big going on here if so many of the different Bandit leaders have been here lately?"

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"It's not any more than usual." Miel shook her head. "In fact, there's been fewer sightings than normal. At first we thought it was because our policing was finally driving them off, but now it seems like they found another way in that gets by our defenses."

There was a somber silence at the table as the implications sank in. A God could erect a barrier around their city that would keep out anything but another God. The walls were usually all that was needed, but if there was a new way into the city and one that would allow even Mundane to slip through the defenses, it left every city in the world vulnerable to attacks.

"What about the coin?" Gesai reached across the table and tapped it with her right index finger.

"The vendor told me that it would get me into the undermarket." Jenne pulled the coin back and slipped it into her CB. "It's supposed to be keyed to me and will open a portal." The golden Caster looked at her teacher. "He told me that it's a volatile gate."

"What's that?" Aelin stole another one of my fries as she looked at her friend.

"A volatile gate is one that will short out if someone who's Tier is too high tries to walk through it." Gesai sighed. "They mainly get used as entryways to pocket worlds where the person setting it up can't handle the energy that a high Tier person can throw around. Instead of letting someone sneak through, then destabilizing the pocket, a volatile gate is attached. The gate will collapse instead of the pocket world, leaving those inside still inside and denying the higher Tier person entry. It also seals off the pocket world so that the only way in is through someone with a key."

Jenne tapped on her CB. "Whoever made this didn't want a raid to happen that they couldn't repel." She sank back in her seat. "He said it was keyed against Tier Four."

I nodded, but Oz was the one who said what I didn't want to.

"Which means Gesai and Miel can't go."

My mind was racing trying to find an excuse. While I could order Gesai to let us check it out, that put a bad taste in my mouth. I'd much rather have her blessing than force her hand. Also, it wouldn't matter because there was nothing I could do if Miel didn't want us to go.

"Therus is Tier Five, so restricting it to Tier Three and lower means that nothing can get in that he can't handle." Jenne looked at the Scarlet sitting next to her. "I still think it's worth at least walking through. If we turn this over to the Authority, then there's a good chance that it gets leaked." She snatched the fry that Aelin was reaching for and chewed it triumphantly.

"We can handle going in, taking a look, and then letting you know what's going on." Oz looked around me at Gesai. "They'll never know that we were there."

"I doubt that." Miel frowned. "But the girl has a point. The place where the gate is located is on our way back. If they want to stick their heads in, then it'll give us an idea of what we're dealing with…" Her voice trailed off as she looked at me. "Though I don't know about letting Atlas go in."

"I can handle it." I met her gaze. "What if we took one of those return stones? Wouldn't that give us a way to escape quickly if something goes wrong?"

Miel's eyes widened. "You want me to get you Tier Zero return stones? Do you have any idea how few of those there are?"

"Considering how much All you gave Aelin like it was water, I doubt you'll have trouble." I put my hand on Oz's shoulder. "But I'm not going to let them go in there without me."

The glare I received wasn't anywhere close to as strong as what the ivory woman could have thrown at me. It didn't take long for that gaze to soften.

"I see why my daughter likes you." The Scarlet sighed. "I'll find four stones and get them brought to the park."

I allowed myself an internal smirk at my victory, then what she said registered.

"We're going to a park?"