[Location: Omni-Corp Lunar Inner Sanctum.] [Atmosphere: Artificial. Latency: 0ms.] [Vault Pressure: 60%. WARNING: Physical form becoming "Too Dense" for lunar gravity.]
The Inner Sanctum wasn't a boardroom. It was a cathedral of pulsing fiber-optic cables and liquid-cooled servers that stretched for miles beneath the moon's crust. In the center, a massive, holographic eye—the Chairman—blinked with the rhythm of global transactions.
"You are a persistent bug, Yuto Kurosawa," the Chairman's voice vibrated through the floor. "You think you've won because you broke the market? Markets are built on faith. And I am the object of that faith."
Suddenly, the floor beneath the Vanguard turned into a literal spreadsheet. Columns of red numbers shot up like prison bars, trapping Kurenai and Isabella.
"What is this?!" Kurenai roared, punching the glowing numbers only for her fist to pass through them.
"It's your Biological Cost," the Chairman explained. "To keep an Oni in the real world requires 40,000 calories and 200 units of mana per hour. Since you have no 'Income,' your existence is currently being 'Written Off.'"
Kurenai's physical form began to flicker, turning transparent. Isabella's water-blades evaporated into steam. Even Ayase's sword began to rust in seconds as the Chairman "depreciated" their value.
"You're not fighting them," Yuto growled, his boots cracking the server-glass as he stepped forward. "You're just deleting their permissions."
"Correct," the Chairman replied. "In this room, I am the Admin. I don't need to punch you, Yuto. I just need to move your decimal point."
A beam of pure "Subtraction Code" shot from the holographic eye, hitting Yuto square in the chest. It wasn't meant to kill him; it was meant to set his Vault Balance to zero.
But the beam hit Yuto and stopped. It didn't drain his fragments. It didn't reset his multiplier. Instead, the white light turned a muddy, stagnant brown and slid off his body like dirty water.
"Internal Error?" the Chairman's voice wavered. "Why won't your balance shift?"
"Because I'm not using your cloud storage," Yuto rasped, raising his right arm. The Mythic Chest welded to his fist was vibrating so hard it was humming a low, tectonic C-note. "I'm an offline drive. You don't have the 'Write' permissions for my soul."