The phone line didn't just crackle; it bled gold. Static, infused with high-density mana, hissed through the receiver of the encrypted terminal on Kaelen's desk.
"Kaelen Thorne," a voice whispered a thousand voices at once, speaking in every language ever conceived by man. "The dead man who started a bank. You've been busy, Architect. The data-streams are screaming your name. Every secret I own is currently losing value because you've changed the variables of the timeline."
"Then you should be thanking me, Hermes," Kaelen said, leaning back as Silas Vesper silently patrolled the perimeter of the room, his form flickering like a glitching shadow. "A stagnant market is a dead market. I've just given the universe a reason to trade again."
"A reason to trade?" Hermes, the Black Market God of Information, let out a hysterical, distorted laugh. "The Heavens have declared an IPO on Earth! They aren't trading gold anymore, Kaelen. They are trading Existential Futures. They are betting on which continent will be erased first so they can harvest the soul-residuals! And you... you're the one who triggered the margin call."
"Which is why I'm calling you," Kaelen said, his eyes cold and fixed on the golden ticker-tape scrolling across the sky outside his broken window. "I want to open a short position on the Apocalypse."
The line went silent for five full seconds.
"A short position?" Hermes rasped. "You want to bet... against the end of the world? Do you realize who the 'Short Sellers' are? You're betting against the Void, the Abyss, and the High Council of the Seventh Heaven. If the world survives even one day past that countdown, they lose trillions in mana-dividends. They will send everything to ensure you fail."
"Let them," Kaelen replied. "But here's the play, Hermes. I want you to leak a specific piece of 'Insider Information' to the lower-tier Sponsors the minor gods, the demons, the spirits who are currently panicking. Tell them that the 'Divine IPO' is a scam. Tell them that I, the CFO of the Ledger, have already secured a 'Total Preservation' contract with the Archangel Michael."
"But you haven't," Hermes pointed out.
"They don't know that. If they believe the world might survive, the price of 'Human Soul Contracts' will plummet as the High Sponsors try to dump their 'Risky Assets' before the market stabilizes. And when the price hits the floor..."
"You'll buy them all," Hermes finished, his voice filled with a mixture of terror and awe. "You'll own the souls of humanity for pennies on the dollar."
"Exactly. Do it now. I'll pay your fee in 'Sovereign Intel' about the next Red-Tier Gate."
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[SKILL ACTIVATED: MARKET MANIPULATION (LV 1)]
[NOTICE: YOU HAVE INITIATED A 'FINANCIAL WAR' AGAINST THE DIVINE REALMS.]
[INFLUENCE STAKE: ALL CURRENT ASSETS.]
Kaelen hung up. He looked at the withered form of Archangel Uriel, still held in the crushing darkness of Lia's hand.
"Lia, drop him," Kaelen commanded.
Lia Sinclair obeyed instantly. The black mist retracted into her skin, and Uriel fell to the floor with a pathetic thud. The "Sword of Retribution" looked like a broken toy, his crystalline wings shattered into dust.
"You... you are a demon," Uriel wheezed, looking up at Kaelen with eyes that were no longer golden, but a dull, human grey.
"No, Uriel. I'm an Accountant," Kaelen said, standing up and walking toward the fallen angel. "And right now, you are a 'Non-Performing Loan.' But you're about to become a 'Credit Line'."
Kaelen turned to the door as a chime echoed through the room.
The Archangel Michael didn't enter through the window this time. He walked through the front door, his presence suppressed so heavily that he looked like a normal man in a very expensive white suit. But the way the air bowed away from him as he moved told a different story.
Michael looked at his broken brother on the floor, then at Silas who had his hand on his dagger and finally at Kaelen.
"You've caused a panic in the Heavenly Court, Kaelen Thorne," Michael said, his voice deceptively pleasant. "The 'Divine IPO' was supposed to be a standard liquidation. A clean sweep of a failing world. But now, my superiors are arguing over 'valuation' and 'risk management.' You've turned a holy crusade into a boardroom brawl."
"That was the intention," Kaelen said. "I'm sure you've heard the rumors Hermes is spreading by now. The minor gods are already starting to sell their Earth-stakes."
Michael sighed, sitting on the edge of Kaelen's desk. "They are. And the High Council is furious. They want your head on a silver platter. However... I am an Auditor of results. And the results of the Gate of Gehenna were... impressive. One Rank-F student and a 'trash' boy closed a Red-Tier Gate in record time."
"Because I knew the cost of failure," Kaelen said. "Now, let's talk about the 'Finder's Fee' for your brother. I believe the return of a High Archangel is worth at least... a triple-A credit rating for the Academy and a direct connection to the Heavenly Mana-Exchange."
Michael looked at Uriel, then back at Kaelen. "You're a shark. Fine. We will grant the Academy 'Sovereign Entity' status. You are no longer under the jurisdiction of the World Hero Association. You are your own nation. And Uriel... Uriel will remain here."
Kaelen paused. "What?"
"The High Council has decided that since you 'captured' him, he is now your responsibility," Michael smiled, a chilling, divine expression. "He is 'Dead Stock' to us now. A tainted asset. Keep him. Use him. But if he dies, your contract with us is void."
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[ASSET ACQUIRED: FALLEN ARCHANGEL URIEL (RANK: BROKEN)]
[HIDDEN DEBT: THE HEAVENLY COURT HAS 'DUMPED' THEIR LIABILITY ONTO YOU.]
Kaelen narrowed his eyes. Michael was playing the same game. By giving Kaelen a broken angel, they were forcing him to spend resources on protection.
"Fine," Kaelen said. "I'll add him to the security team. Silas, take Uriel to the infirmary. Make sure he's functional, but keep him on a short leash."
Silas nodded and dragged the former god out of the room by his collar.
"Now that we are alone, 'CFO'," Michael said, his tone turning serious. "There is one thing you should know. The 'Divine IPO' attracted a bidder we didn't expect. Someone who isn't a God, a Demon, or a Monarch."
Kaelen felt a cold shiver down his spine. "A third party?"
"Another Regressor," Michael whispered. "From a different timeline. One who didn't come back to save the world, but to ensure it burns so he can harvest the 'Essence of Extinction.' He has already purchased 20% of the 'Death Futures' for the United States. His name is Vane."
Kaelen's breath hitched. In his previous life, there had been a rumor of a "Mad King" in the West who had welcomed the apocalypse with open arms. A man who had reached Rank-SSS by sacrificing his own country.
"He's already started his move," Michael continued, walking toward the broken window. "And unlike you, Kaelen, he doesn't care about 'Profit.' He only cares about the 'End.' Good luck with your short position. The market is about to get... volatile."
Michael vanished in a pillar of white light.
Kaelen stood in the middle of his office, his mind calculating at a furious pace. He had seven days. He had a World-Eater, a Shadow-Assassin, and a Broken Angel. He had the Academy and a trillion-dollar debt over the Hero Association.
But he was up against a man who wanted the world to die.
"Mariana!" Kaelen shouted.
Mariana Vance scrambled into the room, looking terrified. "Yes, sir?"
"The 'Great Liquidation' isn't enough," Kaelen said, his eyes glowing with an intense, golden light. "We need to expand. I want every Rank-F and Rank-E student in the world to receive an 'Employment Offer' from the Ledger within the next twelve hours. We're going to buy every 'Trash' asset on the planet."
"But sir... we don't have the mana to support that many people!"
"We don't need mana," Kaelen said, looking at the countdown in the sky. "We have Debt. And in seven days, I'm going to make the Gods pay the interest."
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[QUEST TRIGGERED: THE GLOBAL TAKEOVER]
[OBJECTIVE: ACQUIRE 1,000,000 SUBORDINATES.]
[REWARD: CLASS EVOLUTION – 'GOD-KING OF THE LEDGER'.]
[PENALTY: TOTAL MARKET COLLAPSE.]