The red chains vibrating against the walls of the executive office did not just look like blood. They felt like a physical parasite. Kaelen Thorne gripped the edge of his desk as a sudden agonizing heat surged through his veins. His status window flickered violently, the golden text bleeding into a digital static that made his vision blur.
[SYSTEM ALERT: PRIMORDIAL TAX INITIATED]
[REASON: UNAUTHORIZED ACCUMULATION OF WORLD EQUITY]
[TAX RATE: 90% OF TOTAL MANA RESERVES]
[COLLECTION AGENT: THE ARCHITECT'S WILL]
Kaelen gasped for air, his lungs feeling as if they were being filled with molten lead. In the original timeline, he had heard whispers of the Tax. It was the "Check and Balance" of the gods, a mechanism designed to ensure that no single mortal ever became a threat to the celestial status quo. But he had never expected it to be so literal.
Silas Vesper lunged forward to steady his master, but as his hands touched Kaelen's shoulders, the grey mist around the assassin was instantly sucked into the red chains. Silas recoiled, his face pale for the first time. Master, I cannot touch the chains. They are not made of mana. They are made of the very laws of the universe.
Lia Sinclair stood in the center of the room, her violet eyes glowing with a terrifying intensity. She reached out toward a red chain, her void-hand trying to crush it, but the chain passed through her fingers as if she were a ghost. The hunger is useless against this Mr. Thorne. It's like trying to eat the concept of math.
Kaelen forced himself to stand up. He wiped a bead of cold sweat from his forehead and adjusted his glasses. He looked at the message from The Original Architect on his screen. The taunt was clear. The house always wins because the house owns the deck.
If I can't eat the math Kaelen rasped his voice cracking under the pressure then I will change the equation.
He slumped back into his chair and opened the Ledger. The red chains were siphoning the Academy's mana at a rate of one percent per second. At this speed the entire institution would be a hollow shell in less than two minutes. The students would be stripped of their new powers and the "Divine IPO" would conclude with a total liquidation of humanity.
Mariana Vance was crying at her desk, her own mana being pulled from her body in visible golden wisps. Sir please make it stop!
Kaelen didn't answer. He wasn't looking for a "stop" button. He was looking for a "transfer" button.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: DEBT ARCHITECT (MAX OUTPUT)]
[COMMAND: MASS REDISTRIBUTION OF ASSETS]
I am the Primary Market Maker Kaelen whispered to the empty air. And a Market Maker never keeps all his assets in one vault.
Kaelen initiated the Shadow Scholarship protocol on a global scale. But this time he didn't just give the Rank F students a small infusion. He opened the floodgates.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[USER 'KAELEN THORNE' IS ATTEMPTING TO GIFT 100% OF ACADEMY RESERVES TO SUBORDINATES]
[WARNING: THIS WILL RESULT IN A TOTAL DEPLETION OF YOUR PERSONAL POWER]
Do it Kaelen commanded.
In an instant the red chains that were strangling the Academy began to lose their target. The mana they were siphoning wasn't there anymore. It had been shattered into a million tiny fragments and distributed across the globe to every student who had signed the Ledger contract.
It was the ultimate move in "Offshore Banking." The Architect could tax a central vault, but he couldn't easily tax a million individual accounts scattered across the planet without crashing the entire system.
The red chains groaned, their light dimming as they searched for the concentrated mana that was now gone. The pressure on Kaelen's chest eased. He took a deep shuddering breath as his mana bar hit zero.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[TAX COLLECTION FAILED: INSUFFICIENT PRINCIPAL IN TARGET ACCOUNT]
[STATUS: KAELEN THORNE IS CURRENTLY INSOLVENT]
Kaelen let out a dry, rattling laugh. I'm broke Malphas. Tell your boss to go find his ninety percent in the pockets of a million teenagers in the slums of Earth.
But the victory came with a heavy price. Without the mana reserves Kaelen was physically fragile once more. His Authority stat remained high but he had no fuel to power his complex skills. He was a King without a treasury.
A shadow fell over the office.
Archangel Uriel walked into the room. He looked different. His broken wings had been replaced by scars that glowed with a faint, resentful light. He was no longer a god but he was still a warrior.
You played a dangerous game Thorne Uriel said his voice sounding like grinding stones. The Architect does not like to be cheated. He has already sent the Audit Team to the physical world. They aren't going to tax you anymore. They are going to foreclose on your life.
Kaelen looked at the sky. The countdown was still there. 02:22:45:00.
Suddenly a massive explosion rocked the base of the Academy mountain. The alarms began to blare a rhythmic sound of impending doom.
Sir Mariana shouted her eyes wide as she looked at the security feed. Someone is at the gate! They've just obliterated the perimeter defense!
Kaelen looked at the monitor. He expected to see a monster or a god. Instead he saw a single man.
The man was wearing a simple white lab coat. He had messy brown hair and a pair of tired eyes that looked like they hadn't slept in a thousand years. In his hand he held a simple wooden ruler.
Silas Vesper stepped back his daggers shaking. That... that is impossible.
Who is he? Kaelen asked.
He was the Chief Engineer of the original System Silas whispered. In the first timeline he died during the first week of the apocalypse. He was supposed to be the one who could explain how to stop the Gates.
The man in the lab coat looked up at the camera. He tapped his ruler against his palm and his voice came through the office speakers as if he were standing right behind Kaelen.
Kaelen Thorne the man said with a weary smile. My name is Dr. Aris. I am the lead developer of the reality you are currently trying to hack. My boss says you've been a very naughty user.
Dr. Aris raised his ruler and tapped the air.
Suddenly the laws of physics inside the Academy began to rewrite themselves. The floor became the ceiling. The air turned into water. The gravity tripled in an instant crushing Silas and Uriel to the ground.
Only Kaelen remained unaffected because of his [Temporal Sovereignty].
I'm here to perform a hard reset on this server Dr. Aris said. And since you've hidden all the mana in the hands of the rabble I'm just going to have to delete the users one by one until the balance is restored.
Dr. Aris began to walk up the mountain toward the main building. With every step he took a student in the hallway outside Kaelen's office simply vanished into a puff of digital code.
Mr. Thorne Lia Sinclair shouted her body flickering as she tried to maintain her void form against the developer's reality warping. He's deleting the debtors! If he deletes them the mana returns to the System!
Kaelen grabbed his tablet. He had no mana but he still had one asset he hadn't used yet. He looked at the [CHRONOS CORE] shards that he had integrated into the Academy charter earlier.
Dr. Aris! Kaelen shouted his voice amplified by the office speakers. You talk about resets and users like this is a game. But you forgot one thing about your own code.
The man in the lab coat stopped and looked up. Oh? And what would that be?
You built the System to be self sustaining Kaelen said his eyes glowing with a desperate gold light. And you gave the 'Market Maker' the power to declare a Debt Jubilee.
Kaelen's fingers moved across the tablet.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: THE GREAT JUBILEE]
[EFFECT: ALL DEBTS TO THE LEDGER ARE FORGIVEN]
[REWARD: ALL SUBORDINATES ARE NOW OWNERS OF THEIR OWN MANA]
Kaelen Thorne Dr. Aris laughed. If you forgive their debt you lose all your power! You'll just be a Rank F boy again!
I'm not losing power Kaelen whispered. I'm decentralizing the threat.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[JUBILEE EXECUTED]
[ONE MILLION STUDENTS HAVE BECOME INDEPENDENT SYSTEM ENTITIES]
[THE ARCHITECT NO LONGER HAS A SINGLE POINT OF FAILURE TO ATTACK]
Dr. Aris stopped smiling. The students who were about to vanish suddenly solidified. The mana they held didn't belong to the Ledger anymore. It belonged to them.
You've just destroyed the only leverage you had over the world Dr. Aris said his voice turning cold. You are nothing now Kaelen Thorne. No mana. No debtors. No power.
Kaelen stood at the broken window and looked down at the developer.
I'm not nothing Dr. Aris Kaelen said. I'm a Class-Action Lawsuit.
Kaelen pulls out a black card he had hidden in his wallet since the first day. It is the card he received from the Shadow Monarch's auction.
I want to file a complaint Kaelen said.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[USER HAS INVOKED THE 'LITIGATION OF THE ABYSS']
[THE SHADOW MONARCH HAS BEEN SUMMONED AS THE PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEY]
The Shadow Monarch cat appeared on the desk. This time she wasn't laughing. She looked like a shark in a pinstripe suit.
I've been waiting for this Kaelen she purred. You're right. The Architect has been violating the terms of the Multiversal Trade Agreement for eons.
She looked at Dr. Aris.
Hello Aris. My client says you're trying to perform an illegal eviction on a property that is currently under a 'Sovereign Debt' protection. I hope you have a good lawyer. Because I'm going to sue the Heaven out of you.