[The Abyssal Academy - The Outer Gates]
The sky above the Abyssal Academy split open.
The storm clouds were violently burned away, replaced by a swirling vortex of scorching, golden fire. The temperature in the courtyard skyrocketed, instantly evaporating the freezing mud.
From the center of the vortex, a colossal, fifty-foot-tall figure descended. It was made of pure, solidified sunlight, wearing four-winged angelic armor and wielding a flaming greatsword that was longer than the academy's main tower.
[Warning: Avatar of the Sun God detected. Threat Level: Cataclysmic.]
Outside the gates, the naked, shivering remnants of Commander Kael's vanguard fell to their knees, weeping tears of joy.
"The Pope has summoned the Avatar!" Kael cried, raising his bare hands to the sky. "The Gods themselves have come to smite this corporate demon!"
Up in the Security Control Room, the reinforced glass began to crack under the sheer, oppressive heat of the deity's presence.
Princess Ignis drew her broadsword, her demonic instincts screaming at her to flee. "Principal Thorne! That is a literal piece of a God! You can't tax a deity! We have to evacuate!"
Elara dropped her clipboard, her legs giving out. "It's over... The Sun God will vaporize the entire mountain."
Victor Thorne stood in front of the cracking glass. The blinding light cast sharp, harsh shadows across his face, but he didn't even squint.
"A God is simply a CEO with better PR," Victor said coldly. He didn't draw a weapon. He pulled the Tycoon's Ledger from his desk and flipped to the legal section.
The Avatar of the Sun God hovered above the courtyard. It raised its massive, flaming greatsword, preparing to cleave the Abyssal Academy—and everyone inside it—into a smoking crater.
"BEGONE, SPAWN OF DARKNESS," the Avatar's voice shook the tectonic plates beneath the castle.
"Seraphina," Victor's voice was dead calm. "In Chapter Nineteen, during the Floor Two Boss Fight, what did I officially patent within the borders of Sector 4?"
Seraphina quickly flipped through her clipboard, completely ignoring the giant flaming sword above them. "You filed a trademark and patent for 'Holy Light™', Sir. It gives the Pantheon Group exclusive broadcasting and usage rights for all divine energy in this jurisdiction."
"Excellent," Victor tapped the Ledger.
A massive, glowing holographic document projected from the top of the academy, expanding until it was the size of a skyscraper, hovering directly in the path of the Avatar's sword.
"To the Entity designating itself as the 'Sun God'," Victor's voice was amplified through the PA system, echoing across the scorched mountain. "You are currently projecting unlicensed 'Holy Light™' on private property, which constitutes a blatant violation of Pantheon Group Intellectual Property laws."
The Avatar paused, its flaming sword hovering inches from the holographic document. It didn't understand the magic blocking its path.
"I am issuing a formal Digital Millennium Copyright Strike (DMCA)," Victor slashed his gold pen across the Ledger. "Cease and desist immediately, or I will sue your pantheon for one hundred trillion Gold in royalty damages."
[System Alert: Copyright Strike Executed. Enforcing IP Laws.]
A massive, golden "C&D" watermark slammed into the chest of the Sun God.
The absolute, universal law of commerce overrode the laws of magic. Because the Sun God could not pay the hundred trillion Gold royalty fee, the Tycoon's Ledger categorized the Avatar as an illegal, pirated asset.
The flaming greatsword instantly pixelated and dissolved into gray static.
"WHAT IS THIS?" the Avatar roared in confusion as its wings began to turn into copyright-infringement warnings. "I AM THE LIGHT! I CANNOT BE DENIED!"
"Your content has been demonetized," Victor said flatly.
With a final, pathetic fizzle, the towering Avatar of the Sun God completely glitched out of reality, vanishing from the sky as if it had never existed.
The storm clouds rolled back in. The freezing rain returned.
Outside the gates, Commander Kael stared at the empty sky, his mind completely and utterly broken.
Victor snapped his pocket watch shut. "Seraphina. Send a cease and desist letter to the Vatican. If they summon another pirated deity, I am taking their cathedral as collateral."