The smell of burning ozone filled the warehouse.
The Mafia guards watched in stunned silence as the glowing crystal in Kaelen's hand hissed. Blue sparks—like miniature lightning bolts—danced from Kaelen's fingertips, wrapping around the jagged red stone like a cage.
Kaelen felt the heat. It was agonizing, like holding a coal from the center of a star. But he didn't let go.
His System interface was screaming warnings:
[WARNING: EXPOSURE TO UNSTABLE MANA.]
[Class Skill 'Data Manipulation' Active...]
[Stabilizing... 40%... 70%... 100%.]
The red glow faded, replaced by a calm, steady sapphire light. The heat vanished.
Kaelen stood there, holding the core, his hand slightly charred but his expression as cold as ice. He turned his gaze toward Viktor. The Mafia Boss had his hand on his holster, but he was frozen. He had seen "tough guys," but he had never seen a man tame a piece of the sun with his bare hands.
"The codes for the satellite grid are on this drive," Kaelen said, tossing a small silver USB to Viktor. "It's encrypted. The key is my thumbprint. If I die, or if your men decide to get 'creative' with their aim, the drive wipes itself. And since the internet is currently dying, you won't get a second chance to find those coordinates."
Viktor caught the drive, his eyes shifting between the USB and the stabilized Mana-Core in Kaelen's hand. "You... you're different from the reports, Voss. They said you were a genius, but they didn't say you were a monster."
"The world is changing, Viktor," Kaelen said, walking past the guards as if they were furniture. He headed toward the back of the warehouse, where thousands of crates were stacked. "The monsters are coming. I'm just getting a head start."
He stopped in front of a crate and pried it open with a crowbar. Inside were rows of military-grade assault rifles and crates of ammunition.
"This is the deal," Kaelen said, turning back to the Mafia King. "I give you the satellite grid. It will show you where the first 'Safe Zones' will be established by the military. It will give you the locations of the government bunkers before the generals even get there."
Viktor's eyes widened. "That's... that's a kingdom. You're giving me a kingdom."
"I'm giving you a map to a kingdom," Kaelen corrected. "In exchange, I take this warehouse. All the weapons, all the dry rations, and most importantly, the three hundred Mana-Cores your men 'found' in the desert last week."
"That's too much!" Boris, the guard, shouted. "That's our whole stockpile!"
Kaelen didn't even look at him. He snapped his fingers.
A sudden, sharp crack echoed through the warehouse. The electronic lock on Boris's submachine gun sparked and fused shut. The weapon began to hum, getting hotter and hotter until Boris had to yelp and drop it on the floor.
"I wasn't asking," Kaelen said, his voice echoing with the power of his Level 1 Technomancy. "I am telling you. You can have the old world's secrets, Viktor. You can play at being a king in a bunker. But if you want to survive what's coming next week, you'll stay on my good side."
Viktor looked at his guard's ruined weapon, then back at Kaelen. He saw a man who had intentionally crashed a billion-dollar company just to be here. He saw a man who could kill with a thought.
For the first time in his life, the King of the Underworld felt like a peasant.
"Take it," Viktor said, waving his hand at his men. "Everything. The warehouse is yours. But tell me one thing, Voss."
"Speak."
"If you're giving me the bunkers and the grid... where are you going to be? Why don't you want the safety of the government?"
Kaelen looked up at the ceiling, his Technomancer vision seeing through the steel to the purple sky beyond. He could see the silhouettes of the first 'Hollow' creatures beginning to descend.
"Safety is an illusion for the weak, Viktor," Kaelen said. "I'm not looking for a bunker. I'm building a throne."
As the Mafia men retreated, Kaelen stood alone in the center of his new arsenal. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. One last notification had made it through before the towers went down.
It was a text from Elena.
[Kaelen, I'm at the penthouse. Marcus is here too. We need to talk. People are saying you've gone crazy. Please come home.]
Kaelen stared at the screen. A cold, dark joy settled in his chest. They were exactly where he wanted them. Trapped in a glass box at the top of a city that was about to become a slaughterhouse.
"I'm coming home, Elena," he whispered to the empty warehouse. "But I think you're going to hate the surprise I brought you."