The sky above Apex Academy was no longer a veil of stars. It was a jagged wound of violet and gold as the three Auctioneers of the Abyss tried to maintain their physical forms against the sheer gravitational hunger of Lia Sinclair. The girl who had once been a Rank F shadow was now a storm of void. She moved between the celestial giants like a needle of darkness sewing their starlight robes into shrouds of ash.
Kaelen Thorne stood at the edge of his shattered office. The wind whipped his hair and tugged at his tie but he did not move. His eyes were not on the titanic battle in the clouds. They were fixed on the small red notification pulsing on the corner of his holographic desk.
[ALERT: TEMPORAL ANOMALY DETECTED]
[IDENTIFICATION: KAELEN THORNE (TIMELINE ALPHA)]
[STATUS: TOTAL INSOLVENCY]
[THREAT LEVEL: EXISTENTIAL]
Kaelen tapped the screen with a trembling finger. A window opened revealing a grainy feed from a temporal rift opening in the center of the Academy's library. Out of the swirling grey mists stepped a man who looked exactly like Kaelen.
But this version of him was a nightmare. He wore the tattered remnants of a Rank F logistics uniform. His face was a map of burn scars and hollow despair. His eyes were not the predatory gold of the Ledger Keeper. They were two pits of weeping darkness filled with the memories of three billion dead souls.
This was the Kaelen who had died in the mud. The Kaelen who had been betrayed by Alaric and executed by Silas. He was the embodiment of every failure Kaelen had tried to erase.
Silas Vesper appeared at Kaelen's side. His daggers were already drawn. Master there is a breach in the library. The energy signature is... identical to yours. But it is filled with the scent of a dead world.
I know Silas Kaelen said. His voice was a cold whisper that barely carried over the roar of the wind. It is the original debt. The universe does not like it when a bankrupt account is suddenly filled with trillions of points. It has manifested my own failure to collect the balance.
Should I eliminate him Silas asked.
No Kaelen replied. You cannot kill a ghost with a blade. He is not a physical being yet. He is a 'Bad Debt' that has taken human form. If you touch him he will infect you with the despair of the previous timeline. Stay here and coordinate with the students. Lia is winning but she is burning through the Academy's mana at a dangerous rate.
Kaelen turned and walked toward the door. He didn't take a weapon. He didn't call for the Archangel Uriel who was still recovering in the infirmary. He walked alone through the empty hallways of the administrative wing heading toward the library.
Every step Kaelen took felt heavier than the last. The air around him began to change. The pristine walls of the Academy started to peel and rot in his wake. The smell of blood and wet earth filled his nostrils. The "Bankrupt Ghost" was projecting the end of the world onto the present reality.
He reached the library doors and pushed them open.
The interior of the Great Library was a cyclone of flying pages and shattered glass. In the center of the room stood the Other Kaelen. He was holding an old leather bound book that pulsed with a sickly green light. It was the original Ledger the one Kaelen had possessed when he died.
You think you won the Other Kaelen spoke. His voice was a distorted echo of Kaelen's own. You think you can just buy your way out of the apocalypse. You've built a palace on the graves of three billion people. I can hear them Kaelen. They are screaming for their interest.
Kaelen stopped ten feet away. He adjusted his glasses and looked at his reflection of failure. You are a manifestation of guilt Kaelen Alpha. You are the part of me that believes I don't deserve this second chance. You are a psychological deficit.
I am the Truth the Ghost roared. The book in his hand flew open. Shadows erupted from the pages taking the forms of the people Kaelen had failed to save in the first life. I am the debt you can never pay. The system gave you the Ledger Keeper class because you were the ultimate loser. You were chosen to be the accountant of the end not the king of the beginning.
Kaelen looked at the shadows of the dead. He saw his old unit. He saw the civilians he couldn't protect. He saw his own broken body lying in the rain.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[WARNING: YOUR MENTAL STABILITY IS DROPPING]
[INFLUENCE POINTS DEPRECIATING: 1,000 PER SECOND]
Kaelen felt a sharp pain in his chest. His Authority stat began to flicker. Outside the Auctioneers of the Abyss sensed his weakness and let out a triumphant roar. They began to push back against Lia's darkness.
You're right Kaelen said softly. I was a loser. I was the man who died in the mud. And if I stay that man then the world dies again.
Kaelen walked forward into the storm of shadows. He didn't flinch as the ghosts of his past tore at his suit. He reached out and grabbed the edges of the Other Kaelen's tattered blazer.
But here is the difference between us Kaelen hissed his eyes turning a blinding predatory gold. I stopped being an asset and became the Owner. I don't carry the debt of the dead anymore. I've refinanced it.
Kaelen activated his most dangerous skill.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: DEBT CONSOLIDATION]
[TARGET: KAELEN THORNE (TIMELINE ALPHA)]
[EFFECT: ABSORBING ALL NEGATIVE VALUE INTO THE CURRENT LEDGER]
The Other Kaelen's eyes widened. You... you're trying to absorb me? You'll drown in the despair!
No Kaelen said as the golden threads erupted from his chest and wrapped around the Ghost. I'm going to use your despair as collateral. Every scream every death and every failure of the previous timeline is now a 'Loss Carryforward.' I'm using my past tragedy to offset my future taxes to the Gods.
The Ghost of the Alpha timeline began to dissolve. The scars on his face turned into golden numbers that flowed into Kaelen's skin. The leather book crumbled into dust and was absorbed into Kaelen's digital interface.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[CONSOLIDATION SUCCESSFUL]
[YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE HIDDEN TRAIT: TEMPORAL SOVEREIGNTY]
[ALL PREVIOUS TIMELINE KNOWLEDGE HAS BEEN VERIFIED AND ENCRYPTED]
Kaelen stood in the center of the library his breathing ragged. He felt a cold immense power settling in his soul. He wasn't just a man with a system anymore. He was the anchor of two timelines.
He looked at his status window.
[LEVEL UP]
[LEVEL UP]
[LEVEL: 25]
[INFLUENCE POINTS: 1,500,000]
He turned and looked through the library's large windows. In the sky Lia Sinclair had just consumed the first Auctioneer. The starlight giant was being sucked into her void like water down a drain. The other two were fleeing toward the rift in the sky.
Kaelen tapped his tablet. Silas. Lia. Finish them. I've just unlocked the Academy's final reserve. Don't leave a single scrap of starlight behind.
A moment later a pillar of black and gold light erupted from the library tower. It hit Lia in the back acting as a massive mana battery. She let out a scream of pure power and her void expanded until it covered the entire city.
The remaining Auctioneers didn't have time to scream. They were erased from existence their divine essence converted into pure Influence Points for Kaelen's account.
The rift in the sky slammed shut. The tide receded. The silence returned to Apex Academy.
Kaelen walked out of the library and back toward his office. His suit was torn and his face was pale but he looked more dangerous than he ever had before.
He entered his office to find Mariana Vance staring at the screens in disbelief.
Sir... she whispered. You've done it. The World Bank of Souls has just updated your rating. You are no longer under investigation. You've been promoted to 'Primary Market Maker.'
I know Kaelen said sitting in his chair. But the IPO isn't over. Vane is still out there and the Gods are going to be furious about their lost Auctioneers.
He looked at the black rose on his desk which was now glowing with a soft violet light.
Lia Sinclair floated into the room. She was back in her human form but her eyes were still violet pits of void. She looked at Kaelen and for the first time she didn't look like a scared girl. She looked like an empress.
What is the next move Mr. Thorne? she asked.
Kaelen opened a global map on his desk. The map showed hundreds of glowing red dots across every continent. These were the S-Rank Gates that were scheduled to open in the next five days.
The next move is a Hostile Takeover of the Afterlife Kaelen said. I'm going to buy the Gates before they open. And then I'm going to charge the Monsters an entrance fee.
But as he spoke a new message appeared on his screen. It wasn't from the System or the Gods. It was a private message from a user named THE ORIGINAL ARCHITECT.
[MESSAGE: YOU PLAY THE GAME WELL KAELEN. BUT YOU FORGOT THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE OF BANKING.]
[MESSAGE: THE SYSTEM ALWAYS TAKES A CUT OF THE PROFIT.]
[MESSAGE: AND I AM HERE TO COLLECT THE TAX.]
Suddenly the golden chains around the Academy began to turn red. Kaelen felt a sudden agonizing drain on his mana.
The Academy wasn't being attacked from the outside. It was being dismantled from within by the very system that had created it.
Kaelen looks at the countdown in the sky. It has jumped forward.
03:00:00:00
The seven days have been cut to three. The Architect has decided to accelerate the liquidation.
Kaelen Thorne looks at Lia and Silas.
Gentlemen and Lady Kaelen says his voice dropping to a lethal whisper. It seems our landlord is trying to evict us early. Get the Archangel Uriel out of bed. We are going to audit the Creator.