The Solar Chamber shook with the resonance of a dying world.
Alaric Von Heist stood in the center of the black glass floor.
His skin was no longer flesh.
It was a translucent ivory lattice filled with the concentrated mana of the Academy's Divine Core.
The sword in his hand hummed with a frequency that made Kaelen's very cells vibrate.
I didn't just take the Core Kaelen Alaric said his voice a harmonic of a thousand bells.
I took the narrative.
I took the destiny that you tried to steal with your numbers and your contracts.
Alaric stepped forward and the black glass beneath his feet turned into white pixels.
He was a walking deletion.
As long as he drew breath the universe would continue to dissolve into a tragic finale.
Kaelen Thorne sat in the Architect's chair his hand gripping the edge of the desk.
He looked at the notification on his screen.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[EVOLUTION AVAILABLE: VILLAINOUS AUDITOR (RANK SSS)]
[DESCRIPTION: YOU ARE NO LONGER JUST A MANAGER. YOU ARE THE ONE WHO DECIDES WHICH STORIES ARE PROFITABLE ENOUGH TO EXIST.]
[DO YOU ACCEPT THE ROLE OF THE ANTAGONIST TO PROTECT THE LEDGER?]
Kaelen looked at Alaric.
The Golden Boy was the perfect hero for a world that wanted to die.
He was brave. He was powerful. And he was utterly convinced of his own righteousness.
He was the most expensive asset in the universe and he was currently burning the entire world to fuel his revenge.
I accept Kaelen whispered.
[CLASS EVOLUTION COMPLETE]
[NEW CLASS: VILLAINOUS AUDITOR]
[HIDDEN TRAIT UNLOCKED: CHARACTER LIQUIDATION]
[YOU CAN NOW STRIP 'PROTAGONIST STATUS' FROM TARGETS THROUGH FINANCIAL DISREPUTE]
In an instant the golden light in Kaelen's eyes turned into a cold obsidian black.
The barbed wire crown on his head grew thorns that drew deep red lines of blood down his face.
His charcoal suit darkened until it seemed to absorb the solar flares of the sun.
You talk about destiny Alaric Kaelen said standing up slowly.
His voice was no longer human.
It was the sound of a closing door.
It was the sound of a bank vault locking for the last time.
But destiny is just a fancy word for a high-risk investment Kaelen continued.
And you Alaric are currently the most over-budget production in history.
You've consumed the Academy's Core.
You've triggered a global deletion.
And you've done it all for the sake of your own ego.
Alaric roared and lunged forward.
His sword of light descended in a vertical arc designed to cleave the sun itself.
Kaelen didn't move his hand to a blade.
He simply raised his tablet.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: CHARACTER LIQUIDATION]
[TARGET: ALARIC VON HEIST]
[AUDIT INITIATED: CALCULATING NARRATIVE VALUE]
The sword stopped an inch from Kaelen's head.
It didn't hit a shield.
It hit a wall of red numerical data.
[AUDIT RESULT]
[ALERIC VON HEIST: PROTAGONIST SCORE - 98%]
[COST TO MAINTAIN NARRATIVE: 10,000,000 MANA PER SECOND]
[CURRENT REVENUE GENERATED: 0]
[VERDICT: TOTAL INSOLVENCY]
Alaric's eyes widened as the white light around his body began to flicker.
What... what are you doing to me? Alaric gasped his strength suddenly draining away.
I'm devaluing you Kaelen said his voice cold and flat.
You are a hero who has no one left to save.
A protagonist with no audience.
In the eyes of the System you are no longer a lead character.
You are a 'Sunk Cost'.
Kaelen grabbed the blade of Alaric's sword with his bare hand.
The white light burned his skin but Kaelen didn't flinch.
He twisted his wrist and the sword shattered into a million grey pixels.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[PROTAGONIST STATUS: REVOKED]
[ALERIC VON HEIST HAS BEEN RECLASSIFIED AS: BACKGROUND EXTRA (DISPOSABLE)]
Alaric fell to his knees his ivory skin turning back into bruised and battered flesh.
The Divine Core he had consumed began to leak out of his pores.
It didn't return to the Academy.
It flowed toward Kaelen.
No Alaric sobbed. I am the hero! I am the one who was chosen!
You were chosen to be a tool Kaelen said looking down at him.
But you broke.
And a broken tool is discarded.
Kaelen turned to the Void Swarm ships that were still hovering in the solar chamber.
Secondary Sponsors Kaelen called out.
We have a surplus of divine mana being released from a failed asset.
Initiate the collection.
The obsidian ships fired beams of dark light that hit Alaric.
He didn't even have time to scream as his very essence was harvested by the creditors.
The Golden Boy of Apex Academy was gone.
He wasn't killed.
He was simply deleted from the ledger as an unnecessary expense.
[INFLUENCE GAINED: +500,000 IP]
[WORLD STABILITY: INCREASING]
Kaelen sat back in the Architect's chair.
He felt the weight of the universe pressing down on his shoulders.
He was the Villainous Auditor now.
He had saved the world by becoming the very thing that people feared: the man who decides who is worth living and who is not.
Silas Kaelen said through the mental link.
The deletion has stopped.
Start the reconstruction of the Academy.
Use the mana from the liquidation of the Von Heist lineage to fund the repairs.
Understood Master Silas replied.
But Master... there is a problem.
The World Bank of Souls has just sent a new representative.
They say they are not here for an audit.
Kaelen looked at the red door of the solar chamber.
It was opening again.
But this time no ships came out.
Instead a single woman walked into the room.
She was wearing a wedding dress made of black lace and her face was covered by a veil of violet smoke.
Kaelen Thorne the woman said her voice sounding like the heartbeat of a dying star.
My name is The Widow.
I am the one who inherits the universes that fail.
And I've come to collect my inheritance.
Kaelen looked at her and his [Eye of the Debtor] exploded in a shower of sparks.
[TARGET: THE WIDOW]
[VALUE: THE ENTIRE MULTIVERSE]
[SECRETO: SHE IS THE ORIGINAL ARCHITECT'S MOTHER]
Kaelen adjusted his glasses and looked at the woman.
The Widow smiled and Kaelen felt the sun begin to turn to ice.
I heard you've been doing some very creative accounting Kaelen she whispered.
But unfortunately for you I've just filed for a Widow's Claim on your heart.
And since you are a Leased Asset... my claim comes before any other.