The city didn't just burn; it screamed in a symphony of sirens and shattering glass.
Following my orders, the newly "persuaded" underworld bosses had leaked the coordinates of the Hero Association's secret safehouses. To the public, these were supposed to be "emergency shelters," but the data I'd decrypted proved otherwise. They were luxury bunkers filled with confiscated loot and high-tier mana crystals, while the common citizens were left to huddle in the dark.
[System Notification: Public Trust in Hero Association has reached an All-Time Low (12%).] [Passive Harvest: 250,000 Fear Tickets generated from Global Disillusionment.]
"The beauty of truth, Leo," I said, leaning against the balcony of my study as I watched the distant plumes of smoke, "is that it does the work for you. I didn't have to fire a single shot to turn the city into a powder keg."
"Master Michael," Leo's voice came over the comms, "The Association has deployed the 'Inquisitors.' They aren't the flashy heroes the public sees on TV. They're the cleaners. Rank 9 executioners led by Inquisitor Vane."
My [Eye of Sauron] pulsed. On the horizon, I saw three streaks of crimson light cutting through the sky. They weren't flying; they were stepping on the air itself, their presence so heavy it distorted the local gravity.
"Vane," I whispered. My [Villainous Genius] talent pulled up his file. A man with the [Blood Justice System]. He didn't save people; he erased threats.
"Let them come," I said, a cold thrill running through my veins. "I've been wanting to test the [Shadow Legion] against someone who doesn't cry as easily as Apollo."
I stepped off the balcony, my [Stealth Camouflage Suit] rippling into existence. Mid-air, I used [Shadow Blink] to catch the momentum, landing on the roof of a nearby skyscraper just as the three crimson streaks slammed down onto the helipad.
The impact shattered the concrete. Inquisitor Vane stood in the center, a man draped in heavy red robes, carrying a jagged executioner's sword that hummed with the scent of ozone and iron.
"Michael Cain," Vane's voice sounded like grinding stones. "You have committed crimes against the natural order. Your existence is a stain. By the authority of the High Council, I sentence you to erasure."
I stepped out of the shadows, my golden eyes glowing with the intensity of the [Throne of the Primordial Fear]. "The 'Natural Order' died when you killed my grandfather for being stronger than you. I'm not a stain, Vane. I'm the void that's going to swallow you."
Vane didn't waste words. He swung his sword, a crescent of blood-red energy tearing through the roof toward me.
"Shadow Legion," I commanded. "Rise."
From my own shadow, five hundred soldiers surged upward like a tidal wave of ink. They didn't scream; they didn't even make a sound. The leading soldier—a commander-grade shadow—raised a shield of solidified darkness. The blood-red energy hit the shield and simply... vanished.
[Ability Triggered: Void Absorption (Shadow Legion Passive).]
Vane's eyes widened behind his mask. "What... what is this rank? My System cannot identify their source!"
"That's because they don't belong to your world," I said, walking slowly toward him while my soldiers surrounded his team.
The two Inquisitors behind Vane tried to move, but I activated [The King's Presence] at 100% output. The air became thick as molasses. The gravity doubled, then tripled. The Rank 8 Inquisitors fell to their knees, their systems flickering red as they tried to combat a pressure that wasn't physical, but conceptual.
"You speak of justice," I said, stopping five feet from Vane. I didn't even draw my blade. "But justice is just a word the strong use to keep the weak in line. I prefer a different word."
I raised my hand, and the [Mind Breaker] ability flared.
"Terror."
Vane roared, his [Blood Justice] system trying to shield his mind, but my [King of Fortune] trait ensured the ability bypassed his resistances. For a split second, the Rank 9 Inquisitor saw his own death—not once, but a thousand times in a thousand different ways.
He staggered, his jagged sword clattering to the roof.
"You're not worth the kill yet," I said, looking down at the broken executioner. "I need you to go back to the High Council. Tell them that the 'Purge' has failed. Tell them that for every citizen they try to silence, a hundred of my shadows will appear in their bedrooms."
I leaned down, my face inches from his. "Tell them the Apex is bored of the small fry. I'm coming for the Chairman next."
[System Notification: Rank 9 Inquisitor defeated.] [Fear Tickets: +80,000] [Achievement Unlocked: The Unstoppable Ghost.]
I turned my back on them, my [Shadow Legion] melting back into the darkness.
"Leo," I said into my earbud. "Prepare the 'Devil's Contract.' I think it's time we turned an Inquisitor into a double agent."
As I disappeared into a [Shadow Blink], the city below continued to burn. The Association's "Purge" had been turned into their greatest defeat. The world was watching, and for the first time in history, the people weren't looking to the sky for a Hero.
They were looking into the shadows, terrified and captivated by the King who ruled them.
Vane lay on the cracked concrete, his breathing ragged. The man who was supposed to be the Association's ultimate "Eraser" looked like nothing more than a broken toy. Around him, his two lieutenants were still pinned by the invisible gravity of [The King's Presence], their faces pressed against the soot-covered roof.
I stepped over Vane's shattered sword, the metal shards crunching under my boots.
"You know, Vane," I said, my voice carrying over the sound of the burning city below. "The Association gave you a Rank 9 system because they trusted you to maintain the status quo. They wanted you to be the wall that the 'trash' couldn't climb."
I reached down and grabbed him by the collar, lifting him effortlessly with the strength of the [Super Soldier Serum].
"But walls are meant to be torn down. And as for the 'status quo'?" I leaned in, my golden eyes reflecting the fires of the city. "I'm rewriting it."
[System Notification: Fear harvested from 'Inquisitor Vane' – Peak Level reached!] [Fear Tickets: +25,000]
"Leave," I commanded, dropping him back onto the rubble. "Take your half-dead pets and run back to your masters. Tell them that every hour they remain in power is an hour I allow them to live. The 'Unseen' isn't hiding from them. They are hiding from me."
I waved a hand, and the heavy pressure of my aura vanished instantly. The two Rank 8 Inquisitors gasped for air, scrambling to their feet and grabbing their broken leader. They didn't look back. They ignited their crimson auras—faint and flickering now—and fled into the night sky like wounded birds.
I watched them go, but I wasn't done.
"GTAS," I thought. "The city is watching. The Hero Association's 'Cleaners' have just been routed on live satellite feeds. Give me a status report on the Fear Tickets."
[Status: Fear Tickets Total: 787,000] [Note: Global Fear Level is rising exponentially. The name 'Michael Cain' is being scrubbed from history by the Association, but the title 'The Apex' has become a viral phenomenon.]
"Good. If they want to erase my name, let them," I muttered. "They're just making the myth more powerful."
I turned to the edge of the roof. Below, the 'Purge' had completely backfired. The citizens, seeing the Inquisitors flee, had realized that the Association wasn't invincible. The riots weren't just about anger anymore; they were about a shift in power.
Suddenly, my [Eye of Sauron] twitched. A massive energy signature was blooming at the Association Headquarters—the "Centurion Spire." It wasn't Rank 9. It was higher.
The air itself seemed to hum with a frequency that made my teeth ache. This was a Rank 10 signature. One of the "World Protectors"—the old monsters who only moved when the world was ending.
"Leo," I said into the comms, my tone sharpening. "Get the Rolls Royce to the extraction point. The Chairman is finally waking up the old guard. The 'Purge' was just the appetizer. They're about to call in the heavy hitters."
"Master Michael, sensors are detecting a 'Spatial Distortion' over the city," Leo's voice was shaky. "Someone is trying to lock down the dimensions. They're trying to trap the 'Shadow Blink'!"
I laughed, a cold, dark sound that echoed through the empty skyscraper.
"Let them lock the doors," I said, my shadow stretching out across the roof, hundreds of [Shadow Soldiers] manifesting in a silent, lethal formation behind me. "They think they're trapping me in here with them. They don't realize they're just locking themselves in here with me."
I looked at the [Throne of the Primordial Fear] notification. The more they tried to trap me, the more terrified the world became. And the more terrified they were, the more tickets I had to draw the very thing that would destroy them.
"GTAS," I thought, as the sky began to turn a sickly, artificial purple from the Rank 10 lockdown. "Keep the Gacha warm. Chapter Ten is coming, and I want to be holding the keys to their hell when it arrives."
I stepped off the roof, not into the air, but into a [Shadow Blink] that tore right through their "lockdown" like a hot knife through butter.
They couldn't trap a ghost. Especially not one who owned the shadows.