Arthur stood perfectly still in the center of the colossal white marble amphitheater. Millions of deities, nobles, and high-ranking officials stared down at him from the towering stands. They were expecting a quick execution. They were expecting the anomaly to be erased.
They did not expect a corporate presentation.
Arthur held up the glowing blue data-crystal. He did not ask for permission to speak. He just tapped into his base mana reserves and pushed his energy into the small crystal.
"BEEP!"
The crystal shattered into a dozen harmless pieces. Instantly, a massive holographic projection erupted from the shards. It expanded upward, filling the entire center of the arena. It was hundreds of feet tall and perfectly clear.
The projection displayed billions of lines of undeniable, foundational code. It was the master ledger of Eternity Holdings.
"Let us look at the books," Arthur’s voice boomed across the silent arena.
The holographic numbers shifted and scrolled rapidly. Arthur pointed up at the massive display. The data was raw, but the system interface in his mind had already highlighted the exact transactions he needed. Red and gold lines of code linked together, showing a very clear and very illegal flow of cosmic cash.
"For eons, the Prime Auditors have acted as the absolute judges of the Omniverse," Arthur said loudly. He made sure every single god in the stands heard him. "They erase anomalies. They delete failing lower realms. And when a realm is deleted, its remaining Merit Energy is supposed to return to the central universal reserve."
Arthur smirked and took a slow step forward.
"But that is not what is happening here. Is it, Your Honors?"
The three faceless Prime Auditors standing at their towering gravity podiums froze. The shifting numbers on their robes violently hitched. They did not speak, but the sudden drop in the room’s atmospheric pressure told Arthur everything he needed to know. They were panicking.
"Look at the data!" Arthur yelled to the crowd. He gestured broadly to the glowing lines of code above them. "Every time a lower realm is deleted, thirty percent of its foundational Merit Energy is siphoned off the top. It gets funneled through a shell company called Eternity Holdings. And from there, it goes directly into the personal lifespans and private reservoirs of the three judges sitting right in front of you."
The silence in the amphitheater lasted for exactly three seconds.
Then, the entire universe seemed to explode.
"Lies!" the left Prime Auditor shrieked. Its calm, mechanical voice shattered into panicked static. "That is a forgery! A desperate trick by a dying anomaly!"
"Is it?" Arthur challenged. He didn’t flinch. "I am sure the High Court can run an independent audit to verify the code. Unless you have something to hide?"
The millions of gods in the stands stood up. They were shouting in shock, outrage, and absolute confusion. The perfect, orderly court completely broke down. The deities were arrogant, but they were also incredibly greedy. Realizing that the judges had been stealing their tax money for eons sparked a riot.
"Silence!" the Lead Prime Auditor roared.
"BOOM!"
A massive shockwave of gravity slammed into the arena, forcing the screaming crowds to sit back down. But the damage was done. The truth was out.
"You have tampered with sacred records!" the Lead Prime Auditor buzzed. The entity pointed a long, grey finger directly at Arthur. "You are a virus! Guards! Execute the anomaly and his accomplices! Destroy that projection!"
Hundreds of Elite Enforcers poured out from the tunnels lining the bottom tier of the stadium. They wore heavy starlight armor and carried humming plasma halberds. They flooded the arena floor, charging straight for Arthur, Cassia, and Vane.
"Well, negotiation failed," Cassia laughed a harsh, bitter laugh.
She did not hesitate. The rogue bounty hunter drew her customized stun pistols. She moved like a blur of lethal efficiency.
"PEW! PEW! PEW!"
Cassia danced through the advancing ranks. She did not aim to kill. She fired hyper-condensed plasma rounds directly into the knee joints and elbow servos of the Enforcers. Guards screamed and collapsed to the marble floor, their armor melting and locking up. She was a ghost, sliding under wide swings and shooting point-blank.
Vane roared. The scarred frontiersman stepped up to the front line. He gripped his massive chipped broadsword with both hands.
"HAAAA!"
Vane swung his heavy blade in a brutal, sweeping arc. He did not use the sharp edge. He used the flat side of the sword like a baseball bat.
"CLANG! CLANG!"
Two heavy Enforcers were launched backward by the sheer kinetic force of Vane’s protagonist energy. They crashed into their squadmates, turning a neat military formation into a tangled pile of groaning bodies. Vane held the frontline perfectly, acting as an unbreakable meat shield for the team.
Arthur did not charge. He stayed right under the massive holographic projection, protecting the data. He drew the Ebonheart Sword from his back. The heavy pitch-black blade did not ignite with the Primordial Flame. He was locked out of his god-tier skills.
A squad of five Enforcers managed to slip past Vane. They raised their glowing halberds and lunged at Arthur from all sides.
"System," Arthur commanded in his mind. "I cannot kill them, or the Destruction Tax will bankrupt me. Give me crowd control."
[Ding!]
[Initiating localized Bankruptcy Fields.]
Arthur slammed the tip of the Ebonheart Sword into the white marble floor.
"CRACK!"
A faint, dirty-brown ripple of energy expanded outward from the blade in a twenty-foot radius. It washed over the five charging Enforcers.
Instantly, the glowing plasma blades of their halberds sputtered and died. The starlight engines powering their heavy armor whined and shut down completely.
"What?!" one of the guards yelled, suddenly stumbling forward as his armor turned into dead weight.
Arthur smirked. The Bankruptcy Field didn’t deal physical damage. It simply drained the ambient mana and battery power of any hostile tech within its radius. He had just turned their high-tier weapons into very heavy sticks.
Arthur stepped into the disorganized squad. He moved with cold, surgical precision. He didn’t use flashy magic. He used raw, hyper-efficient hand-to-hand combat. He ducked under a clumsy halberd thrust. He drove the pommel of his sword directly into the guard’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
"SQUELCH!"
Arthur spun on his heel, sweeping his heavy boot across the back of another guard’s knees. The man hit the floor hard. Arthur didn’t stop. He systematically disarmed and incapacitated the squad, breaking wrists and dislocating shoulders with ruthless corporate efficiency.
He left them groaning on the floor, their hearts still beating. No kills. No tax.
"Boss! There are too many of them!" Cassia yelled over the comms. She flipped over a guard’s shoulder and stunned him in the back of the neck. "We can’t hold off an entire army without lethal rounds!"
Arthur kicked a crawling guard in the ribs, sending him sliding away. Cassia was right. They were vastly outnumbered, and fighting non-lethally was draining their stamina incredibly fast.
Up on the massive podiums, the Lead Prime Auditor watched his Enforcers failing to secure the target. The faceless grey construct vibrated with intense, unadulterated frustration.