The ticking clock in the absolute darkness reached a deafening crescendo before it shattered like a glass hammer against a stone wall. The white light that had swallowed Nicolás and Renata did not lead them back to the mundane reality of the city or the previous floor of the dungeon. Instead, it deposited them directly into the center of a massive, rotating gear that served as the floor for the Abyss of Work final chamber. The air was a thick, choking fog of metallic dust and the smell of ancient, burnt parchment. Thousands of smaller cogs whirred in the background, creating a rhythmic, mechanical heartbeat that made the very marrow of their bones vibrate.Nicolás felt the cold air hit his bare chest. He was still damp from the golden springs, the magical liquid experience points shimmering on his skin like a layer of liquid diamonds. He held Renata tightly, her body pressing against his as she tried to find her balance on the moving platform. Her silver dress was a tattered mess of s

The ticking clock echoed through the hollow silence of the balcony for only a second before the golden link between Renata and Nicolás snapped taut, vibrating with the force of a plucked guitar string. Renata fell to her knees, her hands clutching at the empty air where the portal had vanished. She could still feel him. Deep in the core of her soul, the shared mana of the Idle Emperor System was pulsing with a rhythmic, heavy throb. It was a sensation of deep, dark warmth, a carnal heat that suggested Nicolás was not afraid. He was merely settling in. Through the bond, she felt the sudden, cold transition as Nicolás and Admiral Vane slammed into the grey static of the Audit Dimension.The floor was a sheet of infinite, polished slate that reflected the featureless silver sky. There was no sun, no wind, and no sound except for the frantic, ragged breathing of Admiral Vane. The Admiral stood ten feet away from Nicolás, his crimson cape torn and his high-tier armor sparking with dying el

The small child stared up at Nicolás with wide, watery eyes, his wooden sword trembling in a grip that was far too weak for the weight of the moment. He held out the crumpled envelope, the paper stained with what looked like grease and old ink. Nicolás didn't move for a long time, his gaze flicking from the boy to the horizon where the Obsidian Tower loomed like a jagged black tooth against the bruised sky. He sighed, the sound echoing with a weight that made the child stumble backward."Who are you supposed to be?" Nicolás asked, his voice flat and devoid of any imperial warmth."The man in the tall tower said to give this to the one who looks like he needs a bath," the boy whispered, his voice cracking with a fear that was almost physical.Renata let out a sharp, hysterical snort, her hand tightening around Nicolás’s waist. Her silver hair brushed against his bare shoulder, the scent of her jasmine perfume cutting through the smell of ozone and smoke. "He’s got your number, Nicolás.

The thousand eyes blinked in unison, a rhythmic, wet sound that made the air feel like thick soup. Nicolás reached for the silk map, his fingers brushing against the starlight fabric even as the white fire licked at his ankles. He did not flinch at the heat. He did not care about the flames. He only cared about the map and the woman in his other arm. Renata was a weight of silver silk and frantic heat, her heart drumming against his spine as they hovered over the abyss. The thousand-eyed presence, a shifting mass of cosmic hunger, let out a sound like a choir screaming underwater. It wanted the silk. It wanted the map to the creator.Get your hands off my property, Nicolás growled at the entity.He released a pulse of golden apathy. The eyes clouded over, their pupils dilating with a sudden, overwhelming desire to close. The entity wavered, its massive, shifting form losing its grip on the vault’s reality. But as the eyes dimmed, a shadow moved in the periphery. Grand Elder Vane, a dy

The sound of a thousand hungry mouths opening in the sky above them was a cacophony of cosmic greed, but Nicolás did not stay down for a second longer. He moved with a speed that bypassed the concept of acceleration, his body a blur of golden light that slammed into the Liquidator’s side just as the being’s hand brushed Renata’s silver throat. The impact was not a crash but a total erasure of the air between them, creating a vacuum that sucked the remaining shards of obsidian into a swirling vortex of white fire. Nicolás didn't use his fist this time. He used his forehead, slamming his skull against the crystalline face of the being with the force of two planets colliding.The Liquidator’s head snapped back, his translucent neck groaning under the pressure of an anomaly that refused to be calculated. The blue light of the foreclosure flickered, the thousands of eyes in the sky blinking in a moment of shared, universal confusion. Nicolás didn't let go. He wrapped his arms around the be