Divorced on Monday, Bought the City on Tuesday: The Infinite

The Gravity of Grandmaster

Chapter 35

The heavy steel loading bay doors beside the Vanguard Tower shrieked as they were violently blown off their hinges.

A massive figure charged out into the rain. It wasn't human anymore. It was a genetic freak of nature an underground pit fighter Castellano had pumped full of a flawed, highly toxic experimental combat serum. The beast stood seven feet tall, its muscles bulging grotesquely beneath tearing skin, veins glowing with a sickly, corrupted purple light.

It let out a guttural, mind-shattering roar, completely devoid of sanity. It locked its milky white eyes onto Arthur and charged, shattering the concrete pavement with every step.

Ares immediately stepped in front of Arthur, the rotary barrels of his heavy cannon beginning to spin with a lethal whine. "Target acquired. Eradicating."

"Stand down, Ares," Arthur commanded calmly.

The giant Vanguard froze, the barrels winding down. He stepped aside, bowing his head.

Arthur took off his charcoal suit jacket. He folded it neatly and handed it to Vera, who had materialized from the shadows holding an umbrella to keep the rain off his shoulders.

"They need to understand that my bank account isn't my only weapon," Arthur said quietly. He stepped out from beneath the umbrella and into the storm.

The Beast crossed the plaza in seconds, launching a massive, haymaker punch aimed directly at Arthur’s head. The strike carried enough kinetic force to demolish a brick wall.

Arthur didn't dodge. He didn't block. He simply raised his left hand and caught the giant’s fist in his open palm.

BOOM.

A shockwave of displaced rainwater blasted outward in a perfect circle around them. The concrete beneath Arthur’s leather shoes cratered entirely, forming a spiderweb of deep cracks.

But Arthur didn't move an inch. His arm didn't buckle. The Leviathan Marrow Serum coursing through his bones rendered the giant’s strength completely obsolete.

The Beast blinked its milky eyes in sluggish confusion. It tried to pull its fist back, but Arthur’s grip was an industrial vice.

"Sloppy," Arthur whispered.

Arthur pivoted sharply on his heel. He twisted the Beast’s massive arm, locking the elbow joint, and delivered a devastating, Grandmaster-tier palm strike directly upward under the creature’s jaw.

The crack of shattering bone was sickeningly loud.

The kinetic force lifted the seven-foot monstrosity completely off the ground. Before gravity could pull the Beast back down, Arthur stepped inside its guard. He unleashed a blinding flurry of strikes precise, mathematical, and utterly lethal. He shattered the floating ribs, crushed the solar plexus, and finished with a spinning roundhouse kick that connected cleanly with the side of the Beast’s skull.

The monster flew twenty feet through the air like a discarded ragdoll, crashing through the windshield of an abandoned police cruiser. The vehicle crumpled beneath the impact. The Beast twitched once, then went perfectly still.

The entire fight lasted less than four seconds.

Up on the penthouse balcony, Victoria Sterling watched the slaughter through a pair of binoculars. A heavy, intoxicating flush spread across her chest. The wealth had fascinated her. But this raw, untamed physical dominance? It made her completely devoted.

Down in the plaza, Arthur rolled his shoulders, completely unbothered by the exertion. He walked slowly up the marble steps toward Castellano.

The old patriarch dropped his gun. He released Eleanor, falling to his knees in the puddles of rainwater. He pressed his forehead against the cold stone, weeping openly.

Eleanor scrambled backward, curling into a pathetic ball near the glass doors, sobbing into her hands.

"Please," Castellano begged, his voice muffled by the pavement. "Take the city. Take the tower. Just let me live. I’ll go into exile. You’ve won!"

"System," Arthur thought, staring down at the broken old man. "I don't want to kill him. Death is too quick. Erase him."

[Target: Lord Castellano.]

[Purchase: Complete Digital Eradication. Cost: 5,000 SP.]

[Description: Wipes the target's existence from all global databases. No citizenship, no passport, no social security. The target becomes a legal ghost.]

Purchase.

[5,000 SP Deducted. Target Erased.]

Arthur crouched down, gripping the back of Castellano’s collar and hauling him up so they were eye-level.

"You don't exist anymore, old man," Arthur whispered. "You have no name. You have no rights. If you walk into a hospital, they will turn you away. If you try to cross a border, you will be arrested as an undocumented vagrant. I am sending you into the mud."

Castellano’s eyes widened in absolute, incomprehensible terror as the weight of his new reality crushed him. "No... no, you can't!"

"It's already done."

Arthur let him go. The old man collapsed, a hollow shell of his former glory.

Castellano looked up, his eyes manic and wild. He let out a hysterical, broken laugh. "You think you're the top of the food chain, Vance? You think taking my city makes you the king? You just rang the dinner bell! The Sovereigns are going to hear you!"

Arthur paused. The rain plastered his hair to his forehead. "The Sovereigns?"

"The ancient bloodlines," Castellano choked out, pointing a trembling finger at the dark, stormy sky. "The ones who own the countries! They don't tolerate new money! They are going to wipe you off the face of the earth!"

Arthur looked up at the sky. A slow, chilling smile touched his lips.

"Let them try," Arthur said. "I still have plenty of room in my bank account."