The Sovereign’s Retribution: Daily Login to Godhood

Chapter 08: The Breath of the Weaver

The air in the Grand Valerius Ballroom had turned from celebratory to suffocating. While the elite scrambled to save their portfolios from the plummeting Sterling Vanguard stock, Silas Vane sat at the bar, swirling a glass of sapphire-colored gin.

Sarah Miller stood beside him, her eyes constantly scanning the room. She was no longer the timid nurse; she was a sentinel. "Silas, the Mayor’s daughter is staring at you. And she looks like she wants to either arrest you or kill you."

Silas didn't look up. "Isabella Westwood. Twenty-two, Harvard graduate, black belt in Krav Maga, and currently the most spoiled woman in the Tri-State area. She’s not here for business. She’s here for the spectacle."

[Ding! It is now 00:00. Day 5 Login is available.] [Warning: This is a Major Milestone Login. Rewards have been upgraded.] [Would the Host like to Log In?]

Login, Silas commanded.

[Ding! Login Successful!] [Day 5 Milestone Reward: 1x 'The Weaver’s Pulse' (Legendary Medical Skill) & 1x 'Aether-Infused Silver Needles' (Bound Item).] [Passive Upgrade: 'The Eye of Discernment' has evolved to Grade D. You can now see the 'Life-Thread' of all living beings.]

Suddenly, Silas’s vision shifted. The world became a tapestry of glowing white lines—the Life-Threads. Most were strong, but some were frayed.

"Help! Someone! My father!"

A piercing scream shattered the remaining decorum of the gala. Isabella Westwood was kneeling on the floor, her designer gown stained with spilled wine. Beside her, Mayor Harrison Westwood was convulsing, his face turning a terrifying shade of blue.

A team of private doctors—the kind that the wealthy kept on retainer—rushed forward. They pulled out portable defibrillators and oxygen masks.

"It’s a massive pulmonary embolism!" the lead doctor shouted. "We need to intubate! Clear the room!"

[The Eye of Discernment (D-Grade) Activated]

Target: Harrison Westwood. Condition: 'Spectral Parasite' (Larva Stage). Cause: The 'Order of the Blind Eye' has planted a parasitic curse in his heart to control the city's legislation. Status: Life-Thread 95% Severed. Modern medicine will kill him in 30 seconds.

Silas stood up, the [Aether-Infused Silver Needles] appearing invisibly in his sleeve.

"Stop," Silas’s voice boomed, amplified by his internal energy. "If you touch him with that needle, his heart will explode."

Isabella looked up, her face tear-streaked and full of a desperate, fiery rage. "You! The architect! Get away from him! This isn't a stock market game, you psychopath! This is my father’s life!"

"Your father isn't having an embolism, Isabella," Silas said, walking toward them. The crowd parted like the Red Sea. "He’s being eaten from the inside out. And those doctors are about to feed the beast."

"He’s insane!" the lead doctor hissed. "Guards, remove him!"

The guards moved, but Silas was faster. He didn't use [Ghost-Step] for speed this time; he used it for precision. In a flash, he was standing over the Mayor. With a flick of his wrist, five silver needles vanished into the air, reappearing as they pierced specific nodes on Harrison Westwood’s chest.

"What did you do?!" Isabella lunged at Silas, her hand forming a claw to strike him.

Silas caught her wrist, his grip like a vice. "Look at the floor."

A sickening squelch echoed through the hall. From the Mayor’s mouth, a translucent, multi-legged creature—the size of a finger—slithered out, writhing in the silver light of the needles. It hissed and dissolved into black smoke the moment it touched the air.

The Mayor gasped, the blue hue leaving his face instantly. He took a deep, shuddering breath and sat up, his eyes clear for the first time in months.

The ballroom fell into a silence so profound you could hear the ice melting in the glasses.

Silas released Isabella’s wrist. She stared at her father, then at the black smudge on the floor, and finally at Silas. Her arrogance was gone, replaced by a crushing, overwhelming realization of her own helplessness.

[Affection Level: Isabella Westwood -> 25% (Shocked Gratitude/Extreme Reliance)]

"You... you saved him," Isabella whispered, her voice trembling. "The doctors... they didn't even see it."

"They see what they are taught to see," Silas said, his eyes cold. "I see what is real."

Mayor Westwood looked up at Silas, his hand clutching his chest where the silver needles had been. "Who... who are you?"

"My name is Silas Vane," he replied, standing tall. "And the people who tried to kill you are currently having champagne with Julian Thorne."

Silas looked over at Julian, who was standing on the periphery, his face pale with a mixture of terror and frustration. The 'Blind Eye' had failed. The Mayor, the most powerful political figure in the city, was now alive—and he owed Silas Vane a life-debt.

[Ding! Major Change Confirmed!] [The City Government is no longer your enemy. You have unlocked the 'Political Influence' branch of the System.] [New Objective: Establish the 'Sovereign Clinic' and bait the 'Blind Eye' into the open.]

Isabella stood up, her hand instinctively grabbing the sleeve of Silas’s suit. "Silas... please. They’ll try again. I don't know who to trust. My father’s security is compromised."

She was the Mayor’s daughter, the queen of the social scene, but in this moment, she was just a girl looking for a god to protect her.

"Sarah," Silas said, turning to his assistant. "Arrange a suite for the Mayor in the Nightshade wing of the hotel. He’s under our protection now."

Sarah nodded, her eyes flashing with the thrill of the play. "Consider it done, Mr. Vane."

Silas looked at Isabella. "You want to keep him alive? Then you work for me now, Isabella. No more parties. No more tantrums. You are my eyes in City Hall."

Isabella Westwood, the girl who had never taken an order in her life, simply bowed her head. "Yes, Silas. Anything."