Chương 260: Chapter 259 - Be Careful Now

The sensory void took everything from Pilt when he walked past the border. The absolute absence of light and sound left him suspended without any perception of solid ground beneath his boots. The air smelled of old copper coins and dry tomb dust. Then, the surrounding space rearranged itself into a staggering expanse of ruins. He observed towering marble columns stretching toward a vacant, sunless sky.

The stone surfaces bore deeply carved inscriptions from an extinct language that he had never encountered during his studies. Broken bridges arched across deep chasms where silver mist swirled continuously. Heavy fortresses hovered directly overhead without any visible pillars or chains to anchor them to the earth.

'This is Celestia,' Pilt thought, the realization settling into his mind with unearned certainty.

'The forgotten kingdom that the historians swore was thoroughly obliterated.' He brushed dust from his tailored sleeve, refusing to show any vulnerability to the empty air. A grand stage required a theatrical entrance, even if the audience consisted entirely of dead stones. He did not give a single damn about the theological importance of this landscape. His immediate priorities remained entirely practical. A towering figure stood perfectly motionless several paces ahead of him.

The entity wore plain, elegant robes that draped precisely over a frame that radiated an unnerving, transactional authority. Every slight tilt of the entity's chin felt like an entry inside an invisible accounting ledger. Pilt recognized the imposing silhouette immediately. He was facing Mercyros. An old, primitive survival instinct screamed at Pilt to step back from the sheer weight of the Monolith's presence.

He clamped down on the fear instantly, drawing confidence from the massive empire he had carved out of the lower markets. Wealth bought sovereignty, and he possessed enough capital to challenge divine institutions.

'I built a financial kingdom from the marrow of desperate men,' Pilt reminded himself, a cold smile touching his lips.

'I do not kneel to anyone, whether they wear a crown or a halo.' The girl wearing the cap materialized directly at his flank without warning. She condensed out of a thick patch of golden vapor that evaporated into the dry air a second later. Mercyros looked down at the two intruders. His expression remained entirely unreadable, though his eyes scanned them with the cold precision of a merchant evaluating the net worth of salvageable goods. He extended a long, pale hand toward them.

The girl's face twisted into an expression of raw fury. Before she could strike, her physical form dissolved into bright golden dust and scattered into the surrounding fog. Pilt remained completely alone before the giant. He tightened his jaw, his mind running through calculations and lethal contingencies.

"You have caused considerable disruption," Mercyros stated. His voice carried the flat, mechanical rhythm of an auditor reading a list of unpaid debts. Pilt adjusted his collar with a flamboyant flick of his wrist.

"I simply cut down a decorative tree. It felt like a perfectly reasonable piece of property damage given how rudely your little maze tried to manipulate my senses."

"The asset served a specific purpose."

"Well, so do I, darling," Pilt purred, his eyes narrowing into vicious slits.

"My current purpose involves finding the person who trapped me here and peeling the skin from their fingers one millimeter at a time. Your domain has been incredibly tedious." Mercyros tilted his head. The movement was stiff and mechanical.

"You possess unusual resistance to the transactional framework of this ledger. A penny saved is a soul earned. Most mortals who enter this vault find themselves quickly liquidated by the terms of exchange."

"I have spent my entire life writing the terms of exchange," Pilt said, baring his teeth in a sharp, dangerous grin.

"You will find that I am far too expensive to digest." This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Movement rippled through the silver fog near the edge of his vision. Pilt felt his inner reserves pushing against their absolute breaking point. He had abandoned his physical throne, but that sacrifice only proved that his core identity meant something real. He refused to let his existence be erased by a divine bureaucrat.

He looked directly up into the Monolith's face.

"You and I are exactly the same in a way." Mercyros peered down at him from his immense height.

"Is that so, small debtor?" Pilt glared back, his teeth grinding together until his jaw ached with a dull heat. He felt a profound, volatile urge to snap the entity's massive arms and scoop his eyes out with a dull knife. His capacity for extreme violence had always been his favorite quality. He took a bold step forward. Mercyros did not raise a weapon or shift his weight. He merely narrowed his eyes and delivered a short, fragmented decree.

"Heavens tune. Balance must be maintained." The atmospheric pressure changed instantly. A massive, invisible shockwave slammed down from the empty sky. Pilt's vision flared with blinding crimson light. Suddenly, he saw the future. He witnessed dozens of potential timelines simultaneously, and his body was brutally crushed into a shapeless pulp in every single one of them. The absolute judgment of an enlightened being left zero room for survival or clever negotiations.

He executed the single most humiliating action of his life with survival-driven speed. He bowed. Mercyros blinked, his eyes shining with brief amusement. He snapped his fingers a fraction of a second before the kinetic wave struck Pilt's shoulders. The lethal force dissolved into harmless mist, barely brushing against his expensive coat. Pilt lay pressed flat against a shallow golden puddle on the stone floor. His damp hair trailed in the wet fluid.

The snarky elegance was entirely gone, replaced by raw desperation.

"I will pay whatever price you want," Pilt rasped, his palms slapping against the cold marble.

"Any price. Just give me Mira." Mercyros observed his submission with cold fascination.

"You are not as daring as you pretend. A bird in the hand. Yet you are not as cunning as you need to be. The ledger demands collateral." A massive hand formed from solid golden energy erupted directly from the floor beneath Pilt. The fist grabbed him by the throat and slammed him violently against a nearby glowing wall. Pilt thrashed against the unyielding grip, his fingers clawing uselessly at the hard energy.

"Do you honestly believe you can deceive me?" Mercyros asked, his voice echoing through the ruins.

"I am the wheel of currency. The right hand of Mother Alsia. The supreme governor of transaction. You understand that faith and currency are identical constructs. I know that tiny mortal brain of yours can comprehend that basic equation." A crushing weight pressed against Pilt's chest, threatening to reduce his lungs to dust. Mercyros stared at him with intense fascination, looking exactly like someone preparing to dissect a minor insect.

"Wait," Pilt said through a strangled throat.

"I own the second largest corporation across the scattered realms. I want..." The edges of his vision darkened rapidly. Bitter bile rose up his throat. Then the crushing pressure around his neck abruptly vanished. He collapsed into the shallow golden puddle. The liquid splashed over his expensive coat. It covered him in an elegant sheen of gold despite his pathetic, bruised state. He gathered himself on the floor, feeling both ready for a fight and entirely unequipped to survive one.

"I offer a deal," Pilt said in a ragged tone.

"A ninety-five percent share of absolutely everything." Mercyros crossed his massive arms. He looked down and evaluated the wealthy mortal.

"A house built on sand. Of shares you do not actually own." Pilt opened his eyes wide.

"How do you know..." His voice trailed off into the damp air. Mercyros closed his eyes.

"The books never lie. I see the ledger."

'I will gut his entire operation if I ever get out of here,' Pilt thought. He scrambled to his feet and brushed the wet gold from his lapels.

"I own the name! That branding alone counts for a massive fortune. We can talk business, or I can start cutting your supply lines right now. I have attorneys who can make a divine entity bleed in court." Mercyros hovered a few inches above the stone floor for a brief instant.

"You claimed you and I are exactly the same. Two peas in a pod." The deity moved his large hands over his eyes in a moment of silent contemplation.

"Indeed. We share common ground." Pilt did not know what to say to that. He waited for the giant to finish his thought.

"You have destroyed countless settlements," Mercyros stated, dropping his hands.

"You displace homes. You employ workers whom you care for poorly. You enforce company policies that operate on outright predatory principles. You never seek to grant reparations for the damage you cause. I know exactly what your product does to the people who consume it. I am the god of commerce. Nothing escapes the audit." Pilt maintained his glare, though his quirky bravado slipped slightly.