The bar was smoky, dim, and quiet despite the six killers inside.
Two were awakened from the Pyra Wars—known for incinerating cities.
One was a summoner who could bend iron beasts to his will.
The others? Enhanced with spells, genes, systems. Old powers. Broken ethics.
None of them noticed Kiaan walk in.
He wore no armor. No cloak. No sigils. Just a worn leather jacket and faint blue tattoos glowing under his skin.
But something about his eyes—like ancient crystal frozen in wrath—made the bartender freeze.
Kiaan didn't speak until he reached the table.
"Who leads your cell?" he asked the summoner.
The man laughed.
"Who the hell are y—"
> Crack.
His body hit the wall before he finished the sentence. No spell. No flare. Just velocity—and a boot.
Kiaan stepped closer, voice low.
"You're part of the Saint Flame circle. You've seen the Eye."
The remaining four killers stood.
He didn't wait.
One motion. A whisper of air.
> Boom.
Time seemed to distort. The room flickered.
And when the dust settled, four bodies were crumpled against the floor. One still alive—barely. Twitching.
Kiaan knelt next to him.
"What is the Veiled Monarch?" he asked.
The man bled from the mouth, gasping.
"Don't know… we never saw him… just shadows… avatars… they kill without being seen…"
"Who do they answer to?"
"…an idea…"
Kiaan stood.
His eyes glowed again.
> Awakened Skill: Soul Vein Reading – Activated.
> Seeking metaphysical residue… tracing divine command threads… detecting narrative origin…
Trace Failed.
Again.
Just like the others.
There were no magical origins, no realm signatures, no bloodline threads. Whoever this "Veiled Monarch" was—he existed outside of system logic.
Kiaan whispered, "That's impossible."
But he had seen too much already.
And he had a theory.
---
Elsewhere – Rudra's Room, Earth
He sat cross-legged on his bed, the Zix Core spinning like a miniature star above his palm.
A soft ding echoed in his mind.
> [Entity Kiaan – Interference Detected]
[Awakened Power: Level SS-Alpha]
[System Analysis: Old Order Enforcer. High Threat Potential.]
[Tracking Suggestion: Deploy Summons OR Avatars in Stealth. Do not confront directly yet.]
Rudra narrowed his eyes.
"…Someone saw a thread?"
He waved his hand.
A single comic book page appeared in mid-air, slowly flipping.
It was blank.
Then he drew his finger across it—and on the page, a new character was drawn in red ink: Ravensight, a stealth comic summon with mimic abilities and silence magic.
He tapped the page.
It burned.
> [Summon: Ravensight deployed.]
---
Location: Abandoned Observatory, Austria
Kiaan stood alone.
His hand reached toward an ancient, shattered mana mirror—once used to observe dimensional shifts.
He activated his core again.
> Zzzzt.
The mirror screamed.
And then, just for a second—he saw something.
A flash.
A cathedral.
Seven beings kneeling before a throne.
An eye above them.
The image vanished.
Kiaan stumbled back, breath stolen.
"They're building a pantheon."
He couldn't tell if he was terrified—or fascinated.
---
Meanwhile – In the Floating Temple of Trade
Far across realms, in the corridor of spiraling light between dimensions, a new temple had formed.
Silken banners drifted across invisible winds.
Golden coins hovered in stasis.
Scrolls of law, scripture, commerce, and politics spiraled endlessly through space.
And at the center stood the Merchant Empress Avatar.
She was barefoot.
Clothed in silver-threaded robes, sheer and flowing like water over glass.
Her fair skin seemed to glow with wealth. Her bust strained against her top, her hips curved with divine seduction—but her aura?
Pure authority.
Even dragons bowed to her.
She held a crystal cube before her.
> "This is now the official Multiversal Commerce Interface," she said.
> "Initiate faith-trade bonding."
Zix Core chimed.
> [Merchant Avatar Online.]
[Realm-Spanning Trade Hub Initiated.]
[Non-hackable. Untraceable. Powered by Belief, Bound by Decree.]
---
Back on Earth – Online Forums Go Wild
Clips of glowing summoners helping civilians.
Eyewitnesses of a half-naked woman floating above a cartel's ruined mansion.
A hero warrior saving a plane mid-flight—leaping between dimensions.
And in each case—the Eye sigil burned somewhere in the footage.
But still… no faces. No names. No leaders.
Only rumors.
> "They say even gods fear the Veiled One…"
"I heard he never speaks aloud—only through avatars."
"There's no leader. Just belief."
---
Secret Government Channel: Private Intel to Top Command
> "We have a problem.
The world no longer needs us.
They believe in him."
---
Back to Kiaan
He stood atop a cathedral in Prague.
Wind ripped around him.
His eyes scanned the city, soul vision active.
He could see everything.
Awakened hiding in luxury.
Superhumans addicted to illegal summons.
Politicians leaking mana to foreign cults.
But now—something more.
A pattern.
Like veins of belief crawling across Earth.
And at the center…
Nothing.
No identity.
No name.
Only a voice in dreams.
> "You want to fix the world?" the voice whispered.
Kiaan's eyes widened.
> "Then kneel."
---