Drift was collapsing.
Not in fire.
In code, in balance decay, in the silence of system failure.
Kael walked alone through Sector 7's remains — the ground cracking beneath him, coin feeds dying mid-air.
---
> [Coinburn Domain: Ash Form – ACTIVE]
Burn Radius: 70m
Balance Drain: Constant –10C/sec
Kael's Balance: 1,800C → 1,700C → 1,600C
Zone Collapse: 73% – Drift Core Unstable
---
Every step left ashes, not footprints.
Every breath cost him coin.
---
Behind him, players fled. Not after him now — but away.
They knew the bounty.
They knew the price.
They just didn't know how to stop him.
---
A wall of traders tried to block the eastern gate — hoping for coin, for favor.
Kael walked through them.
Not by choice — by burn.
---
> [Balance Drain – Group Impact: 10 players]
Net Drain: 3,000C
Reward: 1,500C absorbed
New Balance: 3,100C
Burn Cost Spiking – Ash Form Instability Rising
---
Kael didn't stop.
He didn't see enemies anymore.
Only coins he didn't want.
---
Jace's voice broke into his comm — sharp.
"Kael, get out! You'll collapse the whole zone!"
Kael: "Not my zone anymore."
---
> [System Alert – You are now in Free Status]
Definition: No zone, no affiliation, no system rights
All actions: Untracked
---
Kael crossed the final gate.
System lock triggered.
---
> [Zone Exit Denied – Target: Zone Killer]
Boundary Override Detected
Destination: Unknown
---
The gate shattered.
No portal. No code.
Just coin shards raining around him.
---
Jace again.
"Where the hell are you going?"
Kael: "Auction."
---
Pause.
"You can't— The Black Auction isn't real."
Kael stopped.
Opened his hand.
A single Black Coin pulsed — the one from the Ledger kill.
---
> [Black Coin – Unregistered]
Use: Unknown
Risk: System Rejection Imminent
---
Kael clenched it.
"It's real enough."
---
Ahead, a hidden vault path appeared — not on any map.
Undermarket code flickered, rerouted, and revealed a sigil burned into the wall: Black Auction.
No door.
Just a coin slot.
---
Kael placed the Black Coin.
---
> [Black Coin Used – Gate Activated]
Entry Cost: Paid
Warning: No system connection beyond this point. Proceed?
Kael smiled.
"Finally."
---
He stepped into darkness.
No HUD.
No balance.
No system.
Just the auction.
---
Silence.
No HUD.
No coin count.
Just Kael — standing in a space that shouldn't exist.
---
The Black Auction wasn't built.
It was grown — into the world's gaps.
The chamber around him pulsed with raw code, not processed, not approved.
It looked like ruined vault stone, but Kael could feel it — coin energy leaking through the cracks.
---
> [System Reconnection: Failed]
Balance Tracking: Disabled
Skill Usage: Manual Only – No interface
Risk: Unstable Coin Feedback
---
Kael didn't flinch.
He stepped forward.
---
Voices echoed beyond the chamber — low, distorted, not from comms.
Other players.
Shadowed.
Watching.
---
> [Auction Status: Open – 4 Lots Remaining]
Next Bid: Black Coin Required
Current Lot: Skill Scroll – Coinburn Strike Variant (Forbidden)
Kael's eyes narrowed.
That skill was his.
Or had been.
---
He stepped toward the bidding floor — but the air pushed back.
Not system force.
Player-enforced code.
---
A voice spoke from the shadows.
"You're not invited."
Kael: "I brought my own coin."
---
> [Black Coin Residue x1]
Status: Corrupted
Use: Illegal bid possible – Risk of retaliation
Kael placed it.
The chamber shuddered.
---
> [Illegal Bid Accepted]
Lot Secured – Skill Scroll Pending
Enforcement Triggered – Hostile Contact Inbound
---
Kael exhaled.
Finally.
---
From the far side of the chamber, a gate split open — no system light.
Only raw balance energy — and from it stepped something not human.
Tall. Masked.
Armor made from melted coin shards, face blank of code.
An Auction Enforcer.
---
It didn't speak.
It moved.
---
Kael's hands ignited with Ash Form, but nothing happened.
No burn radius.
No decay.
---
> [Skill Suppressed – Zone Anti-Burn Field Active]
Ash Form: Dormant
Risk: Manual Burn Required
---
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"You think that stops me?"
He reached into his inventory.
No HUD.
No guide.
Just instinct.
---
He grabbed Black Coin shards — residue fragments from his last kill.
Crushed them.
---
Pain tore through his arm — code backlash, unfiltered.
Kael burned anyway.
---
> [Manual Coinburn Triggered]
Effect: Flame Strike – Balance Unknown
Risk: Self Burn – Active
---
The enforcer lunged.
Kael struck first.
---
Ash and gold collided.
The auction exploded into chaos.
---
The enforcer didn't bleed.
It cracked.
Coins melted from its armor with every strike, but it didn't fall.
Kael's manual burn flared in his hands, unstable — every attack cost him raw balance.
---
> [Balance: Unknown – Untracked]
Burn Status: Manual Coinburn Active
Self Burn: 20% per strike
Effect: Flame Strike – Unstable Form
---
Kael ducked the enforcer's blade — a jagged coin forge weapon, not digital.
It sliced air like debt made real.
He struck back.
Ash flared.
---
The enforcer staggered — mask fracturing — but it didn't stop.
---
Above them, the auction watchers whispered — not in fear.
In interest.
---
> "Null-13 broke the auction."
"Coin King will bid for his corpse."
"Not if I bid first."
---
Kael froze — not from the enforcer.
From the voice.
Deep. Familiar.
A rival bidder stepped forward — coin mask gleaming black.
A second Black Coin wielder.
---
"Null-13," the masked bidder said.
"You're not the only one who pays in blood."
Kael narrowed his eyes.
"You bidding on me?"
The bidder laughed.
"No."
"I'm bidding against you."
---
Kael's breath came ragged.
The enforcer's remains smoldered, coin shards melting into the floor — Ash Form finally reactivated, even in this lawless zone.
---
> [Skill Reactivation: Partial]
Ash Form Radius: 10m (suppressed)
Burn Rate: -15C/sec
System Connection: Still Lost
---
The masked bidder approached the dais.
Still shrouded.
Still calm.
Holding 2 Black Coins — raw, unspent.
---
"I'll take the scroll," the rival said.
"Null-13's too unstable."
The auction paused.
The bidding stone reactivated.
---
> [New Lot Open – Forbidden Skill Scroll: Coinburn Spike // Death Variant]
Starting Bid: 1 Black Coin
Current Bidders: Null-13 (illegal), Shadow Bidder (valid)
Rule: Burn Buyout Available – Sacrifice 1,000C to override bid
---
Kael's fists clenched.
He had no system.
No balance readout.
No guarantee.
But he knew one thing — he'd kill before he let someone else take his power.
---
He stepped forward.
Held his last Black Coin shard.
And burned it.
---
> [Burn Buyout Triggered – Illegal Bid]
Cost: 1,000C (manual deduction)
Effect: Bid Override
Result: Black Coin Spike Skill Acquired
Risk: Corruption Escalation – Ash Form Surge
---
Kael staggered.
Ash Form exploded outward, consuming the chamber.
The rival cursed — mask cracking.
---
Kael grabbed the scroll.
It seared into his hand.
Not paper.
Code. Burnt into memory.
---
> [Skill Acquired – Coinburn Domain: Spike Form // Death Variant]
Effect: Every strike drains victim's coin reserve completely.
Cost: -500C per use. No cooldown.
Risk: Permanent Burn Feedback.
---
Kael turned.
The rival was gone.
Auction in ruins.
Kael's HUD blinked.
---
> [System Reconnect: Successful]
Balance: 1,100C → 800C (burn penalty)
Status: Zone Killer
Bounty: 500,000C
Location: Black Auction Ruins
---
Jace's voice hit comms.
"Kael, what did you do?"
Kael: "I won."