////
*The double doors slid open not with ceremony—but with compliance.
Striding in with polished shoes that clicked perfectly against the metal floor came Varnex Mal'Reth, Lich of the 6th Mind Collapse, and now...Chief Aura Broker of Gorgon Holdings—aka Vel'tharn's right hand man.
He looked nothing like the dusty, bone-draped necromancers described in his old legend as he tapped on the holographic version of the three kneeling seats who instantly disappeared.
His tailored obsidian colored business suit was sharper and designed in mind to ressemble the perfect purple shades of the stones slightly shimmering with runic shades of magic.Cufflinks: Chrono-sealed.Tie: Soul-threaded silk.Eyes: twin orbs of faint green flame behind his sleek, ivory mask.
He set ablaze a crystalline skull on the presentation pedestal as it rose up from the steel flooring responding to his appeal.
After kneeling he got up slowly to face the 5 black gods weapons.
"I appreciate your punctuality," he said coolly, brushing an invisible speck of dust from his lapel.
"You've all been asleep a long time. While you were dreaming, we were farming beings of tremendous powers."
The five Black God Hunters remained still.
Varnex straightened his tie.
"Fear. Worship. War. Betrayal.Aura beings is the new economy, and he—"He tapped the skull.
"—as your prey today... is the last free source of unfiltered divinity left in existence."
With a flick of his finger, the skull dissolved into mist.The mist became light.The light became pain.
////
Neural link initializingInjecting Memory Stream:Target — Designation ████, aka The Immortal Homeless King.Timeline: Immemorial to Present Day.Side effects: Flashback trauma, ego-fracture, existential dread."
////
None of the five objected.
They absorbed the data like monsters drinking holy water, forged to do so.
As the final data feed bled static into silence, Varnex adjusted his ivory mask.
"In case you're wondering—yes, these memories were hereby harvested on many souls in Ber'herek. Sold fragments of belief. They fund half the Gorgon satellites in orbit. Intel is money dears..."
He turns to the screen showing the Homeless King — still sitting in an alley. Still motionless prior to their arrival.
////
[LIVE FEED: SECTOR 77-G]Subject: Human Male (Visually)Threat Class: UndefinablePsychic Stability: ???Lethality Estimate: GOD KILLER CALAMITY CLASS
////
"Behold," Varnex said, smiling in perfect investor polish,"the single greatest source of unsanctioned aura in the known world."
He folded his arms behind his back.
"And you — my dear investments — will help me cash him in."
////
As the five Black God Hunters stood in silence—Processing pain.Absorbing memory.Awakening their dormant instincts—
Varnex never broke posture.Still calm.Still smiling.Still immaculate in his obsidian suit.
He adjusted his ivory mask with his skeletal one hand while the other tapped into his internal commline—A nearly invisible bone-thread-rune earpiece tucked beneath his left ear canal.
A flicker of arc-light passed through his eyes.
////
[Private Line Opened – Clearance: Ezarion-Level Only]
VARNEX: "They've accepted the feed. Psychological conditioning is stable across all five. No resistance. Residual personality drift minimal."
A pause.
EZARION (Voice Only): "And their directives?"
VARNEX: "Inserted. Subliminal loop reinforcement initiated. Primary directive: Neutralize. Secondary: Exhaust the target. Tertiary..."His smile widened—"...Leak aura."
EZARION: "So it's true then. You don't expect them to win."
VARNEX: "Oh, I expect them to fight. Gloriously."He glanced at Bram, who was twitching slightly—his body already beginning to reconfigure in anticipation of violence."But victory? No. That's not the asset I'm after."
EZARION: "You want him to respond."
VARNEX: "I want him to wake up.""You think I spent trillions unfreezing monsters just to kill the King?""No, Ezarion. I want him burning. I want him breaking the sky.""Because when he does—"His voice dipped to a whisper:
"That's when I harvest."
////
At the far end of the training vault,Luxara stretched her fingers, and sparks of quantum light danced between her nails.
Mir'tek lowered his head in silent meditation, the air around him distorting faintly.
None of them heard the conversation.Not even Zerull.Especially not him.
Because Varnex's commline was laced with a memory-ward sigil that had erased six gods level entity just by existing.
He turned toward the door.
"Deploy them."
And as the lights dimmed to red— the full blown alarm of the training facility shifted the gravity well to maximum lifting the 5 into thin air before sending them to each Sector searching for the homeless one...
The Hunt began.