The air in the penitentiary didn't just vibrate; it crystallized. The Inquisitor, a being of the 14th Order named Ariel, floated three feet above the blood-stained stone. His Soul Weight was a staggering 1,200—a 'Transcendent' rank that made the very walls of the Abyss groan in submission.
"A Zero wielding a Primordial Relic," Ariel's voice was a monotone hum, devoid of human emotion. "The Balance has been tipped. Your existence is a glitch in the Weaver's design. I shall format your soul into dust."
With a flick of his finger, one of the six floating swords of light streaked toward Kian. It moved faster than sound, a golden blur of pure kinetic energy. In the world of Etherea, a High-Weight soul always crushed a lower one. It was the law of gravity.
But Kian was a Zero.
Kian didn't dodge. He didn't even flinch. He simply raised the Hammer of the Forgotten Tomb and whispered a single word: "Dissolve."
The golden sword struck the Hammer's head. There was no explosion. No sparks. The sword simply turned into liquid light, flowing into the Hammer's runes like water into a sponge.
[System Notification: Divine Soul-Energy Absorbed.]
[Processing 200 Units of High-Order Soul Weight...]
[Warning: Hammer Heat Level at 15%.]
Ariel's expressionless mask finally cracked. A twitch of a brow. "Impossible. My Soul-Blade… consumed by a scavenger?"
"You call it a blade," Kian said, his white hair whipping around his face as a dark-blue aura began to leak from his pores. "I call it 'Raw Material'. You're not a god, Inquisitor. You're just a very expensive piece of ore."
Vara, the Dark Elf, vanished in a blur of violet shadow. She appeared behind Ariel, her new soul-energy flaring. She didn't attack him directly; she knew she couldn't pierce his 'Holy Aegis' yet. Instead, she slammed her palms into the ground, creating a 'Void-Trap' that anchored the Inquisitor's feet to the Abyss floor.
"Now, Master!" she shouted.
Kian leaped. He wasn't a warrior, but the Hammer was guiding his movements, its weight pulling him through the air with the force of a falling star. He swung the Hammer, not at Ariel's head, but at the golden wings of light protruding from the Inquisitor's back.
"FORGE: THE BROKEN PINION!"
The Hammer slammed into the light-wings. A sound like shattering glass echoed through the entire sub-level of the Abyss. Ariel let out a human scream—a raw, guttural sound of agony—as his 'Wings of Authority' were physically ripped from his spiritual body and compressed into a glowing, golden orb inside the Hammer.
[FORGING COMPLETE: The Wings of Icarus (Rank: Divine Fragment).]
[Effect: Allows the User to ignore the Law of Gravity and 'Step' on the Void.]
Ariel fell. His Soul Weight plummeted from 1,200 to 400 in a matter of seconds. He was no longer a Transcendent; he was just a terrified man in gold armor.
"My… my wings… you stole my divinity!" Ariel gasped, crawling backward, his armor cracking as the dark pressure of the Abyss began to crush him now that his protection was gone.
Kian landed softly, the golden wings now glowing as tattoos on his forearms. He walked over to the shivering Thorne and Lyra, who had watched the entire 'God-Slaying' in silent horror.
"Thorne," Kian said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "You wanted to be an S-Rank hero, right?"
Thorne couldn't even speak. He just shook his head frantically.
"Well, I'm a fair man," Kian continued. He tapped the Hammer on Thorne's chest. "I'm going to give you the Inquisitor's weight. All 800 units of it."
Lyra's eyes widened. To a normal human, receiving 800 units of soul weight at once was like trying to pour an ocean into a glass cup. It was a death sentence of the most painful kind.
"NO! STOP!" Thorne screamed as the Hammer began to pump the stolen golden energy into his body. His skin began to glow, then crack, then melt. His Soul Weight skyrocketed—200… 500… 800—until his body became a bloated, glowing statue of agony.
"There," Kian said, turning his back on the screaming statue. "You're finally an S-Rank. Enjoy your eternity as my Soul-Battery."
Kian looked at the fallen Inquisitor, Ariel, who was now barely conscious. He didn't kill him. He needed a messenger.
"Go back to your Council of Ten," Kian said, stepping on Ariel's chest. "Tell them the Zero is coming. And tell them to bring their heaviest souls. I'm running low on materials for my next masterpiece."
As Ariel crawled away into a portal of fading light, Kian turned to Vara. The Dark Elf was looking at him with a mixture of awe and absolute devotion.
"Master," she whispered. "The Council will send an army now. Not just one Inquisitor. Thousands."
Kian looked at his Hammer, which was now vibrating with a hungry, dark-blue light. He looked up toward the surface, where the sun he hadn't seen in years was hidden behind layers of stone and corruption.
"Let them come," Kian said, his eyes glowing with a void that could swallow the stars. "I have a lot of empty space in my tomb. And I've always wanted to forge a crown from the souls of kings."
[END OF CHAPTER 4]
[Next Chapter: The Auction of the Damned and The Silver Wings' Despair]