Chapter 40: The Sovereign's Tithe
Prince Kaelen wiped the silver blood from his chin, his expression shifting from aristocratic amusement to a cold, murderous focus. The Level 14-Peak aura surrounding him began to condense, forming a suit of "Obsidian-Light" armor that hummed with the weight of a thousand conquered moons.
"So, you've learned to eat the poison," Kaelen said, his voice dropping into a register that made the ocean go still. "A dangerous trick, McCain. But the more you use it, the less of 'Carson' remains in that body. You're becoming the very monster you claim to hate. You'll save this world, only to find that there's no place for you left in it."
"I was a 'rat' in the gutters for thirteen years," Carson replied, his 33rd Strand flaring with a brilliance that began to bleach the darkness out of the air. "I'm used to being an outsider. But as long as the 'Flow' continues, it doesn't matter what I become."
Carson raised the Primordial Hilt in his left hand and the Star-Shedder in his right. He crossed them in an "X" formation, creating a focal point of absolute white and dark-emerald light. He was preparing the Sovereign's Tithe—a forbidden technique from the Library of the First Blade that required the user to "Tax" their own life-force to execute a strike that transcended their current Level.
The sky began to swirl, a massive, hurricane-like vortex forming directly above the Emerald Isles. The clouds were being pulled toward the island as if by a magnetic force. Carson wasn't just drawing Qi from the planet anymore; he was drawing the "Will" of every person in New Seattle who had just taken their first clean breath.
"Kaelen!" Carson roared, the sound shaking the atmosphere. "This is for the interest on the debt your father owes the world!"
He swung both blades in a downward arc. A twin-beam of emerald-white energy erupted, taking the shape of a celestial saber that dwarfed the Sol-Invictus in the sky. The Prince unleashed his "Calamity-Palm," a wall of pure obsidian void-matter meant to swallow any attack, but the "Synthesis" of Carson's energy was too dense to be consumed.
The obsidian wall shattered like frozen glass. The beam passed through Kaelen, not cutting his physical body, but severing his "Imperial Connection"—the digital and spiritual link to the Hegemony's network. The Prince was thrown into the ocean, his aura flickering out like a dying candle.
Carson stood alone on the beach, his chest heaving, the black veins finally beginning to recede as the 33rd Strand stabilized into a permanent halo. He looked up at the Sol-Invictus. Without the Prince's command-link, the ten-mile Dreadnought was a ghost ship, drifting aimlessly in the orbit of a world it no longer owned.
"Aura," Carson whispered, his knees finally buckling as he fell into the cool sand. "Tell Hobs... the island is ours. And tell the Emperor... I'm done paying interest. I'm coming for the principal."