It didn't start with a system alert.
It started with a voice.
---
Deep.
Measured.
Final.
---
> "Null-13 has burned Drift. Broken the Auction. Defied balance."
---
The voice echoed across Coinverse... not through system channels, but through coin feeds, through every vault, gate, and trade terminal.
---
> "The economy bends to my will. And I will not let it break."
---
Kael stood alone in the Black Auction's ruins.
Ash still clung to his coat.
Balance ticked downward, slow and steady.
---
> [Balance: 800C → 790C → 780C]
Ash Form: Stable – Burn Active
Skill Cooldown: None
Death Variant – Ready
---
Then the alert hit.
Not a warning.
A command.
---
> [Global Directive: Coin King Order 01]
Target: Null-13
Status: Kill-on-Sight
Bounty: 500,000C + Coin Vault Access
New Title: Ledger Breaker // Zone Killer – Confirmed Threat
---
Kael smiled faintly.
"They're finally scared."
---
Jace's voice broke in.
"Kael... the King's personal squad is active. I saw the feed."
Kael: "Let them come."
Jace: "No. These aren't bounty hunters. These are Collectors."
---
Kael's HUD flickered.
A new marker.
---
> [Collectors Deployed – 3 Elite Units Active]
Skills: Unknown
Balance Reserves: Unlimited (Vault-Linked)
Response Time: 2 minutes
---
Kael's fingers twitched.
"I'll test their balance."
---
He walked into the smoke... Death Variant burning in his hands.
Let the Coin King gamble.
Kael never lost a bet he was willing to burn for.
---
The street was quiet.
Too quiet.
Players watched from rooftops, behind cover, weapons ready... not attacking.
Not yet.
---
They were waiting for the Collectors.
Letting them do the work.
Kael didn't care.
He was hunting coin.
---
> [Balance: 760C → 750C]
Ash Form: Active – Suppressed
Death Variant: Charged
Burn Feedback: 5% per use – Unstable
---
The first Collector arrived without sound.
No footsteps.
No alert.
Just coin pressure in the air... like a vault had cracked open.
---
Tall. Masked. Cloaked in Vault Gold...armor that shimmered like currency itself.
Balance feed?
None.
System couldn't track it.
---
Kael stepped forward.
"You here to collect?"
The Collector raised a hand...coins spun in the air, forming a blade.
---
> [Skill Detected – Vault Edge]
Effect: Every strike steals 100C
Target: Null-13 – Active Threat
---
Kael smiled.
He moved.
---
> [Death Variant – Activated]
Cost: -500C
Target: Collector Unit #1
Effect: Drain all coin reserves on contact
---
Kael struck.
Ash flared, blade to blade... balance erupted.
The Collector's vault glow snuffed out instantly.
---
> [Vault Link Severed – Coin Burned]
Coin Drain: 5,000C → 0C
Reward: 2,500C absorbed
New Balance: 750C → 3,250C
Burn Feedback: +10%
---
The Collector staggered.
Flickered.
Vanished, system forced shutdown.
Dead.
---
Kael stood in the smoke.
"I'm expensive."
---
Above, players gasped.
Some ran.
Some moved in.
Kael smiled.
"Next."
---
Coins still shimmered in the air... not spent.
Stolen. Burned. Broken.
Kael walked through the aftermath, balance ticking upward, but corruption rising.
---
> [Balance: 3,250C → 3,200C]
Burn Feedback: 10%
Corruption: Locked – Permanent
Skill Cooldown: None
---
Jace's voice hit comms.
"You can't keep burning like this. You're bleeding out."
Kael: "I've bled before."
---
Ahead, a vault gate rosetall, gold-threaded, glowing with system light.
Coin King's property.
Untouched.
Unbreached.
Until now.
---
[Coin Vault – Sector 9]
Balance Reserve: 1,000,000C (Distributed)
Security: Active – Collector Units En Route
---
Kael stepped toward it.
Hand on Death Variant scroll... his fingers twitching.
"You control coin," he whispered.
"But I control burn."
---
He struck the gate.
---
> [Death Variant – Activated]
Cost: -500C
Result: Coin Vault Link Severed
Burn Feedback: +15%
Reward: 10,000C drained
---
The gate collapsed.
System code failed.
Kael walked into the vault's core.
---
Coins spun in the air... free, unclaimed.
Kael reached out.
And the balance poured in.
---
> [Balance: 3,200C → 10,000C]
Burn Risk: MAX
Ash Form Mutation Pending
---
Jace: "Kael… you broke a vault."
Kael smiled.
"Let's see what the King does now."
---
Coins floated in the air.
Not falling. Not spinning.
Just waiting.
Kael stood at the center of the ruined vault... floor cracked, balance bleeding out of the walls like light turned liquid.
---
> [Balance: 10,000C → 9,800C → 9,500C]
Ash Form: Overclocked – Drain rate: -50C/sec
Warning: Skill Mutation Imminent
Burn Feedback: 25% – System Suppression Failed
---
He didn't stop absorbing coin.
Didn't try to.
Each second inside this vault was a wound in the economy... and Kael wanted it to bleed dry.
---
> [Vault Integrity: 12%]
Coin Reserve: Draining
Risk: Total Vault Collapse – 2 Minutes
---
Jace's voice hit his comm.
"You've done it now. The King's watching. I've got system pings everywhere...he's re-routing vault feeds."
Kael: "Let him. I want him to see."
---
He stepped deeper into the vault.
Coins burned beneath his feet... turning gold to ash.
---
Then the vault locked down.
Not system code.
A voice.
The same one that had spoken to the world.
---
> "Null-13."
---
Kael turned.
No figure.
Just sound, and coin pressure that pressed against his chest like debt owed.
---
> "You've stolen from my vault."
"Burned what was not yours."
"But I offer a final contract."
---
Kael didn't speak.
The Coin King didn't wait for agreement.
---
> "You will cease all burn."
"Return the Death Variant skill."
"And accept balance transfer: 1,000,000C."
---
Kael laughed.
Genuine.
Raw.
---
"One million coins?"
He clenched his fists... Ash Form flared, vaults flickered.
"I'm worth more than that."
---
> "Then you accept the debt."
Kael: "I am the debt."
---
> [Contract Rejected – Coin King Directive Finalized]
Effect: Global Kill Warrant – Uncapped
Bonus: Title Reward for Kill – "Balance Breaker"
Vault Collapse: Initiated
---
Kael's HUD blinked.
Not system failure.
Mutation.
---
> [Ash Form Mutation Triggered – Spike // Ash Hybrid]
New Skill: Coinburn Domain – Ash Form: Spike Surge
Effect: All enemies in radius lose 10% balance/sec
Kael's Balance Drain: -100C/sec
Passive: Cannot be stopped
---
Kael roared.
Ash exploded outward, consuming the vault.
---
Coins dissolved in mid-air, balance ripped from the world, and Kael stood at the center... burning, alone, and unbought.
---
> [Balance: 9,500C → 8,000C → 7,000C]
Vault Status: COLLAPSED
Coinverse Impact: Economy Instability +20%
Bounty: 750,000C
---
Jace's voice cracked again.
"You burned the vault… it's gone."
Kael: "Good."
---
And from the ash, Kael whispered:
"Let the King pay."
---
The vault didn't collapse.
It detonated.
Not in fire... in value.
Coins erased from the system, balance burned from ledgers, and Kael stood in the epicenter, Spike Surge ignited, body a conduit of raw imbalance.
---
> [Balance: 7,000C → 6,500C → 6,000C]
Coinburn Domain: Spike Surge – ACTIVE
Effect: 10% balance decay/sec to all within 100m radius
Self Burn: -100C/sec – Unstoppable
Burn Risk: Catastrophic
---
The world responded.
Not with containment.
Not with reset.
With panic.
---
> [Global Trade Halted – Drift Sector Offline]
Auction Network: Crashed
Vault Linkage: Interrupted
Coin King Response: Immediate
---
Players screamed across zones... balances flickering, skills disabled, coin traps failing.
Not because of Kael.
Because of the debt wave his burn triggered.
---
> [Coinverse Debt Surge – Ripple Detected]
Cause: Vault Collapse + Spike Surge Burn
Effect: Global instability – System Debt Compounding
---
Kael stood alone.
Burning.
Alive.
Uncontainable.
---
Then the Coin King's voice returned, not through systems.
Through coins themselves.
Any player holding one heard him.
---
> "Null-13 has burned balance."
"I offer this... 1,000,000 Coins to whoever ends his ledger."
"Bring me his mask."
---
Jace's voice broke through.
"Kael. You just triggered a Contract War."
Kael didn't flinch.
"What's one million coins to me?"
---
Jace: "It's not just the money."
"Guilds. Black Syndicates. Vault Hunters. Everyone wants a piece now."
---
New alerts flooded Kael's HUD.
---
> [New Factions Active]
• Guild Sovereign – Contract Value: 1,000,000C
• Syndicate Zero – Contract Bonus: Black Coin Skill Access
• Vault Hunters – Offer: Immunity + Coin Vault
> Total Contract Killers Active: 1,200+ Players
World Status: Bounty War Escalation – Tier II
---
Kael's balance bled downward... every second, coin burned to fuel his power.
---
> [Balance: 6,000C → 5,000C]
Corruption: MAX
Burn Feedback: Irreversible
Mutation Risk: Ongoing
---
Jace: "You need to stop. The system's collapsing."
Kael stared at the ash swirling in the air.
"I didn't come here to stop."
He lifted his hand... Spike Surge burned gold and black, light warping around him.
"I came here to burn the system."
---
And so he did.