When the sun touched the horizon, they were already on the road.
The City of Gluttony faded behind them, now trying to rebuild its routine with the help of the freed. There was no celebration. Only exhausted people, learning how to live again without excess.
Hours later, the road led to something completely different.
Tall towers rose ahead. Not simple towers—structures covered in shining plates, polished metals, and aggressive reflections. Sunlight struck them and scattered across the road, almost blinding.
"This isn't normal…" Elenya murmured.
Ethan nodded.
"Whatever it is… it's big."
When they passed through the gates, no one greeted them.
No guards.
No announcements.
There was sound.
The constant clinking of coins, coming from all sides.
They walked through wide streets, crowded with people—but not with interaction.
No one spoke to one another.
No one looked at one another.
No one touched.
Each person was busy… with what they owned.
A man walked with his arms wrapped around a jar full of coins, murmuring affectionate words as if he were rocking a baby.
An elderly woman laughed to herself, necklaces hanging from her neck, her arms, even pinned into her hair, drooling with happiness.
A boy dragged a small safe chained to his ankle, looking around in paranoia, even though no one was even staring at him.
"Okay…" Sienna made a face. "This has gone way past 'weird.'"
"They don't look happy," Emanueru said. "Just… satisfied with things."
Marcus watched everything closely.
"If someone's in charge here… they won't be hiding."
"It'll be someone everyone protects," Ethan added.
They kept walking.
They tried to ask.
"Who runs this place?" Jay asked a man carrying a sack of coins.
"Don't touch," the man snapped, pulling the sack away. "Information costs."
"Where's the center of the city?" Elenya tried with someone else.
"Nothing is free," the woman replied, hugging a bracelet to her chest.
After a while, something caught their attention.
A different kind of glow.
Not spread throughout the city—concentrated.
Between ordinary buildings, something golden rose in the distance. First as a reflection. Then as shape.
"There," Marcus murmured. "Do you see it?"
As they drew closer, it became impossible to ignore.
A gigantic building, entirely gold. Not painted. Not plated. Real gold. Wide columns, massive walls, coin symbols carved all across the façade.
And in front of it…
People.
A lot of people.
A crowd packed together, offering things, arguing trades, defending that place as if it were sacred.
And at the center of it all, sitting in an ornate chair like a portable throne…
Baron Guld.
Covered in necklaces.
Rings on every finger.
Clothes so overloaded with ornaments he could barely move.
Teeth coated in polished metal.
He watched the city the way someone watches a marketplace.
Before the group could react, something happened.
A stunningly dressed woman, drenched in jewelry, shoved a little boy forward. The child cried, clutching at his own shirt.
She stopped in front of Guld.
"He's strong, he learns fast," she said brightly. "I'll trade him for that tiara."
She pointed.
A small tiara, but absurdly luxurious, covered in diamonds that caught the light like stars trapped in metal.
"Mom… please…" the boy sobbed.
Elenya stepped forward immediately.
"Hey! Have you lost your mind?! He's your son!"
The woman turned on her, irritated.
"Shut up. Don't interfere with my trade."
Guld picked up the tiara, judging its shine, its weight.
Then he looked at the boy.
"Deal."
He made a gesture.
The tiara was handed over.
The woman held it with both hands, smiling in a hollow way, running her fingers over the stones as if touching something sacred.
And she never looked at her son again.
The boy was dragged away, screaming.
Elenya went pale.
"This… this is monstrous."
Sienna clenched her fists.
"Enough."
She opened her grimoire.
Summoning circles formed on the ground.
"Lupus Minor."
Two spectral wolves appeared and charged straight toward Guld.
But they didn't reach him.
People threw themselves in front of him.
"NO!"
"Don't touch him!"
"He keeps everything running!"
The wolves stopped, snarling, unable to advance.
A warning appeared in the air, cold and impersonal:
System Warning: Direct attacks on NPCs are prohibited. Penalties will be applied.
Sienna ground her teeth.
"They won't let us touch him…"
She took a slow breath.
Looked at the Baron.
Looked at the crowd.
Looked at the golden building behind him.
And smirked.
"Then we do it differently."
She lifted the grimoire again.
"If everything here revolves around wealth… then we hit what matters most to him."
Circles opened in the air.
"Igneous Falcons."
Three birds of fire appeared and dove toward the golden building.
The explosion shook the square.
The gold cracked.
People screamed—not to protect themselves, but to save what they valued more. Coins, jewelry, boxes, sacks were snatched up off the ground as the crowd backed away, leaving the space open.
Guld's smile vanished.
He rose slowly.
"Do you have any idea…" his voice came out low, "…what the price of that is?"
He plunged his hand into a chest beside the throne.
"Expense: Absolute Shield."
Coins vanished.
A golden barrier formed, protecting both the building and him.
Jay charged.
"Expense: Titan Strength."
The blow sent Jay flying several meters back.
Marcus tried to flank.
"Expense: Paid Gravity."
Marcus was crushed into the ground.
Baron Guld spread his arms, laughing.
"I buy strength!"
"I buy speed!"
"I buy victory!"
Jay and Marcus struggled to rise.
That was when Ethan stopped.
He watched the chests.
The coins disappearing.
The words being used like commands.
And he saw the pattern.