I stood on the edge of the balcony, the wind whipping my coat as I looked back at the sobbing "God" on the floor. Apollo was broken—not by a fist, but by the weight of his own shadow.
[Total Fear Tickets: 15,600]
"GTAS," I thought, the adrenaline still coursing through my veins. "The harvest is ready. Give me a 100-draw. Let's see what the [King of Fortune] can really pull from the abyss."
[Confirmed. Consuming 10,000 Fear Tickets for a High-Tier Multi-Draw...] [King of Fortune (Rank EX) is active. Results are being skewed...]
The interface didn't just spin; it shattered. The Gacha wheel expanded until it felt like a galaxy was rotating in my mind. Gold, black, and a color I hadn't seen before—a pulsing, iridescent silver—dominated the screen.
[Spin Results:]
[Iridescent Silver - Rank ERROR]: The Throne of the Primordial Fear (Passive: Your existence becomes a conceptual 'Constant.' Anyone who thinks of you in fear feeds you tickets automatically, regardless of distance.)
[Black-Gold]: Summoning: Shadow Legion (Ability: Call forth 10,000 immortal soldiers made of pure darkness. They share your 'Data Ghost' and 'Stealth' traits.)
[Black]: The Devil's Contract (Item: A single-use scroll that can force any defeated enemy to serve you eternally, overwriting their 'System' entirely.)
[Black]: Dimensional Warehouse (Infinite) (Utility: A personal sub-space where time is frozen.)
...[Remaining 96 items categorized: 40 Gold weapons, 50 Purple elixirs, 6 Trash (including a single rubber duck).]
I felt a surge of cold, absolute power. [The Throne of the Primordial Fear] changed everything. I didn't even need to be present anymore. As long as the city whispered the name of the "Unseen," I would grow stronger every second.
I turned my back on the Spire and stepped off the ledge.
I didn't fall. I [Shadow Blinked] through the air, a series of dark flickers that looked like a glitch in reality, until I landed perfectly in the back of the Rolls Royce waiting three blocks away.
"Leo," I said, my voice carrying the weight of the [Throne]. "Turn on the emergency broadcast. It's starting."
Leo didn't even check the mirror. He just turned the dial.
"...breaking news. We are receiving a live feed from... wait, is this real? Rank 1 Hero Apollo is on a public livestream. He appears to be... he's confessing."
The car's screen flickered to life. Apollo, the golden boy of the Association, was kneeling in his own penthouse. His eyes were red, his face streaked with tears.
"I... I am not a hero," he sobbed, his voice being broadcast to every screen in the city—and likely the world. "The Cain family... the rescue mission... it was all a lie. We were told to eliminate the Grandfather because his Rank 10 breakthrough threatened the Association's monopoly on power. We killed them. We killed Michael's parents when they tried to stop us. Please... he's watching. He's everywhere."
The screen went black.
[System Notification: Global Fear Spike Detected!] [Fear Tickets: +50,000... +120,000... +300,000 and counting!]
Outside the car window, the city was erupting. I saw Hero patrols stopping in their tracks, their systems likely buzzing with emergency alerts. People were stepping out of bars and apartments, staring at their phones in horrified silence.
The 'Hero Association' wasn't just losing a member; they were losing their foundation.
"Master Michael," Leo whispered, his voice trembling. "The Association... they'll send everyone. Rank 2, Rank 3... they'll burn the city to find you."
"Let them," I said, leaning back into the shadows of the seat. I opened my hand, and a swirling mass of darkness began to form—the first of my [Shadow Legion]. "They spent decades building a world of light based on a lie. I'm just giving them the darkness they worked so hard to hide."
I looked at the notifications still flooding my vision. The 'Overpowered' tag wasn't just a label anymore; it was my reality. I was the bug in their system, the king in their closet, and the nightmare they could no longer wake up from.
"Leo, drive to the Cain Family Estate," I commanded. "It's time to call a meeting of the underworld. If the Association wants a war, I'll give them a massacre."
The Rolls-Royce drifted through the chaotic streets like a shark through bloody water. Outside, the world was screaming, but inside the leather-scented cabin, there was only the cold, mechanical hum of the [Data Ghost] hiding our trail.
"Master Michael," Leo said, his eyes darting to the rearview mirror. "The Association has declared a State of Emergency. They've authorized 'Lethal Force' against anyone suspected of being linked to the 'Unseen.' They're desperate."
"Desperation is the parent of mistakes, Leo," I replied, watching the [Fear Ticket] counter tick up like a broken slot machine.
[Current Fear Tickets: 412,000]
The conceptual power of the [Throne of the Primordial Fear] was terrifying even to me. I could feel the collective anxiety of millions—a low-frequency thrum in the back of my skull. Every time a citizen whispered my name or looked over their shoulder in the dark, my power grew.
I looked at the [Devil's Contract] scroll sitting in my [Dimensional Warehouse]. I didn't need it for the small fry. I was saving that for the Association's Chairman.
"Change of plans," I said, my voice dropping an octave as the [King's Presence] began to leak out. "Don't go to the Estate. The Underworld leaders are already gathering at the 'Black Marble' club. They think they're meeting to discuss how to profit from the Association's downfall. They think they're going to vote on a new 'Chairman' of the Syndicate."
A cold smile touched my lips. "Let's go show them that the position has already been filled."
The Black Marble was an underground fortress, built into the bedrock of the city. It was the neutral ground where the heads of the five largest crime families met. As we pulled up, the security was tighter than a drum. Rank 6 and 7 'Enforcer' system users stood at every entrance, their hands on the hilts of high-frequency blades.
I stepped out of the car. I didn't use stealth this time.
I walked straight toward the main entrance, my [Bulletproof Overcoat] snapping in the wind. The guards leveled their weapons at me, but as I got within ten feet, the [King's Presence] hit them like a physical blow.
Their knees buckled. Their weapons clattered to the pavement. They didn't even know who I was, but their systems were screaming at them to submit.
I pushed open the heavy obsidian doors.
Inside, the air was thick with cigar smoke and the scent of expensive bourbon. Five men sat around a circular table—the kings of the city's darkness. They were mid-argument, their voices echoing off the marble walls.
"...we take the docks while the Heroes are distracted!" one roared. "The Cain boy is a ghost, but he's just a kid. We use his chaos and then we bury him!"
I walked into the light of the chandelier. "You're going to need a very big shovel."
The five bosses jumped to their feet, their personal systems flaring. Fire, ice, and kinetic energy sparked in the room.
"Michael Cain?" the eldest, a man named Boss Gallo, spat. "You've got guts coming here alone after the stunt you pulled. You think because you broke Apollo, you can talk to us like that?"
"I'm not alone," I said.
I tapped my foot on the marble floor. Suddenly, the shadows in the corners of the room began to stretch. They detached themselves from the walls, rising up into tall, flickering silhouettes of dark energy.
Ten... twenty... fifty...
The [Shadow Legion] filled the room, their eyes glowing with the same golden light as mine. They didn't breathe. They didn't move. They just waited.
"What... what kind of system is this?" Gallo stammered, his fire-aura flickering out.
"The kind that doesn't care about your ranks," I said, walking to the head of the table. I pulled out the central chair—the one no one dared to sit in—and sat down.
I placed the blackened steel katana on the table with a heavy thud.
"As of this moment, the Syndicate is dissolved," I announced, looking at each of them through the [Eye of Sauron], seeing every weakness in their armor and their souls. "There is no 'Five Families.' There is only the Cain Clan. You will serve as my lieutenants, or you will become fuel for my Legion. Choose."
Gallo roared, his Rank 8 'Pyre' system exploding into a pillar of flame. "I'll see you in hell, boy!"
He lunged.
I didn't move. A single [Shadow Soldier] blinked in front of me. With a speed that defied physics, it caught Gallo's flaming fist in a hand made of cold void. The fire died instantly, smothered by the darkness. The soldier didn't strike; it simply squeezed.
Gallo's scream filled the hall.
"I don't like to repeat myself," I said, leaning back.
One by one, the other four bosses dropped to their knees. Gallo, his hand crushed and his spirit broken, followed suit.
[System Notification: The Underworld has been Subjugated.] [Fear Tickets: +100,000] [Gacha Achievement: King of the Shadows.]
I looked at the cowering men. "Good. Now, here is your first task. The Hero Association is going to launch a 'Purge' tonight to save face. I want you to leak the locations of their hidden safehouses to the public. Let the citizens see where their 'saviors' hide while the city burns."
I stood up, the Shadow Legion vanishing back into the floor like ink.
"The era of the 'Hero' ended at 03:00 AM," I said, heading for the door. "Tonight, we start the era of the Apex."
As I walked back to the Rolls-Royce, I looked at the dark sky. The stars were hidden by clouds, but I didn't need them. I had enough light of my own—the cold, golden glow of a God of Terror.