The vibration of the Titan's footsteps had faded hours ago, but the carriage was still shaking.
It wasn't the monster this time. It was the road. Or rather, the lack of one. The Night-Mares dragged the heavy iron vehicle over dunes of razor-sharp shale and compacted ash.
Inside, the air was stifling. The [Mana Stagnation] debuff made the air feel thin, forcing them to breathe harder just to get oxygen.
"Water check," Kaelen rasped, his throat dry.
Seraphina held up a leather canteen. She shook it. It sloshed weakly.
"Two liters left," she reported, her voice devoid of its usual noble cadence. "The purification filter is clogged with ash. If we don't find a clean source by tomorrow, we start drinking the Night-Mares' blood."
"Undead blood is toxic," Vex called out from the driver's seat through the sliding partition. "It causes hallucinations. Trust me, I tried it once. I spent three days fighting invisible badgers."
"Then we find a settlement," Kaelen said, checking the [Map] projected by the Key.
According to the old Imperial records in the Registry, there was a supply depot in this sector. But the map was fifty years old.
"Boss," Vex slowed the carriage. "Lights ahead. 12 o'clock."
Kaelen kicked the door open and stepped onto the running board, shielding his eyes from the stinging wind.
Through the grey twilight, he saw it.
It wasn't a depot. It was a fortress made of garbage.
Sheets of rusted iron, skeletons of colossal beasts, and crushed shipping containers were welded together to form a rough circular wall. Green chemical flares burned on the ramparts.
[Location Discovered: Rust-Town (Independent Settlement).]
[Population: ~200.]
[Danger Level: Moderate.]
"Civilization," Kaelen muttered. "Or what passes for it out here."
"Do we knock?" Seraphina asked, joining him. She gripped her staff tight. Her [Solar Tyrant] class made her a beacon of heat in this cold hell, which attracted attention.
"We don't knock," Kaelen said, buttoning his black coat. "We bargain."
He signaled Vex. "Pull up to the gate. Keep the horses ready to charge. If things go south, we ram the barricade."
The carriage rolled up to the massive gate made of welded car doors. Three figures stood on the wall, aiming crossbows loaded with jagged scrap metal. They wore heavy leather rags and gas masks made from monster skulls.
"Halt!" the center guard shouted, his voice muffled by the mask. "Turn around, flat-landers. We don't want your trouble."
"I'm not selling trouble," Kaelen called out, jumping down to the ash. "I'm buying water."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold coin. He tossed it up to the guard.
The guard caught it. He looked at the gleaming gold profile of the King.
Then he threw it back.
The coin hit the ash with a dull thud.
"Shiny metal," the guard scoffed. "Can't eat it. Can't drink it. Can't burn it. Useless."
Kaelen stared at the coin in the dirt.
'Of course,' he realized. 'The Kingdom's economy is backed by the System's mana standard. Out here, where mana is dead, gold is just soft rock.'
"What do you take?" Kaelen asked.
"Mana Crystals," the guard listed. "Canned food. Weapons. Or..."
He pointed his crossbow at Seraphina, who was peering out of the carriage window.
"...Warm bodies. The Duke needs a new heater."
Seraphina stiffened. Vex's hand drifted to her daggers.
Kaelen didn't flinch. He walked forward until he was standing directly under the crossbows.
"You want heat?" Kaelen asked softly.
"We take what we want," the guard cocked his weapon. "Leave the girl and the carriage. You can walk back to the Titan."
Kaelen sighed.
"Pragmatism is one thing," Kaelen whispered. "But stupidity is annoying."
He didn't draw his sword. He activated his [Title].
[Skill: The Abyssal Sovereign Aura.]
[Targeting: Fear.]
He didn't release a wave of mana—that would be exhaustive in this zone. Instead, he projected raw Intent.
The shadows around the carriage seemed to stretch. The eyes of the Night-Mares flared a violent crimson. Kaelen looked up, and for a split second, the guards didn't see a boy. They saw a gaping maw waiting to swallow them.
"I am Kaelen Vance," he spoke, his voice vibrating in their chest cavities. "I killed the Executioner. I ate the Golden Son. And if you point that toy at my artillery again, I will tear this wall down and feed you to the ash."
[Intimidation Check: Success.]
The guard flinched, stepping back so fast he tripped over a crate. The crossbow fired harmlessly into the sky.
"Open the gate!" the guard screamed, his voice cracking with panic. "Let him in! Don't look at his eyes!"
The scrap-metal doors groaned open.
Kaelen's aura vanished instantly, replaced by a polite, bored expression.
"See?" Kaelen picked up the gold coin from the dirt and wiped it off. "Everything has a price. Sometimes the price is just... not dying."
He climbed back into the carriage.
"Vex, park us near the market. Seraphina, keep your hood up. You're too pretty for this place."
Rust-Town was a labyrinth of desperation.
People huddled around barrels of burning chemical sludge for warmth. They were gaunt, their skin grey from ash exposure. They watched the pristine black carriage roll by with hungry, hollow eyes.
"They're starving," Seraphina whispered, looking at a child chewing on a strip of dried lizard leather.
"They're surviving," Kaelen corrected. "Don't pity them. Pity makes you slow."
They stopped in what looked like a central plaza. Stalls were set up on rugs, selling scavenged junk: broken monster cores, rusted gears, and jars of cloudy water.
Kaelen stepped out, followed by Vex. Seraphina stayed inside to guard the supplies.
"We need filters," Kaelen instructed Vex. "And map data for Sector 4. I'll handle the trading."
He walked up to the largest stall. A massive, four-armed mutant sat behind the counter, polishing a rifle.
"I need high-grade water filters," Kaelen said, placing a [Dust Wraith Core] on the table. It was loot from the Dungeon, pulsating with faint necrotic energy.
The mutant picked up the core, sniffing it.
"Fresh," the mutant grunted. "Dungeon quality. This gets you two filters and a map of the local dunes."
"Make it three filters and a location on the '7th Door'," Kaelen countered.
The mutant froze. His four hands stopped moving.
Slowly, he looked up at Kaelen.
"You're a Pilgrim?" the mutant asked, his voice dropping to a whisper.
"I'm a tourist," Kaelen replied.
The mutant leaned in.
"The 7th Door isn't a place you go to, boy. It's a place that comes for you. The last Pilgrim who asked about it..."
The mutant pointed to a pike stuck in the ground near the town center.
On top of the pike was a skull. But it wasn't a human skull. It was charred black, with horns curling from the temples.
"...He found it. And it spit him back out."
Kaelen looked at the skull.
[System Analysis.]
[Object: Skull of a Demonkin.]
[Trace Energy: Void Corruption.]
"He didn't find the door," Kaelen murmured, realizing the truth. "He found the Doorman."
He looked back at the mutant.
"I'll take the filters. And tell me where he died."
"Sector 4. The Obsidian Canyon," the mutant shoved the filters across the table. "But watch out for the 'Scavenger King'. He claims all salvage in that sector. If he catches you, he'll skin you for a coat."
Kaelen took the filters.
"Scavenger King," Kaelen tested the name. "Does he have resources?"
"He has a fortress. A harem. And a generator that runs on pure mana," the mutant laughed darkly. "He's the richest man in the Wasteland."
Kaelen smiled.
"A generator," Kaelen repeated, thinking of his [System Shop] that needed recharging and Seraphina's mana addiction.
He turned to Vex, who had just returned with a bag of dried meat.
"Change of plans," Kaelen said, tossing a filter to her.
"We're not just crossing Sector 4," Kaelen declared, his eyes gleaming with greed.
"We're going to rob a King."