The oppressive aura of Duke Valerius slammed into the ballroom like a physical weight.
Crystal glasses shattered on the tables. Several lesser nobles dropped to their knees, gasping for air as the sheer, suffocating pressure of a high-level Awakened flooded the Apex Spire.
Silas stood in the epicenter of that raging storm, his hands casually resting in his pockets.
His mortal body protested, his bones creaking under the strain, but his mind remained perfectly clear. The Absolute Debt System hummed in his retinas, throwing up a localized barrier of neon-blue light that shielded his soul from the Duke's crushing presence.
Duke Valerius stepped forward, his crimson coat billowing. His eyes, burning with lethal intent, locked onto Silas.
For a fraction of a second, Silas saw the man who had ordered the slaughter of his parents. The man who had sent an assassin into the slums to finish the job.
"You," the Duke rumbled, his voice dropping the temperature in the room by ten degrees. "What have you done to my fiancée?"
Before Silas could answer, the Imperial Magistrate pushed his way through the panicked crowd. The elderly official was pale, clutching the glowing crimson diamond that had fallen from Camilla's neck.
"Duke Valerius!" the Magistrate shouted, his voice trembling but firm. "This is the Star of Aethelgard! The Emperor's stolen tribute! Explain yourself!"
The Duke's murderous aura hitched.
He looked at the Magistrate, then at the weeping Camilla, and finally back at Silas. The political trap was flawlessly sprung. The Duke was powerful, but he wasn't yet ready to openly declare war on the Emperor.
Valerius forcibly reeled in his aura. The suffocating pressure vanished, replaced by a mask of cold aristocratic grace.
"Magistrate," the Duke said smoothly, though a vein throbbed violently at his temple. "It seems I was deceived. A black-market merchant sold me that gem, claiming it was an unappraised relic from the Abyss. I had no idea it was stolen royal property. I will, of course, cooperate fully with the Crown's investigation."
He threw Camilla a look of pure, unadulterated disgust. "And I will be breaking my engagement immediately. I cannot associate my House with a thief."
Camilla wailed, collapsing completely against the cold marble floor.
Silas watched the Duke maneuver with a loan shark's appreciation. It was a clean pivot. He threw his fiancée under the carriage to save his own empire.
But the Duke wasn't finished.
His cold gaze snapped back to Silas. "However, this disgraced trash dared to humiliate my House by causing this scene. He insulted the Valerius name in my own spire."
The Duke couldn't kill Silas over the necklace. But he could kill him for the insult.
Before the Duke could issue an order to his guards, a figure stepped out from the crowd of whispering nobles.
"Allow me to handle this rat, Your Grace!"
A young man with fiery red hair and a sneer permanently etched onto his handsome face strode into the clearing. He wore a tailored suit embroidered with the crest of a blazing hawk.
Baron Kael.
The original Silas Vance's memories twitched. Kael was a notorious bully at the Imperial Academy, a sycophant desperately trying to climb the social ladder by licking the Duke's boots. He was also the one who had driven the original Silas out of the academy's upper-tier classes.
"This penniless zero doesn't deserve your attention, Duke Valerius," Kael spat, drawing a sleek, silver-hilted rapier from his waist. He pointed the tip directly at Silas's throat. "I will wash this insult from your floor with his blood."
The Duke's eyes gleamed with approval. A proxy. It was the perfect, legal way to dispose of the problem.
"Very well, Baron Kael," the Duke said coldly. "Defend the honor of our class."
Silas didn't look at the sword pointed at his throat. He looked at the glowing blue text hovering above Kael's red hair.
[Target: Baron Kael][Rank: Bronze-Tier Elementalist][Net Worth: 320 Stat Points][Cosmic Debt: 45,000 Karma Points (Exploitation, illegal land seizure, murder of commoners)]
Silas smiled. Another debtor eagerly volunteering for bankruptcy.
"A duel?" Silas asked, his voice echoing calmly in the silent ballroom. He tilted his head, playing the role of the cornered victim. "I am just a mortal. You are a Bronze-Tier Awakened. Is it the custom of the high nobility to slaughter the defenseless for entertainment?"
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Silas was right. A high-ranking noble challenging a crippled mortal to a death match was a massive breach of etiquette.
Kael flushed with embarrassment and rage. "You coward! You dare to speak of etiquette after slandering the Duke? If you refuse, I'll cut you down where you stand for cowardice!"
"I didn't say I refuse," Silas corrected smoothly. He adjusted his cuffs, his posture shifting from defensive to entirely corporate. "I simply meant that if I am risking my life against such overwhelming odds, there must be adequate compensation."
Kael laughed, a harsh, grating sound. "Compensation? You're about to die, trash! What could you possibly want?"
"A wager," Silas stated.
He reached into his jacket pocket. Channeling a fraction of his mana into the System, he willed a physical document into existence. He pulled out a crisp, glowing parchment that pulsed with a faint, authoritative light.
"If you win, you get my life. You can take my head, appease the Duke, and play the loyal dog," Silas said, his voice carrying clearly to every corner of the room. "But if I win... I take the Kael Barony. Your lands, your vaults, and your title."
The ballroom erupted into gasps.
"He's insane!" "A mortal challenging a Bronze-Tier for a Barony?" "He just wants to die quickly!"
Kael stared at Silas as if the teenager had suddenly sprouted a second head. Then, a vicious, arrogant grin split his face.
"You want to wager my estate against your worthless life?" Kael mocked, stepping forward. "You really have gone completely mad. But fine! I'll indulge your delusion before I kill you."
"Magistrate," Silas called out, turning to the elderly official. "As an agent of the Emperor, will you witness this contract? To ensure the winner receives his due?"
The Magistrate, still clutching the recovered Star of Aethelgard, looked at Silas with a mixture of pity and bewilderment. He glanced at the Duke, who gave a subtle, sharp nod.
"I will witness it," the Magistrate declared. "If Baron Kael agrees, the terms are legally binding under Imperial Law."
Silas held out the glowing parchment and a black fountain pen.
Kael snatched the pen. He didn't even read the fine print. He aggressively scrawled his signature across the bottom line.
As the ink dried, the parchment dissolved into a shower of golden sparks, sealing the agreement within the System's absolute ledger.
[Contract Sealed: The Kael Barony vs. Host's Life.][Stakes confirmed. Awaiting resolution.]
"The contract is bound," Silas said quietly, his neon-blue eyes flashing in the dim light of the chandeliers. "No take-backs."
"I don't need take-backs to butcher a pig," Kael snarled.
The crowd immediately backed away, forming a wide, perfectly circular ring in the center of the grand ballroom. Aristocrats climbed onto chairs and staircases, their eyes wide with morbid curiosity. They had come for a gala, but a blood sport was a welcome diversion.
Duke Valerius stood at the edge of the circle, his arms crossed, watching Silas like a hawk.
Silas stepped into the center of the ring. He didn't draw a weapon. He didn't drop into a martial stance. He simply stood there, adjusting his midnight-blue suit jacket, looking entirely relaxed.
"No sword?" Kael mocked, stepping into the ring opposite him. "Are you going to fight me with your bare hands, trash?"
"I brought exactly what I need to collect," Silas replied.
"Then die!" Kael roared.
The Baron gripped the hilt of his rapier with both hands. A surge of dense, burning mana erupted from his core. The air in the ballroom warped from the sudden, intense heat.
FWOOSH!
The silver blade of the rapier violently ignited, engulfed in roaring, crimson-orange flames that licked the ceiling. The heat wave washed over the crowd, forcing the front row of nobles to shield their faces.
Kael swung the blazing sword, leaving a trail of fire in the air, his eyes locked on Silas's neck.
"Let's see if your mouth survives the ashes!"