The air in Oakhaven didn't just vibrate; it tore.
On the left, Elara stood like a lighthouse in a storm, her voice rising in a celestial soprano. The Great Cleansing Rite was a flood of white-hot mana that sought to burn away the grey rot clinging to the villagers' souls. On the right, Livia moved like a flicker of static, her black dagger carving runes into the air that turned the "Plague" into liquid violet energy, which flowed directly into her shadow.
"Too slow, Saint!" Livia laughed, her violet eyes dancing. "You're trying to save them one by one. I'm just liquidating the assets!"
[NOTIFICATION] [Harvest Progress: Livia 28% / Kaelen 14%] [Warning: Spiritual Backlash incoming...]
The first wave of the Rite's recoil hit like a physical hammer. Usually, Elara would have collapsed, her veins bursting from the sheer pressure of channeling the Sun's raw grace into such a corrupted sink.
Kaelen stood perfectly still, his hand resting on Alaric's shoulder.
Alaric let out a sound that wasn't human—a wet, guttural choke. His skin turned a bruised, sickly purple as the Judas Contract hummed. The black veins on his neck bulged, pulsing with the light that was supposed to be killing Elara.
"Stay... standing," Kaelen whispered into the Hero's ear.
"You... monster..." Alaric gasped, blood trickling from his eyes. Through the contract, he was experiencing the sensation of being burned alive and drowned in acid simultaneously.
"I'm a Saint, Alaric. Keep your eyes on the light," Kaelen replied.
Kaelen turned his attention back to Livia. He needed to disrupt her harvest, but he couldn't use "Evil" magic without the Auditor sensing it. He had to be "Holy" even in his cruelty.
System, Kaelen thought. Execute 'Over-Saturation'.
[Consuming 50,000 Surplus Karma...] [Skill: Divine Overload (Rank: Temporary).]
Kaelen didn't attack Livia. He attacked the villagers.
He raised his hand, and instead of a gentle healing glow, he unleashed a flash of light so blindingly intense it felt like a physical weight. He didn't just "cleanse" the plague; he filled the villagers' souls with so much "Light" that their spiritual vessels began to overflow.
To the Paladins and Elara, it looked like Kaelen was pouring his very life force into the village. To Livia, it was a disaster.
The violet energy she was harvesting suddenly turned "Bitter." The souls she was sucking into her shadow became radioactive with holy light, causing her black dagger to crack.
"What are you doing?!" Livia screamed, recoiling as her shadow hissed and steamed. "You're burning them out! You'll destroy their potential!"
"I'm saving them, Livia," Kaelen said, his voice echoing with fake divinity. "Even if it costs me everything."
[NOTIFICATION] [Livia's Harvest interrupted by 'Holy Toxicity'.] [Kaelen's Progress: 62%!] [Karma Gain: +400,000 (Heroic Sacrifice Multiplier Active).]
Livia snarled, her youthful face twisting into something ancient and hateful. She realized she couldn't out-miracle him while he was using a "Hero" as a lightning rod.
"You think you're the only one with a trick?" Livia hissed. She reached into her bodice and pulled out a small, glass vial containing a single, writhing black worm. "Let's see how your 'Saint' handles a System Virus."
She smashed the vial at Kaelen's feet.
The ground didn't just rot; it glitched. The cobblestones turned into flickering cubes of code, and the air filled with a screeching, digital static. The Sovereign's Ledger in Kaelen's mind began to spin, red errors flashing across his vision.
[CRITICAL ERROR!] [Unauthorized Script Detected.] [Local Reality Integrity: 40%.]
The "Virus" began to climb Kaelen's legs, turning his white robes into flickering pixels of void. But Kaelen didn't move. He looked at Alaric, who was now on his knees, his body steaming with the shunted debt.
"Alaric," Kaelen said, his voice calm amidst the digital screaming. "Do you want to be the Hero? Here is your chance. Take the Virus."
"No..." Alaric whimpered.
"It's either you or the Saintess," Kaelen whispered, glancing at Elara, who was starting to pale as the glitch reached her.
Alaric looked at Elara—his former friend, the woman he had once sworn to protect. He saw the "Virus" reaching for her hem. With a final, agonizing roar of self-hatred, Alaric grabbed Kaelen's hand, intentionally pulling the black static into his own body through the Judas Contract.
The scream that left Alaric's throat was silenced by the System.
[TRANSFER SUCCESSFUL.] [Proxy 'Alaric' is now hosting the System Virus.] [Condition: Critical.]
Livia stared, her jaw dropping. "You... you used your own Proxy to eat a Virus? Do you have any idea what that will do to his Soul-Rank?"
"It will make him very, very resilient," Kaelen said, stepping through the glitching air as if it were a spring breeze.
He reached Livia and placed a hand on her shoulder. To the onlookers, it looked like a comforting gesture. To Livia, it was the touch of a reaper.
"You lost the auction, Livia," Kaelen whispered. "Now, give me your Ledger."