[The Demon Realm - The Infernal Palace]
The Demon King rose from his throne of skulls, his massive frame radiating hellfire. "You have no power here, Thorne! The Apex Coalition is a sovereign conglomerate! We out-scale you! We will absorb the Pantheon Group!"
Victor Thorne didn't draw a weapon. He didn't activate his Tycoon's Aura. He simply tapped his gold-nibbed pen against the Tycoon's Ledger.
"You don't out-scale me, Malphas," Victor said smoothly, pulling a very old, glowing contract from the Ledger's archives. "Because you didn't conduct your due diligence."
Archmage Vildor frowned, looking at the floating parchment. "What is that?"
"That," Seraphina said coldly, tapping her clipboard, "is the original Franchise Agreement signed by the Demon Realm in Chapter 26."
Victor projected the fine print of the contract into the air, blowing it up to the size of a billboard so the Titan King could read it.
"The Demon Realm is not an independent competitor," Victor adjusted his midnight-blue cuffs. "It is a subsidiary franchise of the Abyssal Academy. And as per Section 4 of your Franchise Agreement, you are bound by a strict Non-Compete Clause."
The Demon King's hellfire sputtered. "A non-compete?"
"A franchisee cannot legally engage in unauthorized mergers with external entities to compete against their own parent company," Victor explained, checking his gold pocket watch. "By signing the Articles of Merger for the Apex Coalition, you willfully breached your franchise contract."
"So what?!" the Titan King roared. "Fine him! He won't pay it! We are a united front!"
"I don't issue fines for breach of a Non-Compete," Victor smiled a ruthless, predatory smile. "I issue asset forfeitures."
Victor slashed his pen across the Ledger.
"As established in the original contract, the penalty for breaching the NDA and Non-Compete Clause is the immediate repossession of the Demon King's soul," Victor declared. "However, you three gentlemen just signed a binding legal document stating that the Demon Realm, the Titan Realm, and the Northern Wastes are now one, single, legally unified entity."
Vildor's face went completely pale. The horrifying legal reality of the merger finally dawned on the ancient wizard.
"Because your realms are legally merged," Victor's voice dropped to a chilling, absolute zero, "the Demon King's liabilities are now your shared liabilities. By triggering the asset forfeiture, the Pantheon Group is legally seizing the entire Apex Coalition."
BZZZT.
Golden chains of absolute financial law erupted from the Tycoon's Ledger, exploding across the throne room. They wrapped around the Demon King, the Titan King, and Archmage Vildor, instantly binding their magic and stripping them of their sovereign titles.
"No!" Vildor screamed, falling to his knees as his magic evaporated. "We just handed you our empires!"
"Thank you for voluntarily consolidating your assets into a single portfolio," Victor walked past the bound kings, inspecting the throne of skulls. "It saves my Repo Teams an enormous amount of paperwork. Seraphina. Liquidate these three as entry-level janitors. I want this throne room converted into a Pantheon Drive server farm by tomorrow morning."