Karn had never run this fast before.

  Not from chasing prey, but from fleeing something inexplicable.

  His breath came in broken gasps. Static Flow around his body rippled arrhythmically. Not from exhaustion, but because his mind had not yet accepted what he saw.

  "It doesn't siphon. It opens."

  The words escaped his mouth though no one asked.

  Before him was a low-level zone holder. Controller of the outer Rift areas. Body dense with energy. Eyes cold and calculating every word.

  Karn collapsed. Not from respect, but from the weight of fear still unrelieved.

  He told. Not smoothly. Not systematically. Told of emptiness that did not resist. Told of siphoning that flowed backward. Told of scavengers who "vanished" without sound.

  The zone holder did not interrupt. Did not rush. Simply listened.

  And in one moment, the corner of his mouth shifted slightly. Not a smile, but interest.

  "What is not within law is either resource or threat."

  He muttered to himself before turning to order,

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  "Take me there again."

  Karn's body stiffened. He understood immediately that his rumor was not a warning. It was a target designation.

  Meanwhile, at the same point in the Indigo Rift, Arthian still sat.

  Same position where the first scavenger dissolved. Energy remnants had not yet faded. Power ground around him began changing color—as though dyed with density inconsistent with the area.

  He was not resting. He was refining.

  1% energy was not yet power. It was raw material. Full of sediment. Of greed. Fear. And fragments of will not his own.

  Arthian was not rushed. He let the emptiness in his chest do its work. Absorbing only what was "neutral." Pushing away everything that tried to insert will.

  Static Flow around him began to still. Still in a way the Rift was not accustomed to.

  Predator beasts in that area retreated. Not from fearing power, but from not knowing where to attack.

  Here there were no waves. No reflected force. No signs of resistance. Only "empty space that refused to be filled."

  Arthian opened his eyes. Gaze cold. Not fierce. Not oppressive. But the world around began avoiding that gaze itself.

  He perceived without needing to look. Something was approaching.

  Karn returned. Slower than before. Footsteps heavy. Not from courage, but from being pushed from behind.

  He was not alone.

  One shadow figure stepped from darkness. Dense energy. Stable Static rhythm.

  This was not a scavenger. This was a zone holder.

  Arthian did not stand. Did not move. He merely raised his face slightly—enough for perceptions to collide.

  And in that instant, the zone holder stopped.

  Not from resistance, but from having nothing to measure.

  Arthian did not release power. But the emptiness within him expanded just a fraction.

  Karn collapsed immediately. Breath vanished. Eyes widened. Static Flow in his body churned as though about to shatter.

  Arthian did not look at him. He looked at the zone holder. No threats. No offers. Only a gaze that said,

  "If you will speak, speak with reason. Not with authority."

  The zone holder stepped back one step without realizing it. That was the clearest answer.

  Karn was dragged back. Nearly unconscious. But still alive.

  Arthian let the emptiness contract as though nothing happened. He closed his eyes again. Returned to refining energy.

  1% slowly moved through filtering. Through discarding sediment. Until touching 2%

  In that very moment, something within him awakened. Not images. Not sound. But scent.

  The scent of decayed will. The scent of darkness hidden beneath cooperation.

  Arthian did not smile. Not pleased. He merely perceived that the world had begun "catching his scent."

  And he had no intention of moving.

  This ruin area was his seat. Whoever entered must understand one thing first.

  This was not a hunting ground. Not a refuge. But the point where law began to change.

  (End of Chapter 18)