Chapter 65: The Inkless Canvas
The grand marble plaza was completely unrecognizable. It looked exactly like a slaughterhouse painted by a madman. Broken silver armor, shattered magical staffs, and pools of dark red blood stained the pristine white stones. The eighty Null Hounds prowled slowly around the edges of the courtyard, their dark violet bodies completely saturated with the magical energy they had just gorged on. They occasionally let out low, terrifying growls to remind the surviving adventurers not to make any sudden movements.
Only fifteen elite fighters out of the original fifty were still alive. They were huddled tightly together near the blue elevator tube. They had completely dropped their weapons. Some were crying quietly. Some were shaking so violently their armor rattled. The absolute terror of realizing their high level stats meant absolutely nothing against Kanos’s creations had completely broken their minds.
Vorn, the arrogant Guild Master of the Crimson Lions, was lying flat on his back. He coughed up a thick glob of blood. His incredibly expensive golden chest plate was heavily caved in from Belida’s brutal front kick. He stared up at the black spear tip hovering exactly one inch above his Adam’s apple.
Kanos stood over him. The illustrator looked incredibly relaxed. He did not even break a sweat during the entire massacre. His new obsidian arm had performed flawlessly. Drawing massive spike traps and heavy weapons in real time did not drain his stamina at all. He felt like he could keep drawing for another ten hours without needing to sit down.
"Please," Vorn wheezed out pathetically. The arrogance in his voice was entirely gone, replaced by the desperate begging of a cornered rat. "Please. I surrender. We surrender. Take all our gold. Take the guild vault. Just let me live."
Kanos lowered the black spear slightly. He did not stab the man. He simply let the heavy weapon dissolve back into black smoke, reabsorbing the raw material into his obsidian arm.
"I do not care about your guild vault," Kanos stated flatly. He turned around and walked over to a shattered piece of a marble pillar. He sat down casually, resting his left arm on his knee. He looked at the group of terrified survivors cowering near the elevator.
Papuyu leaped down from the top of a tall statue. She landed smoothly next to Belida. The hitman was completely spotless. She had spent the entire fight assassinating the enemy healers before they could cast a single recovery spell. Belida rested his greatsword on the ground, leaning heavily on the hilt. The giant knight looked highly satisfied with the complete annihilation of the arrogant upper city elites.
"The Sensor Bureau is gone," Kanos spoke clearly, making sure his voice reached every single trembling survivor. "The High Elders ran away because they knew they lost their admin privileges. They sent you up here as meat shields to test my strength. You all failed miserably."
Vorn struggled to push himself up into a sitting position. He clutched his broken ribs tightly. He did not dare to look Kanos in the eye.
"This floating fortress is now my private studio," Kanos continued coldly. He raised his pitch black right hand, pointing lazily at the ruined plaza. "I need a quiet place to work. I do not want random idiots in shiny armor knocking on my door trying to claim stupid bounties. So, we are going to establish a brand new market rule for this city."
Sili peeked out from behind the heavy vault doors in the distance. Seeing that the fighting was completely over, the skinny broker immediately sprinted across the bloody plaza. He stopped right next to Kanos, pulling out a fresh parchment scroll and a charcoal pencil from his bag, ready to record every single word of the new business arrangement.
"You and your guilds work for me now," Kanos declared. His tone left absolutely zero room for negotiation. "I need massive amounts of raw materials. High grade monster cores from the deepest floors. Rare metals. Ancient blueprints. You will organize daily expeditions to gather these things, and you will deliver them directly to this elevator."
One of the surviving mages nervously raised a hand. "W-what do we get in return? If we work as scavengers, the other cities will attack our territory. We need strong weapons to defend our borders."
Kanos smiled faintly. It was a terrifyingly cold, highly confident smile. He raised his right index finger and effortlessly drew the outline of a massive, heavily spiked war hammer in the air. The weapon materialized instantly and dropped onto the marble floor with a bone rattling crash. The metal radiated a chilling, dark purple aura.
"You bring me the ink," Kanos said softly. "And I will supply you with weapons that will make the rest of the world look like children playing with wooden sticks. I can arm every single adventurer in Marrath with void weapons. The system cannot break them. Enemy magic cannot scratch them. You will be absolutely invincible on the surface."
Vorn stared at the massive war hammer on the ground. The sheer destructive potential of the weapon was undeniable. If his guild possessed gear like that, they could conquer the neighboring territories in a matter of weeks. The fear in Vorn’s eyes slowly mixed with a very familiar, disgusting spark of pure greed.
"We accept," Vorn grunted, bowing his head respectfully toward Kanos. "The Crimson Lions will serve the Zenith. We will handle the material logistics."
"Good," Kanos stood up from the broken pillar. He waved his left hand dismissively toward the elevator. "Now take your trash and get out of my yard. I have a lot of cleaning up to do."
The survivors frantically dragged their wounded comrades into the blue elevator tube. They did not dare to look back. The glass doors slid shut, and the elevator immediately shot downward, taking the defeated elites back to the surface city to spread the terrifying news of the new ruler.
Kanos watched the elevator disappear into the clouds below. He let out a long, quiet sigh. The adrenaline finally started to leave his system. He looked at Belida, Papuyu, and Sili. They were all standing tall, fully recognizing the absolute magnitude of what they had just accomplished today. They started as desperate fugitives running through the sewers. Now, they completely owned the sky.
Kanos walked to the edge of the floating plaza. He looked out at the endless blue horizon spreading far beyond the city of Marrath. The world was massive, dangerous, and completely full of flawed structures waiting to be fixed.
He raised his obsidian arm. He did not feel restricted anymore. He did not feel afraid. He finally had the perfect, boundless freedom he had always wanted as an artist. Kanos smiled, ready to paint the entire world with his own violent masterpiece.
