It was the most expensive, highly registered piece of corporate property in the entire sector.

Arthur sprinted into the plaza. Vane and Cassia fell in right behind him.

The fifty High Enforcers marched into the square, fanning out to form a perfect, inescapable perimeter. They raised their rifles. The humming of their weapons reached a deafening pitch.

Arthur didn’t run anymore.

He stopped dead in the center of the plaza. He was standing directly in front of the massive, humming reality-shields of the energy grid. He turned around to face the firing squad.

His chest heaved. Sweat dripped from his chin. His suit was covered in dust.

But his eyes were cold, dead, and full of absolute victory.

He looked at his system interface. He checked the final tally.

[Ding!]

[Total Collateral Damage Calculated.]

[Public Infrastructure Damaged by Sanctioned Entities. Total Value: 6,000,000 Merit Points.]

Arthur took a deep breath. He spread his arms wide, completely exposing his chest to the fifty Enforcers.

"Alright boys," Arthur called out, his voice dripping with pure, corporate arrogance. "Time to pay the bill."

The fifty High Enforcers stood like statues of white starlight. Their plasma rifles were locked onto Arthur’s chest. The air in the plaza was thick with the smell of ozone and burnt metal from the chase.

Cassia and Vane stood a few feet behind Arthur.

Cassia’s hands hovered near the holsters on her thighs. Vane gripped his chipped broadsword, his muscles tensed and ready to fight to the death.

"Do not draw your weapons," Arthur commanded softly. He didn’t look back at them. "Keep your hands where they can see them."

Vane gritted his teeth. "Arthur. They’re going to execute us."

"Just watch the show, Vane," Cassia whispered. She slowly moved her hands away from her guns. She knew exactly what Arthur was doing.

The lead Enforcer stepped forward. The heavy boots clanked loudly against the cracked marble of the plaza. The featureless, mirrored visor stared blankly at Arthur.

"Anomaly Arthur Sterling," the Enforcer’s synthesized voice buzzed. "You are guilty of unauthorized reality manipulation. You are guilty of assaulting a sanctioned officer. You have resisted arrest. By order of the Celestial Court and the Iron Consortium, your existence is forfeit."

The Enforcer raised his heavy stun-baton. It crackled with lethal, blue voltage.

"Commencing execution," the guard droned.

Arthur didn’t flinch. He didn’t beg. He just offered a cold, predatory sneer.

"You boys are incredibly sloppy," Arthur said. His baritone voice carried perfectly over the humming weapons.

The lead Enforcer paused. The robotic logic struggled to process the sheer arrogance of a mortal man about to be vaporized.

Arthur slowly reached his hand up. He didn’t reach for a weapon. He tapped the side of his head.

"System," Arthur commanded. "Project the ledger."

With a soft hum, a massive, glowing blue holographic screen erupted from Arthur’s system interface. It floated in the air directly between him and the firing squad. It was ten feet tall and perfectly clear.

It wasn’t a magic shield. It was an itemized receipt.

The Enforcers stared at the screen. The glowing text scrolled rapidly.

[Omniversal Holdings Ledger: Damage Report.]

[Item: Anti-Air Turret. Destroyed by Celestial Enforcer plasma fire. Value: 50,000.]

[Item: Water Purification Tower. Destroyed by Celestial Enforcer plasma fire. Value: 120,000.]

[Item: Primary Transit Rail. Shattered by Celestial Enforcer blunt force trauma. Value: 250,000.]

The list went on and on. It detailed every single cracked brick, every shattered window, and every melted wire the Enforcers had carelessly destroyed during their pursuit.

At the very bottom, a massive, blinking red number sat waiting.

[Total Value: 6,000,000 Merit Points.]

"You just destroyed six million Merit Points worth of registered corporate infrastructure," Arthur announced loudly. He pointed at the screen. "You didn’t have a warrant for property damage. You didn’t file the proper requisition forms. You just walked into my city and started shooting."

The lead Enforcer lowered his baton slightly. "Irrelevant. You are an anomaly. Collateral damage is acceptable during the purging of a threat."

"Not when the threat owns the property," Arthur countered smoothly. He took a step forward, his dark eyes locking onto the mirrored visor. "This isn’t a free-fire zone, rent-a-cop. This is a registered subsidiary of the Ebon Empire. And under Section 4, Paragraph 12 of the Omniversal Legal Code, you are personally liable for all unauthorized destruction."

The Enforcer froze. The robotic processing unit behind the visor stalled.

Arthur didn’t give him time to reboot.

"System," Arthur growled. "File a formal grievance. Submit the damage report directly to the High Court."

[Ding!]

[Grievance Filed. Assessing collateral damage caused by Celestial Enforcers...]

The blue holographic screen vanished.

For a single, agonizing second, the plaza was entirely silent. The Enforcers stood frozen. Cassia held her breath. Vane gripped his sword so tight his knuckles popped.

Arthur just stood there with his hands in his pockets. He waited for the customer service rep to arrive.

Suddenly, the sky above the plaza violently folded inward.

It didn’t tear like a portal. It didn’t flash with bright, chaotic magic. The very fabric of reality simply folded into a perfect, geometric square.

The temperature in the plaza instantly dropped to freezing. The air grew impossibly heavy, completely devoid of any emotion or life.

Stepping out of the square void was a towering, twelve-foot-tall construct.

It possessed no face. It possessed no armor. It was forged entirely of faceted, grey glass that seemed to absorb the light around it. It radiated an aura of pure, unadulterated universal law.

Cassia gasped, instinctively taking a step back. Vane’s eyes widened in sheer horror.

It was a Prime Auditor.

The grey glass construct floated inches above the ground. It didn’t look at Arthur. It didn’t look at Cassia or Vane. It slowly turned its featureless head toward the fifty trembling High Enforcers.

The construct raised a perfectly smooth, glass hand.

"Liability detected," the Prime Auditor droned. The voice wasn’t sound. It was a physical vibration that rattled the teeth of everyone in the plaza.

Arthur smiled. The trap had snapped shut.