Arthur Sterling took another deep breath of the ambient air. It was thick and almost viscous.

It was heavily saturated with a type of energy that made the Apex Realm mana feel like muddy ditch water.

This was Celestial Qi.

As the air filled his lungs, his newly compressed core greedily devoured the

foreign energy.

His Dimensional Breaker Physique hummed. It instantly broke down the complex laws of the atmosphere and integrated them into his cells.

[Ding!]

[Host is passively absorbing Celestial Qi.]

[Host has acquired a fraction of Divine Merit.]

[Physical vessel is rapidly adapting to Celestial Laws.]

Arthur felt a sudden sharp spike of heat in his blood. His muscles twitched and grew even denser.

His physical form naturally elevated itself just by existing in this hyper rich environment. It was free capital, and he loved it.

He looked at his Queens. Sylvia, Morwenna, and Lyra were panting softly.

Their bodies flushed as their own cores desperately tried to process the

overwhelming purity of the Celestial realm.

The Anchor Rings on their fingers glowed brightly. They filtered the crushing

atmospheric pressure and allowed them to stand upright.

Aurelia, however, was staring out at the golden clouds and distant marble spires. Her face carried a look of absolute horror.

The former Valkyrie Commander’s flawless face was pale. She had worshipped this

place her entire life.

She had fought, bled, and killed under the belief that the Heavens were a realm

of righteous and benevolent salvation.

"It is all a lie," Aurelia whispered. Her voice was trembling.

"What do you see, bird?" Arthur asked. His voice was a calm grounding rumble.

"It looks like a sanctuary," Aurelia choked out. Her golden eyes welled with tears.

"But it feels like a graveyard. It is so sterile. There is no life here. Just absolute and oppressive control."

Arthur’s system interface flashed. It confirmed her fears.

[Ding!]

[Warning: Extreme Environmental Hazard Detected.]

[Host has stepped into the Outer Rim of the Celestial Court.]

[Scanning ambient airspace... Detection complete.]

[Massive overlapping invisible Slave Arrays detected in the atmosphere. Arrays are designed to passively siphon the free will, combat intent, and independent thought of any entity lacking registered Divine Merit.]

Arthur’s eyes narrowed. He looked up at the pristine azure sky.

To the naked eye, it was beautiful. But with his system analysis, he could see the faint and highly complex geometric grids woven into the very fabric of the air.

It was a planetary scale mind control grid. A literal golden cage.

"A whole realm of mindless and perfectly obedient livestock," Arthur sneered in

disgust.

"The management up here is incredibly lazy. They do not even let their employees think for themselves."

Aurelia shivered. She instinctively stepped closer to Arthur.

She reached out and tightly gripped the fabric of his dark coat with her fingers.

She clung to his dark and chaotic energy as an anchor against the suffocating sterility of her former Gods.

"They will erase us," Aurelia breathed. "Without registered merit, the arrays will turn us into hollow shells."

Arthur did not panic. He just pulled up the system shop.

"System. Give me a localized firewall. Keep my team off their corporate network."

[Ding!]

[Purchasing: Array Nullifier Bubble.]

[Cost: 500,000 System Points.]

[Effect: Generates a ten meter invisible conceptual field around the Host.

Completely negates all external scanning, tracking, and mind altering arrays.]

A soft hum radiated from Arthur’s chest. An invisible dome of localized reality expanded outward and enveloped his four Queens.

Instantly, the oppressive feeling in the air vanished. Lyra let out a massive sigh of relief as her shoulders dropped.

Sylvia rolled her neck. Her icy eyes returned to their sharp and calculating glare.

Arthur looked down at Aurelia. He reached out with his large hand.

He gently gripped her chin and tilted her face up to meet his cold and confident gaze.

"I told you," Arthur said warmly. "We are not here to join them. We are not here to obey their laws. You work for me now."

He brushed a thumb over her cheek.

"We are here to burn them down."

Aurelia’s breath hitched. The fear in her eyes melted away. It was instantly replaced by a burning and deeply possessive loyalty.

She leaned into his touch. Her eyes slipped shut. "Yes, Arthur."

"Company is coming," Lyra suddenly warned. Her daggers materialized in her

hands.

Arthur released Aurelia and turned his head.

Approaching from the distance was a patrol squad. They glided smoothly over the golden clouds.

There were five of them. They wore sleek and seamless white armor that completely covered their bodies.

Their faces were hidden behind opaque mirrored visors.

They held long glowing stun batons that crackled with condensed Celestial Qi.

Celestial Enforcers. The local security guards.

They had spotted the massive bloody corpse of the Leviathan floating near the

dimensional tear. Now they were heading straight for Arthur’s group.

"Hide your auras," Arthur commanded smoothly. "Look tired. Look scared. Let them

come to us."

Sylvia, Morwenna, Lyra, and Aurelia instantly complied. They dropped their divine pressure and slumped their shoulders.

Arthur let his own posture relax. He looked like nothing more than a ragged and

exhausted mortal who had barely survived the ascension tunnel.

The Enforcers stopped ten feet away.

"Well, well," the lead Enforcer sneered. His voice was a metallic synthesized drawl that echoed from his helmet.

"Look what the anomaly spat out. Ascended trash. And you killed Lord Valerius’s pet."

The Enforcer pointed his crackling baton at Arthur.

"You are in violation of Celestial Code 409," the guard barked. "Unregistered ascension and destruction of noble property."

He paused as he glared at them.

"You are hereby drafted into the celestial crystal mines for the next ten thousand years. The women will be transported to the processing center for harem distribution."

The Enforcer stepped forward. He reached out to grab Arthur by the collar. "On your knees, livestock."

Arthur did not draw a sword. He did not use a spell.

His hand shot forward with the speed of a striking cobra.

"CRACK!"

Arthur’s massive hand clamped directly over the Enforcer’s mirrored faceplate.

His fingers crushed inward. He shattered the reinforced celestial glass and gripped the guard’s skull.

With a violent twist of his wrist, Arthur snapped the Enforcer’s neck before the man could even register the movement.

The guard went completely limp.

The other four Enforcers froze. Their heavily trained brains failed to comprehend what just happened.

How had an exhausted mortal just instantly killed a Celestial entity with pure physical force?

Arthur held the dead guard by the face. A terrifying grin stretched across his features.

"Target bound," Arthur whispered. "Time to farm some Gods."