The victory at Sola's Castle was absolute, but its consequences were immediate and began to deteriorate the established hierarchy of Vigan City. I had proven myself untouchable by monster and uncontainable by system, forcing both the Guild Master and Commander Salazar into a terrifying stalemate.
The primary point of deterioration was the Guild Master's Authority.
The Lieutenant, terrified into submission by the evidence I possessed, returned to the Guild with only one report: Dax Jackal had achieved a solo, sub-hour clear of the Red Gate and held the Volcanic Chimera Essence. He omitted the blackmail, but the message was clear—Dax was now an Epic-rank threat operating under a Rank C license.
The Guild Master, crippled by the discovery of his raided smuggling vault and the realization that his top enforcer, Salazar, had been sidelined, was paralyzed. He could not publicly acknowledge my rank without admitting his own failure to manage security. He could not move against me without risking the exposure of his treasonous smuggling operation. His authority turned to brittle fear.
I exploited this paralysis with cold precision. I began accessing the Epic-rank missions from the Guild Master's private console, ignoring all chains of command. When asked, I simply pointed to the empty space on the calendar where the Volcanic Chimera should have been, a silent threat that said: I know your secrets, and I control your primary resource.
The second point of deterioration was Juts' Loyalty.
Juts had successfully carried out the chemical neutralization of Commander Salazar, a monumental act of betrayal that secured my power. But the weight of the secret—the murder of Aaliyah, the blackmail, and the near-fatal poisoning of a city hero—was eroding his core belief system.
He began avoiding eye contact, his quiet deference replaced by a tense, nervous energy. He was now permanently bound to my dark path, an essential accomplice, but the silence between us grew heavy. He was no longer simply a twin; he was my moral casualty and my ultimate contingency. I had turned him into a co-conspirator, ensuring that if I fell, he would fall with me, forcing his loyalty through shared crime.
The situation was reaching a boiling point. The Guild could not maintain the facade of a predictable system with a rogue Epic-rank hunter—me—casually farming their most valuable resources. Someone had to act, and that someone would inevitably be the only man whose reputation demanded it.
Commander Salazar.