Chapter 143: # - : The Ownerless Reservoir
The fate reservoir had just lost its owner.
Amon felt the change immediately.
The vast accumulation beneath the palace shifted.
Not physically.
Its structure changed.
For nearly five centuries, every fragment of harvested fate had belonged to Vaelor through the tribute pact.
Now that ownership was gone.
The reservoir had become unclaimed.
And unclaimed power never remained unclaimed for long.
The system reacted.
[Warning.]
[Massive ownerless fate reserve detected.]
[Multiple external claims forming.]
Amon’s eyes narrowed.
"How many?"
[Seven.]
The answer came instantly.
That was worse than expected.
The remaining vessels around the chamber convulsed.
Vaelor’s presence had disappeared from them.
The golden-eyed vessel remained upright.
The Black Architect stared toward the floor.
His expression was no longer calm.
"You idiot."
Amon looked at him.
"Choose your next words carefully."
The Architect ignored the warning.
"You severed ownership without establishing a replacement."
"I noticed."
"You have no idea what you just exposed."
Amon glanced toward the King.
He was still on one knee, breathing heavily.
The compulsion was gone.
But whatever Vaelor’s command had done to his bloodline had left him weak.
Theron helped him stand.
Amon focused downward.
With Fate Authority 6, his perception had changed significantly.
The reservoir was no longer a vague ocean of compressed possibility.
He could feel individual currents moving inside it.
Some ancient.
Some recent.
Some tied to people who had died centuries ago.
Some carrying faint traces of lives still being lived above.
Then new presences touched the edges.
One from the prison.
Another from somewhere beyond the western wall.
Two from directions he could not even comprehend.
Three more came through old contract routes buried inside the kingdom.
The seventh...
Amon froze.
The seventh came from inside the capital.
Danger Sense reacted.
Hard.
He looked upward.
The Architect noticed.
"You felt it."
Amon stared at him.
"Who’s claiming from the city?"
The golden-eyed vessel remained silent.
Amon stepped forward.
Azrael rose.
"Answer."
The Architect smiled faintly.
"The Black Architect."
Amon’s expression hardened.
"You’re saying that’s you."
"No."
The vessel’s smile disappeared.
"I inherited the title."
Silence.
Amon’s eyes narrowed.
Theron looked between them.
"What does that mean?"
The Architect continued.
"The original architect died centuries ago."
Amon’s gaze sharpened.
"The system said the contract party was active."
"Because the title is the party."
That was possible.
A role rather than a person.
The contract had bound authority to an office.
Amon understood immediately.
"You carry it now."
"Part of it."
The Architect looked toward the floor.
"And so does someone else."
The seventh claimant.
Amon turned.
"Who?"
The golden eyes dimmed slightly.
"The Keeper of the First Foundation."
Theron’s face changed.
Amon noticed.
"You know that title."
The formation master swallowed.
"It’s ceremonial."
"Apparently not."
Theron looked toward the King.
His Majesty’s expression had gone pale.
Amon looked between them.
"Explain."
The King answered.
"The Keeper of the First Foundation is one of the oldest offices in the royal court."
"Who holds it?"
The King’s jaw tightened.
"Elder Voss."
Silence.
Amon’s eyes narrowed.
Elder Voss.
The same man who had monitored the silent zones.
The same man who had stood beside the King when Amon returned.
The same man who had been inside the palace throughout all of this.
Amon’s Danger Sense shifted.
Upward.
Northwest.
Strong.
Very strong.
"Where is he now?"
The King looked toward the chamber entrance.
"He was ordered to coordinate the barrier stabilization."
Amon disappeared.
Boom!
The floor cracked beneath where he had stood.
The King shouted after him.
"Amon!"
Too late.
Amon crossed the underground corridors at full speed.
The system remained active.
[Ownerless fate reserve destabilization increasing.]
[First external claim established.]
[Claimant unidentified.]
"Can they take it remotely?"
[Partial extraction possible.]
Amon’s expression hardened.
"Can I stop them?"
[Establish ownership.]
"How?"
[Possible methods:]
[Contract seizure.]
[Authority dominance.]
[Reservoir binding.]
[Fate consumption.]
Amon almost laughed.
The last option was absurd.
"Can I consume all of it?"
[No.]
At least the system was honest.
[Attempting complete consumption would exceed Master’s current fate capacity by an estimated factor greater than 11,000.]
Amon continued upward.
"So binding."
[Recommended Fate Authority: 10.]
He had 6.
"Can I do it at 6?"
[Possible.]
"Risk?"
[Extreme.]
Of course.
He reached the upper palace.
The barrier alarms were still ringing.
Guards rushed through corridors.
Formation masters shouted instructions.
Amon ignored them.
Danger Sense pulled northwest.
Toward the central formation tower.
He entered the courtyard.
The sky above the capital had changed.
The barrier remained active.
But unstable.
Faint lines rippled across it as the improvised mana network struggled to sustain the load.
Outside the barrier, the horizon moved.
Amon stopped.
Not the horizon.
Creatures.
Thousands.
Night Crawlers.
Far more than the surviving dens should have produced.
They gathered beyond the city in every direction.
The commander had been right.
The others had already known.
They had been waiting.
Amon looked toward the formation tower.
A figure stood at the top.
Elder Voss.
His robes moved in the wind.
One hand rested against the primary formation pillar.
The other was raised toward the sky.
Amon’s eyes narrowed.
Black-gold lines spread from the formation pillar into his arm.
Not normal mana.
Fate.
The system reacted.
[Reservoir claimant detected.]
[Designation: Keeper of the First Foundation.]
Amon jumped.
The courtyard shattered.
He crossed the distance vertically and landed on the tower roof.
Voss did not turn.
"I wondered how long it would take you."
Amon raised Azrael.
"Remove your hand."
Voss smiled faintly.
"You’ve been giving orders since you entered the palace."
Amon stepped forward.
"Remove it."
The elder finally turned.
His eyes were normal.
Human.
That made the situation worse.
"Do you know what you did below?"
"Yes."
"No."
Voss shook his head.
"You broke a balance older than everyone living in this kingdom."
"I broke a feeding contract."
"And exposed five centuries of accumulated fate."
"Seven people are already trying to claim it."
That made Voss pause.
So he did not know everything.
Good.
Amon continued.
"You’re one of them."
Voss looked at his hand.
"I am trying to preserve what belongs to Veyne."
Amon’s expression hardened.
"The reservoir does not belong to Veyne."
"It came from our people."
"Without their consent."
"Dead people cannot consent."
Amon stared at him.
Voss laughed quietly.
"You see morality where rulers see survival."
The words irritated Amon.
Mostly because he had heard versions of them too many times tonight.
The Night Crawler entity.
The prison creature.
Vaelor.
Now Voss.
Everyone justified monstrous choices with survival.
Amon pointed Azrael at him.
"Move."
"No."
Black-gold lines intensified around Voss’s arm.
The system flashed.
[Claim strength increasing.]
Amon vanished.
Azrael struck.
Voss raised one hand.
A black formation appeared.
Clang!
The impact shook the tower.
Amon’s eyes narrowed.
Voss slid backward.
But he blocked it.
That alone made him far stronger than the elder had ever appeared.
"You’ve been hiding your strength."
Voss smiled.
"So have you."
Amon attacked again.
The tower became a blur.
Azrael cut through formation after formation.
Voss retreated.
Each symbol he created was different.
Defense.
Redirection.
Suppression.
One tried to lock Amon’s joints.
The Prison Law Fragment crushed it.
Another attempted to redirect Azrael’s momentum into the barrier itself.
Amon broke the formation before it completed.
Voss’s expression changed.
"You’ve acquired prison authority."
Amon’s blade stopped at his throat.
"Everyone keeps saying that like it’s impressive."
Voss smiled.
"It is terrifying."
Then the tower beneath them activated.
Amon felt the trap one second before it triggered.
Hundreds of formation lines erupted.
Not toward him.
Toward the barrier.
The city dome flickered.
Amon froze.
Voss stepped backward.
"Kill me and the primary conversion node collapses."
Amon’s eyes narrowed.
"You tied yourself to it."
"Temporarily."
"You really like hiding behind civilians."
Voss’s expression remained calm.
"I call it leverage."
Amon lowered Azrael slightly.
"Why do you want the reservoir?"
Voss looked upward.
"Because the barrier cannot survive on mana."
"We can improve it."
"Not fast enough."
The Night Crawlers outside moved closer.
Thousands became tens of thousands.
The barrier flickered again.
Voss continued.
"Vaelor’s fate supply made the barrier adaptive."
"Mana only powers the shell."
Amon looked at the dome.
He could feel the difference now.
The barrier had strength.
But not intelligence.
Before, it adjusted itself.
Repaired weak points.
Redirected force.
Now it could not.
"You want to use the reservoir to restore that function."
"Yes."
"By claiming it."
"Someone has to."
Voss stared at him.
"And if the wrong entity claims it first, this kingdom will become a doorway."
Amon said nothing.
That possibility was real.
The system flashed.
[Second external claim established.]
Then another.
[Third external claim established.]
The reserve below trembled.
Amon felt pieces beginning to separate.
Time was running out.
He looked at Voss.
"Can you bind the entire reservoir?"
The elder hesitated.
"No."
"How much?"
"Perhaps ten percent."
Amon’s eyes hardened.
"And the rest?"
"Lost."
Unacceptable.
Voss looked at him.
"You have a better solution?"
Amon opened his status mentally.
Fate Authority 6.
Gatekeeper Authority.
Contract Devourer.
Prison Law Fragment.
Primordial Fate Devouring Seed.
Several separate powers.
None enough alone.
Together?
Maybe.
Amon looked downward.
"System."
[Master.]
"If I bind the reservoir through Gatekeeper Authority and use Contract Devourer to reject external claims, can the Fate Seed stabilize ownership?"
Silence.
Longer than usual.
Voss watched him carefully.
Then the answer came.
[Theoretical structure valid.]
Amon’s eyes sharpened.
[Success probability: 18%.]
Low.
"With Voss assisting?"
The elder frowned, unable to hear the system.
[Recalculating.]
[If claimant known as Keeper of the First Foundation voluntarily transfers local claim authority:]
[Success probability: 43%.]
Amon looked at Voss.
"Give me your claim."
The elder stared.
"What?"
"Transfer it."
Voss laughed.
"No."
Amon raised Azrael again.
Voss’s smile faded.
"You can’t kill me."
"I don’t need to."
The Prison Law Fragment activated.
Binding.
Black chains appeared around Voss.
His expression changed.
"What are you doing?"
Amon stepped closer.
"Changing the leverage."
The chains tightened.
Voss struggled.
The barrier flickered.
Amon stopped the chains before they damaged him.
"You have two choices."
Voss glared.
"Transfer the claim voluntarily."
Amon looked beyond him.
Toward the approaching swarm.
"Or I bind you here, take the tower, and attempt this without you."
Voss’s expression hardened.
"You could destroy everything."
"Yes."
Amon stared at him.
"But if you keep wasting time, someone else will definitely take the reservoir."
The system flashed.
[Fourth external claim established.]
Amon smiled faintly.
"Decide."
Voss closed his eyes.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then the black-gold lines around his arm changed.
They moved outward.
Toward Amon.
The system reacted.
[Local reservoir claim offered.]
[Accept?]
Amon answered immediately.
"Yes."
The lines entered his body.
Pain exploded through his chest.
He remained standing.
[Local authority acquired.]
[Reservoir binding conditions partially fulfilled.]
The entire capital shook.
Far below, the fate reservoir surged upward.
Not physically.
Through connection.
Every formation tower in the city ignited with black-gold light.
The Night Crawlers outside screamed.
Voss stared at Amon.
"What did you do?"
Amon looked toward the palace.
The Fate Devouring Seed had begun pulling.
The Gatekeeper Authority had begun binding.
Contract Devourer was already attacking the foreign claims.
Then the system displayed a final message.
[Reservoir binding initiated.]
[Warning.]
[All current claimants have detected Master’s attempt.]
Amon looked toward the sky.
One by one, points of darkness appeared beyond the barrier.
Seven.
Then six.
Then five.
No.
Not points.
Eyes.
Each belonging to something observing from somewhere impossibly far away.
And every one of them was looking directly at him.