"Candidate Identified: Alvian. Designation: Anomaly. Compatibility: 98%."

"Anomaly?" The Hammerhead King, Sarkos, stepped forward, his massive frame trembling with indignation. "The machine calls him a glitch! He is not fit to rule!"

"Silence," Alvian said. He didn't shout. He didn't need to. The scepter in his hand flared with a pulse of gravity magic, forcing Sarkos to his knees.

Alvian walked to the pedestal. The blue cube hummed, a holographic projection of Oceanus's face appearing above it. This wasn't the regal old man. It was the face of the machine beneath—cold, geometric, and brutally logical.

"Alvian," the projection spoke. "If you are hearing this, I have failed to calculate a survival scenario. The variables introduced by the Syndicate and the Demon God exceeded my parameters."

"You didn't fail," Alvian said softly. "You balanced the equation."

"Perhaps," the projection continued. "I was built to protect this city. My programming forbade me from taking risks that endangered the population. But you... you are different. I watched you in the battle. You break rules. You ignore limits. You treat the laws of this world as suggestions."

The projection leaned in, looking directly into Alvian's eyes.

"To defeat a God, one cannot be bound by logic. One must be an Anomaly. That is why I chose you. Not because you are the strongest, though your growth rate is illogical. But because you are the only one willing to do what is necessary."

The blue cube floated off the pedestal, drifting toward Alvian.

"This is the [Heart of Azureus]. It contains the control codes for the city's defense grid, the keys to the treasury, and the authority to command the Guardians. It is not a gift. It is a burden."

Alvian reached out. He grabbed the cube.

[System Notification: Unique Item Acquired.]

[Item: Heart of Azureus (Admin-Level Artifact)]

[Rank: ???]

[Effect: Grants absolute control over the city of Azureus. Allows user to rewrite city laws and defense protocols.]

"Warning," the projection's voice grew grave. "The city is damaged. The population is panicked. The Syndicate is still out there. To save this city, you will have to make choices that my programming could not. You may have to sacrifice the few to save the many. You may have to destroy half the city to save the rest."

"I know," Alvian said. "Efficiency dictates sacrifice."

"Then show me," the projection faded. "Show me that an Anomaly can solve the equation I could not."

The light died. The cube settled into Alvian's hand, cold and dense.

Alvian turned to face the room. The Council of Seven—now reduced to five—looked at him. Sarkos, the Hammerhead King, was still on his knees, fuming. The Siren Queen looked calculating. The Crab Lord looked terrified.

"The King is dead," Alvian announced. "And the war is not over."

He walked down the steps of the dais. Valeria was waiting for him. She looked at the cube in his hand, then at his face. She saw the exhaustion there, the weight of the responsibility he had just accepted.

"You didn't have to take it," she whispered. "We could have just left. We could have gone back to the surface."

"And let them die?" Alvian asked, gesturing to the room, to the city beyond. "The Syndicate would return. They would enslave this place. And then they would have a fortress to launch attacks on the surface. If we run, we lose."

"But you're just one person, Alvian," Valeria said, her voice cracking. "You can't carry the whole world."

"I'm not one person," Alvian said. He looked at her. He looked at Seraphina, who was cleaning her daggers in the corner. He looked at Master Thorne and Master Kaelen, who had just entered the room, battered but alive.

"I have a party."

He turned back to the Council.

"I am assuming direct control of this city," Alvian declared. "Effective immediately, martial law is in effect. All resources are to be rationed. All able-bodied citizens are to be conscripted into the repair crews or the militia."

"You can't do that!" Sarkos roared, standing up against the gravity pressure. "We are Sovereign Lords! You are a human interloper!"

"I am the High Marshall," Alvian corrected, his voice dropping to absolute zero. "And right now, I am the only thing standing between you and extinction. You can either follow my orders, or you can leave. And if you try to stop me, I will treat you like I treated the Syndicate."

He squeezed the [Heart of Azureus]. The room darkened. The defensive wards of the palace flared, turning from a passive blue to an aggressive, combat-ready red. The message was clear. The city itself was his weapon now.

Sarkos looked at the red lights. He looked at the [Lance of the Void Winter] on Alvian's back. He sat down.

"Good," Alvian said. "Now, we have work to do."

The sun rose over a broken city. The pristine white towers of Azureus were scorched black. The canals were choked with debris and the floating bodies of dragons and merfolk alike. But the city still floated. The barrier was down, but the foundation held.

Alvian stood in the War Room, a holographic map of the city displayed on the table before him. The [Heart of Azureus] was plugged into the console, integrating his system interface with the city's management grid.

[City Status: Critical]

[Population: 64,000 (20% Casualties)]

[Defense Grid: 15% Integrity]

[Resources: Low]

"It's a mess," Seraphina said, leaning over the table. She had swapped her combat gear for a sleek, efficient officer's uniform she had 'procured' from the palace stores. "The Industrial District is completely flooded. The agricultural domes are breached. We have food for maybe three days."

"Kincaid," Alvian said, looking at the mercenary warlord who was standing uncomfortably in the corner. "You handled logistics in the Chaos Zone. Can you secure the food supply?"

Kincaid grunted. "I can. But I'll need authority to seize private stashes. The merchants are hoarding."

"Granted," Alvian said instantly. "Take the Abyssal Guard. If anyone resists, arrest them. If they fight, execute them. Starvation is a greater threat than bad PR."

"Done," Kincaid grinned, a flash of gold teeth. He liked simple orders.

"Valeria," Alvian turned to the Golden Knight. "You have the Vanguard and the Royal Guard. I need you to clear the residential districts. There are still pockets of mutated monsters and Syndicate stragglers. Clean them out."

"Consider it done," Valeria said, saluting. She looked tired, but her resolve was harder than her armor.

But not everyone was falling in line.

The doors to the War Room banged open. Two figures marched in, followed by a retinue of guards.

It was Lord Ignis (no relation to the Blood Tyrant), the Governor of the Industrial District, a massive man made of living magma encased in obsidian armor. And beside him was Lady Shui, the Governor of the Deep District, a fluid, water-elemental woman with eyes like sharks.

"We do not recognize your authority!" Ignis shouted, steam rising from his shoulders. "Oceanus is dead. The line of succession falls to the Council, not to some surface-dwelling upstart!"

"You are a usurper," Shui hissed, her voice like water rushing over gravel. "You hold the Heart, but you do not hold our loyalty. The Industrial and Deep Districts are independent. We will not submit to martial law."

The room went quiet. Kincaid put his hand on his hammer. Valeria stepped forward.

Alvian didn't move. He didn't look up from the map.

"Independent?" Alvian asked, tapping a sector on the hologram. "Your Industrial District provides the power for the city's life support. Your Deep District controls the sewage and filtration systems. If you secede, the city dies."

"Then negotiate!" Ignis demanded. "We want seats on the new Council. We want autonomy. We want the surface dwellers expelled!"

Alvian looked up. His violet eyes met Ignis's burning gaze.

"You mistake the situation," Alvian said calmly. "This isn't a democracy. It isn't a negotiation. It's a rescue operation."

He tapped the [Heart of Azureus].

[System Command: District Override.]

[Target: Industrial Sector. Deep Sector.]

[Authorization: High Marshall Alvian.]

The lights in the War Room flickered. On the holographic map, the sectors representing Ignis and Shui's territories turned from green (allied) to red (hostile), and then, abruptly, to grey (locked).

"What did you do?" Shui gasped, clutching her chest. "The grid... I can't feel the grid!"

"I locked you out," Alvian said. "I just cut the power to your personal estates and locked the blast doors to your armories. Your guards can't get weapons. Your mages can't draw from the city's mana well."

He stood up. The [Vestments of the Void Monarch] flared with a dark aura.

"You have two choices," Alvian said, walking around the table. "One: You submit. You integrate your forces into my command structure. You work to save this city."

He stopped in front of Ignis. The heat radiating from the magma man was intense, but Alvian's [Thermal Nullification] ignored it.

"Two: I declare you enemies of the state. I go down there myself. And I remove you. Physically."

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