Aurelius stood on the Apex Throne, his golden collection box hovering in the center of the room like a hungry mouth.

“Come now!” Aurelius urged, his smile straining. “The Glitch approaches. Don’t be miserly. Your tithes ensure your survival.”

A low murmur rippled through the Ranks 1-10. Finally, a God of River Pebbles (Rank 2) stepped forward. He looked like a collection of wet stones held together by algae.

“We… we paid last year,” the Pebble God stammered. “You said you would build a Northern Wall. You took 10,000 DP from my stream. I have not seen a wall. I have only seen your Golden Spire get taller.”

“Investments take time!” Aurelius dismissed him with a wave. “Infrastructure is not instant.”

“But your Rank is instant!” a Wind Spirit (Rank 3) shouted from the back. “You went from Rank 8 to Rank 9 in the last five years! We are still starving! You use our tribute to power-level yourself!”

The dam broke. The grumbling turned into shouting.

“He’s right! It’s a scam!” “He just farms us for XP!” “Why should we pay the Flashlight?”

A Magma-Kin pointed a lava-dripping finger up at the High Balcony.

“Look at the Queen! Sylara is Rank 17! She is stronger than you! She is kind! She doesn’t ask for gold!”

“Yes!” The Pebble God cheered. “All hail the Mycelium Queen! Let us give our tribute to her! She will actually protect us!”

The chant started low, then swelled. “Sylara! Sylara! Sylara!”

On the balcony, Sylara shrank into her chair, pulling her spore-veil over her face. “Please… no… I do not want this…”

Aurelius’s face went from golden to a furious, burning white. The perfect mask cracked.

“SILENCE!”

[ SYSTEM ADMIN AUTHORITY: VOICE OF THE KING ]

The soundwave slammed into the crowd, knocking the Pebble God and the Wind Spirit to the floor. The hall shook.

Aurelius stood up, his eyes blazing with genuine hate.

“You dare?” Aurelius hissed. “You dare compare me to a… a fungus?”

He floated down from the throne, landing heavily in the center of the trading floor. He walked past Gorr, sneering.

“You think Rank is just a number? It is Destiny!”

He pointed at Gorr.

“You, Stone Mother. You dug for centuries to reach your rank. I did it in one year.”

‘But she didn’t…’ Red thought.

He pointed at the Rotting Druid.

“You, Moss-Brain. You have been here for fifty years. You are still playing in the mud. I ascended while you were still figuring out how to grow a leaf.”

Aurelius spread his arms, basking in his own arrogance.

“I am the Prodigy! I am the Golden Sun! There has never been a god in the history of this Sector who has climbed faster than me! You are weak because you are slow! You are poor because you are stupid!”

He turned to the crowd, his voice dripping with venom.

“You want a leader? You want a savior? I am the only choice because I am the only one who knows how to Win! I was in the top 50 in this game in the real world!”

“It has taken you worms decades to rank up from rank 1 to 2 and centuries to reach level 5, and even if you try for whole millennia, you will never reach where I stand!”

Some of the gods let out a soft and muffled snicker.

“You doubt me? Fine. Let the System decide.”

He raised his hand. Golden mana swirled around his fingers.

“I invoke the Protocol of the Monument!”

Gasps filled the room.

The Druid’s jaw dropped. “He’s insane,” the Druid whispered to Red. “That’s an Legacy Achievement. It costs a fortune just to trigger.”

Aurelius grinned.

“I claim the Achievement: [ FASTEST ASCENSION ]. The God who has risen the highest, in the shortest amount of time, rules this session!”

A holographic interface appeared in the center of the room. It was a betting pool.

“And to ensure my statue is big enough to block out your pathetic little stars…”

Aurelius tapped his wrist.

[ TRANSFER: 500,000 DP ]

The number flashed in the air. Five hundred thousand. The Pebble God fainted. Gorr choked on her drink. That was enough DP to buy a small country.

“Look at it!” Aurelius roared. “More power than you will generate in a millennium! I wager it all! The System will build a statue of the Fastest Rising Star right here with the hundreds of other statues outside… and another one in the invoker’s territory! It can never be destroyed!”

He looked at Sylara. “And when my golden effigy stands tall, my Queen… you will see who the real Apex is.”

The Hall of the Nexus began to rumble. The System accepted the DP. The mana coalesced in the center of the room, swirling into a blinding vortex of potential.

[ PROTOCOL ACCEPTED ]

[ CALCULATING GROWTH VELOCITY… ]

Aurelius stood with his arms crossed, a smug grin plastered on his face. He was already visualizing the pose. Maybe holding a sword? Maybe pointing at the horizon?

“Witness me!” Aurelius shouted.

The vortex spun faster. Golden light began to solidify into marble.

[ SEARCHING DATABASE… ]

[ CANDIDATE FOUND ]

The feet formed first. They weren’t armored boots. They were dress shoes.

Aurelius frowned. “I didn’t order formal wear.”

The legs formed. Sharp, tailored trousers. The torso formed. A suit jacket, buttoned perfectly. One hand in the pocket, the other flipping a coin.

The head formed. And it wasn’t Aurelius, the golden boy with flowing hair.

It was a sharp-featured man with a shadow over his face and violet eyes that seemed to look at the Golden King with utter boredom.

It was Red.

[ ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: METEORIC RISE ]

[ WINNER: RUBEDO (RANK 3) ]

[ TIME ELAPSED SINCE SPAWN: 2 MONTHS ]

[ GROWTH VELOCITY: 9,000% ]

The silence in the hall was absolute. You could hear a pin drop.

Aurelius stared up at the fifty-foot statue of the “Sewer God” towering over him. The statue looked down, its expression capturing Red’s signature look of calculated indifference.

“What…?” Aurelius whispered. “No. That’s a glitch.”

Red, sitting at his table, didn’t move. He swirled the ice in his glass.

[ SYSTEM ALERT ]

[ MONUMENT CONSTRUCTED IN INVOKER’S TERRITORY: THE SUN SPIRE ]

A massive holographic screen opened, showing a live feed of Aurelius’s capital—The City of Glass and Gold.

In the center of his beautiful, pristine plaza, right in front of his Palace… CRASH.

A colossal, 500,000 DP version of Red’s statue slammed into the ground, crushing a fountain and blocking the entrance to the palace. It was made of black obsidian and violet crystal. It was hideous and magnificent at the same time. It was flipping a coin.

The Solar Paladins in the video feed ran around in panic, trying to attack the indestructible System Monument.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep