Arthur Vance looked different from the man who had crashed through the VIP box glass twenty-four hours ago.
He was still massive, still radiating the baseline S-Rank aura that made the air feel slightly heavier, still wearing an immaculate suit. But his eyes were hollow in a way that had nothing to do with power and everything to do with a father who had spent the night sitting with a truth he couldn't argue with.
He stepped into the office and stopped when he saw Aria Sterling sitting in the corner.
"She stays," Elias said before Arthur could speak.
Arthur's jaw tightened. He pulled out the chair across from the desk and sat down heavily.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
"My son is dead," Arthur said at last. His voice was stripped of the booming authority he had used in the Academy. It was just a voice. "You killed him."
Elias didn't confirm or deny it. He simply waited.
"I spent all night preparing to come here and destroy you," Arthur continued, his massive hands resting flat on his thighs. "I have six A-Rank hunters on retainer. Three of them specialize in area suppression — the kind that works on summoners."
"I know," Elias said. "They were parked outside the tower for four hours. I had Blood monitoring the perimeter."
Arthur closed his eyes briefly. "Then you know I chose not to use them."
"I know."
"Marcus was not a good person," Arthur said, each word clearly costing him something. "I told myself otherwise for twenty years. I funded his operations. I ignored the complaints from lower-ranked Hunters about how he treated them." He opened his eyes. "But he was my son. And you killed him before I had the chance to fix him."
Elias looked at the man across from him. He saw someone who had arrived expecting to feel rage and found grief instead, which was harder to weaponize and harder to put down.
"He was going to get someone killed, Arthur," Elias said. His voice was not gentle, but it was not cruel either. It was simply factual. "He had already voted to sacrifice every person in that subway tunnel. I prevented the future you were hoping to avoid by less clean means than you would have preferred."
Arthur was silent.
"What do you actually want?" Elias asked.
"I want to not be your enemy," Arthur said simply. "I have seen what you do to things you consider threats. I watched you face an S-Rank aura without flinching. I watched your shadows materialize from nothing and I felt—" He stopped. Started again. "I have not felt genuine fear in nineteen years. You gave it back to me in twelve seconds."
Elias studied him.
In his past life, Arthur Vance had been one of the men who voted to leave Elias chained in the Dragon's lair. He was on the list. He had always been on the list.
But lists were written in the past. And the past was a tool, not a prison.
Arthur Vance without his son was a different equation than Arthur Vance with him. Marcus had been the corruption — the part of the machine that guaranteed the betrayal. Without Marcus, Arthur was simply an S-Rank Tank with a massive resource base, legitimate government connections, and a guilty conscience.
Guilty consciences were extraordinarily useful.
"The Vance family controls the licensing board for all new Hunter Guilds in this country," Elias said.
Arthur looked up, slightly surprised by the direction. "Yes."
"And the maintenance contracts for the military's Gate monitoring network."
"Yes."
"And three of the five politicians who sit on the Emergency Powers committee."
Arthur's expression shifted into something that was equal parts wariness and respect. "You've done your research."
"I always do," Elias said. "Here is what I am willing to offer you. Your son's death does not become public knowledge. The official story remains that Marcus Vance died heroically during the first Gate outbreak. His reputation stays clean. Your family name stays clean."
Arthur went very still.
"In exchange," Elias continued, "the Vance family's political network becomes available to Aegis Guild on an ongoing basis. No public announcement. No formal contract. Whenever I need a law passed, a regulation removed, or a military operation quietly buried, your people make it happen."
The silence stretched out.
Arthur exhaled slowly. "You want me to be your political arm."
"I want you to be compensated for services that align with your interests anyway," Elias said. "You know better than anyone that the current Guild Council is corrupt. You've watched them steal from lower-ranked Hunters for fifteen years. I intend to dismantle every one of those corrupt Masters personally. When I do, someone will need to fill the resulting political vacuum with legislation that actually protects people. That person could be you."
Arthur looked at the desk. He looked at his hands. He looked at the young man sitting across from him who had somehow, in the span of four weeks, built an empire that the country's most powerful people were already afraid of.
"My son would have hated you," Arthur said quietly.
"Most people who were doing something wrong hate the person who makes them stop," Elias replied.
Arthur Vance, S-Rank Tank and CEO of Vance Tech, stood up. He extended his hand across the desk.
Elias shook it.
It was not a warm gesture on either side. It was a transaction between two people who understood each other perfectly and expected nothing more.
"I'll be in touch," Arthur said. He turned and walked to the door. He stopped with his hand on the handle. "For what it's worth. The fact that he went quickly." He paused. "Thank you for that, at least."
He left.
Aria waited until the elevator doors closed below, then let out a slow breath.
"You just recruited the father of the man you killed," she said.
"He recruited himself," Elias replied. "I just gave him the paperwork."