The successful, untraceable exposure of the Legion Quartermaster filled Elias with a cautious confidence. He had proven the efficacy of the midnight window, Scholar Yan's elusive "karmic blind spot." Now, it was time to use it for his own protection. Magistrate Lian's request for direct access to Elias's Sutra AI queries was a Sword of Damocles hanging over his head.
Elias waited until the Bureau was swallowed by the deep quiet of the late hours. The clock on his terminal crept towards midnight, the only sound the faint, pervasive hum of the Karmic Ledger. He felt the nervous tremor in his hands, but it was quickly replaced by a cold, surgical focus. He activated his bootleg Earth Core, its unstable resonance a familiar, almost comforting blanket around his spiritual signature.
As the clock struck midnight, he began. He accessed the Bureau's deeply nested audit logs, specifically the protocols that recorded user access to individual case files and Sutra AI queries. His fingers danced across the holographic interface, moving with a speed born of desperation and practice. For precisely 12 minutes, he meticulously erased Magistrate Lian's access logs to his personal files, to his recent queries, to any data trail that might hint at Elias's true activities. He didn't just delete them; he overwrote them with blank data, making it appear as if Lian had never accessed those specific sections at all. It was a painstaking, almost artistic act of digital camouflage.
Just as the last second of the blind spot ticked away, and the Ledger's recording protocols clicked back into full, traceable operation, a soft clanking sound echoed in the hallway outside his cubicle. Elias froze, his heart leaping into his throat. The rhythmic, measured footsteps grew closer, accompanied by the faint, distinctive clink of metal on stone.
A Celestial Sentinel patrol.
Elias held his breath, forcing himself to remain utterly still. The footsteps paused directly outside his door. He could feel their presence, a chilling aura of absolute vigilance. He could even discern, through his heightened senses, the subtle, almost imperceptible karmic resonance emanating from their armor. It wasn't just physical protection; the Sentinels' ceremonial armor was subtly enchanted to track Ledger anomalies. They were the Ledger's immune system, its response to internal disruptions.
He squeezed his eyes shut, willing himself to be invisible. The bootleg Earth Core throbbed, its unstable energy trying to mask his presence. The seconds stretched into an eternity.
Then, the footsteps moved on, fading down the corridor. They hadn't entered. They hadn't detected him. The blind spot, and the unreliable mask of his core, had worked.
Elias slowly exhaled, a ragged gasp of air. He had faced down the Bureau's ultimate enforcers and emerged undetected. The Ledger, for all its power, could be outsmarted. But the encounter had revealed a new layer of danger. The Sentinels weren't just reacting to general disturbances; they were actively attuned to the subtle vibrations of a Ledger under duress. His dance with the blind spot was a silent challenge, and the Sentinels were listening.