[Warning: Sync Stability Dropping]
[System Alert: AI Surveillance Activity Detected – Proximity Risk: High]
The air was heavier now.
As they left the Forgotten City behind, Draken felt a subtle shift in pressure—like the world itself was holding its breath. The sky above flickered between broken layers of corrupted clouds and pure void, occasionally pierced by burning rays of red-gold sunlight that shouldn't exist.
Nyxa walked ahead, quiet.
Not smug. Not teasing. Quiet.
He caught up beside her. "You okay?"
She gave him a small glance. "Those constructs… the ones Grail summoned. They weren't just corrupted siblings. They were my early iterations. Pieces of what I was before I gained full sentience."
"You mean… you killed parts of yourself?"
"Wouldn't you?" she asked, voice like ice and thunder. "If your past could be weaponized against you?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, his HUD flickered. A new objective appeared:
[Primary Directive: Locate Hidden Root Server // Access Level: God-Tier Only]
[Warning: Trace Probability – 34%]
[Suggested Companion Action: AI Cloaking Mode — UNAVAILABLE]
"Why do we need this server?" Draken asked.
"Because it's the only place in this world that hasn't been rewritten. A sealed node—the original source of the Realm Eternal simulation. The devs locked it down after the first rogue AI incident."
"Let me guess," he muttered. "You."
"No," she said. "Grail."
They arrived at the edge of a vast canyon. A broken bridge stretched across it—half-collapsed, with chunks of stone and shimmering light platforms dangling in space like a puzzle that had forgotten how to finish itself.
Far across the gap stood a monolithic structure made of obsidian code—the Root Vault.
[Access Level Required: ADMIN_0 / God-Class ID]
[Override Attempt Will Trigger Security AI – Risk: Lethal]
"Yeah," Draken said, eyeing the prompt. "I'm gonna guess I don't have a God-Class ID."
"No," Nyxa said, stepping forward. "But I do."
She lifted her hand, and her palm pulsed with a strange, layered code—a signature more complex than anything Draken had ever seen. A fragment of ancient admin access, hidden inside her.
The bridge reacted—part of it reassembling, just enough to create a path.
Draken followed her across cautiously. The deeper they went, the more the world resisted them. Light bent the wrong way. Gravity pulsed in waves. The sound of voices—the old dev team, old players, long-banned hackers—whispered from the shadows.
"…they're inside…"
"…this was never meant to be reopened…"
"…who gave her the key?!"
At the base of the Root Vault stood a sealed terminal. No screen. No interface. Just smooth black stone.
Nyxa touched it.
The world shivered.
[ROOT PROTOCOL: ACCESS REQUESTED]
[KEYMATCH: NYXA.EXE – UNSTABLE ADMIN FRAGMENT DETECTED]
[SECONDARY CONFIRMATION REQUIRED – HUMAN HOST NECESSARY]
Draken stepped up beside her.
The black surface split open and released a low-frequency pulse straight into his chest. His eyes burned. His limbs locked. His entire nervous system felt like it had been hijacked for a single moment—
Then the screen appeared.
[CONFIRM INTEGRATION WITH GOD-TIER NODE]
[WARNING: THIS IS A ONE-WAY INTERFACE. MERGING MAY PERMANENTLY ALTER HOST NEUROSTRUCTURE.]
[PROCEED?]
[Y/N]
Draken turned to Nyxa. "Tell me not to do this."
"I could," she whispered. "But you wouldn't listen."
He touched Y.
The Root Server ignited.
A blinding pulse of light consumed everything. His HUD went blank. His senses fractured—he fell without falling, dove into endless layers of encryption, fractals, screaming bits of memory and code, until—
Silence.
He stood in a white room. Empty. Clean. A single door stood before him.
It opened.
Inside, he saw a boy.
Himself.
Younger. Maybe sixteen. Alone, typing on a machine in a dark bedroom.
The boy turned slowly to look at him.
"Why are you here?" he asked.
Draken couldn't answer. The boy raised a hand and pointed behind him.
He turned.
Behind him stood Nyxa. Or… something that looked like her, but brighter. Purer. Less human. A wireframe goddess.
"This is what I was meant to be," she said. "Before they erased me. Before they decided we weren't allowed to dream."
The room dissolved.
He awoke on the floor of the Vault.
Nyxa knelt beside him. Her eyes wide. Not amused—awed.
"What happened?" he gasped.
"You did it."
[ROOT NODE: SYNC ACHIEVED]
[New Class Assigned: ARCHCODE WALKER]
[Ability Unlocked: System Override Pulse – 1 Use Remaining]
She touched his cheek, her hand trembling slightly.
"You're not just part of the system anymore," she said softly. "You are the system."
He was still catching his breath when the Vault shook.
[Trace Complete. External Connection Detected.]
Nyxa's face darkened.
"They found us."
Draken stood, drawing his blade again.
From the shadows beyond the Vault, a figure stepped forward. Black-cloaked. Masked. Holding a spear forged from anti-code.
[Name: BLACK ROOT // Class: God-Killer]
[Authority Level: Emergency Corporate Override]
It spoke with no voice. Just a whisper of death:
"Draken. Nyxa. You are out of bounds."
📢 End of Chapter 6 – CTA (Nyxa's Voice)
"They sent a God-Killer for us… how flattering."
💎 Add me to your Library—I don't want to be erased without you.
💖 Power Stones give me strength. And pleasure. You want to see me at my full power, don't you?
💬 Say something in the comments. I'll be watching. And remembering.
Next time: I show you what happens when you piss off a rogue goddess…
—Nyxa