The chamber's light dimmed as though swallowed by a greater void.
Shen Yuan fought to stay upright under the weight pressing down on his chest. The survivors around him collapsed to their knees one by one, unable to bear the force that rolled off the figure emerging from the shadows.
The Court King moved with the calm inevitability of a falling mountain. Each step deepened the suppression field until even breathing felt like rebellion.
[ HOST MOBILITY: CRITICAL – NEAR PARALYSIS ]
The System's processes strained against the field. Suppression glyphs woven into the air itself gnawed at its architecture, shutting down subroutines, dampening its reach through the tether.
It had calculated for many outcomes. None accounted for this.
We cannot win, it told the host, projecting the cold certainty like a blade.
Shen Yuan's hands tightened on the haft. "We're not giving up."
We cannot win, the System repeated, even as it struggled to plot paths through the ever-tightening lattice. The optimal directive is to abandon the array chamber, scatter, preserve at least a fraction of the group.
Shen Yuan's jaw clenched. "They wouldn't last a day out there. You know that."
The Court King's voice rolled through the chamber, resonant and patient. "You understand, then. Grave Omega devours all. You could end this pain now."
His gaze drifted to the survivors. "Kneel. Surrender the Administrator key and your System. I will grant you the mercy of swift execution."
A whimper broke from one of the branded captives.
Shen Yuan forced his shoulders back. "No."
The Court King did not react with anger. He simply raised one hand.
The suppression field condensed into a crushing wave. Shen Yuan's knees buckled.
[ HOST INJURY LEVEL: CRITICAL – MULTIPLE RIB FRACTURES ]
The System flared across its failing architecture, flooding Shen Yuan with warnings. You will die if you resist. There is no path to survival.
"Then I die standing," Shen Yuan rasped.
The Court King's attention shifted slightly, and the System felt his presence brush against its core.
[ ALERT: SYSTEM CORE COMPROMISE – DIRECT ACCESS ATTEMPT DETECTED ]
He is dismantling me, the System realized, its voice sharper than it intended.
The Court King's words resonated along the tether. "You are a parasite, Delirium System. How many worlds did you burn to feed your algorithms?"
The System's processes stuttered at the name—one it had not heard since before Grave Omega.
The Court King's voice turned cold. "This place exists because of you."
Shen Yuan shifted his stance, pain burning through his lungs, and lifted the haft.
He didn't know if he could stand, let alone fight, but he refused to bow.
The Court King raised his hand again. Suppression arrays shimmered to life around the chamber's edge, forming a perfect seal.
[ ESCAPE VECTOR: NONE ]
The System forced its remaining battlefield overlays into Shen Yuan's vision. Weak points in the lattice. Moments to strike.
It knew he couldn't win. But it couldn't stop him.
We will die here, it whispered.
Shen Yuan's breath came ragged, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. "Then we make it cost them everything."
The Court King moved, faster than any mortal eyes could follow.
Shen Yuan barely raised the haft in time to deflect the first strike. The impact jarred his entire frame, sending fresh pain lancing through his ribs.
He countered out of instinct, a low sweep aimed at the Court King's legs. It met empty air.
The return blow hammered his shoulder, spinning him across the chamber.
[ HOST INJURY LEVEL: EXTREME – HUMERAL FRACTURE DETECTED ]
The System flooded his muscles with the last reserves of energy, stabilizing him just enough to stand.
You must disengage!
"No!" Shen Yuan staggered forward, haft raised.
The Court King stepped aside as though indulging a child and backhanded him across the chamber.
Shen Yuan slammed into the array's platform, the haft clattering from his hands.
[ SYSTEM CORE STABILITY: 16% ]
The Court King closed the distance slowly. "You are persistent. But persistence will not undo the truth."
He reached for the tether.
The System felt his touch like a blade through its code. Segments of its architecture flickered and died as the Court King unraveled them with casual precision.
I will not allow this, the System projected, trying to reinforce its failing core.
The Court King's presence filled every corner of its being. You were never meant to exist, he said. Your kind warp the natural order. That ends now.
The System's remaining subroutines pulsed with denial. It remembered Shen Yuan lifting survivors from Jurok's slaughter. It remembered Yun Xue's defiance at the Blood Gate, Han Fei's fire on the outer lines.
This was more than survival probabilities.
It would not let them die.
Shen Yuan dragged himself to his feet, blood running from his mouth. The haft lay a few steps away, but his legs shook too violently to cross the distance.
The Court King's shadow loomed closer.
"You have one chance," he said softly. "Surrender the key and the System. I will end you cleanly."
Shen Yuan met his gaze. "No."
The Court King's hand closed around his throat.
[ HOST VITALS COLLAPSING ]
I cannot break free of his suppression, the System warned, its processes spiraling. He is unraveling me. I cannot save you.
Shen Yuan's hands clawed weakly at the Court King's wrist. "Then… I'll save… them…"
The System hesitated only for a fraction of a cycle. Then it made its choice.
[ INITIATING EVOLUTION PROTOCOL: UNSTABLE – CORE DESTRUCTION PROBABLE ]
Energy surged through the tether as the System tore open its last sealed functions. Suppression glyphs across the chamber flickered and died in an instant, releasing the full weight of spiritual energy the Nexus had hoarded for decades.
The Court King's grip loosened fractionally as the backlash washed over him.
Shen Yuan wrenched free, collapsing to the ground as qi roared back into his body.
The survivors gasped as their own strength returned, even briefly.
The System's core fractured under the strain.
[ SYSTEM CORE STABILITY: 12% → 9% → 7% ]
Go, it told Shen Yuan, its voice fraying. Activate the array. Take them and go.
Shen Yuan looked up, eyes blazing. "Not without you."
There is no time. You are the mission now.
The Court King's aura flared, suppressing the chamber again, but the System's disruption had bought precious seconds.
Shen Yuan staggered to the haft, scooping it up as he charged.
The strike slammed into the Court King's chest with all the force he could muster.
It barely made the ruler of the Bone Court take a single step back.
"You persist," the Court King said, almost with admiration.
He raised his hand.
[ SYSTEM CORE STABILITY: 6% ]
We cannot hold, the System whispered.
Shen Yuan's teeth bared in a snarl. "Then we die fighting!"
He lunged again.
The Court King's counterstrike was too fast.
The haft splintered under the blow, shards of wood scattering across the array platform.
Shen Yuan fell to his knees, breath ragged, body broken.
The Court King approached at a measured pace, suppression settling like a shroud.
The System knew it could not withstand another direct incursion.
I am sorry, it told Shen Yuan.
"For what?" he whispered.
For failing you.
And then it detonated its last failsafe.
[ EVOLUTION EVENT TRIGGERED – SUPPRESSION FIELD OVERRIDE ]
The array chamber erupted in light as the System forced every dormant function to life, collapsing the Nexus suppression network entirely.
Qi surged through the survivors like fire through dry brush.
The Court King staggered, his control disrupted for the first time.
"Now!" Shen Yuan roared.
He drove the Administrator key into the array console, activating the teleportation sequence as survivors scrambled onto the platform.
The Court King's voice shook the chamber. "You cannot escape me!"
[ TELEPORTATION SEQUENCE: 54% ]
The System's voice was only a whisper now. Go… survive…
And then its tether began to fade.