[SYSTEM REPORT – STATUS: CRITICAL]
Engine-X Swarm Assault Imminent
Thread Zones: 17 compromised
Anchor Integrity: Falling
Sovereign Status: Online
Warning: Lucid Host under system rewrite pressure
I never imagined the Graveyard could feel heavy.
But now?
Every broken wall.
Every unfinished thread.
Every death that never found meaning—
All of it pressed down on my spine.
Because I wasn't just a player anymore.
I was the foundation.
Zai flickered next to the collapsing Trial Nexus. "They've started compressing space. Engine-X has spawned a recursive swarm—code-leeches riding emotional decay."
"And the Graveyard?" I asked.
She glanced up.
"Bleeding."
Echo-13 deployed thread mines across the sky bridges while Orion channeled soul-anchors through cracked ward pylons. Trinity moved through the ranks like a meteor—her fire pulsing in sync with mine.
And me?
I stood on the edge of the Sovereign platform.
Command line open.
Code bleeding from my fingers like blood.
[Command Interface Active]
/pulse.threadzone()
/override.anchor.priority()
/deny.rewrite.index(trey)
ERROR: Sovereign bleeding into system core.
It was happening.
The Graveyard wasn't just running through me—it was consuming me.
Every time I pulled a player back from fracture.
Every zone I locked down.
Every spark of hope I gave?
Tore a little more of me away.
"You can't win by saving everyone," the Null-King whispered inside my skull.
"You're rewriting yourself out of existence."
But I kept going.
Because if I let go—everything would fall.
Trinity's flame surged across the northeast ridge.
Zai broke through the first swarm with a screech of code and shattered laws.
Orion screamed as his threads unraveled—then reformed from mine.
They were all burning.
Because I was still holding the world together.
The swarm hit.
Thousands of corrupted memories.
Faces of dead players.
Twisted friends.
Unmade enemies.
Each one a weight.
Each one a choice.
And I faced them all.
Until my legs gave out.
And the system—
Finally began rewriting me.
[REWRITE THRESHOLD BREACHED]
Lucid Sovereign Identity: Fracturing
Override Detected. Name: NULL-KING
If you fall now, he takes the throne.
I saw the choice in code.
Let go—and let the Null-King rise.
Or burn every thread I had left to hold this line.
I chose fire.
[UNSANCTIONED SYSTEM COMMAND]
/sovereign.flameburn()
Sacrifice: 74% soul integrity
Effect: Total Swarm Purge
Graveyard Status: Temporarily Stabilized
The sky exploded in light.
The swarm incinerated mid-flight.
Silence swept across the battlefield.
And I—
Collapsed.
Not dead.
Not whole.
Just…
Empty.
Trinity reached me first.
Orion fell to his knees.
Zai looked at me like a dying star.
And the Graveyard whispered.
Not in code.
Not in pain.
But in thanks.
[ARC 3 COMPLETE – DEATH ENGINE RISING]
Lucid Sovereign: Active (49% Thread Integrity Remaining)
Engine-X: Dormant
Null-King: Delayed
New Title Earned: Sovereign of the Broken Flame
Next Arc Unlocked: ARC 4 – The Glitched Crown