The sky above Terra Prime cracked open in a silent scream. Shards of violet lightning streaked across the clouds, casting jagged shadows over the ruined village below. Homes were splintered, markets obliterated, and the faint smell of burning flesh and ash hung heavy in the air.
Amid the devastation, a lone figure stirred. A boy, no older than ten, sat amidst the rubble. His eyes, bright and unyielding, reflected the jagged lightning above. Around him, the world had ended—but he had not.
He was Aetherion, though no one would have called him that yet. To the villagers, he was simply Destroyer, the boy who survived when all others fell. The system had failed them, collapsed in a violent surge of corrupted energy that had consumed life indiscriminately.
But the boy was different. While others would have screamed, cowered, or wept, he simply watched.
The air around him was thick, almost tangible, as if reality itself had loosened its threads. Something deep within him stirred, sensing the invisible patterns that governed everything. Life. Death. The rules that bound the world.
"This… this is not how it should be," he whispered, his voice barely audible over the storm.
And in that moment, the world spoke to him.
Not in words, but in code. Every shattered plank, every fallen tree, every crack in the earth vibrated with an underlying structure he had never seen before. It was raw, primal, and chaotic—the heartbeat of the system.
The system was alive.
And it was broken.
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The First Spark
Aetherion's small hands trembled as he reached out to the invisible threads surrounding the ruins. He didn't know why he did it—instinct? Desperation? Or something else—but as his fingers brushed the air, he felt a surge of energy. The world paused. Time slowed.
The system that had annihilated his village recoiled, like a wounded beast. Lines of reality shimmered and fractured. He saw it: a floating interface of raw energy, a lattice of laws and rules.
System Detected: Terra Prime – Core Hierarchy System
Integrity: 2%
Corruption: 98%
Rewriting…
The interface pulsed, a heartbeat of artificial divinity. It was a voice, though not one meant for humans. Aetherion, however, could hear it, because he was not just human anymore.
"You… are an anomaly," the system said. Its tone was cold, mechanized, devoid of empathy. "You do not comply with natural protocols. You will be corrected."
Aetherion's lips curved into a faint smile. "Correction? No," he said. His small hands clenched into fists. "I will rewrite."
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The First Test
Before him, the rubble shifted violently. From the remains of his village, creatures of system corruption emerged—monstrous forms of flesh and code, stitched together from corrupted energy and fragments of reality. These were not natural beasts. They were the system's enforcement units, sent to erase anomalies.
Aetherion rose to his feet. The wind tore at his clothes, whipping his hair across his eyes, but he didn't flinch. He could see their weaknesses, the glitches in their code, the seams in their reality.
With a deep breath, he extended his hand, feeling the system thrumming beneath his skin. Energy coalesced around him, not as fire or lightning, but as pure structure, a force that obeyed his will alone.
The first creature lunged—a hulking mass of shadows and jagged bones. Aetherion's voice echoed, calm, almost playful.
"Erase."
The lattice of energy surged forward. The creature's body disintegrated in a storm of violet code. It screamed, a sound that was part human, part machine, before vanishing entirely.
Another attacked. And another. And with each strike, Aetherion's control grew. The system tried to resist, but he was no longer a child. He was the anomaly, the System Annihilator.
By nightfall, the creatures lay in fragments around him, the ground scorched with traces of collapsing code. And Aetherion stood alone, silent, surveying the ruins of what had once been his world.
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The Awakening
For hours, he wandered through the wreckage, absorbing the fragments of the system's code into himself. With each piece, he grew—not just in strength, but in understanding. He could feel the laws of reality bending, waiting for a hand bold enough to reshape them.
Finally, he paused atop a crumbled tower. The storm above had calmed, leaving a strange twilight that shimmered unnaturally. He extended his hands to the sky.
"I will not follow," he said. His words were quiet, but absolute. "I will not serve. I will destroy and remake. All of it."
At that moment, a faint ripple in the air caught his attention. A figure appeared, drifting down from the clouds—a woman cloaked in silver light. Her eyes glimmered with knowledge far beyond his years.
"You are faster than I expected," she said, her voice melodic, almost teasing. "The system calls you Destroyer… but I think a better name awaits."
Aetherion tilted his head, wary but intrigued. "Who are you?"
She smiled faintly. "A friend, or a test. Time will tell. But know this: the path you have chosen… will not be easy. Systems will fight, worlds will fall, and allies may betray. And yet…"
She paused, her gaze piercing. "You are the only one who can rewrite fate itself. You are… Aetherion."
The name echoed in his mind. It felt right. Powerful. Absolute.
And for the first time since his village had fallen, he felt alive.
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The First Choice
The system, wounded but not gone, pulsed violently beneath the ground. Another wave of corrupted creatures emerged, faster, stronger, and more cunning than before. But Aetherion didn't flinch.
He could feel the threads of reality bending toward him. Every movement, every strike, every calculation was faster than thought.
Choice: Follow the system's correction or annihilate it entirely.
Aetherion clenched his fists, violet light engulfing him. He grinned.
"I choose… annihilation."
The ground shook. Reality screamed. And in that instant, the world knew a new force had arisen.
The System Annihilator had awakened.
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Chapter 1 – Closing Scene
As night fell over the ruins, Aetherion stood atop the hill, surveying the fractured world. He was small, alone, and untested—but within him burned a power unmatched by any system or deity.
Far above, in the void between realms, something stirred. The Administrators had taken notice.
An anomaly… dangerous… evolving…
And thus began the era of The System Annihilator, where rules would be shattered, realms would burn, and one boy would rise to challenge the very foundations of reality itself.
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