The city below had grown quiet. Two aware beings erased, monsters bowing without motion, Codex glowing faintly. He was unstoppable. He was the protagonist.
Then the air shifted.
A figure emerged on a distant rooftop. Calm, deliberate, unnervingly still. Its presence carried impossible weight.
Reick. The true protagonist.
Panic rose. A chill ran down his spine. His arrogance faltered.
"Protagonist, huh?" the figure said. "Don't make me laugh."
He tried to move, to strike. But even Insta-Kill failed him.
A sword formed in Reick's hand — not of steel, but of the story itself.
The sword struck. Pain unlike anything he knew exploded. Vision shattered. His laughter, arrogance, power — gone.
> "Protagonist… what a joke…"
Darkness swallowed him. No city. No monsters. Only endless white light.
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