The air in the throne room was thick, not just with the physical stench of the Starscourge, but with a metaphysical pressure that felt like the weight of ten centuries.
The Crystal pulsated behind Ardyn, a monolithic shard of white light that hummed with a frequency so high it made Theodore's teeth ache.
"9S,"
Theodore whispered, his eyes locked on the massive gemstone.
"Interface with the Crystal's containment field. I don't want a 'Royal Absorption.' I want a 'Data Extraction.' We are bypassing the ten-year stasis. If the Kings of Yore want their tribute, they can take it in 1s and 0s."
9S didn't hesitate. He launched his Pod, which unfolded into a multi-limbed hacking rig.
"Theodore, the firewall on this thing isn't digital—it's divine. It's like trying to hack the sun. I'm going to need you to keep the 'system noise' away while I breach the core."
The doors behind them exploded inward. It wasn't the Imperial army—they were long gone, turned into the very shadows they served. Instead, a tide of Forlorn and
Daemons poured into the room, their forms shifting and bubbling like oil in water. These were the dregs of the Starscourge, the physical manifestation of the darkness Ardyn had carried for two millennia.
"Ardyn!"
Theodore roared over the screeching of the monsters.
"If you want that retirement plan I promised, you stay out of my way or help me clear the room! Choose your side, 'Chancellor'!"
Ardyn stood still for a heartbeat, his fingers twitching near his side.
Then, with a theatrical sigh that echoed through the vast hall, he flicked his wrist.
A dozen spectral swords, dark and jagged, materialized around him.
"Well,"
Ardyn drawled,
"I suppose a 'Normal Human' shouldn't be left to do a King's work alone. Though I expect a very comfortable room in this 'Hub' of yours. With a view."
Ardyn's dark magic met the incoming wave of Daemons in a clash of shadow against shadow.
He moved like a dancer, his movements fluid and mocking, tearing through the monsters that he himself had commanded only hours ago.
Theodore didn't waste the opening. He pivoted toward the largest concentration of Daemons—a massive, multi-limbed Iron Giant that had just phased through the floor.
[Skill Activated: Giant Strength]
[Skill Activated: Wind Walk]
Theodore's AGI 10, boosted by his level and skills, turned him into a blur. He didn't just strike; he calculated. His INT 10 allowed him to see the mana-lines flowing through the giants, identifying the points where the Starscourge was most concentrated.
"Let's try a different flavor of magic,"
Theodore muttered.
He raised the Carian Knight's Sword. The blue glintstone embedded in the hilt flared with a blinding intensity as it drank from his 950 MP.
"Carian Grandeur!"
The ethereal blade didn't just extend; it transformed. A massive, translucent sword of blue starlight, thirty feet long, manifested over Theodore's head. With a grunt of effort, he brought it down in a vertical arc.
The blade didn't just cut the Iron Giant; it erased the space it occupied.
The blue mana, being alien to the world of Eos, acted as a localized disinfectant against the Starscourge.
The Giant dissolved into blue sparks rather than black smoke.
"Theodore! I'm in!"
9S shouted, his Pod vibrating with the strain.
"The Crystal's OS is... it's a hive mind! The spirits of the previous Kings are trying to overwrite my Pod! I'm initiating the Logic Virus: Freedom's End! I'm convincing the Crystal that the 'Prophecy' has already been fulfilled!"
9S's interface was a chaotic mess of shifting geometry. On his screens, the "Prophecy" appeared as a rigid line of code that ended in the death of Noctis Lucis Caelum.
"Updating the script,"
9S muttered, his eyes glowing with a frenetic blue light.
"If the Crystal wants a sacrifice of Light, I'll feed it the ambient mana from the reservoir. If it wants a King to sleep, I'll simulate a ten-year dream-cycle in ten seconds!"
[System Notification: 9S is performing a 'Reality Patch']
[Progress: 45%... 60%...]
The room began to shake. The Crystal turned from white to a deep, resonant violet.
The spirits of the Kings of Yore began to manifest around the room—spectral, armored figures with glowing eyes.
They didn't see Theodore as a savior; they saw him as an anomaly, a virus in their divine plan.
"Theodore, the Old Kings are taking physical form!"
9S warned.
"They're trying to disconnect me!"
Theodore looked at the spectral warriors. These were the ancestors Noctis revered, but here, in the cold heart of Gralea, they were nothing but echoes of a cruel destiny.
"Sorry, Your Majesties,"
Theodore said, shifting his grip on the Carian blade.
"But the King of this era is going to live to see his wedding."
Theodore engaged the Mystic Knight of the Crystal, a spectral warrior wielding a massive shield. Theodore didn't go for a head-on collision.
He used Wind Walk to slide beneath the shield, his palm striking the spectral armor.
"Mana Burst: High Frequency!"
The explosion of raw mana at such close range disrupted the spectral form, causing the King to flicker like a bad hologram.
Theodore followed up with a flurry of strikes, his DEX 2 (low as it was) being compensated for by his AGI 10 speed and INT 10 tactical scanning.
The throne room was a cyclone of blue mana, black shadow, and golden sparks. In the center, 9S was a pillar of stability, his fingers moving so fast they were a blur.
"Theodore! The Crystal is fighting back! It's trying to pull Ardyn in!"
9S yelled.
"The Starscourge in him is like a magnet to the Crystal's core!"
Ardyn let out a choked laugh, his knees buckling as the black veins on his face began to glow with a sickly purple light.
"It seems... my 'salvation' is a bit more stubborn than you anticipated, dear boy."
Theodore looked from the Crystal to Ardyn. He had a choice. He could finish the extraction and let the Crystal take Ardyn as its final fuel, or he could use his own body as a conduit to bridge the gap.
"Ardyn, grab my hand!"
Theodore commanded, sprinting toward the Chancellor.
"Are you mad?"
Ardyn hissed.
"I am the plague itself!"
"I have Gamer's Body!"
Theodore retorted, grabbing Ardyn's arm with a grip like iron.
"My stats don't care about your virus! 9S, bridge the Hub connection THROUGH ME! Use my MP as the filter!"
[Skill Activated: Gamer's Body - Status Immunity Overdrive]
[MP Consumption: 50 per second]
Theodore felt a cold, oily sensation wash over him—the Starscourge trying to infect his system. But the System responded instantly.
[Warning: Malicious Data Detected]
[Gamer's Body is neutralizing 'Starscourge'...]
[Result: Converted to EXP]
Theodore's eyes widened. The very thing that had destroyed Eos was being processed by his System as "content."
"9S! It's working! Pull it all out! Clear the man, clear the world!"
A blinding flash of white light consumed the throne room. It wasn't the explosion of a bomb, but the sound of a billion voices suddenly going silent.
When the light faded, the Crystal was no longer glowing. It was a dull, clear quartz, its divine power spent.
The Daemons in the room had vanished, leaving nothing but dust.
9S fell backward, his Pod smoking and his eyes dim.
"Extraction... complete. The Starscourge... archived. The Crystal... is just a rock now."
Theodore stood in the center of the room, his clothes tattered and his MP bar flashing red at a single digit. Beside him, Ardyn Izunia lay on the floor.
Ardyn looked at his hands. The black veins were gone. His skin was pale, but healthy. He looked... old.
Truly old, for the first time. He reached up and touched his face, his fingers trembling.
"I... I can feel my heart,"
Ardyn whispered, his voice cracking.
"It's slow. It's... beating like a clock that's finally running down."
"That's called 'mortality,' Ardyn,"
Theodore said, coughing as he sat down on the steps of the empty throne.
"Welcome to the club. It sucks, but the endings are much better."
The doors at the far end of the hall opened. Noctis, Ignis, and Gladiolus walked in, their weapons lowered.
They looked at the silent Crystal, then at the humanized Ardyn, and finally at Theodore.
Noctis walked up to the Crystal, touching the cold stone.
He didn't feel the pull of the Void.
He didn't feel the need to sleep for ten years. He turned to Theodore, his eyes wide with realization.
"It's over?"
Noctis asked.
"Just like that?"
"Not just like that, Noct,"
Theodore said, pointing to the Road Runner visible through the shattered doors in the courtyard.
"We did the hard part. Now you just have to go home and be a King. And maybe invite us to the wedding."
Theodore stood up, his Mana Recovery already starting the slow climb back to full. He looked at 9S, who was already busy repairing his Pod.
"9S, prepare the Road Runner. We have one last stop to make before we head back to the Hub."
"Where to, Boss?"
Theodore looked at the "Poor Dude" Ardyn, who was being helped up by a very confused but surprisingly gentle Gladiolus.
"We're going to pick up 2B and Luna,"
Theodore grinned.
"I think the King has waited long enough for his Queen."
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