I had all five.
The Soul Fragment pulsed in my hand, a warm, rhythmic thrumming that synced perfectly with my own heartbeat. It wasn't jagged like the Space Fragment or heavy like the Physics one. It felt... soft. Like holding a handful of solid light.
"Your Majesty, please," the Captain of the Guard urged, trying to lift King Aethelred from the dais. "We have to move. The tunnels are this way."
The King resisted, his frail hands gripping the arms of the throne—the throne I had just vandalized. He looked at the hole in the headrest where the gem used to be.
"It stopped," the King whispered, his voice sounding hollow. "The singing. It finally stopped."
I paused, looking at the old man. "Singing?"
"For forty years," Aethelred wheezed, looking at me with cloudy, terrified eyes. "That chair has whispered to me. Told me who to trust. Who to execute. It told me to build the wall. It told me to ignore the rot in the lower districts."
He slumped against the Captain, looking suddenly smaller, like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
"I thought it was the wisdom of the Ancients," he murmured, a tear cutting through the soot on his cheek. "It was just... a rock?"
"It was a program," I said quietly, pocketing the white gem. "And it's been running on a loop for too long. Go, Your Majesty. Rest. You don't have to listen anymore."
The Captain nodded to me—a sharp, military gesture of respect—and hauled the King toward the secret passage behind a tapestry. The nobles scrambled after them like rats fleeing a sinking ship.
The room emptied. Silence fell, heavy and suffocating, broken only by the distant CLANG of metal on metal from the Great Hall.
"Five minutes," I muttered, checking the clock in my head. Valen wasn't the type to be late. "I've burned two."
I sprinted for the door.
I didn't integrate the Soul Fragment yet. My body was still vibrating from the Space Warp, and my mental stability was hovering around 60%. If I jammed a fifth piece of the Source Code into my nervous system right now, I'd probably stroke out before I reached the door.
I burst back into the Great Hall.
The situation had deteriorated.
General Vargus was a wrecking ball. The furniture I had seen earlier was now kindling. The stone floor was cratered.
Kaelen was the only one still engaging him directly. The Prototype clashed against the massive dragon-bone axe, sparks showering the room. But Kaelen was being pushed back. Every blow from Vargus shook Kaelen's entire frame.
"Weak!" Vargus roared, swinging the axe in a wide, lethal arc. "You rely on magic to strengthen your arms! Without it, you are just a boy with a heavy stick!"
Kaelen blocked, but the force drove him to one knee. The stone cracked beneath him.
"Cian! Support!" I yelled, sliding into the room.
"I can't!" Cian shouted from behind an overturned banquet table. "He's too fast! If I use a gravity well, I'll catch Kaelen!"
Ria was clinging to a chandelier above Vargus, looking for an opening. Her face was pale—the healing spell on her ribs was holding, but the acrobatics were tearing her apart.
"Drop on him, Ria!" I ordered. "Aim for the helmet seam!"
Ria let go. She fell silently, Phase Blades leading.
Vargus didn't look up. He just swung his backhand.
WHAM.
His armored gauntlet caught Ria mid-air. It wasn't a solid hit, but it was enough to swat her away like a fly. She crashed into a tapestry, sliding down to the floor.
"Ria!" Tybalt screamed. He popped up from behind a sofa and threw a rock. A literal rock. It bounced off Vargus's helmet with a pathetic tink.
Vargus turned his head slowly. He looked at Tybalt.
"Annoying," Vargus grunted.
He raised the axe. Green poison dripped from the blade, sizzling on the stone. He prepared to throw it.
Tybalt froze. He was a baker, not a dodger.
"NO!" Kaelen roared, trying to stand, but Vargus kicked him in the chest, pinning him down.
I was sixty feet away. Too far to tackle him. Too far to pull Tybalt.
But not too far for physics.
I reached into my Inventory.
[Item Select: The Rusty Bucket's Anchor]
I had grabbed it as a souvenir/weapon before we left the sub. It was a hundred pounds of rusted iron on a heavy chain.
I didn't throw it at Vargus. I didn't have the strength.
I threw it into the air, directly above my own head.
[Skill: Space Warp (Object Only)]
[Input: Heavy Anchor]
[Output Coordinates: 2 feet above Vargus's head]
[Velocity: Maintain]
A blue portal opened above me, swallowing the anchor.
Another portal opened instantly above General Vargus.
Gravity took over.
CRUNCH.
The anchor dropped out of the portal and slammed onto Vargus's helmet.
The General crumpled. The axe flew out of his hand, skittering across the floor away from Tybalt.
"Headshot," I panted, my mana dipping.
Kaelen scrambled out from under the stunned giant. He didn't waste the opening. He didn't go for a stab; armor that thick would break his sword. He went for the joints.
He swung The Prototype like a baseball bat at the back of Vargus's knee.
CRACK.
Vargus roared, falling onto his face. The armor held, but the knee inside didn't.
"Hold him down!" I shouted, running forward.
"With what?" Cian yelled. "He's huge!"
"With everything!"
Cian cast Gravity Press.
Tybalt cast Earth Shackles, fusing the stone floor around Vargus's limbs.
Lysandra, who had been guarding the rear door, ran up and jammed her sword into the gap of his shoulder plate, channeling Paralyze.
Vargus thrashed. He was strong enough to break the stone, strong enough to fight the gravity. He started to push himself up, shaking the entire room.
"He's getting up!" Ria gasped, clutching her side.
I reached Vargus. I jumped onto his back.
"Get off, rat!" Vargus snarled, trying to reach back and grab me.
I placed my hand—the one with the quill tattoo—directly onto his dragon-bone helmet.
"Integration," I whispered.
I didn't integrate a crystal. I integrated him. Or rather, I tried to edit his properties.
[Narrative Overlay: Active]
[Target: General Vargus]
[Attribute: Weight]
[Edit: Increase by 1000%]
My vision blurred. Blood trickled from my nose. Changing the properties of a living, high-level boss was excruciating.
"Be... heavy," I gritted out.
Vargus's eyes widened behind his visor.
SLAM.
His face smashed into the floor. The stone beneath him pulverized. He tried to lift his arm, but it slammed back down as if it weighed a ton.
"What... did you... do?" Vargus wheezed, his lungs struggling to expand against the weight of his own chest plate.
"I messed with your stats," I said, sliding off his back before I passed out. "You're grounded."
I looked at Kaelen. "Is he secure?"
"He's not moving," Kaelen said, staring at the flattened General. "Ren, you turned him into a statue."
"Temporary," I wiped my nose. "It lasts maybe ten minutes. We need to go. Valen's timer is—"
BOOM.
The stained glass windows of the Great Hall shattered inward.
A cold wind swept through the room, extinguishing the fires.
Valen floated through the broken window. He looked bored. He checked an imaginary watch on his wrist.
"Five minutes exactly," Valen said. "And look at this. You cleaned up my mess."
He floated over to Vargus, who was pinned to the floor by his own mass. Valen looked down at his General with mild distaste.
"Defeated by a gravity glitch," Valen sighed. "Pathetic. I gave you that armor specifically to counter magic, Vargus. You let them hack the physics engine."
"My Lord..." Vargus choked out. "Help..."
Valen raised a hand.
"You failed," Valen said.
He snapped his fingers.
Vargus didn't get lighter. He got heavier.
CRUNCH.
The floor gave way completely. Vargus fell through the stone, plunging into the basement levels of the palace with a scream that was cut short by the sound of crushing masonry.
Silence.
We all took a step back. He just killed his own commander because he was annoyed.
Valen turned to me.
"So," he said, smiling pleasantly. "You found the Soul. I felt it vanish from the network."
He held out his hand.
"Give me the fragments, Ren. All five. And I will let you pick the genre of the next world. Sci-fi? Romance? You look like a romance guy."
I stepped forward, putting myself between Valen and my team.
"You want them?" I asked. "Come and get them."
"Ren, don't," Lysandra whispered. "He's too strong."
"I know," I said.
I looked at the Inventory window floating in my vision.
I had five fragments.
Mind (Integrated - Level 1)
Physics (Integrated - Level 1)
Time (Integrated - Level 1)
Space (Integrated - Level 1)
Soul (Loose Item)
If I gave them to him, he wins. Game over.
If I fought him... we lose. He's Level 99.
Unless...
I looked at the Soul Fragment in my pocket.
The Soul controls the connection.
"Kaelen," I said, not looking back. "Do you trust me?"
"Always," Kaelen said without hesitation.
"Ria? Cian? Tybalt? Lysandra?"
"We're with you," Ria said, drawing her daggers.
"Good."
I pulled the Soul Fragment out.
Valen's eyes lit up. "Finally."
He lunged.
I didn't throw it at him. I didn't swallow it.
I threw it at Kaelen.
"Catch!" I yelled.
Valen stopped, confused. "What?"
Kaelen caught the white gem.
"Integrate it!" I screamed.
"Me?" Kaelen looked shocked. "Ren, I don't know how!"
"You're the Hero!" I shouted. "It's your story! Claim it!"
Valen realized what was happening. His face twisted into pure fury.
"NO!"
He fired a blast of red lightning at Kaelen.
Kaelen didn't have time to think. He just reacted. He clutched the gem to his chest and screamed.
The gem didn't just glow. It exploded.
A shockwave of white light blasted outward. It hit Valen's red lightning and shattered it. It hit the walls of the palace and stabilized them. It hit us, and it felt like a warm bath.
Kaelen floated up into the air. His dark aura—the purple Abyss—mixed with the white light of the Soul.
Grey.
His mana turned a perfect, balanced Grey.
[Narrative Event: The Awakening.]
[Character 'Kaelen' has transcended his archetype.]
[Class Change: The Grey Knight.]
Kaelen opened his eyes. They weren't purple anymore. One was purple, one was gold.
He looked at Valen.
"Get out of my house," Kaelen said.
He swung The Prototype.
He didn't touch Valen. He cut the space between them.
A rift opened in the air. A tear in the fabric of the simulation.
Valen looked at the rift, then at Kaelen. For the first time, he looked... concerned.
"You gave the Admin privileges to an NPC?" Valen hissed at me. "You ruined the save file!"
"I distributed the load," I said, grinning through the pain in my head. "It's multiplayer now."
Valen looked at the rift, which was starting to pull at his cloak.
"Fine," Valen said. "You want to play the endgame? Let's go to the endgame."
He raised both hands.
The airship above us—docked on the roof—began to glow.
"I'm initiating the Server Wipe," Valen said calmly. "The Northern Wastes. The Source. I'll actuate the final spell there. If you want to stop me... try to keep up."
He flew up, through the hole in the ceiling, boarding his ship.
The ship's engines roared. It detached from the palace, crushing a tower as it turned. It sped off toward the North, leaving a sonic boom in its wake.
Kaelen landed softly on the floor. The light faded, but his eyes remained changed.
He looked at the sword in his hand. It wasn't rusty anymore. It was permanently transformed—half black metal, half white crystal.
"He's going to the North," Lysandra said, watching the ship disappear. "The Wastes. That's where the Magic began."
"And that's where it ends," I said.
I looked at my hand. The quill tattoo was fading. I had given away the Soul. I was weaker now.
But Kaelen was stronger.
"We have to follow him," Kaelen said. "But we don't have a ship. And The Rusty Bucket is toast."
"We don't need a ship," Cian said, looking out the broken window at the courtyard below.
"We have them."
We looked.
Standing in the courtyard, surrounded by confused Royal Guards, were the Night-Mares. The flaming horses we had stolen from Garret. They hadn't been returned. They had followed us. Or rather, they had followed Kaelen's mana scent.
"They like you," Ria noted.
"We ride," I said. "To the North."
[Arc 4: The Fall of Aethelgard - COMPLETE]
[Arc 5: The Edge of the World - BEGINNING]
"Hey Ren," Tybalt asked quietly as we walked toward the stairs. "If Kaelen is the Admin now... does that mean he can spawn muffins?"
"Let's ask him later, Ty," I said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Let's ask him later."