Location: Admin Layer 1 – Judgment Spire (Inner Sanctum)
---
The Chrono-Tyrant's Fang gleamed like a paradox. Its blade shimmered through timelines—half-present, half-forgotten. It pulsed in Aethan's grip, feeding on the concept of defeat and rewriting it into dominance.
Morthiel staggered back, her 36 swords twitching unnaturally.
"That blade is forged from... collapsed destinies. It shouldn't exist."
Aethan smirked. "Neither should I."
---
> [New System Triggered: Relic of Paradox-Class Tier]
Weapon: Chrono-Tyrant's Fang
Type: Unstable Reality Blade
Effects:
Nullifies admin-class time anchors
Shatters fate-bound protocols
Causes "Memory Erosion" to opponents
Passive: Victories of alternate selves bleed into current self (Stack Limit: ∞)
---
With one swing, the entire Admin Spire trembled.
Morthiel blocked with seven divine blades—five snapped instantly. The sixth liquefied. The seventh screamed as if it had a soul.
"You're disrupting the prime thread!" Morthiel hissed.
"Good," Aethan said, twisting reality.
Time froze—but only for everyone else. He moved through halted air, whispering into Vorthas's ear: "Even your system can't predict what was never meant to be written."
He stabbed the Fang downward—not into flesh, but into Vorthas's concept.
The Judge convulsed. His armor cracked. His body remained intact, but his authority...
---
> [System Alert: Admin Authority Node Severed]
Vorthas is now disconnected from Source Protocols.
Status: Mortalized for 6 minutes.
---
"Six minutes," Aethan whispered. "Plenty of time to teach a god how to bleed."
---
Combat Sequence Engaged
Morthiel recovered quickly, reforming her arsenal, now using Celestial Class Formulae. Each sword was bound by a concept: Hope, Judgement, Loyalty, Law, Duty.
"Let's see how long your stolen strength lasts."
She dove in, striking with divine speed.
Aethan met her blade-for-blade, his Fang unraveling the concepts behind her attacks. When Loyalty came, he turned it against her with twisted reflections of her own thoughts—whispers of Admin betrayal she had buried.
Her form faltered.
When Law struck, his blade bent it around him, transforming it into a law of his own:
> "Aethan Prime Shall Not Fall."
---
> [Skill Gained: Dominant Rewrite – Conceptual Reversal Lv. 1]
You can invert a singular conceptual attack once every 4 minutes.
Higher concepts may trigger backlash.
---
The battlefield shimmered. Code twisted into new formations, breaking old admin limits. The Spire began to fracture, split into mirrored layers, each reflecting a different version of the fight.
In one, Aethan was dead.
In another, he ruled the Admin Core.
And in the real one—
He smiled, calm as thunder.
---
But deep down, he felt it: The cost.
Every paradox cut he delivered fractured his body at a meta-level. His muscles screamed. His bones threatened collapse from overwritten strain. The Fang was not a tool—it was a deal with something worse than death.
But Elise's memory flashed again.
Her voice, her blood... the betrayal.
He couldn't afford weakness. Not here. Not now.
---
> [Soul Trait Activated: Devourer of Design]
For every broken system, gain 2.5% permanent resistance to control-based powers.
Current Stacks: 5
Total Resistance: 12.5%
---
Morthiel stopped, hovering in the air, her wings dimming.
"You… can't be allowed to leave this layer. Your existence is a malware that infects all timelines."
Aethan raised the Fang.
"Then quarantine me—if you can."
With one final slash, he tore open the Judgment Core—a sacred crystal where Administrator directives were written and locked.
A torrent of forbidden data flooded out—raw, pure, unfiltered truth. Visions of dead timelines, collapsed layers, erased gods. And in the center:
A chair.
A throne meant for the True Prime.
No one had claimed it.
No one could.
Until now.
---
Aethan walked into the core, blood dripping, the Fang dissolving in his hand, having served its purpose.
The throne recognized him instantly.
> [New System Interface Detected]
You have bypassed Admin Judgment.
Do you wish to claim Emergency Admin Override?
Benefits:
Temporary Admin Rights (Rank S)
Full Data Access across 4 Layers
Command Protocol Authority
Summon: Subsystem Wraith – Shade of Lost Gods
[Y/N]
---
He paused.
Claiming it would make him a target for all active Admins. A declaration of war. A signature on his death certificate.
But power like this… was the only way to rewrite Elise's fate.
"Y."
---
> [Emergency Admin Override Accepted]
Welcome, Temporary Administrator – Aethan Prime
Title Acquired: The Defiant Code
Admin Aura Activated. All Layer Entities must acknowledge presence.
First Command?
---
He looked toward the sky—if it could be called that—and whispered:
"Erase the lock on the True Memory Gate."
The system protested.
Protocols screamed.
But they obeyed.
And somewhere, far across the layers, in a vault sealed by thirteen lost gods, a memory flickered.
A girl.
Silver hair.
Red ribbon.
And a tearful smile that never should've faded.
---
To Be Continued…
Next Chapter 13: Vault of the Forgotten – Elise.exe Reboot