The Core Nexus glowed like a dying star.
Behind Rael, the system orphan collapsed into a glowing cocoon. Agent 7 raised her weapon toward the rift behind them, guarding what little safety they had left.
But Rael saw none of it.
His eyes locked with Revenant's.
And the weight of a thousand forgotten lives pressed against his chest.
> "You remembered it all?" Rael said softly.
Revenant nodded. "Every death. Every overwritten failure. Every lie they fed us while they called it peace."
> "Then why destroy everything?"
Revenant raised his blade—shaped like a splintered crown, coded with cursed algorithms.
> "Because there's nothing left to save."
---
📍 [DUEL COMMENCED]
Rael moved first. The wind around him howled, glitching.
> [Memory Core Unlocked: Iteration Zero — Original Skill Restored]
[Skill: Codebreaker Blade Art – First Form: Memory Sever]
His sword struck like lightning laced with sorrow.
Revenant parried, spinning midair, sending a shockwave that cracked the walls of the Nexus. The floor beneath them shattered into floating platforms.
They danced above the void now.
Each clash of metal was a burst of ancient memory. Snippets of the life Rael had given up: marching with rebels, carrying a child through fire, sealing away the truth.
> "You made the deal," Revenant growled mid-strike. "You chose to forget us!"
> "I chose to give the world a chance to heal!" Rael roared.
> "Then you failed."
---
📍 Round Two – No System Rules
Revenant deactivated all system permissions.
> [SYSTEM AUTHORITY: NULLIFIED]
[Manual Override Combat – Engaged]
No skills. No assists. Just raw memory. Pure instinct.
And Rael… smiled.
> "Good."
He tossed aside his sword—and created another.
This one pulsed with blue fire—a blade from the old world.
> "Let's end this like we were meant to."
---
📍 Final Exchange – Blade to Blade
Blow after blow, neither yielding. Revenant fought with rage, with pain, with the scars of betrayal. Rael fought with guilt, resolve, and the burden of a second chance.
Time blurred. Platforms crumbled beneath their feet. Sparks of raw code streamed like blood.
Revenant launched his finishing move.
> [Forbidden Skill – Collapse Cascade: Chain Erasure]
A ring of black code shot toward Rael.
But Rael didn't dodge.
He stepped forward.
And whispered—
> "I remember the vow."
A burst of light exploded from his chest.
> [Legacy Skill Recovered – Oath of the Broken Flame]
> [Binding Memory: For every world lost, one blade shall rise.]
His sword split into seven.
And struck.
---
📍 Aftermath
Revenant crashed into the wall of the Nexus. Sparks poured from his chest. His code bled.
Rael stood above him, blade dimming.
> "You can't win this war alone," Rael said. "And neither can I."
Revenant coughed blood. Glitched.
> "You… were always stronger than me."
A pause.
> "But they'll come now. You've shaken the Core."
> "They'll all come."
He vanished in a burst of black light.
---
📍 Final Scene – The Cocoon
Rael collapsed to one knee.
The boy's cocoon cracked open.
From inside… he stepped out. Not a child anymore.
But something else.
His voice echoed across the Nexus.
> "The final collapse has begun."
> [SYSTEM FAILSAFE: REAPER CLASS ENTITIES – DEPLOYED]
[TIME UNTIL REBOOT: 72 HOURS]
---