Chapter 4: The First Hero, and the Sword of Silence
> [SYSTEM ALERT: SUBJECT ZERO ACTIVE]
[CODE CLASS: EXILED PROTOTYPE – PRE-SYSTEM ENTITY]
[LEVEL: ???]
[SYSTEM ACCESS: NONE]
[RECOGNITION: DENIED BY ALL RECORDS]
[WARNING: ENTITY CANNOT BE LOGGED]
His steps echoed across the shattered citadel.
I had fought archangels, slain gods, corrupted systems, and torn apart realities.
But this?
This was different.
The First Hero — a name lost to time, a man born before the System itself. Before quest logs, classes, resurrection, and experience points. A warrior forged not by rules, but by war alone.
And he stared at me with eyes devoid of past, future, or mercy.
The wind itself stopped.
> [CORRUPTION LEVEL: 12%]
[WARNING: INTERFACE STABILITY COMPROMISED]
[YOU ARE NOW BEYOND KNOWN PLAYABLE CLASS TREES]
[NEW STATUS UNLOCKED: CHAOS ENTITY – UNCLASSIFIED]
"Name yourself," I demanded, my voice laced with demonic power, shaking the throne hall.
The man in white didn't answer.
Instead, he drew his sword.
It made no sound.
No flare. No hum. No holy radiance.
Just silence.
> [WEAPON IDENTIFIED: SWORD OF NULL – "OBLIVIA"]
[EFFECT: ERASES EXISTENCE IT STRIKES. BYPASSES LIFE, DEATH, SYSTEM.]
[DANGER LEVEL: EXTINCTION]
And still, I laughed.
"You walk into my world — into my citadel — wielding a blade the gods buried for fear of its power?"
He took one step forward.
I unleashed a blast of hellfire that melted cities in my past life.
He slashed once.
It vanished.
Not blocked. Not deflected.
Erased.
> [ERROR: ABILITY 'INFERNAL STORM' CANNOT BE LOGGED. ACTION REMOVED.]
[SYSTEM WARNING: LOGIC THREADS DETACHED. UNKNOWN ENTITY IN CONTROL.]
"…So be it."
I summoned my claws, wings unfurled, and leapt toward him — faster than thought, powered by rage, rebirth, and corruption.
He met me in midair with one slash.
And I fell.
Crashing through obsidian, through voidstone, through layers of ancient wards.
Bleeding.
He stood above.
No expression. No emotion.
Not even satisfaction.
> [HEALTH: 57%]
[BLEEDING: TRUE DAMAGE (NON-HEALABLE)]
[SOUL-INTEGRITY: SLIPPAGE DETECTED – 3% CORRUPTION LOST]
This… was no hero.
This was a weapon.
Designed to erase things that should never be.
---
In the war-council chamber far below, the generals screamed orders.
Demonic warlords gathered entire armies. Dragons rose from flame-pits. Titans stirred in the underworld.
But the First Hero moved with steps slower than time — one strike every ten heartbeats.
That was all he needed.
Because every strike erased something forever.
A general. A wall. A skyward beast.
Gone.
No soul. No remains. No log. No error.
Just null.
> [NOTICE: ENTITY REMAINS UNTARGETABLE. CORRUPTION EFFECTS: FAILED.]
[TACTICAL RECOMMENDATION: RETREAT.]
[NOTE: NO SYSTEM CAN COMMAND THIS ENTITY.]
I rose again.
Torn. Furious.
Laughing.
This was why they erased him.
This was why they sealed him in Seraphiel's deepest vault.
Even the gods feared what they made first.
But I was not afraid.
I was Aether Valen. I was Xal'thar. I was a god denied and a king reborn.
And I still had one card left.
> [SKILL ACTIVATED: 'SOUL SPLIT – DEMONIC ASCENSION']
[SECOND SOUL LAYER UNLOCKED: ABYSS-FORM]
[TEMPORARY POWER SURGE: +1500%]
[LIFESPAN REDUCTION: 10 YEARS PER MINUTE USED]
My body tore itself apart and rebuilt in fire.
Six wings.
Twelve eyes.
A tail formed from pure shadow.
The corrupted system screamed as my form exceeded the world's definition of "living."
> [WARNING: YOU HAVE EXCEEDED MORTAL FRAMEWORK]
[YOU ARE NOW A THREAT TO REALITY ITSELF]
[ENEMY STATUS UPDATED: CHAOS VS. OBLIVION]
The First Hero looked up.
He spoke.
One word.
"Die."
The air shattered.
---
Our next clash ruptured the continent.
Entire cities fell.
Celestial realms above quaked.
The gods, watching from their high thrones beyond the system's reach, turned their eyes away.
Not out of mercy.
But out of fear.
---
For every second I fought him, I lost something.
A fragment of memory.
A moment of myself.
But so did he.
I saw it in the cracks forming in his armor. The flicker behind his dead eyes. The faint hitch in his breath.
He was a sword, yes.
But swords dull with time.
And I was not forged to break.
> [BATTLE STATUS: 17% – STALEMATE]
[WARNING: REALITY THREADS UNSTABLE IN ZONE 999]
[CALCULATING OUTCOME: 54% CHANCE OF TOTAL PLANE COLLAPSE]
I grinned.
"If you win, the world dies with me."
He didn't hesitate.
He slashed.
I bled again.
And still I smiled.
Because somewhere — far away — a presence stirred.
Not divine. Not corrupted.
Something else.
---
In the southern ruins of an ancient fallen temple, the girl from before — the silver-haired warrior with golden eyes — opened her hand.
A seal glowed on her palm.
A name.
Mine.
> [LINK INITIATED: AETHER VALEN – CODE-SOUL SIGNATURE]
[PROJECT ECLIPSE UNLOCKED]
[EXILED BINDING: DUAL SOUL FUSION – STAGE ONE READY]
She rose, dressed in light forged from fallen stars.
And whispered into the wind:
"I'm coming for you."
---
Back on the battlefield, I felt it.
A tether.
A spark.
Hope?
No. Not hope.
Power.
A second player had entered the game.
And this time, the gods wouldn't be able to erase either of us.
---
End of Chapter 4