The moment Leo stepped through the glowing gateway of the Forgotten Nexus, his vision blurred into streaks of spiraling light. The laws of reality unraveled around him. Gravity twisted in spirals, space folded inward, and time became a flickering flame that burned both forward and backward. He wasn't falling or flying. He was becoming.
When he blinked again, he stood on a platform suspended in endless void—neither sky nor ground. It was a place that defied dimensions. The stars here pulsed like hearts, and lines of ancient runes danced across invisible walls. His system flared to life.
[You have entered: Realm of Transcendence – Initiation Sequence Triggered]Warning: This area is outside the influence of causality. Standard abilities are nullified. Only inner truth remains.
Leo tried to summon his Interface, but nothing appeared. Even the comforting presence of Ascension Protocol was gone. He felt… exposed.
Then, from the swirling mist, a voice echoed—deep, genderless, omnipresent.
"Prove thy essence."
Three orbs of pure energy floated down before him. They spun in sync, forming a triangular array. The air grew heavy with pressure as if judgment itself weighed down on his soul.
The voice boomed again.
"What do you fear, Leo Kael?"
He opened his mouth but no words came. Then, his surroundings shifted violently.
Suddenly, Leo stood back in the slums of Neo-Tokara. The smells of rust, oil, and desperation clung to the air. Children cried. His younger self—barely eight years old—crouched beside a dying mother, bleeding from a wound she couldn't afford to treat.
Leo's fists clenched.
"I fear… being powerless," he growled. "To watch and not be able to change anything."
The world fractured again.
This time, he stood atop a battlefield. His guild—Ascension Vanguard—lay broken and lifeless. Kara, Eizen, even Rune… dead. Blood soaked the stone floor.
A monstrous version of himself stood over their corpses, eyes blazing with crimson corruption, whispering: "You'll become me… eventually."
Leo's body shook. "I fear losing myself to the system… to power. Becoming what I swore to fight."
The final shift came like a heartbeat.
Leo now stood in a mirrored room, but each reflection showed a different version of him—one where he'd never awakened, one where he became a tyrant, one where he gave up early… and one where he ascended too fast, consumed by hubris.
He turned slowly. The voice asked again:
"And what do you desire, Leo Kael?"
He stared at the mirror that showed his current self—battle-scarred, growing stronger, but still not enough.
"I desire… to break the cycle. To ascend not for myself, but for the world. For those who can't. I want to tear down the rules that bind this universe to suffering."
The moment the words left his lips, the mirrors shattered into stardust.
A heartbeat later, the three orbs fused into a radiant humanoid figure—its body composed of shifting code, starlight, and runic energy. Its eyes were galaxies, ancient and watching.
It stepped forward, placing its palm over Leo's chest.
[Truth Registered. Echo of Will Synchronized.][Transcendence Path Unlocked: Architect of Realities]
Leo felt a surge like never before. Power didn't just flow into him—it rewrote him. His cells, spirit, and even his fate changed at a fundamental level.
[You have awakened a Unique Transcendent Class: CODEWEAVER – Architect of Realities]— Subclass Tree Unlocked— Ability Fusion Enabled— Reality Threads Interface Online
The radiant figure spoke at last:
"You are now a Weaver, one who can alter the fabric of existence. But with such power comes consequence. Will you use it to heal… or to rule?"
Leo answered with no hesitation. "I'll use it to set everyone free."
The Nexus dissolved. He was no longer standing in the void.
He was back in the Obsidian Citadel, yet… it was subtly different. Kara rushed toward him with panic in her eyes.
"Leo! You've been frozen for two hours! We couldn't reach you. Are you—"
"I'm alright," he said, eyes glowing faintly with golden script. "No… I'm better than alright."
Rune stepped forward, squinting. "Your presence… it changed. You smell like paradox and potential."
"Good nose," Leo muttered with a grin.
[Ascension Protocol Interface Restored][Synchronization Level: 93%][WARNING: Reality Modifiers at your current stage will draw attention from Overseers]
Kara tilted her head. "Overseers?"
Before Leo could answer, a rift in the sky cracked open.
From it, a being descended—armored in flowing metal robes, faceless, holding a staff of compressed singularity.
A system alert blared.
[Dimensional Overseer: Harbinger Jzrael – Tier: ???][Status: ALERTED TO CODEWEAVER ASCENSION]
Leo stepped forward, eyes glowing brighter than before.
The Harbinger floated in silence, then finally spoke in a language that bent the air.
"Protocol breach detected. Class deviation unauthorized. Timeline integrity at risk. CODEWEAVER will be isolated."
Kara drew her sword. Rune summoned void hounds. Even Eizen prepared to burn his own soul for an attack.
But Leo lifted a hand. "Stand down. This one's mine."
He blinked—and teleported.
Instantly, he stood before the Overseer, who raised its staff. But Leo, now linked to Reality Threads, reached through code itself, ripping the command mid-execution.
[Overseer's Causality Lock – DISRUPTED][Temporal Loop Nullified]
Jzrael's emotionless voice cracked. "How did you—?"
Leo's voice thundered. "Because I'm not playing by your rules anymore."
He extended his hand—and the threads of reality bent to his will. Not just to attack, but to rewrite.
[Ability: Rewrite Node – Fragmentation: Gravity Reversal, Dimensional Delay, System Echo][Execution: Custom Sequence Initialized]
The Overseer flinched. In a storm of fractal light, its form destabilized.
But just before Leo could finish the strike, a second crack opened above them.
This one... was wider.
And from within stepped a figure cloaked in flame and shadow, eyes burning like twin supernovae. Unlike the Overseer, this one radiated emotion—anger, fear, amusement.
[Unknown Entity Detected – Origin: BEYOND THE WALL][Identity: ??? (Redacted)][Intent: OBSERVATION… INTERFERENCE PENDING]
The figure grinned.
"So the Weaver rises at last. This cycle may be more… entertaining than the last."
Then, he vanished.
The Overseer, broken and confused, retreated into the void—shimmering into static.
Leo exhaled slowly.
The others approached, cautious.
"What… was that?" Kara whispered.
Leo turned, his eyes now holding entire galaxies.
"A warning," he said. "We've stirred something far older than the system. And this was only the beginning."