The Sovereign's claws glowed with script, its wings shredding the shelves around them. Its roar shook the hall like thunder.
And yet the hunters stood.
Not because of guild banners. Not because of orders. But because Elias Crowe willed it.
Pages flared across the battlefield, orbiting hunters like runes of light. Their strikes grew sharper, their shields stronger, their fear burned away.
> [Reader's Command Active.]
Every movement, every breath, fell into rhythm — the battlefield became a living page, and Elias was its reader.
---
A Crimson Fang warrior struck with newfound precision, his axe burying into a Patchwork Beast's neck. A Spirewatch scribe's barrier held, reinforced by glowing script. Even Elysian Dawn's golden flames burned steadier, woven into Elias's cadence.
The hunters gasped, realizing — they were stronger, not by their guilds, but by him.
Seraphine, blood dripping from her arm, whispered with a trembling smile: "You're scarier than the Authors themselves…"
Hale spat blood, forcing himself upright, his axe splintered. "Damn it, Crowe… I can't stop following your rhythm."
---
Caleb crouched low, scribbling furiously even as debris rained around him. His eyes widened with realization.
"The runes… they're indexes! Each one links to a discarded draft — that's where it's pulling power from!"
He scrambled to his feet, shouting hoarsely: "Elias! Cut the index glyphs — sever the drafts, and it can't rewrite itself!"
The Codex flared as though agreeing, pages glowing with fire.
Elias nodded once. "Good eye, Caleb."
---
The Sovereign roared, claws morphing into a massive greatsword. It lunged, blade crashing toward Elias.
Elias raised his Codex, pages blazing.
> [Manifestation: Guardian Army.]
Dozens of Guardians erupted, shields slamming against the Sovereign, blades piercing glowing glyphs along its body. Hunters fought in perfect rhythm, striking where Caleb pointed, their movements harmonized under Elias's command.
For the first time, the Sovereign faltered.
But it shrieked, wings burning with golden script.
> [Devour and Rewrite Activated.]
Its claws lunged, seizing Elias, trying to consume him into its script. Hunters screamed as his pages began to burn.
Lyra moved. She hurled her last barrier forward, violet light wrapping Elias, shielding him from the Sovereign's maw.
Her body collapsed, drained, but her voice rang. "Not him. Never him."
Elias looked at her, bloodied but steady. A faint smile touched his lips.
"Well read"
---
The Codex burst open, brighter than ever.
> [Annotation: Draft Source + Erasure → Null Page.]
Pages seared across the Sovereign's chest, carving runes into its core. Its index glyphs glowed — then shattered.
The beast convulsed, its regeneration failing, its limbs faltering.
"Now," Elias commanded.
Guardians struck as one, blades piercing its body. Hunters surged, their strikes tearing through weakened runes.
The Sovereign shrieked, its form unraveling into storms of broken script. Its wings dissolved, its claws turned to ash.
And with one final roar, it collapsed, the shelves trembling as silence fell.
---
The Sovereign was gone.
Hunters dropped their weapons, collapsing in exhaustion. Blood, sweat, and tears soaked the marble.
Caleb panted, clutching his notes. "He… he rewrote a god."
Lyra, trembling, forced herself upright, her violet eyes never leaving Elias. Her heart burned with something deeper than admiration — faith.
The guild leaders, broken and bloodied, could only stare. For the first time, they realized Elias Crowe was no longer someone they could use, control, or erase.
He was something greater.
Elias closed the Codex, its glow fading. His glasses cracked, his chest still bleeding, but his voice calm, steady.
"This," he said, his eyes burning with sharp light, "was only the first draft."