Dugan did it. He was the one who managed to open a portal—tearing through the Dome's barrier from the outside and stepping inside.
A soldier threw Alex to the ground with force, but his focus had already shifted to Dugan. Without hesitation, he called for reinforcements. The entire Dome roared with alarm.
"K. L is inside the Dome. Repeat, K. L is inside the Dome! Emergency situation! Repeat, emergency situation! Reinforcements required!"
The wailing sirens cut through the air. Responding to the urgent call, additional troops rushed to the battlefield, their footsteps merging with the mechanical hum of the Dome's defense systems.
Dugan didn't hesitate. His body surged with Nexus energy, crackling like a storm barely contained. He took a firm stance, gathering power, and then punched the air with full force. The impact sent a sharp whistle through the battlefield as bolts of lightning erupted from his fist. The electric arcs shot across the distance, striking soldiers before they could react. Their bodies convulsed under the sudden shock, the scent of ozone filling the air.
The soldiers kept coming. More and more flooded the battlefield, taking positions on the streets, rooftops, and every possible vantage point. The Dome trembled with the weight of their presence, and yet the night was anything but dark—blazing light poured from the massive tear left behind by "The Blade of K. L.", a technique that had pierced straight through the barrier.
The battle escalated. Blows clashed, energy flared, and the air thickened with the scent of dust, metal, and ozone.
Dugan's Nexus grew stronger, more visible with each moment. His power was no longer hidden—amber seals began forming across his skin, glowing faintly yet relentlessly. They pulsed in sync with his breath, as if alive, ready to unleash a force no one had ever witnessed before.
Alex watched it all unfold, and his eyes filled with tears. He saw the chaos he had unleashed—battles raging, the Dome tearing apart, the city consumed by conflict.
All of this… for a piece of Gor's shares.
A bitter laugh threatened to escape his throat, but self-loathing choked it down.
Still dazed, he barely registered the moment when one of the Gor's soldiers grabbed him by the collar. With unnatural force, the soldier dragged him through the corridors of the Dome's main facility, past the blaring alarms, past the rushing soldiers stomping across metal floors, past glowing terminals flashing emergency warnings.
No one even looked at him.
Then, without warning, the soldier shoved him into a white room.
Empty. Completely empty.
The door clicked shut behind him, locking him inside.
Fear.
Confusion.
Guilt.
Alex slowly sank to the floor, palms pressing against the cold surface. His whole body trembled, though he wasn't sure if it was from anger, terror, or the unbearable realization that he had led himself to this moment.
"I thought I was just playing a game."
"I thought I had found a loophole."
"I thought I could outsmart the system."
But he hadn't been playing. He hadn't outsmarted anything.
He had destroyed.
The scene shifts to Dugan.
The battle rages on. Explosions tear through the streets, the air hums with charged energy, and the screams of soldiers blend into the deafening roar of collapsing buildings. Dugan moves like lightning itself—fast, unpredictable, relentless.
And the fight doesn't stop.
It spills onto the rooftops. Metal groans beneath their feet, tiles shatter and fall, but Dugan doesn't slow down. They keep coming.
Kim, for some reason, stays with him.
He could have run, could have disappeared into the chaos, but he doesn't. Instead, he covers Dugan, using bizarre, almost playful tactics from his "Whimsical World" techniques—throwing objects in unexpected directions, creating false illusions, disrupting the soldiers' vision. He's not an attacker. He's support. But his presence allows Dugan to fight at full force.
Dugan focuses, feeling Nexus coursing through him. He clenches his fists, electricity crackling around his body. Then—lightning shots. Controlled with telekinetic precision, they rip through armor, short out weapons, and paralyze enemies before they can even react.
But the soldiers aren't unprepared.
They deploy weapons designed specifically against K. L. Not just energy shields, not just reinforced armor—they know who they're fighting.
They came prepared.
And now Dugan must decide—push forward or find another way.
As soon as Dugan opened the portal where Alex was, Kayav and Jayar immediately logged out. They knew they wouldn't survive this battle.
Jayar watched the chaos from his apartment window. Explosions lit up the sky, the dome trembled under the force of the fight. Even through the screen, he could feel the world they once called home falling apart.
Kayav, standing deep in the forest, observed everything. Leaves rustled, trees stood like dark silhouettes against the blood-red sky. He had nowhere to run. Nothing to say. He didn't know what to do.
Then, his phone rang.
"Felix?" Kayav's fingers trembled as he answered the call.
"Tell me what is happening?!" Felix's voice was sharp, angry, but beneath the anger, there was fear. — How did it come to this?!
Kayav stayed silent.
"Why is Dugan destroying our home?!" Felix was practically yelling. "And why the hell is Kim helping him?!"
Kayav swallowed hard. He had no answer.
Felix added Jayar to the call.
"Well? Say something," Felix snapped.
"I'll say this—Kim's a sellout bastard," Jayar scoffed. "Dugan has a ridiculous amount of Kanteeegan, and Kim took the bait."
"That's bullshit," Felix refused to believe it. "Kim wouldn't"
"Yeah? Then where is he?" Jayar cut him off. "Right next to Dugan, helping him tear the Dome apart!"
Felix clenched his teeth, a growing unease spreading in his chest.
"What about Alex?"
"They dragged him into the Dome's main building," Jayar answered.
"Oh, come on."
A tense silence settled between them.
"What do we do?" Kayav finally asked.
Felix had no idea.
"I could ask the Gor for help," Jayar suddenly suggested.
Felix let out a dry chuckle, irritation lacing his voice:
"After we betrayed them? They won't lift a damn finger for us."
Kayav finally snapped out of his shock and spoke up:
"Then we play a different game. We become double agents."
"What?" Felix and Jayar said at the same time.
"Dugan trusts us. And through Kim, we can get even closer," Kayav explained quickly. "Let them think we're on their side. When the time is right, we strike."
Felix fell silent, thinking. Jayar grimaced but didn't argue.
"Unless you two have a better idea?" Kayav asked quietly.
No one answered.
Alex lay on the cold floor, struggling to gather his thoughts. For a moment, warmth filled his mind. Memories flooded in—bright flashes of happiness, rare moments of joy, faces he once held dear.
Then… nothing.
The warmth faded into an icy void. His mind became clean, sterile—like a blank sheet of paper. No past, no emotions, not even a sense of self. Alex no longer knew who he was, what he had been, or what he wanted.
The door in front of him slowly creaked open.
Stepping inside was a figure he recognized instantly—his in-game character. But it was no longer just pixels and code. It was alive.
The figure moved closer. Shadows swallowed him whole. In the next moment, Alex was gone—his mind, his body, his existence consumed entirely.
Only a new entity remained.
A part of the Gor.
The battle continued to escalate with each passing moment. Soldiers attacked Dugan from all directions, utilizing aerial devices and specialized weapons designed to eliminate individuals like him. They had the numerical advantage, and their strikes were becoming increasingly deadly. But despite the overwhelming threat, Kim remained by his side, providing support. He used energy shields to protect Dugan, constantly buffing his strength, and skillfully picking off soldiers with headshots wherever they tried to hide. Yet, the sheer number of enemies was so vast that it felt like only a matter of time before the tide turned.
At that moment, on top of one of the buildings, appeared Alex. He was no longer the same person Dugan knew. This was a different Alex—one completely transformed. He stood on the rooftop, his eyes glowing with newfound resolve. With a wave of his hand, creatures began to materialize around him—beings that could assume any form, transforming into unimaginable horrors. These creatures were not ordinary werewolves, but something far more dangerous—entities capable of adapting and turning into anything that could give them an advantage.
To be continued