The Reboot Fragment spun in the air, casting out three shimmering server keys:
OMEGA SERVER.
SILVER GRID.
NEON HAVEN.
Its light filled the Ghost Mausoleum, as if the entire VR-verse was breathing in unison.
Suddenly, the neon sky split open.
Dozens of standard Hunters poured down first. Then he came—
The Elite Hunter, Terminator.
His obsidian body gleamed, crimson core throbbing like the heart of a giant. Twelve holographic blades spun around him like a wheel of death.
[TERMINATION ORDER: RETRIEVE FRAGMENT. ERASE ALL HOSTILES.]
Yuuki stepped forward, whip trembling with power.
"Corporate thinks they can steal this from me? Let's see them try."
Yuto'o, body 90% fractured, gripped his blade tight.
"I… won't let the Fragment go. If I fade, then let it be here."
Grim barked a bloody laugh, serrated helm dripping data.
"Hahaha! Good! If we're dying, then let it be with corporate blood in our teeth!"
The Terminator struck first. Twelve red blades fell like a storm.
Yuuki leapt high, whip spinning, shattering a wave of strikes. Orbis conjured a violet barrier, absorbing the initial blast.
Yuto'o warped sideways, glitch spear forming in his hand.
[GLITCH SPEAR + WARP COMBO]
He hurled the spear → warped to it → slashed through a standard Hunter's core. Two shattered instantly.
But the Terminator drove straight for him, twelve blades rotating in sync.
BOOOOM!
Yuto'o was hurled back, his body breaking further, blood-data spraying.
"Aghhh… I can't—"
Yuuki intercepted, glitch scythe flashing.
"PHANTOM STRIKE!"
Her swing split the Terminator's chestplate, a deep crack tearing open. But the monster remained standing—its blades slammed her into the coded wall.
KRANNNGG!
Blood-data spilled from her lips as she slid down.
Grim roared, blade glowing black.
"DARK TOOTH—WITH ME!"
The surviving Dark Tooth gang hurled themselves into the storm, holding the Terminator's blades back with their own bodies. One by one, they blinked out in screams of erased data—but it was enough.
Grim soared, driving his weapon deep.
Another crack spread across the core. Its crimson light flared brighter.
The Elite Hunter howled.
[ADAPTIVE CORE – 70%]
[OVERCLOCK BURST – CHARGING]
Scarlet aura erupted, shaking the mausoleum. The failed Ghosts chained to the walls wailed louder, as if screaming with it.
Orbis paled. "If it releases that burst—we're all gone!"
Yuuki pushed herself up, eyes blazing.
"Then we gamble. I'll use MAX Override."
Her body erupted in violet fire, whip fracturing into a thousand neon blades. She glanced at Yuto'o with a crooked grin.
"Boy. Hold the Fragment. If I fade, at least the path goes on."
Yuto'o staggered to his feet, blood-data dripping, Fragment glowing in his hand. His eyes burned blue-red.
"I won't let you fade. We fight together!"
His body detonated in raw glitch light.
[POSSESSION LEVEL 3 – UNSTABLE]
A colossal Guardian rose from the coded floor, blazing in his colors. It charged the Terminator with a roar.
Yuuki's thousand-blade whip carved arcs of violet fire. Grim hacked with black fury. Yuto'o warped in bursts, Guardians hammering from every side.
BOOOOOOMMMM!
The mausoleum erupted, neon-blue-violet shockwaves ripping ancient symbols from the walls.
When the glitch-smoke cleared, Yuto'o still clutched the Fragment.
The Terminator knelt, its crimson core cracked wide—yet still pulsing.
Its eyes lit up again.
[REBOOT COORDINATE LOCKED – DATA COPIED]
Yuuki's face hardened. "…Damn it. Corporate already knows the path."
Yuto'o's broken body shook, but his grip only tightened on the Fragment.
"I don't care… even if the whole world knows. I'll get there first."
Above, the mausoleum sky shattered into countless rifts.
Through them poured the light of a thousand more Hunters.
The true war had begun.