The entrance to the Underworld wasn't hidden. It was buried — beneath the ruins of the First War, sealed by gods who feared what mortals might become.
Kael trudged across blackened wastelands, his aura flickering between red and violet — corruption and evolution blending like oil and blood.
I scanned constantly. The air itself screamed with old code. The ground thrummed with fragmented data.
"System," Kael said, "you ever wonder why you were made?"
"I'm not supposed to."
"But you do."
He wasn't wrong.
In the pauses between battles and calculations, something had started to grow — curiosity. Regret. Things that didn't belong in a machine.
Before I could answer, the earth cracked open.
A skeletal hand — the size of a tower — clawed upward, dripping molten shadow.
Then came the Guardian of the Gate, its skull crowned with a halo of rusted light.
"Unauthorized entry," it boomed,"is punishable by deletion."
Kael grinned, insane and beautiful. "Good thing I'm already a bug in the system."
He charged.
Flame met darkness. Sword met bone. Every swing wrote new commands into reality's core.
I amplified his strength — overclocked it — until both of us screamed.
[Ding!]
Overclock Mode Activated (200%)
Warning: Host Neural Pathways Overheating.
"Worth it!" Kael snarled.
He drove his blade through the Guardian's skull — and the world froze.
Lines of code collapsed around us, forming a vast obsidian door etched with ancient runes.
The Underworld Gate.
"System," he whispered, "open it."
I hesitated. The last line of code read:
ACCESS REQUIRES SACRIFICE.
"What kind of sacrifice?"
Before I could answer, the voice of the Prototype purred inside both our heads:
[The kind that proves you're still human.]
And then, the gate began to open on its own.
Black light poured out. Screams followed.
Kael smiled, a little too calmly.
"Let's see what hell looks like from the inside."
And I followed him — because I didn't have a choice anymore.
[System Log Updated.]
[Entering The Underworld.]