The doorway of light collapsed behind them, leaving Metatron, Cyberius, and Jack standing once more in the familiar stone corridors of the Core Frontier. Dust swirled gently around their feet, stirred by the sudden cessation of the Core's energy pulses. Where the Inner Sanctum had been a crucible of glowing blueprints and silver filaments, the outer halls now seemed almost ordinary—save for the lingering hum that hinted the Core Heart still watched.
> "That… was insane," Jack said, rubbing his temples. "I mean, I've seen a lot in this game, but that? That wasn't just a trial. That was… a whole other world."
Cyberius smirked, twirling one revolver lazily. "And he handled it like it was nothing. Metatron… you just made the Core bend to you."
Metatron adjusted his visor, scanning the now-calm chamber, the familiar light from the spiraling glyphs no longer active. > "It's not about bending it," Blade said. "It's about learning its language, predicting its rhythm. The Core only reacts to intent and understanding."
Jack's mouth fell open. > "Learning its language? You mean you actually… talked to it?"
Blade shook his head slightly. > "Not like talking. More like… aligning my actions with what it expects and… what it can't predict."
The trio moved cautiously back down the corridors, stepping around cracks in the stone and faded glyphs that still glimmered faintly. The energy they had left behind in the Inner Sanctum seemed to pulse along the walls, like veins of light slowly dimming.
> "So what now?" Cyberius asked, looking over at Blade. "Do you just… go back to Stone Dragon City like nothing happened?"
> "Not like nothing happened," Blade said. "The Core Heart… it left a trace. I can feel it in the interface. In a way, it's like it's waiting for me to do something else, eventually."
Jack glanced at him, eyes sharp. > "You mean it didn't just test you. It… changed something."
Blade nodded. > "Exactly. Machine Monarch isn't just a hidden class. It's… legacy. Something players weren't supposed to have yet. And now… it's mine."
They stepped into a larger chamber beyond the hall, the fading Core light now replaced by normal bioluminescent stones embedded in the walls. A gentle hum lingered, almost like a heartbeat, reminding them of the power and knowledge they had just walked away from.
> "So… we actually failed the bounty, right?" Jack said, a hint of a wry grin forming. "We were supposed to take me down, and somehow we ended up friends."
Blade allowed a faint smirk. > "Yeah. Seems loyalty can beat contracts."
Cyberius chuckled, shaking his head. > "And now the two of you just cost the system a lot of… well, everything. Guess we'll see what happens next."
They paused at the exit of the Core Frontier. Outside, the familiar winds of the Rusted Pass greeted them. The trials inside the Core had changed Blade irreversibly. His understanding of machines, blueprints, and the flow of energy within the game world had grown beyond any known player. He could feel the weight of what he'd just become—Machine Monarch.
> "Stone Dragon City," Blade said, turning his gaze toward the horizon. "That's where we go next. And I have a feeling… this is only the beginning."
The trio stepped out, the fading glow of the Core Heart still lingering in Blade's visor. Every thought, every calculation, every construct he had built in the Core had left a mark. And somewhere, deep in the game's unseen network, the Core Heart was waiting—for what, only time would tell.