Location: The Thorne Estate – The Glass Crater
The dust from the Glitched Tribulation had settled, leaving behind a silence so absolute it felt like the world was holding its breath.
Where the West Pavilion once stood, there was now a perfect, smooth crater of fused obsidian glass, a hundred meters wide. In the center stood Aris, dressed in robes woven from solidified shadow, his new Nascent Soul aura retracted but heavy, like the gravity of a neutron star.
General Thorne stood at the edge of the crater. The man who had once terrified Aris with a glance now looked at his son with the eyes of a prey animal facing a predator.
"Level 50..." the General whispered, his voice trembling. "You reached the Realm of Generals in... in less than a month?"
Aris didn't answer. He was busy looking at the beast sitting at his feet.
Nox had changed.
The cute, cat-like hatchling was gone. The sleek shadow-hound was gone. In their place sat the Eclipse Hound.
Nox was now the size of a warhorse. His fur wasn't fur; it was a coat of writhing, semi-solid smoke that seemed to absorb all ambient light. Two pairs of violet eyes—four total—glowed on his face, giving him a spider-like, alien visage. A collar of bone-white spikes (the calcified remains of the Sun-Lion) circled his neck.
"System," Aris commanded. "Display Companion Status."
[Abyssal Companion Analysis]
* Name: Nox
* Race: Eclipse Hound (Void-Born Variant)
* Level: 48 (Late-Stage Core Formation Equivalent)
* Loyalty: Absolute (Soul-Linked)
[Attributes]
* Physical Power: S-Rank (Can tear through Spirit-Steel with jaws).
* Speed: SS-Rank (Teleportation within shadows).
* Durability: A-Rank (Physical body is semi-corporeal; takes 50% less damage from physical attacks).
[Active Abilities]
* Void Maw: Nox can unhinge his jaw to consume energy attacks or physical matter up to 3x his body mass.
* Eclipse Howl (New): Emits a sonic frequency that cancels all "Light" or "Fire" based arts within 500 meters and inflicts [Fear] on enemies under Level 40.
* Shadow-Clone: Nox can split into three smaller "Shadow Hounds" for tactical flanking.
[Passive Traits]
* Light-Eater: Nox regenerates Health/Stamina rapidly when exposed to sunlight or holy magic.
* Inventory Keeper: Can store up to 10,000 kg of non-living matter in his shadow-stomach.
Aris nodded, satisfied. "You're finally a proper tank, Nox."
Nox let out a low rumble that vibrated in Aris's chest, rubbing his massive, smoky head against Aris's hand.
"Master Alchemist!"
A frantic shout broke the moment. An Imperial Messenger, riding a sweating griffon, landed near the crater. He scrambled off the beast, falling to his knees.
"Urgent news from the borders! The Iron-Thunder Empire and the Frost-Blood Kingdom... they have mobilized! Their armies are crossing the River of Wailing!"
Aris looked up, his violet eyes narrowing. "They smelled the blood."
The fall of the Heavenly Sword Sect had created a power vacuum. The neighboring empires knew the Qin Emperor was weak. They were coming to carve up the carcass.
"Go," Aris said to the messenger. "Tell the Emperor to assemble the War Council. I will be there shortly."
The War Room
The Imperial Strategy Room was a chamber of grim faces.
A massive tactical map of the continent floated in the center of the table, created by light-formations. The Great Qin Empire was highlighted in gold, but red arrows were piercing its borders from the North and East.
Emperor Qin Long sat at the head of the table. He looked better than before—the Abyssal pills were giving him a dark, youthful vitality—but his eyes were manic. He was a junkie king, powerful but unstable.
General Thorne stood to his right. Opposite them were the Three Grand Marshals of the Qin Army, men who commanded the Northern, Southern, and Eastern legions.
"We are outnumbered," Marshal Wu, a scar-faced veteran, slammed his fist on the table. "The Iron-Thunder Empire has deployed their 'Thunder-Walker' Golems. Our walls cannot withstand that kind of bombardment. And the Frost-Blood Kingdom... their necromancers are raising our own dead against us!"
"We must sue for peace," another Marshal suggested weakly. "Offer them territory. Buy time."
"Cowardice!" The Emperor hissed, his Abyssal Qi flaring purple. "I am the Son of Heaven! I will not kneel!"
"But Your Majesty," Marshal Wu argued, "We lost the Heavenly Sword Sect! We have no air superiority! If we fight, we lose the capital in two weeks!"
Creak.
The heavy iron doors of the War Room groaned open.
"Two weeks?" a calm, deep voice echoed. "You give them too much credit."
Aris walked in. He wasn't wearing armor. He wore his midnight robes and the porcelain mask. Nox stalked behind him, his massive size forcing the Marshals to back away in terror.
"Who is this?!" Marshal Wu demanded, reaching for his sword. "Guards! Remove this—"
"Sit down, Wu," General Thorne snapped, his face pale. "This is... the Pale Alchemist."
The room went silent. The legend of the man who slaughtered the Sect and "cured" the Emperor was known to all of them.
Aris walked to the floating map. He looked at the red arrows.
[Strategic Analysis: Active]
[Enemy Force: 500,000 Units.]
[Key Threats: 3x Nascent Soul Generals, 1x Dao Integration Ancestor (Rumored).]
[Win Probability (Standard Tactics): 12%.]
"Marshal Wu is right," Aris said, tracing the border with a gloved finger. "If you fight them like soldiers, you will lose. Their Golems are stronger than your walls. Their Necromancers are more efficient than your healers."
He looked up, the blank mask staring at the gathered generals.
"Stop thinking like heroes defending a homeland. Start thinking like a virus infecting a host."
"What... what are you proposing?" the Emperor asked.
"The Iron-Thunder Empire relies on Golems," Aris said. "Golems run on Spirit Cores. Who supplies 80% of the continent's low-grade cores?"
"We do," General Thorne answered. "The Western Mines."
"Exactly," Aris said. "I want a shipment of cores prepared immediately. Mark them as 'Surrender Tribute' to the Iron-Thunder General."
"You want to give them supplies?!" Marshal Wu was outraged. "That's treason!"
"Not supplies," Aris corrected. "Trojan Horses."
He tapped the table.
"I will use my Alchemy to infuse those cores with 'Volatile Void-Rot'. It won't detonate immediately. It will wait until the Golems are fully charged in the middle of their own camp. Then... boom."
Aris turned to the Northern border on the map.
"As for the Frost-Blood Kingdom... they like undead? Good. I have a specialist for that."
He pointed to Lin Chen, who stepped out of the shadows in the corner of the room. The Shadow-Knight was clad in new black armor, Solstice strapped to his back.
"Lin Chen will lead a strike team of Black Jade Guards behind enemy lines," Aris ordered. "His objective is not to kill their soldiers. It is to find their 'Corpse-Lords' and infect them with the Abyssal Code. If I can control their Necromancers, I control their army."
The room was silent. The strategy was ruthless, underhanded, and completely devoid of honor.
It was perfect.
"General Thorne," Aris said, turning to his father. "You will lead the main defense at the River of Wailing. Your job is not to win. It is to hold their attention. Be the bait."
The General gritted his teeth, his pride stinging, but he nodded. "As you command."
The New Threat
Suddenly, the air in the War Room turned cold. Not the cold of winter, but the cold of a grave.
Aris's Abyssal Eye flashed red.
[Warning: Cosmic Anomaly Detected.]
[Source: The Heavenly Dao.]
[Location: High Orbit.]
[Entity Type: Celestial Agent.]
The windows of the palace rattled. A beam of white light struck the balcony outside.
When the light faded, a figure stood there.
It was a woman. She floated inches off the ground. She wore armor made of white light, and her eyes were blank, glowing orbs of silver. She held a spear that looked like a shard of a star.
She didn't look at the Emperor. She didn't look at the army. She looked directly at Aris.
[Target Identification: The Agent of Balance]
[Level: 60 (Nascent Soul - Peak)]
[Mission: Delete The Glitch.]
"Aris Thorne," the woman spoke. Her voice sounded like a chorus of a thousand bells. "You have violated the narrative of this world. You have stolen the destiny of a Hero. You have corrupted the World Tree."
She raised her spear.
"The Heavens have sentenced you to Erasure."
Aris sighed. He stepped out onto the balcony, Nox growling at his side, his four eyes locked on the angel-like figure.
"I wondered when the Admins would send a Moderator," Aris said, cracking his neck. The Black Sun (his Nascent Soul manifestation) began to rise behind him, turning the day into twilight.
"But you're late," Aris smiled beneath his mask. "I'm not just a Glitch anymore."
He drew the Key to the Underworld from his inventory.
"I'm the Developer."
[Abyssal Nexus: End of Chapter Status]
Host: Aris Thorne
Level: 50
Status: Combat Mode Initiated.
[New Quest: The War for Reality]
Objective 1: Defeat the Celestial Agent.
Objective 2: Execute the 'Trojan Golem' plan against the Iron-Thunder Empire.
Objective 3: Seize control of the Frost-Blood Undead.
Reward: Access to the 'Server Room' (The Core of the World Tree).