POV: SEO-JUN — THE EXECUTIONER
(SYSTEM STATUS: RITUAL IN PROGRESS / SYNCHRONY: 65%.)
The moment we touched the terminal, the void vanished. I was in a rain-slicked alleyway in Ha-joon's body. I felt the hunger in his stomach, the cold rain soaking through a thin shirt. This was his 99th life.
I saw the Executioner approaching—a sadist named Kael. I felt the blade enter Ha-joon's leg, the slow, agonizing twist of steel. I felt the way Ha-joon's heart beat faster, craving the pain because it was the only thing that felt real.
"Please," I heard Ha-joon's voice coming from my own throat. "Make it hurt."
It was a nightmare of pure sensation. Simultaneously, I knew Ha-joon was in my first memory, holding the Deletion-Blade over that child glitch.
(WARNING: EMOTIONAL OVERLOAD. BOND FRACTURE RISK.)
The ritual wanted us to hate each other. It wanted me to see him as a victim and for him to see me as the monster. But I didn't pull away. In the vision, as Kael raised the final blade to Ha-joon's throat, I manifested my own will inside the memory. I grabbed the blade.
"No one touches him," I roared. "Not even a memory."
In my memory, Ha-joon refused to let me swing the sword. He shielded the child anomaly with his own soul-form.
The memories shattered.
We were back in the cathedral, gasping for air. The bond was a solid, unbreakable cord of black and violet light.
(SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: SYNCHRONY 100%.)
(NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: VOID ARCHITECT — RANK SSS.)
I looked at him. I saw the tears in his eyes, and he saw the cracks in my armor. We were the monster he'd been waiting for, and he was the glitch I'd been looking for.
I raised my hand, and the ruins shifted. The grey grass turned to violet velvet. The shattered glass became obsidian. We were building a palace for our madness.
But the terminal wasn't finished.
[WARNING: PURGE FLEET ETA — 48 HOURS.]
[FINAL REQUIREMENT: SACRIFICE ONE SOUL OR CONSUME BOTH.]
The terminal glowed with white light. "Choose, Executioner. To create a world, someone must pay the price."
______
POV: HA-JOON — THE REGRESSOR]
(STATUS: PARADOX PROTOCOL / SYNCHRONY OVERLOAD.)
Sacrifice one soul or consume both.
The Terminal was a cold bitch. It wanted me to delete Seo-jun or for him to delete me.
"I'm not doing it," Seo-jun said. He wasn't even looking at the screen. He was looking at the horizon.
A fleet of thousands of silver-and-gold ships was emerging from the white mist. The Purge Fleet. The Order wasn't taking chances with an SSS-rank traitor.
"Seo-jun, look at the choice," I said, my voice shaking. "One of us can live."
"No," he growled. He grabbed me, his fingers bruising my arms. "I've spent an eternity deleting things for a 'Better Reality.' I'm done. If they want this world, they have to take it from my dead hands."
The fleet opened fire. Beams of pure deletion-energy rained down on our island.
We stood on the balcony of our palace. Seo-jun lashed out with his whip, tearing ships from the sky. I stood beside him, reflecting every beam of energy back at the fleet. The 'Echo Pain' was shattering the fabric of the dimension.
"Ha-joon!" Seo-jun screamed. "Push the bond! Give me everything! Don't hold back a single drop of your pain!"
I understood. We weren't choosing the Terminal's options. We were making a paradox.
I ripped open my [REBOOT FRACTURES]. I flooded the bond with 99 lives of hatred. Seo-jun met me halfway with a thousand years of possessive rage.
(SYSTEM WARNING: SYNCHRONY 200%. ERROR.)
(SYSTEM: PARADOX ENTITY STABILIZED. TITLE: [VOID CONSUMERS]. NEW OBJECTIVE: REDEFINE REALITY OR BE ERASED. WARNING: INTERNAL CONFLICT DETECTED.)
The world went white. Then violet. Then black.
The Fleet was erased. The white void was swallowed by a new, dark energy.
When the light faded, I couldn't feel my hands. I looked at Seo-jun, and I realized I wasn't looking at him. I was looking through him.
Our bodies had merged. One entity of black lightning and violet shadow. Two minds, one shared heartbeat.
The Terminal was silent. The Order was gone.
We raised our shared hand. The void obeyed.
"We are the bug that ate the Executioner," our dual voice echoed. "And now the universe has to kneel… or burn with us."