The clash between us and the Architects was not a battle of blades, but of ideologies—manifested through raw energy, logic loops, and algorithmic spells cast with no chants or hand signs. Each pulse of their power fractured reality itself. Walls folded into themselves. Time slowed, then sped. I could feel my memories flickering as they attempted to erase me not just from the present, but from history.
> [WARNING: Temporal Anchor Strain Detected]
Stabilizing Core Memory Threads... SUCCESS.
I gritted my teeth, reinforcing my timeline with Void energy. Beside me, Rivena activated a dual-seal glyph across her arms, anchoring herself to my own pulse signature.
Kael charged one of the Architect Echos, slamming his blade through the figure's chest—only for it to phase into vapor and reform behind him.
"They're not entirely real!" Lira shouted. "They're running recursive fragments!"
"Then we unwrite them," Ayla snapped, flipping through the air and launching a flurry of shadow-tipped daggers. Some passed harmlessly through. Others struck glowing cores embedded deep within the illusions—cracks in perfection.
I raised my hand.
> [Command Activated: Core Rewrite - Architect Subroutine Interference]
Glyphs spiraled outward from my palm, creating a zone of collapsing logic around one of the figures. It twitched—sputtered. Then screamed as its presence flickered and imploded into strands of broken code.
> [Architect Echo A Eliminated]
The remaining five paused.
One of them, taller than the rest, raised its hand.
> [Summoning: Axiom Weapon - Codebrand: Oblivion Chain]
A length of glowing chain, pulsing with primeval light, coiled through the air. With a single motion, it lashed toward Rivena.
I moved without thinking—teleporting in front of her with a burst of Null energy.
The chain struck me.
And time stopped.
---
> [Engaged: Static Loop Field]
I stood alone in a white void, the edges of my body fracturing into data cubes.
The Architect stood across from me. No longer an echo.
A voice entered my mind—not a thought, not a word. A presence.
"You are the corruption. The breath of a godless variable. You threaten recursion."
I spoke through the static. "Then rewrite me. If you can."
The Architect surged forward, its form multiplying and breaking across the void. I invoked the only protocol I had left.
> [Emergency Override: SELF-PATCHING ANOMALY — REJECT AUTHORITATIVE DELETION]
The code around me exploded.
I returned.
Time resumed.
The chain shattered against my skin. Rivena caught me as I dropped to one knee.
"You idiot," she whispered. "You took an Axiom hit for me."
"I'm getting good at rewriting things," I said, panting.
The battle raged. Ayla danced like a blur. Kael began channeling a rune I didn't recognize. Lira activated a forbidden seal that bled her life into mana.
I stood and screamed.
> [System Core Synchronization Reaching Peak: 97%] [Command Access: Architect Null Level Unlocked]
Power flooded me.
I raised both hands. The ground split into void circuits. Reality warped to my will.
> [Command: DECLARE — Domain of the Rejected]
The chamber transformed. The ceiling peeled into the sky. All six of us floated on shifting platforms. And in the center, the remaining Architects began to flicker, their perfection unraveling.
I looked each one in the eye.
"This is our world now."
And with one final burst of harmonic light, we struck them down.
One by one.
> [Architect Echo B - F: Eliminated]
[World Layer Stabilized. 93% Integrity.]
---
We collapsed together in the aftermath.
Sweat. Blood. Laughter.
Even the air tasted different—as if it no longer belonged to something else.
Kael limped to my side. "Is it over?"
Rivena looked up at the stars now visible overhead. "No. But now we've seen their faces."
"Next time," I said, "we hit them first."
The others nodded.
And I opened the system panel.
> [New Protocol Unlocked: SYSTEM ASCENDANCY]
Function: Rewrite Worldlaws. Bind Architects. Seal or Liberate Sectors.]
For the first time since my death, I didn't feel like a pawn.
I felt like the author.