The Watcher Class hung in the sky — a mechanical eye the size of a fortress, its surface crawling with shifting Sovereign script.
Its gaze pinned Kael to the Watchtower's edge, a weight that made his bones ache.
Below, Veera and the Ashbound Veteran stood ready, weapons glinting in the dim blue of Null Province.
The envoy from Rekh backed away, cloak fluttering, eyes wide with fear.
Kael's screen blared:
[SYSTEM AUDITOR: THREAD CORRUPTION ASSESSMENT]
[SOVEREIGN KAEL DRAVEN: 48% INSTABILITY]
[OBJECTIVE: STABILIZE OR TERMINATE]
[CORE STABILIZER: 72% COMPLETE — 4 HOURS REMAINING]
The Auditor's voice boomed — not through sound, but through the system itself.
Cold. Unyielding:
"SOVEREIGN KAEL DRAVEN, YOUR LAWS BREACH PROTOCOL.SUBMIT TO RESET, OR FACE EXCISION."
Veera shouted from below,
"Kael, don't engage it! It's not a fight — it's a judgment!"
Kael ignored her.
His eyes locked on the Lawcraft Interface.
The new slot pulsed.
The Ash Throne's whisper coiled in his mind:
They cannot bind what they cannot see.
His fingers hovered over the input.
[INSTINCTIVE REWRITE: LAW DETECTION ACTIVE]
[AUDITOR'S DIRECTIVE: SYSTEM LOCK — PREVENTS LAW ACTIVATION]
[OVERRIDE CHANCE: 12% WITH FIRST SOVEREIGN THREAD]
Kael's lips curled.
"You think you can lock me out of my own game?"
He typed:
"No force, system or otherwise, shall judge my will within my land."
[LAW SUBMISSION: REJECTED]
[THREAD INSTABILITY: 52%]
[FIRST SOVEREIGN THREAD: OVERRIDE ATTEMPT INITIATED]
The sky fractured.
Blue veins of code splintered around the Auditor.
Its eye pulsed red — and a beam of light seared the ground beside Kael, vaporizing a chunk of the Watchtower.
He dove, rolling as stone shattered behind him.
[WARNING: AUDITOR COMBAT MODE ENGAGED]
[COMBAT CLASS: TIER S]
[RECOMMENDATION: FLEE]
Veera sprinted up the tower's remains, spear glowing.
"You're going to get us killed!"
she snapped — but her stance shifted to guard him.
The Ashbound Veteran charged the beam, obsidian blade deflecting a stray pulse.
[LAW #2 TRIGGERED: RETRIBUTION]
A fire pulse erupted, striking the Auditor's edge — but it barely flickered.
Kael stood, blood trickling from a cut on his brow.
"I don't flee," he said. "I rewrite."
He slammed the interface again, channeling the First Sovereign Thread.
The override percentage climbed:
15%... 20%... 28%...The Auditor's eye wavered, its script glitching.
[LAW ACCEPTED: LAW OF DEFIANCE]
(System-based entities lose 25% authority within territory.Friendly units gain +10% resilience.)
The Auditor's beam weakened — its light stuttering.
Veera's spear struck true, carving a gash into its casing.
The Veteran followed, blade sinking into a crack in the hull.
The eye shuddered, then retreated — surging skyward.
[AUDITOR STATUS: WITHDRAWN FOR REASSESSMENT]
[LAW OF THE FIRST SOVEREIGN: 5/10]
[REWARD: CODE FRAGMENT (EPIC)]
Kael collapsed, panting.
The envoy, still at the trench's edge, spoke softly:"Rekh was right. You're not just a Sovereign. You're a glitch."
Veera glared at him."Talk fast. What does Rekh want?"
"Virel's preparing a Nexus Breach," the envoy said.
"A weapon to tear territories apart. Join us — or Null Province falls."
The Ash Throne pulsed.
Its whisper sharper now:
Write what breaks them all.
[CORE STABILIZER: COMPLETE]
[SYSTEM AUDIT RISK: -10%]
Kael stared at the Code Fragment in his inventory, its light pulsing with untapped power.The system wasn't done with him.Neither was Virel.
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[END OF CHAPTER 11]
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