The Server Rack convulsed, spewing sparks and alarms into the circular Crypt. The tired, ancient voice of the Silent King boomed in Kael's mind: "The Watchers are sealing the breach! Go! Take the knowledge! Take the… the truth!"
Kael snatched the glowing Data Shard from the Assassin's magnetized hand. He didn't have time to process the system data flooding his mind; he had to escape. He scrambled toward the shattered crystalline wall and the unstable Teleportation Gate beyond it.
But the Assassin was no longer a mere guard; it was the execution of a system mandate. It recovered from the EMP blast and moved with devastating speed, ignoring the dying Server Rack.
"The Anomaly will be eliminated now," the synthesized voice declared, devoid of static, cold and final.
Kael turned, lifting the goblin club uselessly as the Assassin closed the gap. This time, there was no conveniently falling tree, no rogue updraft, and no panicked insect. There was only the Assassin's black short blade, driven with terrifying force directly into Kael's solar plexus.
Kael didn't even have time to scream. The hit was solid, deep, and fatal.
He saw the blade emerge from his back, covered in bright, synthetic-looking blood. The pain was absolute, overwhelming. His vision tunneled into a blinding white spot, and the only sound was the King's desperate mental scream.
— Elimination Critical Success! (Direct Fatal Intervention) —
Kael's 100% Critical Chance had been fulfilled—but the desired result was the Cartographers' goal, not his. They had mandated his elimination, and the world had delivered.
He collapsed, the Data Shard slipping from his grasp. His vision faded, but his mind, hyper-aware due to his anomaly, registered the final, frantic maneuver of his luck: it forced his dying body to twist, ensuring he fell directly onto the Server Rack, his wound positioned over the crack in the crystalline containment unit.
Kael's blood, hot and charged with the Certainty Anomaly's chaotic energy, spilled out and flowed down the polished metal, seeping into the crack and mixing with the viscous, amber fluid that encased the skeletal, regal form of Subject 001: Core World Regulator.
The moment the blood—the essence of the glitch—contacted the regulator fluid, the Server Rack shrieked. The Silent King's voice, now a triumphant roar of static and pure data, filled Kael's dying consciousness: "VOW BROKEN! THE CORE IS OVERWRITTEN! THE ANOMALY LIVES!"
Kael's mind was scoured clean by the energy surge. He felt the life drain from him, but in its place, a colossal surge of data—all the King's memories, secrets, and system knowledge—forced its way into the void where Kael's self once resided.
The Assassin didn't notice the secondary anomaly. It saw the body still, the blood spread, and the life essence extinguished.
"Elimination protocol complete," the Assassin reported clinically, picking up the discarded Data Shard. It glanced at the convulsing Server Rack, decided the self-destruction was sufficient, and glided away through the fissure, believing the threat, The Certainty Anomaly, was finally gone.
Kael awoke with a gasp, but the sound was muted. He wasn't dead. He wasn't even injured. He lay on cold stone, his body perfectly intact, his tunic clean. The only sign of his recent death was a searing, phantom ache in his chest and a profound understanding of network architecture burning in his mind.
He sat up. He wasn't in the Archives.
He was in a massive, ancient chamber carved from black volcanic stone. Flickering candlelight barely pushed back the oppressive gloom, illuminating huge, gnarled pillars wrapped in dark ceremonial cloth. The air smelled of incense, dry earth, and immense age.
And he was not alone.
Around him, thirty figures, cloaked in heavy, dark robes and wearing blank, expressionless ceramic masks, were kneeling. They formed a perfect circle around a massive, intricately carved altar upon which Kael had apparently been lying.
As Kael sat up, one of the robed figures, clearly the leader due to the staff of gnarled wood he carried, prostrated himself fully.
"Silence!" the leader intoned, his voice rough with tears and reverence. "The Vow is lifted! The prayer is answered! The King returns!"
The entire cult erupted in a low, unified chant, their heads bowed deep in the shadows.
Kael stared at them. He reached up, touching his face. No mask. But he was wearing a fresh, dark tunic—a garment that looked like high-quality, mid-game mage gear, completely replacing his ragged clothes.
The resurrection was successful. I'm safe. I'm hidden.
He looked down at his hands. He was no longer Kael, the terrified gamer. His Level 2 was gone, overwritten by a new identity in the system.
[STATUS: OVERWRITTEN]
Kael (Lv ??? / The Certainty Anomaly)
Designation: The Silent King (Core Regulator Proxy)
Core Skill: PREDATOR'S DESTINY (Critical Chance: 100%)
Passive Skill: STRUCTURAL INTUITION (Active)
New Passive: WORLD KNOWLEDGE (Lv 1) – Basic access to archived system data.
His death had been a successful data transfer. His consciousness was now the kernel running on the old King's server, and this cult, dedicated to the ancient truth, saw him as the result of their faith. He was no longer a glitch to be deleted; he was the deity of the counter-faction.
The leader, still prostrated, spoke again, his voice trembling. "We have waited a thousand years, Your Majesty. Your loyal subjects, The Ascended of the Void, are yours to command. The Cartographers have defiled your temple, but we, your hidden hand, are ready to obey. Your Vow of Silence is our burden. We await your word."
The robed figures lowered their heads further, their loyalty absolute, their faith blinding.
Kael slowly got to his feet. He had a base, a faction, and all the system knowledge of the Core Regulator flooding his mind. The Assassin and the Cartographers believed him dead, their objective complete. He had a clean slate.
He looked down at his loyal, masked followers—the only people in this world who wouldn't try to kill him. His destiny had been rewritten not by luck, but by death, and the price was his old identity.
He opened his mouth to speak, and the words that came out were not his own, but the low, authoritative resonance of the resurrected Silent King.
"The Cartographers..." Kael began, his voice echoing in the chamber with ancient, chilling authority. "...They seek to reset this world. We will not allow it."
He raised his hand, and the very air in the chamber seemed to coalesce into golden motes of data, resolving themselves into spinning dice and tarot cards, swirling violently around his palm. The ultimate symbol of his chaotic, world-bending power, now controlled by the will of a king.
"Your first task is simple," Kael commanded, his eyes burning with cold resolve. "Prepare a journey. We move on the Capital City of Aerthos. The war begins where their rules are strongest."
Kael has now accepted his new identity and role as the leader of the Ascended of the Void. He has gained powerful system knowledge and a dedicated, hidden army.