Location: Deep Beneath the Imperial Palace – The World Tree Chamber
The air in the chamber was no longer breathable for normal humans. It was so saturated with Abyssal Qi that it condensed into violet droplets on the silver bark of the World Tree.
The Root, once a beacon of pure white light, now pulsed with a rhythmic, dark purple vein system. It looked like a corrupted hard drive, humming with data it wasn't designed to process.
Aris stood before the massive trunk. He was dressed in his Void-Weave Robes, the Wings of the Moderator folded invisibly against his back.
Behind him stood General Thorne and Emperor Qin Long. Both men were sweating, their cultivation suppressed by the sheer density of the atmosphere.
"Master Alchemist," the Emperor whispered, his voice trembling. "The scrolls... they say the Underworld is not a place for the living. It is a prison. If you open that door, what will come out?"
"Resources," Aris answered simply.
He didn't turn around. He held up the Key to the Underworld—the rusted, cold iron key given to him by the Dying God.
"The Iron-Thunder Empire gave me metal," Aris explained, his Abyssal Eye scanning the key's intricate runic structure. "The Frost-Blood Kingdom gave me corpses. But to fight the Heavens? I need Souls. High-quality, ancient souls that have been marinating in resentment for thousands of years."
The Connection Protocol
Aris stepped forward. He didn't just shove the key into the wood. That was how a barbarian used a key. Aris was a technician.
"System," he commanded. "Analyze Key Frequency."
[Analyzing Item: Key to the Underworld]
[Frequency: Necrotic / Entropy.]
[Target Port: World Tree Core - Layer 7.]
[Warning: Establishing a bridge between the 'Server of the Living' and the 'Server of the Dead' will cause massive latency in reality. Prepare for spatial tremors.]
"Stabilize with the Palace Drain," Aris ordered.
He pressed the Key against the bark of the World Tree. The wood didn't chip; it rippled like water. The Key sank into the tree, merging with it.
HUMMMMM.
A sound like a jet engine starting up filled the room. The ground shook—not just the room, but the entire capital city above them.
[System Notification: Bridge Established.]
[Downloading 'Underworld' Asset Package...]
[Reality Integrity: 85%... 70%... 50%.]
The air in front of the World Tree began to tear. It wasn't a clean cut. It looked like someone was burning a hole through a photograph. The edges of reality curled and blackened, revealing a grey, swirling void on the other side.
The temperature plummeted to absolute zero. Frost instantly coated the Emperor's eyebrows.
"It is done," Aris said, stepping back.
The Firewall
But the gate didn't just open to an empty field.
From the swirling grey void, a massive, armored foot stepped out. It crushed the stone floor of the chamber, sending spiderweb cracks racing toward the General.
Then came a shield—a tower shield made of screaming faces trapped in black metal.
And finally, the entity itself emerged.
It stood four meters tall. It wore armor that looked like it was forged from tombstones. Its helmet had no eye slits, only a single, glowing green rune that pulsed with the weight of a thousand years of judgment.
[Target Identification: The Soul Warden]
[Rank: Underworld Gatekeeper (Elite Boss)]
[Level: 62 (Nascent Soul - Late Stage)]
[Passive Ability: 'Aura of Despair' – Reduces all healing effects by 100%. Drains 5% Max HP per second from living targets.]
"Intruder," the Warden's voice boomed. It wasn't spoken; it was projected directly into their skulls, sounding like a coffin lid slamming shut. "The Cycle must not be broken. The Living stay above. The Dead stay below."
The Emperor fell to his knees, vomiting blood. The Aura of Despair was instantly eating his life force. "Master! I... I can't breathe!"
"General Thorne, get the Emperor out of here," Aris ordered calmly. "This isn't a fight for mortals."
The General didn't argue. He grabbed the Emperor and flashed away, escaping the chamber just as the blast doors sealed shut.
Aris stood alone against the giant.
"I have a permit," Aris said, tapping the Admin Key embedded in the tree.
"Permit Denied," the Warden roared.
It raised a massive flail—a weapon tipped with a spiked skull that leaked green fire.
The Battle Begins: Phase 1
The Warden swung the flail.
It wasn't a clumsy strike. Despite its size, the entity moved with blurring speed. The flail tore through the air, creating a vacuum tunnel.
Aris didn't block it. A Level 62 Elite Boss hitting a Level 55 Mage-class character directly would result in massive damage, even with his physique.
[Skill: Ghost-Step (Upgraded with Moderator Wings)]
[Action: Light-Shift.]
Aris vanished in a flash of binary blue light, reappearing instantly behind the Warden.
"Reverse Refinement: Armor Strip!"
Aris slammed his palm against the Warden's backplate. He tried to decompose the armor.
ZZZT!
Violet sparks flew, but the armor didn't dissolve.
[System Error: Target resists Abyssal Code.]
[Reason: 'Soul-Bound' Armor. The armor is not matter; it is solidified Karma. You cannot refine Karma without higher authority.]
"Tch," Aris clicked his tongue, leaping back as the Warden spun around with a backhand shield bash.
The shield clipped Aris.
CRACK.
Aris was sent flying into the stone wall. The impact shattered the rock, burying him in rubble. His health bar flickered.
[HP: 85% / 100%]
[Debuff Applied: 'Touch of the Grave' – Movement Speed slowed by 20%.]
The Warden didn't pause. It raised its shield and slammed it into the ground.
[Skill: Tectonics of the Dead.]
Spectral spikes made of grey bone erupted from the floor, chasing Aris as he rolled out of the rubble. The spikes were sharp enough to pierce Spirit-Steel.
"Nox!" Aris shouted.
The Eclipse Hound materialized from the shadows of the bone spikes. Nox lunged at the Warden's leg, his massive jaws clamping down on the greave.
CRUNCH.
Nox's teeth, capable of eating light, managed to dent the Karma-Armor. The Warden roared in annoyance, kicking Nox away. The hound tumbled through the air but landed on its feet, growling.
"Physical attacks are reduced," Aris analyzed quickly, dodging another bone spike. "Magical attacks are dampened by its Despair Aura. And I can't refine its armor because it's made of abstract concepts."
The Warden charged, looking like a runaway freight train.
"System," Aris narrowed his eyes. "If I can't delete the file... I'll corrupt the data."
Aris stopped dodging. He stood his ground.
The Warden raised its flail for a killing blow. "RETURN TO DUST."
[Ultimate Skill Activated: The Black Sun.]
The pitch-black sphere rose behind Aris, sucking in all the light in the room.
"You want to talk about Karma?" Aris whispered, his hands glowing with a dangerous mixture of Abyssal Violet and Moderator White. "I have the Karma of a dying god."
He didn't fire a beam. He condensed the Black Sun into a single, razor-thin disc of event-horizon gravity in his hand.
"Take this."
Aris threw the Void Disc.
It didn't fly straight. It curved, ignoring the laws of physics, aiming not for the Warden's head, but for the Glowing Green Rune on its helmet—the source of its animation.
The Warden raised its shield to block.
Impact.
The Void Disc hit the screaming-face shield.
It didn't explode. It began to eat the shield. The screaming faces on the metal turned from agony to silence as they were sucked into the singularity.
The Warden staggered back, fighting the gravitational pull of the weapon lodged in its shield.
"Is that all?" the Warden mocked, though its voice sounded strained.
"No," Aris smiled. "That was just the drill."
Aris snapped his fingers.
[Remote Activation: Abyssal Poison.]
The Void Disc detonated inside the shield's structure, unleashing a cloud of viral code directly into the Warden's face.
The Warden screamed—a sound of digital feedback and ghostly wailing.
But it didn't fall.
The green rune on its helmet flared brighter. The Warden dropped the corrupted shield. It grabbed its flail with both hands, its aura changing from Grey to Blood Red.
[Boss Phase 2 Triggered!]
[The Warden has entered 'Judge Mode'.]
[Stats Increased by 50%.]
"You have annoyed the Court," the Warden growled, steam hissing from its armor. "Now, execution is mandatory."
Aris wiped a speck of dust from his robe. His eyes glowed with excitement.
"Finally," Aris said, summoning a sword made of Solidified Shadow into his hand. "A boss fight that doesn't end in one hit."