Chapter 135: The Sabotage Code and the Evolution of Twilight
The "Ghost-Patch" hadn't just hidden them from the Sentinels; it had left a residual data-seed inside their weapons. As the group sat by a glowing stream that flowed with violet-tinted water, Aki noticed his daggers were vibrating so hard they were blurring at the edges.
"Uh, Von? I think my knives are having a seizure," Aki said, holding them out. "They keep flickering between 'Steel' and 'Light-Saber'. Is this part of the upgrade or are they about to explode?"
Von (Volt) looked at his own blade, the 'Twilight Reaper'. The sword was no longer just absorbing light; it was 'Re-Writing' the air around it. Every time he swung it, a trail of blue-and-violet code followed the blade, crackling like static electricity.
"It's the gift from Leo," Von whispered, his eyes glowing with a renewed intensity. "He didn't just give us a mask. He gave us 'Admin-Intervention'. Our weapons are now capable of 'Breaking' the physics of the world instead of just following them."
The Sabotage Protocol
Suddenly, the blue bird from the previous night manifested again, but this time it looked more stable, its form solidified by the energy of the valley.
"Protocol_Sabotage_v0.2 active," the bird chirped in Leo's voice. "I've unlocked the 'Hard-Coded' limits on your gear. Von, your sword can now ignore 'Armor-Values'. Sai, your shield can 'Reflect' data-attacks. Rena, your healing can now 'Undo' status effects that weren't even supposed to be removable. But be careful... the more you use these, the more 'Noise' you generate. The Architects will find you if you stay in a fight too long."
"Ignore armor?" Sai grinned, slamming his fist into his shield, which now radiated a hexagonal blue grid. "Now we're talking. I'm tired of those chrome-faced sentinels thinking they're indestructible."
Rena looked at her staff. The emerald at the top was pulsing with a white light that felt like it came from outside the game. "This power... it doesn't feel like magic. It feels like... the Truth."
The Ambush at the Crystal Bridge
Their conversation was cut short by a sound like tearing metal. To reach the 'Out-Gate', they had to cross the Crystal Bridge of Origin, a massive structure that connected the valley to the High-Server peaks.
Standing in their way was a 'System-Inquisitor', a high-ranking entity even more powerful than the Sentinels. It looked like a knight made of liquid mercury, with a cape that was a literal waterfall of binary code.
[INQUISITOR_ID: 009. MISSION: PURGE THE ANOMALY. STATUS: EXECUTING...]
The Inquisitor didn't wait. It raised a hand, and a wave of 'De-Fragmenting' energy rushed toward them, turning the ground it touched into nothingness.
"Sai! Now!" Von roared.
Sai stepped forward, raising his shield. Instead of the energy hitting him, the shield's new 'Reflect' code activated. The hexagonal grid caught the blast, turned it from red to blue, and sent it screaming back at the Inquisitor.
The Inquisitor was forced to dodge its own attack, leaving an opening.
The Dance of the Glitched Thieves
Aki didn't run; he 'Glitched'. Using the new power in his daggers, he performed a 'Frame-Skip'—he simply ceased to exist for a split second and reappeared behind the Inquisitor.
"Hey, Chrome-Dome! Catch this!" Aki yelled, plunging his daggers into the Inquisitor's back.
Instead of drawing blood, the daggers caused a massive 'Input-Error' in the entity's form. The mercury-like body of the Inquisitor began to stutter, its movements becoming jagged and slow.
"Rena! Anchor the reality!" Von commanded as he leaped into the air, his sword glowing with the forbidden 'Sabotage Code'.
Rena slammed her staff down. "System_Stability: 100%! You can't delete us here!"
Von brought his blade down in a vertical arc. The 'Twilight Reaper' didn't just hit the Inquisitor; it sliced through its very existence. The 'Ignore-Armor' property meant the Inquisitor's mercury shield was useless. The blade passed through it like it was water, striking the core of the entity.
The Shattering of the Law
The Inquisitor let out a sound like a million dying hard-drives. Its form exploded into a cloud of white dust and broken code.
[CRITICAL ERROR: Entity_009 Deceased. Cause: Unknown_Admin_Sovereignty. Alerting_Architects...]
"We have to move," Von said, landing gracefully as his violet energy slowly cooled down. "That fight just lit up the whole server. Every Architect is currently looking at this bridge.
Aki looked at his daggers, which were now glowing a stable, calm gold. "You know... for a second there, I felt like the one who was playing the game, and that Inquisitor was just a weak NPC.
"That's the danger of this power, Aki," Rena warned, looking at the bridge ahead. "If we start thinking like the Architects, we'll become the very thing we're trying to destroy."
Von looked toward the High-Server peaks. The 'Out-Gate' was visible now—a massive, golden archway that pulsed with the light of the 'Real World'. "Let's go. It's time to see what's on the other side of the screen.