Chapter 148: The Bridge of Two Realities
As Aki plunged his hand into the pulsing white Core of the Digital Sequoia, the world around him didn't just vibrate—it shattered. The boundary between the physical oxygen of the Old Sector and the digital ozone of Server 777 dissolved into a single, unified plane of existence.
"I can see it!" Aki screamed, his voice echoing through both the reality and the network. "I can see the hidden files! I can see the memory banks of everything we ever did!"
Below him, the battle was reaching a breaking point. The System-Erasers were closing in on Rena and Sai. Von stood in the center, his human muscles straining as he held back a massive obsidian limb with nothing but a steel pipe.
"Aki! We can't hold them for much longer!" Von roared, his voice straining.
Aki closed his eyes and reached deep into the tree's "Root-Archive." He didn't look for data; he looked for the signatures of his friends' spirits. He found the file for the 'Twilight Reaper'. He found the 'Bastion Shield'. He found the 'Emerald Staff'.
Command: Physical_Manifestation_v1.0
Target: Coordinate_Group_A
Execution: Materialize_Legacy_Arms
The Return of the Legend
Suddenly, a storm of violet and gold pixels erupted around Von. The steel pipe in his hands didn't just change; it disintegrated, replaced by the weight of a blade that had killed gods. The Twilight Reaper manifested in his grip, its violet energy crackling with ten times the power it had in the simulation.
"Now," Von whispered, his eyes turning a solid, glowing violet. "Let's remind them why they feared us."
With one horizontal swing, Von released a wave of anti-data energy. The three System-Erasers in front of him weren't just hit; they were "Un-Written." Their physical forms dissolved back into harmless lines of text before hitting the ground.
Next to him, Sai let out a roar as a massive, hexagonal blue shield manifested on his arm. He slammed it into the ground, creating a shockwave that sent the remaining drones flying into the air. Rena's staff appeared in her hands, its emerald light healing the bruises on her arms instantly.
The Architect's Desperation
The giant face of Marcus in the sky turned from gold to a dark, angry red. "Impossible! Those assets were deleted! You cannot bring the simulation into the Physical Prime!"
"We aren't bringing the simulation here, Marcus," Aki shouted from the top of the tree, his body now glowing like a sun. "We're bringing the Truth here! And the truth is... you're just a virus on this world!"
Aki felt the Core of the tree beginning to overheat. The tree was trying to process too much data at once.
"Aki! You have to vent the energy!" Leo's voice was barely audible over the roar of the digital wind. "If you don't, the tree will explode and take the whole city with it! You have to broadcast the 'Final Patch' through the satellite network!"
"How do I do that?" Aki asked, his mind merging with the tree's branches.
"Look for the 'Uplink' node! It's at the very tip of the highest branch! You have to climb even higher!"
The Final Ascent
Aki didn't hesitate. He pulled himself out of the Core and began to climb the thinnest, most fragile branches of light. Every step he took felt like his skin was being burned by pure information.
Below, Von, Sai, and Rena formed a triangle around the base of the tree. They were a wall of legend, stopping every drone and walker that tried to reach Aki.
"Go, Aki!" Von yelled, striking down a flying sentinel with a burst of violet lightning. "Don't let the light go out!"
Aki reached the very top. He could see the entire city—half real, half glitched. He saw the Core-Tech tower in the distance, its lights flickering as the system failed. He reached out and grabbed the 'Uplink' node.
[WARNING: NEURAL OVERLOAD IN 10... 9... 8...]
"This is for Zero!" Aki screamed, pushing every bit of his will into the node.
A beam of pure, brilliant white light shot from the top of the tree, straight into the atmosphere. It hit the satellite network, and for a split second, every screen on the planet—every phone, every TV, every billboard—turned white.