Chapter 145: The Arcade of the Stars and the High-Score Hegemony
The ocean was still vibrating with the bass of Akuto's "Hydro-Funk" when the sky above Earth didn't just change color—it turned into a Giant Loading Screen. A massive, pixelated green bar stretched from the North Pole to the South Pole, reading: [DOWNLOAD IN PROGRESS: 99%... 100%.]
"Father," Anos said, looking at his God-Slayer blade, which was now flickering like a corrupted 16-bit sprite. "The Outer-Galaxy Gaming Guild has arrived. They have successfully 'Pinged' our reality. They don't see Earth as a planet anymore; they see it as a Save File they want to overwrite."
Akuto didn't look worried; he looked like he had just won the lottery. He was wearing a headset made of pure neon and holding a controller that emitted sparks of dark energy. "A Gaming Guild? Do they have any idea who they're dealing with? I've been speed-running multiverses since I was in diapers! Let's show these 'Pro-Gamers' what a real Boss Battle looks like!"
Volt stood on the bridge of the Obsidian Spire, his Author's Mark glowing with a fierce, digital gold. The influence meter had officially hit 500 Million, and the numbers were being replaced by the word [LEVEL: UNBEATABLE].
"Ahmed," Volt said, pointing the Skyscraper-Quill at the sky. "You've seen us rewrite history, sports, and nature. Now, we're going to rewrite the very rules of 'Winning and Losing.' Let's play."
Phase 1: The Descent of the Pixel-Lords
Three massive, cube-shaped ships descended from the clouds. They didn't look like spaceships; they looked like giant, floating game consoles from the 1990s. From the center ship, a holographic projection of the Grand Master Gamer appeared—a being made of flickering pixels with a glowing red "Game Over" sign for a face.
"Citizens of Level-Earth!" the Grand Master's voice boomed in 8-bit mono. "Your world has achieved a 'Fun-Rating' that exceeds galactic safety standards. We are here to challenge your King to a Best-of-Three Reality Match. If you win, you get the 'Infinite Continue' perk. If you lose, your world becomes a background level in a mobile puzzle game!"
Volt laughed, the sound echoing through the clouds. "A puzzle game? I don't even like puzzles! But I do like a challenge. Anos, Akuto—ready the Multiplayer Mode."
Phase 2: Round One - The Bullet-Hell Rain
The Grand Master Gamer waved his hand, and suddenly the sky was filled with millions of glowing red energy balls falling in complex, geometric patterns. It was a "Bullet-Hell" shooter brought to life.
"If a single pixel touches your spire, you lose a life!" the Master cackled.
Anos stepped forward. He didn't move the spire. He simply closed his eyes and whispered, [Edit: Frame Rate = 1 Frame Per Hour].
The entire world slowed down to a crawl. The red energy balls, which were moving at supersonic speeds, now looked like they were floating in honey. Anos walked out onto the hull of the spire, calmly plucked each energy ball out of the air, and rearranged them into a giant smiley face.
"You rely on the rules of the engine," Anos said as time snapped back to normal. "I am the one who wrote the engine."
[ROUND 1: VICTOR - EMPIRE OF THE VIOLET STAR]
Phase 3: Round Two - The Survival Horror Level
The Grand Master Gamer growled, his pixels turning a deep shade of angry purple. "Cheating! But try this! GENRE SHIFT: SURVIVAL HORROR!"
The world turned dark. The city below was filled with fog, and giant, glitchy monsters with TV screens for heads began to climb the Obsidian Spire. The music changed to a terrifying, high-pitched screeching.
Akuto stepped up, grinning. "Horror? Oh, you're cute. Did you forget we just 'Funked' the Horror Genre two chapters ago?"
Akuto pulled out his rubber chicken, which was now a Mythic-Tier Loot Drop. He squeezed it once, and a wave of "Anti-Cringe" energy swept across the spire. The monsters didn't scream; they suddenly found themselves wearing "I Heart the Demon King" t-shirts and holding glow-sticks.
"Hey, look!" Akuto pointed at the Lead Monster. "He's not a glitch! He's just a poorly optimized NPC! Let's give him a personality patch." With a flick of his finger, Akuto rewrote the monster into a Professional Stand-Up Comedian. The monster started telling jokes about the Grand Master's mother, causing the entire horror level to collapse in laughter.
[ROUND 2: VICTOR - EMPIRE OF THE VIOLET STAR]
Phase 4: The Final Boss - The Glitch-King
The Grand Master Gamer screamed, his holographic form fracturing into a million pieces. "ENOUGH! I will delete your entire Save File!"
He merged the three cube-ships into a single, massive Glitch-God that hovered over the city, threatening to erase the very pixels of reality. The influence meter began to fluctuate wildly.
Volt walked to the edge of the balcony. He didn't use a controller. He reached into the air and grabbed the Floating Status Bar that displayed the Glitch-God's health.
"You think you're the player?" Volt asked, his eyes glowing with the power of 500 Million Points. "You're just a line of code I haven't commented out yet."
Volt took the Skyscraper-Quill and drew a giant "X" over the Glitch-God's health bar. Then, he wrote one final command in the sky: [DELETE FOLDER: ANTAGONISTS].
The Glitch-God didn't explode. It simply turned into a shower of harmless confetti and "Extra-Life" tokens that rained down on the citizens of Earth. The Grand Master Gamer was reduced to a tiny, 8-bit sprite that looked like a very sad mushroom.
The High Score
The 500 Million Influence Points suddenly doubled, hitting 1 Billion. The status of the multiverse updated: [NEW RECORD: THE DEMON KING HAS BEATEN THE GAME].
The Grand Master (now the size of a kitten) hopped onto Volt's shoulder. "I... I admit defeat. Your 'Zazz' is over 9,000. Can I stay? I'm actually a really good Tetris player."
"Sure," Volt said, petting the pixel-sprite. "We need someone to manage the Empire's new Inter-Dimensional Arcade."
Volt looked at Ahmed through the Fourth Wall, his reflection shimmering with the light of a billion stars. "Ahmed, the game never ends as long as you have the power to edit the rules. We've conquered the land, the sea, the moon, and the gaming guild. What's left?"
Vanessa walked over, handing him a controller. "How about a nice, quiet dinner? No monsters, no jet-skis, just us?"
Volt laughed. "Dinner sounds great. But let's have it on the Rings of Saturn. I hear the acoustics there are perfect for a private concert."