The realm did not reveal its final defender until everything else was gone.
Not a single hostile signal remained.
The last corrupted cyber race collapsed in a storm of broken limbs and dissipating code, its scream swallowed by the vast emptiness of the ruined world. The battlefield—once crowded with movement, gunfire, magic, and steel—fell into a silence so absolute that it felt artificial.
Aira stood alone at the center of it.
Her chest rose and fell unevenly. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, staining her chin before dripping onto the metallic ground. Cracks—fine but unmistakable—ran beneath her skin, glowing faintly where her internal structure strained to maintain coherence.
Her silver moon hair, once flowing freely, now clung to her back and shoulders, heavy with sweat, oil, and dust. It still glittered faintly under the fractured sky, but the light was weaker now, as if even it felt the toll she had paid.
Her system pulsed.
> Realm Scan Complete.
All Detected Hostile Races: Terminated
Threat Status: Zero
Realm Cleansing: Complete
Aira did not lower her sword.
She felt it.
The pressure.
The way the world had stopped reacting—not because it was calm, but because it was holding itself together.
"So this is where you draw the line," she murmured, her voice hoarse. "After everyone else is dead."
The ground answered.
Not with words.
With movement.
The metallic plains beneath her feet split open in a perfect circle, plates folding downward like the opening of a colossal gate. The fissure widened, revealing layers of the realm that had never been exposed—ancient strata etched with glyphs that pulsed with pale, oppressive light.
The entire realm shook.
Not violently.
Deliberately.
Shockwaves rippled outward, collapsing distant towers and flattening ridges of metal like paper under a giant's hand. The sky fractured further, artificial stars flickering wildly as the world struggled to maintain structural integrity.
Far away, Hall Nine felt it.
Every system carrier froze mid-step.
Weapons powered down on their own. Shields collapsed. Magic constructs unraveled into nothing. Even perception-enhancing skills failed instantly, overridden by an authority that tolerated no competition.
> Priority Absolute Detected.
Realm Authority Engaged.
All Non-Catalyst Entities: Locked.
From the depths of the abyss, something rose.
The Realm Guardian.
It was not merely large—it was inevitable.
Its form was a towering convergence of rotating layers, each plate inscribed with equations that rewrote themselves continuously. Space warped subtly around it, as though reality itself hesitated to acknowledge its presence too closely.
At its center pulsed a void.
Not darkness.
Absence.
A ring of sigils revolved around that void, each one representing a principle this world had learned through endless invasion—adaptation, erasure, endurance, recalibration.
When the Guardian's gaze settled on Aira, the realm leaned toward her.
A voice echoed—not through sound, but through existence itself.
> Existential Anomaly Identified.
Growth Trajectory: Unacceptable
Correction Required.
Aira tightened her grip on her sword.
Her hands trembled—not from fear, but from exhaustion. Her body was already far beyond safe limits. She could feel it in the way her movements lagged by fractions of a second, in the dull ache that spread through every part of her being.
She smiled anyway.
"Then correct me," she whispered.
The Guardian moved.
Its first step alone shattered the plains.
A shockwave tore outward, splitting the ground for kilometers. Entire metallic ridges collapsed inward as gravity warped violently, forcing Aira to dig her heels into the ground just to remain upright.
Then it struck.
Not once.
Again and again.
Each blow carried authority, not just force. Space collapsed around the Guardian's limbs, turning every strike into an execution-level attack that erased whatever it touched. The air screamed as pressure waves detonated outward, flattening everything in their path.
Aira was thrown back, skidding across the ground, barely managing to twist aside before a follow-up strike obliterated the space she had occupied.
She danced.
"Cosmic Step of the Silent Dance."
Space folded beneath her feet. To an outside observer, it would have looked graceful—almost beautiful—but every step tore holes in probability itself. She slipped through collapsed trajectories, reappearing where she should not have been, narrowly avoiding blows that left kilometers-wide scars in the land.
The realm shook harder.
Mountains in the distance collapsed. Ancient towers folded inward. The sky fractured again, artificial stars blinking erratically as the world strained to contain the violence unleashed within it.
Aira counterattacked.
"Starlit Blade of the Dancer's Oath."
Her sword carved into the Guardian's outer layers, starlight exploding outward as equations shattered and reformed. Plates peeled away, molten logic spilling from the wound.
The Guardian recoiled—
Then adapted.
Its form shifted. Layers rotated faster. New equations replaced the broken ones before they could fully dissolve.
Aira felt it immediately.
Her next strike was slower.
Her breath hitched.
Pain flared across her ribs as something inside her cracked.
Her system pulsed violently.
> Warning: Host Structural Integrity at 27%
Warning: Core Stability Degrading
Recommendation: Immediate Disengagement
Aira laughed, breathless and sharp.
"There's nowhere to disengage to."
The Guardian struck again.
Aira was too slow.
The blow clipped her side, tearing through armor and flesh alike. She screamed as she was hurled across the battlefield, smashing through layers of metal before finally crashing into the ground.
Her vision blurred.
Blood pooled beneath her.
The Guardian advanced, each step shaking the realm more violently than the last.
Her system flashed red.
> Critical Condition.
Host at Verge of Termination.
Aira lay there for a heartbeat.
Then another.
She could feel her consciousness slipping.
"No," she whispered. "Not like this."
Her system responded—not automatically, but hesitantly.
> Emergency Protocol Available.
Designation: System Overdrive
Status: Locked
Warning: Activation may result in permanent damage or termination.
Aira smiled weakly.
"That's fine."
She forced herself to her knees, then her feet, body screaming in protest. She raised her head and looked straight at the advancing Guardian.
"Activate," she said.
Then, louder—clearer—like a declaration.
"System Overdrive."
The world stopped.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
Every system process within Aira ignited at once, limits forcibly removed, safety protocols shattered. Her veins lit up with blinding light as power surged through her far beyond what her frame was designed to contain.
Her system screamed.
> System Overdrive Activated.
All Restrictions Removed.
Warning: Host Survival Probability: Unknown.
Pain became meaningless.
Her awareness expanded violently, perception tearing outward as if she could see the realm's code beneath reality. The Guardian hesitated for the first time.
Aira moved.
Not faster.
Deeper.
"Eternal Waltz of Astral Severance."
Her dance became something else entirely. Each step fractured the ground. Each movement bent space so violently that the realm screamed in protest. She struck again and again, carving through layers of the Guardian's form, forcing it to adapt faster than it ever had before.
The Guardian retaliated.
Their blows collided mid-air.
Each impact sent shockwaves tearing across the realm, collapsing continents of metal, shattering the sky into fragmented light.
Aira screamed as her body began to break apart under the strain.
But she did not stop.
She whispered the final name, voice shaking but unyielding.
"Divine Dance of the Starfall Sovereign."
The realm howled.
The Guardian roared—an impossible sound born of collapsing logic.
Aira drove her blade into its core again and again, not once, not twice, but relentlessly, forcing the void to destabilize, forcing adaptation to fail through sheer excess.
Finally—
The Guardian collapsed.
Not in one moment.
But slowly.
Its sigils shattered. Its equations unraveled. Its authority bled away until there was nothing left to hold it together.
It folded inward.
Vanished.
Silence followed.
Then Aira fell.
Her body hit the ground hard, unmoving.
Her system's last message flickered weakly.
> Realm Guardian Terminated.
Experience Gained: Extreme
Level Increased:
Level 50 → Level 100
Status: Level Cap Reached
Warning: Host at Verge of Death.
The world was saved.
And Aira lay dying at its center.