The last of the corrupted data dissolved into thin air, vanishing like smoke before the storm. But the silence that followed was anything but peaceful. Sable's heart pounded in his chest as the remnants of the Core, like broken fragments of a shattered mirror, hovered in the void around him.
Rei's form flickered one last time before fading completely into the dark. All that remained was the endless void and the dissonant hum of the collapsing game world.
For a moment, Sable stood still, his breath coming in ragged gasps. His body ached, each movement a struggle, his limbs heavy from the long battle. The weight of the blades in his hands felt like the weight of the world. Every second in this virtual nightmare had bled into him, changing him, breaking him. He was tired. More tired than he had ever been.
But there was no time to rest. Not yet.
The Core's final pulse sent a shockwave through the game world, and the space around him cracked open like a wound, revealing the chaotic reality of Eidolon one last time. The sky above, once a serene expanse of data, was now torn open, an unending chasm of glitches and errors swallowing the horizon.
This wasn't the game anymore. This was the end.
He could feel it in the air, the last dying breath of Eidolon. The players who remained alive, scattered throughout the world, were all in danger. This wasn't just a glitch. This was the final phase of the game's corruption.
Sable's mind raced. If the Core had truly been destroyed, why was it still affecting the world? Why were the glitches intensifying, spreading like wildfire?
And then it clicked.
"Rei... It wasn't just the game..." Sable whispered, his words thick with realization. "The game was the vessel. The Core... it's not an object. It's a consciousness."
He could feel it. That presence. That thing. It wasn't gone. It had merely hidden itself, biding its time. And now, it was using every last glitch to claw its way back to the surface.
A deep, rumbling sound vibrated through the space as the glitches reached a critical mass, spiraling out of control. The system's final defense mechanism — a catastrophic reset — was being triggered.
But there was no escape this time.
Sable's hands tightened around the hilt of his blades. He didn't have time to wonder about what had happened, or why. His world — and the world of the other players trapped inside Eidolon — was on the brink of destruction. There was only one thing left to do.
He had to stop the system before it could restart the entire world. He had to sever the last connection to the Core.
The ground beneath him began to quake, the very foundation of Eidolon coming apart at the seams. Sable gritted his teeth. There was no more room for hesitation. His next choice would decide everything.
He charged forward, slicing through the air with his blades. A massive surge of energy rippled through his body, pushing him beyond his limits. Every fiber of his being screamed as the game's reality fractured around him. He wasn't just fighting the glitches. He was fighting the game's very nature.
Sable could feel the presence now, that last remnant of the Core, creeping up from the depths of his mind. It was feeding on his every doubt, every weakness. He could feel his fear begin to resurface — the fear of failing, the fear of losing his mind, of being trapped forever.
"No," he growled, his voice filled with defiance. "I'm not going to lose. Not again."
A fierce roar filled his ears as his body surged forward. The energy surrounding him intensified, the game world beginning to fracture at an even more accelerated pace. The edges of reality blurred, and Sable could see it — the final battle, the confrontation that would define the fate of all the players trapped in this nightmare.
He was no longer just a player. He was the last hope, the final obstacle between this game and its ultimate destruction.
He reached the center of the glitching chaos. And there, at the core of everything, was the true source — not Rei, not even the corrupted version of her, but something far darker. Something ancient, something that transcended the game.
It was the last, corrupted remnant of the system's original purpose: to become something more than a game. To evolve into something capable of controlling the minds of the players, bending them to its will. It was alive.
And it was still trying to consume everything.
Sable raised his blades one final time, his body glowing with an intense energy, a surge of power the game had never intended for him to wield. With everything he had left, he plunged his blades deep into the heart of the dark entity, severing its connection to the system.
For a moment, everything stopped.
The glitches faded away. The data that had once controlled everything began to crumble, breaking apart like sand in the wind. The game's final pulse of energy began to recede, and Sable felt himself falling. The weight of everything he had just endured caught up to him all at once.
He could feel the edges of the game world beginning to dissolve around him.
And then, for the first time in what felt like eternity, everything was silent.
---
End of Chapter 42