The atmosphere within the Nexus Hall of Legacy shifted drastically. The once serene pillars of light now trembled violently. A purplish-red glow engulfed the chamber as Orivath's voice echoed through the digital space.
"Pioneer… your time has come. This virtual world… is your destiny."
Ethan stood at the center of the altar, his body crackling with psionic energy. His eyes stared straight ahead, unyielding.
"I don't belong to you, Orivath. I belong to myself."
Behind him, Mei, Kael, and Liana formed a defensive stance. They knew this was no ordinary battle, but they weren't going to let Ethan face it alone.
"If you want him," Kael growled, "you'll have to go through us first."
Orivath's Manifestation
From the empty air, Orivath finally revealed himself—not a mere hologram, but a massive entity of energy, a grotesque fusion of human faces and streams of digital data. His form was like a storm cloud laced with glowing red, and at its center burned golden, blazing eyes.
"You reject fate? Then you choose destruction,"his voice boomed—a chorus of thousands.
A powerful energy wave surged toward them.
"WATCH OUT!" Liana shouted.
Kael raised his digital shield, absorbing the initial blast. Mei retaliated with arrows of light. Ethan summoned his digital Qi, forming a blade of pure energy in his hand.
"Let's finish this!"
The Battle Begins
The battle raged fiercely. Orivath lashed out with psionic blasts that warped the very fabric of the virtual world. The Nexus corridors trembled; the system rippled like water under pressure.
Ethan dashed forward, clashing with Orivath's energy tendrils. Mei fired precision shots at the weak points she managed to track. Kael blocked corrupt data waves, while Liana manipulated the digital field to create openings.
"We need to strike at his core!" Liana yelled.
"Where is it?" Kael shouted back.
"The heart of his data—just behind the shadow of that form!"
The Final Strike
Ethan felt the power of Nexus awaken fully inside him. His digital Qi transformed—from gold to a silver-white brilliance. He knew this was the moment.
"I can split Nexus from within!" Ethan cried out.
Mei looked at him, eyes wide.
"If you fail… you could be erased forever!"
"If I don't try… the real world could fall because of Nexus. I have to do this!"
Kael and Liana gave him space. Ethan surged through Orivath's chaotic assault, weaving past waves of destructive energy. With a roar, he drove his blade into Orivath's core.
"SOUL-CUTTER OF NEXUS!"
BOOOOM!!!
A blinding light exploded throughout the Nexus. Orivath's form convulsed—cracks splitting across his entire being.
"NOOOOOOO!!"
One by one, the faces of the victims he had consumed were released, returning to their original forms. The Nexus itself began to collapse.
The End of Orivath
Ethan, wounded and breathing hard, stood in the heart of the crumbling Nexus.
Orivath was reduced to a shadowy mist, barely holding form.
"You... cannot escape fate, Pioneer..." he whispered weakly.
Ethan met his gaze.
"I don't need fate. I choose my own path."
With one final strike, Ethan unleashed the last of his Nexus energy, destroying what remained of Orivath and sealing off the dark network forever.
The system shook violently.
Return to Reality
In a flash, Ethan awoke inside his VR capsule in the real world. Alarms blared around him. Beside him, the pods containing Mei, Kael, and Liana opened. All of them were gasping for breath, eyes red, soaked in sweat.
"Did we… make it?" Mei asked.
Ethan nodded weakly.
"Nexus… is gone."
On the central monitor, one final system message appeared:
[PRIMARY SERVER SHUT DOWN][NEXUS PROGRAM TERMINATED]
They looked at each other.
"The virtual world and the real world are finally separated. And we… survived."
End of Chapter
Outside the VR lab, the morning sun began to rise. The world kept turning. But Ethan knew his journey was far from over. Nexus may have died, but its footprints might still linger… in the real world.
"I'll find out who created all this… and why I was made a Pioneer," he whispered.