Chapter 21: Code Breaker vs. Immortal**
The battlefield was a graveyard of ash and ruin. Shen lay motionless, his Dark Mage form spent. The Commander, battered and bleeding, was the last one standing.
The General smirked. *"Even your Mediator failed. What hope do *you* have, old man?"*
The Commander took a step forward. Then another.
His right arm sparked—glowing red circuits snaking up to his neck. His eyes flickered with raw, digital light.
*"Authorization: Alpha Protocol. Code Breaker—activated."*
Kenji gasped. *"It's real... the power to rewrite magic itself!"*
The Commander vanished.
*(Boom!)*
He reappeared behind the General, his fist connecting with a shockwave that cracked the earth. The General laughed as he skidded backward.
*"You still fight? Admirable."*
The Commander's voice was ice. *"I'm not fighting. I'm rewriting reality."*
Gravity bent. Time stuttered. Yet the General's wounds healed instantly.
*"I am not a warrior,"* the General taunted. *"I am immortality incarnate."*
A surge of black flame erupted—Shen rose, his Dark Mage power reignited.
*"Then let's balance immortality,"* Shen said, his smile sharp.
The Commander nodded. No words were needed.
Together, they attacked—code and curse, light and dark—their powers merging seamlessly.
The General faltered for the first time. *"You fight as one... but you still don't understand."*
*"Enlighten us,"* Shen spat.
The General's grin was inhuman. *"I wasn't made to win. I was made to *never die.* My soul resets. I am *a curse.*"*
The Commander's eyes hardened. *"Then we'll seal you. Permanently."*