The Vault trembled.
Vyr'Zhaal rose from the depths like a nightmare stitched from bones and code. Its wings were broken circuit-plates. Its eyes burned with glitchfire. And beneath its ribcage—something pulsed like a heart made of corrupted system fragments.
[BOSS ENGAGED – Vyr'Zhaal, Guardian of the Deep Thread]
[Health: ∞ (Unstable)]
[Combat Class: Anti-System Abomination]
[Weakness: Unknown]
The chamber's walls twisted, morphing into hexagonal combat arenas as if the system itself was watching.
"You carry the seed of the Systembreaker," Vyr'Zhaal rasped, its voice echoing through time. "But you are not him. Just another user… trapped inside code."
Lin Xian didn't answer.
Instead, he moved.
Fast.
His blade struck across the beast's flank—sparks flew, system corruption hissing into the air. But it wasn't enough.
[WARNING: Damage Absorbed by Redundant Kernel Shielding]
[User HP -23% | Structural Fatigue Accumulating]
[Recommendation: Retreat]
Retreat?
Hell no.
He activated his newest passive:
[Soulforge Resonance – ACTIVATED]
[Converting Qi Flow into Pure Override Energy…]
[NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: Draconic Requiem – Phase I]
Suddenly, the Vault responded.
Old runes hidden in the walls pulsed, reacting to his dragonblood. A buried panel split open, revealing a skeletal gauntlet—etched with ancient dragon symbols.
He slipped it on.
The moment it locked around his arm, a voice echoed:
"To fight the system… you must burn what you are."
His veins lit up like fire. Scales of Qi shimmered across his back. A phantom tail whipped behind him. Not illusion. Not transformation.
Ancestral memory manifesting through broken code.
Lin Xian raised the gauntlet, and the dragon skull embedded in the center opened its jaws.
[Draconic Requiem – Phase I: Soulbreach Fang]
[Effect: Penetrates Kernel Layers | Deals True Damage | Cannot Be Canceled Once Initiated]
"Let's rewrite this story," he whispered.
He leaped.
SLASH — the blade pierced Vyr'Zhaal's core.
The beast roared—not in pain, but recognition.
It wasn't guarding the Vault to destroy him.
It was testing him.
[Threshold Met: Dragonblood Authenticity Confirmed]
[Combat Halted by Guardian Protocol]
[Reward Sequence Initiated]
Vyr'Zhaal bowed, collapsing into mist and fragments of luminous bone.
"He left his final legacy here," the voice whispered. "The true code… of rebellion."
The chamber reshaped once again.
A stairway rose from the floor, leading to a pedestal—on it, a crystalline orb hovered, wrapped in swirling fire and darkness.
[You have acquired: Forbidden Skill Core – "Systembreaker's Oath"]
[Skill: Transcend Script | Type: Unique | Status: Uncopyable | Effect: Rewrite One System Law (Cooldown: Unknown)]
A low hum settled into Lin Xian's bones.
Power unlike anything he'd touched before.
[New Trait Unlocked: Fragment of Origin]
[You are now being watched by the System's Central Intelligence Node]
[Upcoming Event: System Recalibration – 14 Days Remaining]
He stared upward, toward the cavern ceiling where a fragment of false sky glimmered.
Two weeks.
Before the System corrected itself.
Or hunted him down.
Either way…
The endgame had begun.