Cracked Pillars of Fate

Chapter 12: The Strange Guide

A thick fog resembling clumps of wet cotton suddenly descended, swallowing Archen Huge and El Joe’s vision. The blue light from Dylan Smith’s direction, which had previously exploded with brightness, now left only a faint glow behind a suffocating white wall. Joe’s footsteps slowed, his iron pipe raised warily, while Archen snorted in frustration, feeling the gravitational pressure around him suddenly become unstable.

"Stay close to me, Giant," Joe whispered. His voice sounded heavy, as if the air around them was beginning to solidify.

"I can't see a thing," Archen grumbled. He clenched his fists, letting his black aura glow to provide a bit of light. "This fog isn't natural. It feels like walking through electric fluid."

Suddenly, the monster growls that had been rowdy in the distance abruptly vanished, replaced by a chilling silence. In the midst of that stillness, a footstep was heard. It wasn't the wild stomp of a monster, but a steady and calm pace. A figure emerged from the fog—not a monster, but a faceless entity cloaked in light.

"Halt your steps, bringers of destiny," the voice echoed not in the air, but directly in the center of their consciousness.

Archen prepared to lunge forward, but Joe held his arm. Joe felt an aura different from this entity. There was no pure killing intent, but rather an ancient authority that demanded respect.

"Who are you? The Guide who spoke on the crystal platform earlier?" Joe asked in a firm tone.

"I am the Arcana Guide, the guardian of a long-buried prophecy," the entity raised its hand, and the fog around them instantly receded, forming a bright, empty circle. "You are standing upon a rift in reality. What you see as a disaster is actually a painful rebirth."

"Rebirth?" Archen stepped forward, his face flushed with anger. "My workplace is destroyed, my friends are missing, and you call this a rebirth? I just want out of this crazy game!"

The Guide turned toward Archen. "Your desire to go home is a chain that will break this pillar before it can stand firm, Archen Huge. Listen carefully, for your time is short. You are not just humans surviving. You are the Three Pillars: Strength, Intelligence, and Leadership. If one of you falls, then the entire dimension—including the Earth you weep for—will be erased from universal history by The Architect."

Joe furrowed his brow. "What do you mean by the Three Pillars? And who is this Architect?"

"The Architect of Nothingness is an entity that believes suffering can only end if all of reality is annihilated. The Arcana System is his tool to filter strong souls before he swallows everything," the Guide approached Joe. "Joe, you lead with your heart, but you need Synergy. Without uniting your power with Archen and Dylan, you are merely grains of dust before a storm."

The Guide touched Joe’s chest, and a vision instantly struck them both. They saw millions of worlds turned to ash, planets sucked into pure black holes, and in the middle of it all stood three figures radiating a light capable of holding back the darkness.

"That’s... us?" Archen whispered, his voice trembling slightly from a wonder he couldn't hide.

"That is the possibility you must manifest," the Guide replied. "Use the Synergy Skill. When your souls are in alignment, your power will multiply beyond the limits of the system."

Suddenly, that momentary peace shattered. The sound of metal slamming against the ground echoed from outside the circle of fog. Four figures in silver armor radiating cold energy appeared. They did not look like organic monsters; they resembled mechanical knights with swords made of purple lasers.

[Warning: Arcana Inquisitors Detected.]

[Status: System Enforcers – Order: Subject Erasure.]

"They have found me," the Guide whispered, his voice now sounding anxious. "These Inquisitors are no ordinary monsters. They are part of the system’s cleaning algorithm. They have come to sever the chain of this prophecy."

One of the Inquisitors lunged forward with a speed that made it difficult for the eye to follow. Its purple sword swung toward Archen’s neck. With his laborer’s instincts, Archen raised his gravity-wrapped arm to parry.

Klang!

The sound of the impact was so loud it made Joe’s ears ring. Archen was pushed back five steps, his feet digging into the gravelly ground. His face showed shock; this was the first time an opponent had been able to match his raw strength.

"They fight with an orderly pattern!" Joe shouted. "Archen, don't attack randomly! Wait for my signal!"

Joe activated Environmental Adaptation to its maximum limit. He saw the flow of energy on the Inquisitors' armor. There was a small delay every time they recharged their laser swords.

"Now, Archen! Hit the ground in front of the one on the right!" Joe yelled.

Archen, without asking further, jumped and slammed his fist into the ground. The gravitational vibration made the Inquisitor stumble. At the same time, Joe dashed forward, thrusting his iron pipe—infused with green energy—straight into the gap in the armor at the opponent's shoulder joint. The Inquisitor sparked with electricity and collapsed.

"Nice! One down!" Archen smirked.

However, the three remaining Inquisitors immediately formed a triangular formation, creating an interconnected energy shield. They began chanting codes that made the air around Archen and Joe grow intensely hot.

"They are locking our coordinates for data erasure!" the Arcana Guide shouted. He raised his hands, emitting a white light to hold back the Inquisitors' attack. "I cannot hold them forever! You must go and find Dylan!"

"We can't leave you here!" Joe exclaimed, trying to break through the energy shield but being repelled.

"Your mission is greater than my life," the Guide turned, his formless face seemingly showing a bitter smile. "Remember, a Pillar does not stand alone. Dylan is dying at the center of Data Reconstruction. If he becomes data junk, this prophecy will end."

The Guide released a massive burst of energy that momentarily blinded the Inquisitors. Simultaneously, he threw a small object toward Joe. Joe caught it deftly. The object was a silver compass with a needle made of pulsing blue light.

"This is the Synergy Compass. It will lead you to Dylan and help you synchronize your souls," the Guide’s voice began to drift away as his body started to fade into light particles. "Run! Do not look back!"

Archen pulled Joe’s shoulder just as one of the Inquisitors' laser swords sliced through the spot where Joe had been standing. "Come on, Commander! We have to go!"

The two of them ran through the remaining fog, following the direction of the compass needle, which pulsed faster and faster. Behind them, the sounds of energy explosions and the mechanical screams of the Inquisitors shook the threshold zone. Archen felt his heart racing, not just from physical exhaustion, but from a new realization that hit him.

He was no longer just a laborer who wanted to go home. He was part of something much larger, something involving the fate of thousands of worlds.

"Joe!" Archen shouted amidst the roar of the wind. "Do you really believe in that prophecy nonsense?"

Joe stared at the compass in his hand, then looked toward the pillar of blue light that was now drawing closer. "I don't know if I believe in prophecies, Archen. But I believe in the lives of the people waiting for us back home. And if I have to be a Pillar to save them, then I will be the strongest Pillar there ever was."

Just as they reached the edge of a high-tech facility that looked like a collection of giant circuit crystals, the compass in Joe’s hand exploded in a glare of blue light that stung the eyes. The needle stopped spinning and pointed directly at a virtual door surrounded by thousands of chains of black code.

From inside that door, Dylan Smith’s scream of agony could be heard.

"Dylan!" Joe cried out.

However, before they could get closer, the ground beneath their feet shattered, and from the depths of the digital darkness, a giant creature emerged whose body consisted of thousands of hands holding encryption keys.

Archen clenched his fists, his black aura exploding with an intensity never seen before. "Whoever you are, get out of our way!"