Cracked Pillars of Fate

Chapter 14: Convergence of Mind and Muscle

The virtual wall didn't just shatter; it exploded into thousands of data fragments as Archen's fist struck it with all the gravitational weight he possessed. Blinding white light burst from the opening gap, revealing the sight of a cold and haunting technological cathedral.

Dylan Smith, hanging limp in the middle of a web of red cables, slowly opened his heavy eyes. His consciousness was nearly extinguished, but the sound of the boom felt like an electric shock to his nerves. He saw two figures bursting through from behind the shattered digital mist.

"Dylan!" El Joe's voice thundered, shaking the great hall.

Dylan stared at them with the remnants of shock. "Joe? The giant... you guys actually came?"

"Shut your mouth and don't die yet, Brain!" Archen snorted, his breath coming in gasps. He stood in front of Dylan, blocking the view of the formless entity holding a scythe of darkness. "This thing looks very eager to harvest your soul, and I don't like the look of it."

The entity, a manifestation of the System's Self-Defense Protocol, let out an ear-piercing screech of static. Its black scythe was raised high, emitting an aura of erasure that caused the floor around it to vanish into a void of gray.

[Self-Defense Protocol Active.]

[Threat Detected: Sector Invaders.]

[Mass Erasure Initiated.]

"Joe, don't let Archen touch it directly!" Dylan shouted in a hoarse voice. "That scythe isn't a physical weapon. It's a delete command running at a high frequency. One hit, and your data structure will be erased!"

Archen, who was already prepared to pounce, stopped abruptly. He turned toward Dylan with a skeptical look. "What data structure? Speak clearly! I just need to punch it until it breaks, right?"

"You can't!" Dylan tried to struggle against the tangled cables. "You'll just be hitting empty air while it cuts through your very existence! You have to attack exactly when it synchronizes with the floor!"

Joe immediately took a position in the center, his iron pipe coursing with a steady pulse of green energy. "Dylan, buy us some time! Archen, don't attack blindly. We have to wait for the Brain's signal."

"Wait?" Archen growled, watching the scythe-wielder begin to glide toward them. "I'd rather smash my way out!"

"Trust him, Archen!" Joe commanded in a tone that brooked no argument.

The guardian swung its scythe. A wave of darkness swept through the air, but Joe pulled Archen back just in time. The floor where they had been standing vanished instantly, leaving a bottomless abyss filled with rows of corrupted binary code.

Dylan forced his mind to work. In his eyes, this world was a stack of algorithms. He saw a pattern on the entity's cloak. Every ten seconds, there was a refresh rate lag as it drew energy from the cathedral's core.

"Archen! Now! Strike the point beneath its feet, three meters to the left!" Dylan shouted. "Joe, channel your energy into Archen's landing so his code doesn't get erased!"

Archen leaped, even though his heart was still filled with prejudice against Dylan's instructions, which sounded like technical gibberish. He committed his body weight to the mentioned coordinates. His gravity fist slammed into the spot with a force capable of cracking a mountain.

BOOM!

Simultaneously, Joe slammed his iron pipe into the ground, creating a green shield that kept Archen anchored to reality. The floor that should have been erased shook violently instead. The entity's scythe suddenly dimmed, losing its power source.

"It worked!" Dylan exhaled in relief. "Again! It's going to reboot in five seconds!"

The battle became a strange yet deadly symphony. Dylan provided data and blind spots, Joe coordinated positioning and protection, while Archen acted as the executor delivering physical destruction.

Archen's initial prejudice slowly faded every time a strike he thought impossible hit its mark thanks to Dylan's guidance. Conversely, Dylan began to realize that without Archen's strength to withstand spatial pressure, all his theories were just useless lines of words on paper about to be burned.

"You're not bad for someone who only knows how to type," Archen muttered between attacks, shattering one of the entity's arms.

"And you... turn out to have more than just muscle inside that head of yours," Dylan replied with a thin, forced smile amidst his pain.

Joe saw the final opening. The entity began to falter, its body becoming transparent and flickering like a broken lamp. "This is it! Everyone, unite your attacks on its chest core!"

Archen grabbed Joe's shoulder, and Joe grabbed Dylan's leg as he had just fallen from the severed cables. For a moment, black, green, and blue energy flowed between them, creating a powerful electrical current. They were no longer three separate individuals; they were a coherent whole.

Archen led the final push. His gravity punch this time carried not only the weight of mass, but also the sharpness of Dylan's logic and the calmness of Joe's leadership.

CRACK!

The Protocol entity exploded into millions of pixels that fluttered like snow in the middle of the night. The technological cathedral hall, once haunting, suddenly fell silent. The agonizing static noise vanished, replaced by a soft, soothing hum.

Dylan slumped to the ground, gasping for air. Archen leaned against a cracked circuit pillar, while Joe stood tall, looking at his two companions with undisguised pride.

"We did it," Dylan whispered, wiping the sweat from his cracked glasses.

"We've only just begun," Joe replied. He helped Dylan up, while Archen approached and gave a heavy—yet this time, friendlier—pat on Dylan's shoulder.

"Next time, tell me sooner if there's a scythe that can erase my soul," Archen grumbled, though there was a hint of respect in his voice.

Suddenly, the air in the center of the hall shimmered. A giant holographic screen appeared, emitting a warm golden light that illuminated their bruised and dust-covered faces.

[Global Mission: Unification Phase Complete.]

[Subject Analysis: 100% Synchronization.]

[Team Structure Identified.]

The system's voice didn't sound cold this time. There was a vibration of authority that seemed to acknowledge their existence above all else. Large text appeared on the screen, pulsing with powerful energy.

[Team: Three Pillars – Active.]

[Status: Primordial Class Unlocked.]

Dylan stared at the notification with wide eyes. "Primordial? That's a class that doesn't even exist in any system documentation I've ever seen."

"Who cares about the name," Archen smirked, clenching his fist which was still coursing with blue circuits. "As long as it can crush whoever designed this madness, I'm in."

Joe looked at his two companions, then toward the cathedral ceiling which was slowly opening, revealing a vast expanse of stars and other dimensions waiting to be explored. "This world may be falling apart, but we will be the pillars that support the rest. Are you ready?"

Dylan nodded firmly, and Archen merely snorted in agreement. However, just as they were about to step out, a violent tremor shook the entire cathedral structure once more. The golden light on the holographic screen suddenly turned into a sharp blood-red.

[Warning: The Architect of Nothingness has locked onto your coordinates.]

[Dimensional Tracking Initiated.]

A giant black eye appeared on the digital horizon, staring directly at them with an ancient hatred capable of freezing blood.

"It seems our enemy doesn't like us playing together," Dylan whispered, his face tensing up again.