SYSTEM GOD THE REBOOTED

Fracture Protocol

Chapter 4

Zarek didn’t flinch as the Alpha-Class Patch Agent descended from the sky.

The terrain beneath his boots cracked with every microsecond, crushed by the pressure field the Agent brought with it. Its form wasn’t just armored—it was rewritten from pure enforcement code. No face. No voice. Just a floating judge of reality, designed to eliminate anomalies like him.

System Alert: Apex-Level Threat Detected Classification: Alpha-Class Patch Agent [Core Purge Enforcer] Skill Signature: Quantum Blink, Erasure Core Pulse, Phase Lock, Temporal Split

Survival Probability: 1.2%

Zarek’s breathing slowed. His thoughts didn’t race. They sharpened.

The Phase Edge blade in his hand vibrated—still resonating with stolen energy from the last battle. His system interface blinked erratically, still integrating the Reaper’s Sigil and new glitch protocols. The fusion was unstable, but the result was clear:

He wasn’t running.

He was fighting.

The Alpha moved without warning.

Reality warped.

The ground imploded beside Zarek as a compressed gravity field detonated from nowhere. No animation. No charge-up. Just raw force of deletion.

Zarek ducked and rolled, dragging a “Gravity Frame” from his skills list and activating it mid-dodge.

/Skill: Gravity Frame [Lv.1] – Active

A translucent cube of warped space formed around him for 0.6 seconds—just long enough to survive the secondary implosion.

He launched upward using Kinetic Rebalance, flipping mid-air and activating Voidstep to reappear behind the Alpha.

His Phase Edge glowed. He struck.

Sparks.

But no penetration.

Damage Inflicted: 0.8% Target Status: Unaffected

The Agent turned its head—slow, mechanical, and full of disdain.

It raised its hand. A blade of inverted light burst from its wrist and slashed downward.

Zarek parried with the Edge.

Metal screeched. Data fractured. His interface trembled from backlash.

Structural Integrity: -11% Right Arm Overload: Brace System Failing

“Not going well,” he muttered through clenched teeth.

The Agent blinked—again. Six times in under two seconds. Each blink came with a micro-attack: pressure spikes, air slashes, nano-disruptors.

Zarek absorbed most. Dodged the rest. He bled from the ribs but didn’t stop.

He pulled up the Reaper’s Sigil and activated Bloodline Override manually.

WARNING: Core Evolution Unstable Do you wish to proceed?

“Proceed,” he growled.

The world turned red.

In his mind, he saw him again—Azerion, a memory-ghost echoing in raw power. Clad in ancient cyber armor, eyes burning like twin stars, Azerion’s presence slammed into Zarek’s consciousness.

“Use the fracture. Rip the thread. Rewrite the end before it begins.”

Zarek gasped. His veins burned.

The Phase Edge shifted. His hand cracked open as new data poured from the sigil, lacing into his bones.

New Skill Generated: Sigil Reap (Lv.1) Type: Forbidden Core Severance

Energy Cost: 78% Effect: Temporary bypass of core integrity. Chance of self-corruption: HIGH

The Alpha was charging something. Zarek recognized it.

System Protocol Initiated: Core Pulse Reset Timer: 06.4 seconds

A Reset would wipe the entire region—him included.

He moved.

Blinking forward with Phase Flicker, Zarek slid under the Agent’s right flank, launched off falling debris, and slammed the Sigil Reap blade into the floating core at its chest.

A silent scream followed.

The Alpha froze. Its system stuttered—an impossible thing. Data hemorrhaged from its limbs. The sky pulsed with interference. Drones fell dead from the air. The world lost color.

Zarek gritted his teeth and twisted.

Core Breach Successful Core Deletion 62%... 87%...

ALPHA-CLASS TERMINATION CONFIRMED

The explosion rocked the canyon.

Zarek flew backward and smashed through a collapsed tower, tumbling through layers of smoke, code static, and memory shrapnel. He crashed into a crater and lay still.

His heart pounded like a war drum.

System Reboot: 17%... 38%...

Godroot Core – Stabilizing

New Key Fragment: Acquired Admin Threat Level: FLAGGED – Escalation to Level Zeta

He groaned. “Zeta? That sounds lovely.”

He stood, barely. His interface flickered. Smoke rolled across the ruins. Distant sirens failed to activate—suppressed by the aftermath of his glitch field.

Then he saw it.

A silhouette.

Not Venn. Not a system agent.

A man. Cloaked in dusk-black armor laced with code threads. No signal. No presence. And yet… he was there.

Zarek raised his blade weakly. “Friend or enemy?”

The man smiled. “Neither. I’m your precedent.”

Zarek’s eyes narrowed. “You’re Glitchborn.”

“No,” the man said. “I’m what comes after a Glitchborn takes the throne.”