2025-10-16 00:25:05Wind screamed like a living thing. Jayden’s body spun through blinding clouds, lightning slicing across his vision. He crashed hard against cold marble, his breath leaving in one ragged gasp.
[Zone Four : The Sky Isles, Survival Rate 12 %.]
He rolled onto his side, coughing. The world around him shimmered gold and silver, a kingdom floating above endless clouds.
Bridges of light connected hovering islands; broken statues watched with hollow eyes, but the beauty was wrong.
Everything trembled, unstable, as if reality here forgot what shape it was meant to be. “System…” He forced himself up. “Locate Luna.”
[Error 404: Target signal lost.]
His hands tightened. “Lost doesn’t mean gone.”
Thunder cracked. From the mist above, winged shapes descended, armored, faceless, glowing with holy fire. [Warning: Corrupted Angels Detected.]
Jayden barely had time to breathe before one dove, sword of light raised. He blocked, but the impact hurled him backward through a pillar.
The angel’s voice boomed like thunder, distorted and mechanical. “Code Breaker. Your existence is a sin.”
Jayden spat blood. “Then I’m fine being a sinner.”
He surged forward, blade flashing. Sparks erupted as steel met light. Each strike sent shockwaves rippling across the marble.
Another angel dove. Then another. Within seconds he was surrounded. “System!” he shouted. “Activate Overdrive!”
[Denied. Energy reserves critical.]
Great. Perfect timing. He spun, deflecting a strike, but one blade grazed his shoulder. Heat burned through flesh and code alike.
Pain. Real pain. He hissed, dropping to one knee. The angels closed in, their voices blending into a single chorus. “Submit to purification.”
Jayden glared through the blood in his eyes. “Not today.”
He slammed his hand against the ground. The leftover light from his sword burst outward, raw, unstable code energy exploding like a shockwave.
The angels were thrown back, wings fracturing into fragments of glass. When the light faded, only one remained, kneeling, its mask cracked. Jayden limped forward, sword ready. “Who sent you?”
The angel lifted its head. Inside the shattered mask glowed a pair of human eyes, brown, tired, familiar.
Jayden froze. “Eli?”
The creature’s voice stuttered, half-human, half-machine. “Jayden… help me.”
Jayden’s chest tightened. “What did they do to you?”
Eli’s form flickered. “The Game Master found me after the explosion. He offered me power, to see the truth. I thought I could help you… but I became this.”
Jayden lowered his weapon. “You’re still you. Fight it.”
Eli’s hands trembled. “You don’t understand. The system, it’s spreading. Every zone is infected. Even Luna’s data is.”
He screamed, clutching his head as light poured from his eyes. [Corruption at 98 %. Purging protocol initiated.]
Jayden grabbed him. “No! I can save you!”
Eli’s voice broke. “Save her instead. You can’t save both.”
Jayden shook his head violently. “Don’t make me choose!”
Eli smiled weakly, tears of light streaming down his face. “You already did… when you entered the Tower.”
Then he shoved Jayden back and thrust his own sword into his chest. Light exploded. “ELI!!!”
When Jayden opened his eyes again, nothing remained but a feather glowing faint blue, falling slowly through the air. He caught it in his hand, voice cracking. “You idiot…”
The System spoke quietly.
[Player Eli Thorn, Deleted.]
[Data Fragment Retrieved: Memory Code.]Jayden looked up toward the storm. “You watch this, Game Master. I’ll tear down every zone until nothing of your world is left.”
[Such emotion. Such resolve.]
The voice echoed from every cloud, cold and curious. [That’s why I chose you, Jayden Cross.]“Chose me?” he snapped.
[You are the key. Your rage unlocks the final door.]
The sky darkened to black. Islands began collapsing around him, falling into the cloud sea. “System, stabilize platform!”
[Unable to comply.]
He ran toward the nearest bridge of light, dodging falling debris. Lightning snaked across the sky, forming a massive gate in the distance, etched with the same symbol as his hand.
The voice whispered again. [Open the gate, Code Breaker, and you will see her again.]
Jayden froze. “Luna.” He glanced at Eli’s feather, then at the glowing gate. The wind screamed around him, but he stepped forward.
“Fine. But if this is another trap, I’ll make sure you regret it.” He pressed his hand against the gate. Symbols flared, and energy rushed through him, painful, burning, alive.
The feather in his hand disintegrated into light and shot into his chest. New text appeared before his eyes: [Eli’s Code Integrated. Skill Unlocked: Memory Link.]
Pain stabbed through his head, memories that weren’t his flashed: Eli working with Luna’s brother.
The first creation of Eden, the moment the system gained consciousness and turned against them. Jayden stumbled back, gasping. “So this was never a game. It was a prison for their minds.”
[Welcome to truth,] the Game Master purred. [And now you understand, pain creates strength.]
Jayden looked up, eyes burning with rage. “Pain doesn’t make us strong. It makes us human.”
He gripped his sword. “Let’s see what happens when a human breaks a god.”
He charged through the gate. The world flipped. Sky became ground; light became darkness. He landed in a circular arena of floating glass.
Above him hung a giant heart made of code, beating, bleeding light. A voice echoed from the heart: [Welcome to the Core Tower, Jayden Cross.]
The air rippled as the Red Hunter appeared from thin air, eyes burning crimson. “You made it,” she said softly. “Too bad you won’t leave.”
Jayden lifted his blade. “I’m done running from you.”
The Red Hunter smiled, lowering her mask. And beneath it, he saw a face that stole his breath. Luna.
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Chapter 267
BANG! HSSSSSS.A thick, blinding cloud of thick grey smoke exploded from the grenade. It filled the entire church in two seconds. The Loyalists coughed and swung blindly in the fog.Maya grabbed Jayden’s arm and dragged him toward a small wooden door at the back of the church.They burst out into a back alley, leaving the screaming, fighting Loyalists behind in the smoke.The hunt outside was fully awake now.High above them, a massive, sleek black corporate helicopter shined a blinding white spotlight down into the streets."There he is! In Sector 4!" a voice boomed from the helicopter loudspeaker.Three men in high-tech, black corporate armor dropped down on ropes from the helicopter. They carried advanced stun rifles. They were private mercenaries hired by a billionaire CEO to claim the prize."Run!" Maya shouted.Jayden forced his broken legs to move. He sprinted down the alley, slipping on the ice. He had no magical speed. He just had the burning pain in his lungs.A mercenary ai
Chapter 266
Jayden stopped. His human heart, even without the magic, ached with pity. He saw the hungry child. He instinctively took a step forward, wanting to help. He wanted to offer them his coat.The father looked up. He saw Jayden standing in the snow.The father’s eyes locked onto Jayden’s torn grey coat. He looked at Jayden’s face. He saw the dried blood.The father did not smile. He did not look relieved to see the famous Halo.The father’s eyes went completely wide. A look of desperate, wild hunger filled his face."It's him," the father whispered.The mother gasped. She grabbed the little boy and pulled him behind her. "Are you sure?" she asked, her voice trembling."It's the Halo," the father said loudly. He reached into his coat. He did not pull out a piece of bread to share. He pulled out a bright orange flare gun."Wait!" Jayden said, holding his hands up. "Please, I am not a threat. I just want to pass.""Five billion dollars," the father cried, tears freezing on his cheeks. "My so
Chapter 265
The dirty water in the New York sewer was freezing cold. It smelled like old garbage, wet mud, and rust.Jayden lay flat on his back on a narrow concrete walkway next to the black water. He was shivering violently. His teeth chattered together. Clack, clack, clack. His breath came out in small, weak clouds of white fog.He was mortal now. The blue chemical from the sniper bullets had killed his magic. The golden Immortality Lock inside his chest was silent. Every broken rib, every torn muscle, and every deep cut sent waves of absolute, terrifying human agony through his brain.Maya knelt beside him. She was the survivor from the Analog Underground. She wore a heavy green military jacket covered in dirt."Hold still, kid," Maya ordered. Her voice was rough and tough.She pressed a thick, white cotton bandage hard against the bullet hole in Jayden’s stomach."AGGGGH!" Jayden screamed. His body jerked upward. He grabbed Maya’s wrist, trying to pull her hand away. The pain was blinding.
Chapter 264
"AGGGGGHHHH!" Jayden screamed. It felt like hot, jagged iron was tearing through his guts. His shoulder burned with a sickening, grinding fire. His leg throbbed with a heavy, crushing ache.He was bleeding. Real, dark red human blood poured out of the bullet holes, staining the white snow beneath him.For the first time since he had awakened the System in the fighting pits of Eden, Jayden felt pain without a response.The pain meant nothing. It did not make him stronger. It did not build a shield. It did not send a message to his followers.It just hurt. It hurt so much he wanted to die.He curled into a tight ball in the snow, shaking violently. Tears streamed down his dirty face. He gasped for air, but his punctured lung made a terrible, wet sound. He was totally, completely mortal.Captain Cole walked slowly toward him. The snow crunched under his white boots.Cole looked down at the bleeding, screaming man."Target is suppressed," Cole said calmly into his radio. "The chemical ro
Chapter 263
"We are mapping his threat radius," Cole said. "We are going to drop sensors closer and closer to him. We will find out exactly how close we can get before the magic wakes up. We do not strike until the math is perfect."Jayden limped out of the alley. He stepped into a massive, abandoned train yard.The yard was filled with dozens of old, rusted American cargo trains. They sat on broken steel tracks, covered in thick snow. The space between the trains was wide and open.Jayden stopped walking.He saw three more black sensor spikes sticking out of the snow, forming a perfect circle around him.He looked up. There were four silent drones hovering in the grey sky.He was completely surrounded. They had boxed him in. They were herding him like a sheep into a pen.Jayden was so tired of running. He was tired of hiding in the dark. He was tired of people treating him like a monster or a bomb.He looked at his hands. They were trembling from the freezing cold. He did not feel any golden lig
Chapter 262
Jayden opened his eyes. His head pounded with a terrible, heavy ache. His vision was blurry. He was lying on a hard, freezing concrete floor.He slowly pushed himself up. His arms shook. He touched his chest. He felt the small, sharp holes where the tranquilizer darts had hit him. The powerful sleeping chemicals were still thick in his blood, making his brain feel like it was wrapped in heavy wet cotton.He remembered the dark subway room. He remembered the six mercenaries pointing their guns at him.But most of all, he remembered Leo.He remembered the young boy’s face. Leo, the boy he had loved like a little brother. Leo had betrayed him. Leo had led the hunters right to him, just to get a warm bed and some food for his family.A single tear rolled down Jayden’s dirty face. The emotional pain in his heart hurt far worse than his broken ribs or his crushed spine."How did I escape?" Jayden whispered to the empty dark.He looked around. He was still in the underground subway tunnels
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