THE GILDED LEGEND (Enternity Online)

Chapter 15 Data Core Gate

The black code wall vibrated fiercely beneath Axel's palm, sending a stinging cold sensation deep into his bones in the real world. Axel could feel every line of Liam's defenses pushing back against his presence.

"Axel, hold on! I'm injecting the disabling script!" Zara's voice was sharper and quicker than usual.

"How much longer, Zara? This wall is starting to consume my hand!" Axel yelled, exerting every ounce of his newly upgraded Endurance.

"Three seconds!” Zara replied. “Three ... two ... one ... now!"

Bzzzt!

Flashes of blue electricity pulsed across the black wall's surface, causing it to dim momentarily. Axel pulled back his hand and quickly drew his liquid gold dagger. However, before he could step forward, the ground beneath his feet trembled. Dozens of figures emerged from the darkness of the code labyrinth.

"Monsters?" Axel whispered.

"Not ordinary monsters, Axel! Those are Corrupted Guardians!" Zara shouted. "Liam infected them with residue from the Dark Artifact. Look at the patterns on their chests!"

The figures resembled faceless knights, their bodies constantly shifting with a black liquid that looked like poisonous ink. Their eyes radiated hatred.

"They're blocking the entrance to the Data Core!" Axel said, taking a Bladed Dance stance.

"Axel, listen to me!" Zara's voice cut in. "Don't fight them head-on one by one. Focus on the energy core in the center of their formation. I'm detecting unstable data synchronization there!"

"Understood, Navigator! Give me the coordinates!"

"Eleven o'clock coordinates. Move forward ten meters, then execute a Bladed Dance spin at point 4-0!" Zara instructed.

Axel stepped forward. His speed as a Level 150 Blademaster made the world around him seem to freeze. The guardians tried to swing their dark swords, but Axel had already passed them like the wind.

"Now, Axel! Slash!"

Axel spun. His dagger cut through the air, releasing a wave of golden energy that struck the specified coordinates. A data explosion occurred, shattering the monsters' formation into scattered pixel fragments.

"One wave down! Is there more?" Axel asked, catching his breath.

"Don't stop! Your detection sensor shows movement in front of the main gate!" Zara shouted. "And Axel ... you have to see this. The system is starting a self-deletion countdown."

Axel looked up. In the dark canyon sky, a giant red number appeared, ominous and terrifying.

[05:00]

"Five minutes?" Axel asked. "Liam is completely insane. He's going to destroy the Data Core and himself with it?"

"He doesn't care, Axel! He just wants to win!" Zara's typing sounded impossibly fast. "I have to break through this main firewall in less than four minutes, or we'll all be trapped in permanent data deletion!"

"You do your part, Zara! I'll protect you from external interference!"

Axel stood with his back to the code wall, facing the path where hundreds of new Corrupted Guardians were starting to appear. Their numbers were exponentially greater than before. The cold aura they radiated began to erode Axel's energy shield.

"Zara, there are more and more of these monsters!" Axel exclaimed as he slashed the nearest guardian.

"Hold them off a little longer! I'm getting into the seventh layer of the Firewall!" Zara replied. "The logic keeps mutating, but I can see the underlying pattern. It's like a recursive puzzle!"

Axel parried a giant axe attack from one of the guardians. The vibration numbed his arm. "Damn it, their absorption of physical attacks has increased!"

"Use Gilded Fusion on your dagger, Axel!" Zara suddenly yelled. "Combine it with the Shock element! Their data structure is weak against high frequencies!"

"Understood!" Axel immediately combined the two elements. His dagger flowed with ferocious golden electricity. "Die!"

Axel became a storm in front of the gate. Every slash instantly destroyed all the guardians in a single attack. However, his eyes kept glancing at the decreasing time.

[03:20]

"Zara! Where are you?"

"Almost ... a little longer!" Zara's breathing sounded heavy. "I see the key! Liam hid the override protocol inside a pile of garbage data! He thought I wouldn't look for it there!"

"You found it?"

"Of course! He underestimated an analyst!" Zara's voice sounded triumphant. "Axel, get ready! Once this gate opens, the data pressure inside will be immense! You need to go in immediately and lock down the anchor point!"

"I'm ready!"

Suddenly, a loud blast shook the entire area. The black code wall behind Axel began to crack and glow bright blue. Intricate geometric patterns started to spin, indicating the firewall had collapsed.

"Success! The Data Core gate is open!" Zara yelled. "Get in, Axel! Quickly!"

Axel didn't waste time. He leaped into the open gate. The sensation of entering was like being pulled into a giant vacuum. The monsters' sounds outside vanished, replaced by an eerie silence and a powerful energy hum.

The world inside the Data Core was an endless, pristine white room, filled with pillars of light containing billions of lines of code flowing from ceiling to floor. In the center of the room stood a data throne surrounded by a thick, dark purple aura.

The clock was still ticking.

[01:15]

"Axel, are you inside?" Zara asked. Her voice now sounded slightly echoing.

"I'm here, Zara. But this place feels so... heavy," Axel said, stepping forward carefully.

"Quickly find the main terminal! We have to stop that countdown!"

Axel looked toward the throne. There, sat a man in a robe that now seemed to merge with black shadows. He no longer looked like a player. His skin was pale, and his eyes radiated a very bright purple light.

Liam Fury.

"You finally came, Steele." Liam's voice sounded heavy. "Just in time to witness the end of this imperfect world."

"Stop this self-deletion, Liam! You'll kill thousands of people!" Axel shouted.

Liam laughed, a dry, painful sound. "Kill them? No, I'm freeing them. After this data is deleted, only those with Gilded essence will survive in the new world. And I... I will become its foundation."

"You've completely lost your mind, Liam. That's not evolution, that's slaughter!"

"Evolution is always bloody, Axel! You should know that!" Liam rose from his throne. The dark energy around him exploded, creating gravitational pressure that made it difficult for Axel to stand upright. "You came bringing your Gilded System? Good. Let's see if that small light of yours can survive amidst the eternal darkness!"

Axel looked at the number in the sky.

[00:45]

"Axel, don't be swayed by his words!" Zara called out. "Focus on the artifact in his hands! That's what controls the countdown!"

"I know!" Axel replied.

Axel stared intently at Liam. He was no longer a rival hungry for rankings. He was a monster born from the failure of this simulation. His black aura began to form sharp weapons in the air, all pointing directly at Axel's heart.

"This is our final round, Liam," Axel said in a cold voice.

"True enough, Steele." Liam grinned, showing monstrous digital fangs. "And I'll make sure your name is erased first from this world's memory."

Liam shot toward Axel at a speed difficult for even his Gilded eyes to track. The collision between dark energy and golden light was inevitable, shaking the entire structure of the Data Core as time continued to run out.

Data Core Gate