The Glitch in the Hero's Path

Chapter 7: The Fallen Prince’s Bargain

[SYSTEM ALERT: Entity 'Levi' vitals dropping. Synchronization: 110%. Time remaining: 04:59.]

Basra stared at the glowing red sigil burning into Levi’s chest. The air smelled of ozone and scorched earth. He looked at the unconscious guard, then at the flickering, dying portal behind him.

"System, if I leave him, the sync breaks, right?"

[Warning: Abandonment results in permanent data corruption for both parties.]

"Great. So I'm stuck with a heavy, lethal burden."

Basra hauled Levi’s limp arm over his shoulder, grunting as the man’s weight threatened to buckle his knees. He stumbled into the cold, damp corridor, the walls weeping shadows. He had five minutes. He wasn't dying here.

*

The meeting point was an abandoned cellar underneath the old clocktower. A man sat on a crate, swirling a glass of wine that looked far too expensive for the setting. Alamsyah, the disgraced prince, looked up with a smirk that didn't reach his tired eyes.

"You look like hell, Basra," Alamsyah said, waving a hand at the unconscious guard. "And you’ve brought a stray dog. How… messy."

Basra dumped Levi onto a pile of damp burlap, wheezing. "He’s a royal guard, you idiot. And he’s dying because of me. You have the key to the palace, right?"

"I have the key. I have the ambition. And I have a very short temper," Alamsyah drawled, standing up. "Did you bring the ledger from the Academy?"

"I brought a collapse of the entire wing. Does that count as a ledger?"

"I’n not interested in your flair for drama. I’m interested in the structural weaknesses of the throne room."

"Alamsyah, cut the aristocratic posturing. We’re five minutes away from being erased from the server. Are you going to help me, or do you want to die in a cellar?"

Alamsyah stepped closer, his boots clicking on the stone. He circled Basra like a shark. "You’re desperate. I can smell it. It’s intoxicating, really. Why should I trust a man who can’t even keep his own bodyguard conscious?"

"Because I’m the only person in this godforsaken simulation who knows exactly how to kill the Duke without triggering a total reboot," Basra spat.

Alamsyah paused. His smirk widened. "A bold claim. But how do I know you aren't just another glitch designed to lead me into a trap?"

"Because if I were a trap, you’d already be dead. Now, give me the key."

"Not until you swear it. Your loyalty. Your sword. Your existence, for as long as I need it to reclaim my crown."

"You want me as a servant? Look around, Prince. We’re both running out of time."

"I want an insurance policy. Swear it."

"I swear it," Basra hissed. "Now, the key!"

Alamsyah reached into his tunic, pulling out a jagged, silver-veined crystal. He held it just out of reach. "You’re quite the liar, aren't you? Your heart rate suggests you’re already planning to betray me."

"I’m planning to survive. There’s a difference."

"Is there? Your guard is waking up. If I give you this key, you’ll drop me the moment he regains his strength."

"Alamsyah, you’re testing my patience. I’ve survived the Duke, the Academy, and a system purge. Do you really want to be the one who finally breaks me?"

"I’m banking on it."

Suddenly, the clocktower above them shuddered. A deafening crash echoed down the stairwell—heavy, rhythmic, and metallic.

"That’s not the guards," Basra whispered, his blood turning to ice. "That sounds like a construct."

"The Duke’s cleaners," Alamsyah muttered, his bravado finally flickering. "They’ve found us."

"Give me the key!"

"Not until we move! There’s a ventilation shaft behind the tapestry. Move, or we’re both deleted!"

Basra grabbed the key from Alamsyah’s hand, shoved him toward the wall, and dragged Levi by his collar toward the hidden passage. They scrambled into a cramped, dust-choked chamber as a blast tore through the cellar door.

Metal shards flew past them, embedded in the stone. Basra slammed the stone slab shut, gasping for air in the darkness.

"They're coming," Alamsyah whispered, his back pressed against the freezing wall. "We’re trapped, Basra. This chamber has no exit."

"There’s always an exit. The System wouldn't spawn us here if it was a dead end."

"The System?" Alamsyah froze. The sound of his breathing changed. "Did you just say… the System?"

"Yeah. The buggy, malfunctioning AI that’s running this nightmare. Why?"

Alamsyah turned his head in the dark. His eyes were wide, glowing with a faint, familiar digital hue. "Because I’ve been hearing it too, Basra. It’s been whispering to me since the day I was stripped of my title."

Basra felt his stomach drop. "What is it telling you?"

"It’s not telling me anything," Alamsyah whispered, his voice trembling. "It’s counting down. And it’s not counting to our deaths."

"Then what is it counting to?"

Alamsyah leaned into the darkness, his voice barely a breath. "It’s counting to a reset. And it says... you’re the one who needs to be deleted."

[SYSTEM ALERT: Synchronization failing. Redirecting energy. Target 'Alamsyah' tagged for execution.]

Basra backed away, his hand hitting the hilt of his blade. "Alamsyah... what did you just do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Alamsyah gasped, clutching his own chest. "It’s not me, it’s—"

A blinding, violet light erupted from the center of the chamber, pinning both of them to the walls. Basra looked up to see a jagged, interface-like rift tearing open in the ceiling, pouring down a deluge of raw, corrupted code.

"It’s starting," Alamsyah screamed, his form beginning to pixelate at the edges. "Basra, it’s not just you! It’s the whole damn world!"

Basra lunged forward, grabbing Alamsyah by the collar, but his hands passed right through the Prince’s flickering shoulder.

"Alamsyah, hold on!"

"I can't!" Alamsyah looked at Basra, his face contorting in pain. "The voice... it says there's only enough space for one of us to make it out of this chapter."

"Don't listen to it! It’s lying!"

"Is it?" Alamsyah smiled, a terrifyingly sad, sharp expression. "Then why is the countdown... at zero?"

The walls of the chamber began to scream. A final, piercing chime echoed, louder than anything Basra had ever heard.

[Total Purge Initiated. Player Status: Disconnected.]

"Basra!" Levi’s voice barked from the floor, raw and desperate.

Basra turned, but the floor beneath him was already gone, replaced by a swirling, infinite abyss of black static. He reached for his blade, for the key, for anything—but his fingers were dissolving into light.

"This isn't the end!" Basra roared into the void.

But as the world folded in on itself, the last thing he saw wasn't the Duke, or the guards, or the Prince.

It was a mirror image of himself, standing in the darkness, waiting.

"Nice to meet you," the double whispered, reaching out to drag Basra into the void. "It’s time to switch places."