Chapter 36: The Executioner's Judgment
Vault XII – Core Chamber Rupture
Zaphro's POV
The air thickened with digital static.
The Executioner descended like a judgment long deferred—its massive body dripping with corrupted data strings, its eyes glimmering with fragments of lost avatars. I could feel it. This wasn't just a boss fight. This was something meant to erase everything the Prophet and the Crimson Order stood for.
A failsafe.
One the system had buried with the Prophet. And now, because of me, it had reawakened.
"Zaphro," the Prophet said, stepping beside me. "You must not let it reach the Vault Core. If it does, the entire Archive Layer will collapse."
I tightened my grip on my weapon. The sigil on my left hand burned—raw, reactive, alive. Every second that passed, it synced deeper with the vault. I wasn't just a player anymore. Not here.
I was part of it.
"Everyone, formation!" Shion barked. "We buy Zaphro and the Prophet as much time as they need. We hold the line."
Ayana summoned her celestial barrier. Verillion's hands were already aflame. Even Slicer, normally sarcastic, wore a grim look as he drew twin blades pulsing with rune data.
The Executioner raised its arm.
A red sun formed above its palm—an artificial star of pure deletion protocol.
> [Ω Overcode Skill: Absolute Format]
[Countdown: 60 seconds]
A system-wide kill skill.
The kind only used once. Ever.
"Forty-five seconds and it'll launch that!" I shouted.
The Prophet's hand brushed against mine. "You have to remember the Root Path."
"What?"
Her voice dropped, eyes locked on me. "The memories inside you. Not just of this character. But something older. Something you were, before Enigma Online PH."
"What the hell are you saying—"
> [WARNING: CODE PHANTOM SIGNATURE SYNCING… sh4d0w_aRk.vault.echo IN PROGRESS]
I staggered, my vision fracturing into layered data. Voices. Flashbacks. Not mine—but familiar.
---
—"You rewrote the death triggers. That's not allowed."
—"If we let them grow, they'll ask questions. Real ones."
—"He uploaded himself. He didn't log out. He became a failsafe."
---
The memory splinters hit like cold lightning.
I dropped to one knee.
But instead of pain… there was understanding.
This sigil, the Dark Angel class, the vault, the Order—none of it was chance.
I wasn't a beta tester. Wasn't a chosen hero.
I was an error. An echo of something the devs tried to kill but failed to erase.
A remnant of sh4d0w_aRk.
But not the original.
A reincarnation, maybe. Or a failed clone. One born through the system's attempt to purge him… but ended up rebuilding part of him.
Me.
And now, the Executioner recognized it.
> "YOU ARE THE ROOT LOOP."
"YOU MUST BE ENDED."
"Too bad I don't feel like ending today," I spat, rising as the sigil burned brighter.
My wings snapped out—one obsidian black, the other blinding white. Not as a choice… but a balance.
> [Form Synced: Angelic/Demonic Core – Balanced Mode Initiated]
[New Skill: Lightbane Catalyst – UNLOCKED]
"Guys—brace!" I called. "I'm going in!"
Ayana roared, raising her shield against a blast. Verillion screamed as fire coiled around his limbs and rocketed forward, striking the Executioner across its face. It barely flinched.
The countdown dropped—
> [Absolute Format: 20 seconds]
"Not enough time!" Shion shouted.
Yes. It was.
I took a step.
The Prophet's voice echoed, not aloud—but within the Archive itself.
"Show the system its own flaw."
I raised my hand—and ripped open the sigil, letting the energy inside flood outward. Not like before. Not as power. But as a signal.
And then—
Reality split.
A mirror image of the Executioner formed beside it.
> [Accessing: Forbidden Routine 0x94]
[Deploying Phantom Copy: Mirror of Judgment]
The system glitched.
The Executioner hesitated.
> [Conflict Detected: Duplicate Node Signature]
[Auto-Reconciliation in 10… 9…]
"Now!" I screamed. "Everyone hit it!"
Our team moved as one.
Slicer unleashed a flurry of slashes aimed at the creature's legs. Shion struck from above with a spinning hammer technique that shattered part of its shoulder. Ayana charged a barrier overload and slammed it into the Executioner's core, buying us two seconds. That's all I needed.
> [Skill: Lightbane Catalyst – ACTIVATED]
I dove forward.
White and black energy twisted around my form—then launched from my wings as a double helix of pure judgment. It struck the Executioner dead center.
> [Ω Overcode: Absolute Format… CANCELLED]
[ERROR: Archive Entity Interference Detected]
The mirror shattered. The Executioner cracked.
And then—
With one final scream of "YOU WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO EXIST—"
—it exploded into a storm of corrupted light.
The Vault shook. The Prophet caught my arm before I collapsed.
"Zaphro…" she whispered, "…you just canceled an Ω-level overwrite command."
"I don't even know how," I gasped.
"You didn't need to. You're the proof that something greater exists now within this system. Something the creators can't control anymore."
Shion approached, panting. "So, uh… are we done unlocking forbidden ghosts and nearly dying, or…?"
Slicer groaned. "Next time I log in, remind me to pick farming. This is trauma."
We all laughed.
A little too much.
Because deep down—we knew this was only the beginning.
The Prophet turned to face the broken Vault Gate.
"Now," she said, her voice a whisper of both awe and fear. "We descend into the Archive Layer."