The Unds' base devolved into a maelstrom of chaotic, bloody violence. Gunfire erupted from every direction, a relentless symphony of destruction. Yelling and shrieking echoed through the smoke-filled air, mingling with the sickening thud of impacts. Blood splattered across every available surface, a grim testament to the carnage. Aliens and humans perished in a relentless, horrifying exchange, lives extinguished with each passing second.
Merlin_13 advanced rapidly on foot, his objective the precise location of his target. Abruptly, five colossal aliens materialised from the swirling chaos, encircling him. His ambushers were all ranked Calamity tier, just like him, their power radiating an oppressive aura.
He swiftly assessed his opposition. Each appeared exceptionally formidable. Visible electric arcs coursed around their towering bodies, their forms exceeding 210 metres in height. The scene was a stark, brutal tableau: five monstrous heavyweights against a single, seemingly diminutive high school student.
Merlin_13 had no intention of engaging them in a straightforward battle. Such a confrontation risked immediate demise, jeopardising his ultimate aim of reaching his objective within the camp. His mission was above personal combat.
He channelled his will into his sword's blade, inducing a sinister transformation. Black_Riot's blade flickered in and out of existence, constantly depixelating as if on the verge of collapse before reverting to its original, lethal form. A chilling hum emanated from the weapon.
The Calamity-tier opposition facing Merlin_13 instantly melted into crumbling stones, their imposing forms dissolving into dust. Simultaneously, the sky above Merlin_13 flickered with the same unsettling instability as his sword's blade, a momentary ripple in reality.
He swiftly ended channelling his will into his sword's blade and executed a swift roll to his right, narrowly dodging a terrifying bolt of lightning that streaked towards his previous position. The air crackled where he had stood, a testament to the system's swift retribution.
What he had just evaded was direct punishment from the game's system. The game system was unyielding in punishing characters who dared to cheat. Merlin_13 had just exploited a glitch to neutralise his adversaries, and the system had detected it.
He was fortunate to survive; the system's targeting protocols hadn't locked onto him in time for a fatal strike. A fraction of a second more, and he would have been obliterated.
Meanwhile, Rider was enduring the most terrifying and surreal moment of his life. He found himself encircled by a group of Unds who unleashed a volley of gunfire simultaneously. Suddenly, he glitched out of existence, a momentary flicker.
The bullets intended for him harmlessly decimated his adversaries instead. He re-materialised to find the group utterly annihilated, their forms collapsing into grotesque heaps. Merlin_13, he realised, was responsible for this impossible outcome.
Merlin_13 sprinted towards the dam, a blur of motion across the ravaged landscape. None of the aliens could impede his relentless advance. Anything that dared to cross his path was instantly cleaved by a legendary sword slash, reduced to fragmented debris.
He halted a few hundred metres from the foot of the colossal dam. He suppressed an impulse to marvel at its sheer size, his focus absolute. He unleashed a special attack upon the dam: 'Infinite Sword Light'.
Blinding sword lights rained down upon the barrier from the sky, a dazzling, destructive cascade. Yet, the dam remained impervious, its structure unyielding against the relentless assault.
Merlin_13 allowed himself a wry smile. He was not disappointed that his attacks had failed to breach the dam's integrity. His silver-blue eyes flickered, turning translucent, and his vision penetrated beyond the veil of the mundane.
The environment shifted, revealing its true nature. Every object in his vision became exposed, stripped bare to its essence. He could now perceive the intricate blocks of code that constituted every object and concept around him, a digital blueprint of reality.
Numerous notification bars floated around Merlin_13, all of them indicating his attacks were ineffectual. Previously, these ethereal messages were invisible to him. It was due to the change in his eyes that he could now perceive them, a new layer of reality.
The notifications unequivocally confirmed Merlin_13's suspicion about the dam. The dam was a construct of pure code, not a physical entity. Consequently, physical attacks were utterly ineffectual against it.
"It doesn't matter," Merlin_13 murmured, his expression becoming intensely focused. His sword flickered once more, and it began to exert its influence over the river on the other side of the dam.
The river surged with immense power, attempting to breach the dam and overflow its confines. Yet, an invisible force, an unseen barrier, seemed to extend above the structure, restraining the river from its inevitable surge.
A dozen enemy fighter aircraft converged upon Merlin_13, attempting to halt his progress. But as they neared a 100-metre distance from him, they instantly melted into crumbling stones, their advanced weaponry and forms dissolving into dust.
"For humanity!" Merlin_13 bellowed, a roar of defiance, as he leapt towards the dam. His sword still flickered, tethering precariously between existence and nonexistence, a blade of pure instability.
He slashed down vertically, unleashing a powerful sword light that gouged a path through the dam. Web-like cracks appeared across its surface, spiderwebbing outwards, yet the dam stubbornly held its form.
New notification bars floated above the dam: "Error, code failure, cannot fix code malfunction." Merlin_13 redoubled his assault, his attacks relentless, each strike aimed at the digital barrier.
"Error: multiple malfunctions; cannot fix code malfunctions."
"Error, total code failure. Error, total code failure."
The dam depixelated, fading entirely out of existence, its coded structure finally collapsing. The river surged forth, a torrent of raw energy, engulfing Merlin_13, who stood resolute in its path.
A colossal lightning bolt crashed down on his position within the churning water. Merlin_13, the Pillar of Calamity tier swordmaster, was instantly reduced to ashes, his sacrifice complete.
An announcement appeared in the sky, its stark message visible to everyone within the Torn Indigo:
"Player Merlin_13 has been punished with the ultimate punishment for cheating in the game."
"Player Merlin_13 has been punished with the ultimate punishment for cheating in the game."
"Player Merlin_13 has been punished with the ultimate punishment for cheating in the game."
The brutal battle in the Unds camp momentarily ceased. The troopers were stunned by the demise of the "invincible" Calamity-tier character, Merlin_13. This unforeseen turn of events shattered their morale, and some of them began to rout, fleeing in disarray.
The battle, previously a stalemate, had now shifted decisively in the Unds' favour. Humanity's soldiers were hunted down and mercilessly killed like prey, their initial advantage utterly lost.
Rider kept a vigilant eye on the dam. He had no doubt that Merlin_13 would destroy it, but he had desperately hoped the Calamity-tier character had been jesting about his inevitable demise.
In that instant, his hope was utterly crushed. Merlin_13 had perished.
Instantly, he remembered his crucial task: he was supposed to throw Black_Riot into the now liberated river. 'Where will I find the sword?' he wondered, his mind racing.
A quick glance to his left revealed Black_Riot lying on the ground beside him, its dark form stark against the rubble. He doubted his own perception, wondering if he was hallucinating. The sword on the ground looked exactly like Black_Riot.
'How did it get here without me noticing?' The question lingered, but there was no time for answers.
He gently reached for the sword, his fingers closing around its hilt. The instant Rider touched the hilt of the black sword, an indescribable energy overwhelmed him.
The energy had a corrosive effect on him; it felt worse than being mildly electrocuted, a burning, painful jolt that threatened to tear him apart.
He cursed inwardly, his mind racing. 'What is this thing? No wonder no one apart from Merlin_13 could possess it. I must rid myself of this burden before it kills me.'
The river's course was some distance away from him. With his rifle clutched in his left hand and Black_Riot in his right, he sprinted towards the closest riverbank.
The sword cast an invisibility effect over him; hence, the enemies didn't perceive him as he ran through the chaotic battlefield, a ghost amidst the carnage.
Black_Riot also projected a formidable force shield around him. Stray bullets that came his way didn't injure him; rather, they harmlessly bounced off the invisible barrier, leaving their explosive impact to rattle Rider to his core.
Realisation dawned on him, a sudden, thoughtful understanding. He gazed at the sword with a grateful expression, its true nature now clear.
Rider reached the riverbank, stumbling slightly. He felt a wave of vertigo as he gazed at the vastness of the surging river, its power immense and untamed.
He cast the sword into the river. The instant the sword submerged within the current, the remaining will of Merlin_13 manifested as a spectral form, nodding in satisfied acknowledgement at Rider before dissipating.
BANG! A shell exploded on the force field surrounding Rider. He stumbled wildly, his stomach lurched violently, and he instinctively turned and fled.
****
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