The air in the Temple of the Forgotten King tasted like ancient dust and impending death.
Elias coughed, wiping a trail of crimson from his lip. Around him lay the broken remains of his raid team—high-ranking Hunters who had laughed at his Rank-E badge just an hour ago. Now, they were nothing but meat under the feet of the Temple Guardian, a fifty-foot titan made of obsidian and glowing runes.
"So... this is it," Elias whispered, staring at his broken spear. "The bottom of the food chain stays at the bottom."
The Guardian raised its massive stone blade, a weapon the size of a city bus. As it swung down, slicing through the air with a deafening whistle, Elias closed his eyes.
[CRITICAL ALERT: Life Signs at 1%.] [System Error: The 'Player' Elias is unauthorized for death.] [Searching for Emergency Overwrite...] [Found: The God-Slayer Protocol (Mythic Rank).]
TIME STOPPED.
The massive blade froze inches from Elias's nose. A cold, mechanical voice echoed not in his ears, but in the very fabric of his soul.
[Protocol Initialized. Vessel Compatibility: 100%.] [Deleting Rank-E Shell...] [Integrating the Essence of the Eternal Shadow...]
Elias's body arched back as black lightning erupted from his chest. His weak, frail muscles were torn apart and rebuilt with threads of dark mana. His hair turned bone-white, and his eyes—once a dull brown—ignited with a terrifying purple glow.
[Transformation Complete.] [Current Rank: UNKNOWN] [New Quest: Eradicate the False Creator.] [Time Limit: 10:00 Minutes]
The world snapped back into motion. The Guardian's blade slammed down, but Elias wasn't there.
BOOM!
The ground shattered, but Elias was standing on the flat of the giant blade, looking up at the monster with an expression of pure boredom.
"My turn," he said. His voice sounded like two tectonic plates grinding together.
[Skill Activated: Shadow Monarch's Grip]
Elias didn't move. He simply clenched his fist. The shadows on the floor rose up like liquid obsidian, forming hundreds of jagged spears that pierced the Guardian from every angle. The stone beast roared in agony, its immortal armor shattering like glass.
With a single leap, Elias vanished into a blur of black smoke. He reappeared at the monster's chest, his hand glowing with a concentrated sphere of void energy.
"Collapse," he muttered.
The sphere expanded, devouring the Guardian's torso instantly. No blood, no rubble—just a clean, circular hole where a god-like monster used to be.
[Level Up! Level Up! Level Up!...] [Warning: The System Creator has noticed your awakening.]
A golden portal opened at the back of the temple. Out stepped a figure draped in light, holding a staff that hummed with the power of a thousand suns. The 'Administrator'—the one who had turned Earth into a playground for monsters.
"You were a bug," the Administrator hissed, his voice trembling with rage. "How dare a bug touch the throne?"
Elias walked forward, each step cracking the temple floor. The shadows behind him grew, forming the shape of a throne made of bones.
"I wasn't a bug," Elias said, his aura suffocating the light in the room. "I was the error you forgot to delete."
The Administrator raised his staff, summoning a rain of golden meteors. Elias didn't dodge. He simply raised his hand, and the shadows rose like a massive dome, swallowing the meteors whole.
[Final Skill Unlocked: End of the Game]
Elias appeared in front of the Administrator in a fraction of a microsecond. He grabbed the 'God's' throat, his fingers sinking into the golden skin.
"The game is over," Elias whispered.
He released all the stored mana in his body. A pillar of darkness erupted, shooting through the ceiling of the dungeon, through the crust of the Earth, and into the very sky above. The Administrator dissolved into particles of light, his screams silenced by the roar of the void.
[Notice: All Systems Offline.] [The World is Free.]
When the light faded, Elias stood alone in a silent, empty wasteland. The temple was gone. The System was gone. He looked at his hands—they were still stained with the purple glow of the Monarch.
He was the strongest being on the planet, but there was no one left to witness it. He turned toward the horizon, where the sun was finally rising, no longer red, but a pure, natural gold.
The Shadow Monarch had paid his debt.