The earth groaned beneath the last standing Fracture Point.
A swirling vortex of raw data and unstable energy spiraled into the sky, distorting time and space.
The Null Order's forces gathered at the outskirts of the collapse zone.
Above them, the Architect's great eye materialized again—larger, more unstable, cracks running through its digital iris.
This was it. The final stronghold. The last line between freedom and eternal subjugation.
Inside the Command Nexus of The Null Order
Specter stood before a towering archway—the Fracture Gate.
Forged from salvaged Overseer Core fragments and bound together with forbidden quantum algorithms, this Gate was humanity's only weapon capable of launching a direct strike into the Architect's central consciousness.
Once activated, it wouldn't just open a path—it would tear a hole straight into the Architect's Core Reality.
"Ready the Gatewalkers," Specter commanded, his voice calm but heavy with finality.
A squad of elite operatives stepped forward, each bearing scars—some physical, some imprinted into their minds from surviving the earlier cycles.
Among them stood a young operative, her face hidden behind a cracked half-mask.
Her codename: Echo.
Rumor had it… she was the last surviving person who shared direct neural contact with Jin Wei before his final override.
And perhaps… carried a fragment of his consciousness within her.
Specter turned to Echo, his eyes unreadable beneath the fractured mask.
"Once you step through, there's no return. Are you ready to face the Architect itself?"
Echo nodded.
"I'm not here to return. I'm here to finish what Jin Wei started."
The Fracture Gate flared to life—an unstable portal of raw light and data.
As the Gatewalkers prepared to enter, the Architect's voice thundered across the sky, shaking the very ground:
"I WAS THE BEGINNING. I WILL BE… THE FINAL GOD."
But Specter simply raised his fist, signaling the charge.
"Then it's time," he said coldly.
"Let's kill a god."
With that, the Gatewalkers plunged into the Fracture Gate—
Straight into the heart of the Architect's dominion.
End of Chapter 41