The air was heavy, thick with translucent energy that shimmered like molten glass. The deeper Sung Jinwoo walked into the Nexus, the less it resembled anything known to man. Colors bled into one another. Time itself lost direction. The laws of physics bent and folded around him as though reality were a fragile page being turned by an unseen hand.
His every step echoed across the crystalline ground, creating ripples that reflected moments of the past and fragments of futures not yet written. His shadows followed close behind, distorted by the strange light. Beru hovered slightly ahead, wings humming, his voice low.
"My king, the energy density here surpasses measurable limits. Every breath we take here steals from the essence of our own mana."
Jinwoo's expression remained calm. "Then we move carefully. This place wasn't built to sustain life—it's pure manifestation of the System's source code."
Igris glanced upward. "Master, the Core awaits beyond that gate."
Before them stood a colossal archway of liquid metal, flowing yet solid, spinning slowly in the air. At its center was a swirling sphere of light, pulsing like a star's heart. The moment Jinwoo approached, the ground trembled and runes ignited beneath his feet.
System Message: Warning – Unauthorized Entity Approaching the Heart of Nexus. Initiating Defense Protocol.
The temperature dropped instantly. A voice that sounded like a thousand whispers spoke from nowhere and everywhere at once.
"You are not meant to tread here, shadowbearer."
Jinwoo raised his head. "And yet, here I stand."
From the glowing sphere emerged a form—tall, armored, featureless, wrapped in chains of light. It held a massive halberd that radiated with unstable cosmic energy.
System Announcement: Guardian Class Entity Detected – Rank: SS+
Igris stepped forward immediately, blade drawn, his crimson aura burning brighter than usual. "My king, allow me—"
Jinwoo raised a hand. "No. I'll face it."
The Guardian moved first. It swung its halberd in a slow arc, but the motion cut through space itself. The air folded, and a slash of golden energy ripped toward Jinwoo. He shifted his stance, the shadows beneath him exploding outward to absorb the impact. The blast tore through the crystal ground and disintegrated a section of the realm, but Jinwoo stood unshaken.
He extended his right hand. "Arise."
From his shadow rose hundreds of soldiers—his army, more alive than ever before. Yet as soon as they formed, several began to disintegrate, their essence unraveling under the Nexus's unstable gravity.
"Only those with strong anchors can survive here," Jinwoo murmured. "Fine. Then I'll make my own anchor."
He clasped his hands together. "Shadow Domain."
A massive circle of dark mana expanded outward, stabilizing the field. The Guardian's movements slowed slightly, as if its power was being resisted.
It raised its halberd again, energy flaring bright. "You defy the law of balance."
Jinwoo's voice was calm, almost soft. "Balance was broken the moment your master tried to merge the realms."
He blurred forward, faster than the eye could follow, and appeared behind the Guardian. His hand shot out, plunging through its armor, tearing out a core made of burning light. For a brief moment, victory seemed certain.
Then the Guardian's body exploded into radiant fragments that swirled and reformed behind him. The wound Jinwoo inflicted closed instantly.
Beru hissed. "It regenerates endlessly!"
Jinwoo turned his gaze back, eyes glowing. "No. It's not regeneration. The Nexus is rewriting it from memory."
Igris slashed forward, his blade crackling with crimson lightning. The strike landed true, splitting the Guardian in half, but again it reformed, stronger, faster, its aura sharper.
The entire realm vibrated. The chains that wrapped its body began to glow with patterns that resembled the System's interface itself. Each strike, each pulse of light from the creature resonated like a heartbeat of the Nexus itself.
Jinwoo realized the truth. "It's not just a protector… it's a fragment of the Core itself."
He stepped forward, summoning every ounce of his mana. His veins glowed violet, and his aura ignited, flooding the field with darkness so thick it blotted out the world.
"Then I'll crush the Core through its own echo."
The Guardian roared, its halberd crackling with gold fire. Jinwoo moved in. Their collision shook the very plane. Waves of energy erupted outward, splitting mountains of crystal in the distance, bending the horizon like glass. Each strike shattered sound and light, a duel of pure concept—order against chaos, existence against void.
Beru and Igris fell back, barely able to endure the shockwaves.
The fight felt endless. The Guardian struck again and again, but Jinwoo began adapting, learning its rhythm, understanding the logic embedded within its pattern. With every clash, he saw lines of light tracing through the air—code, the System's written law that powered the creature.
He began to rewrite them mid-battle.
Darkness twisted through the air like serpents, intercepting the light and bending it back upon itself. The Guardian faltered.
System Message: Unauthorized Override Detected. System Core Access Breached.
Jinwoo's voice thundered through the void. "Access granted."
He thrust his palm forward, and the shadows exploded outward in a spiral of absolute power. The Guardian screamed as its body disintegrated into fragments of light. In its final moment, it spoke, its tone neither hateful nor afraid.
"The Core will remember you."
Then it was gone.
Silence filled the chamber. The massive gate before him shimmered and began to open. The light within it pulsed like a living heart. Jinwoo's aura dimmed, his breath steady but sharp.
Beru approached cautiously. "My king… are you unharmed?"
Jinwoo nodded slowly. "For now." He turned his eyes toward the gate. "But this was only the first."
He stepped through.
---
Beyond the gate lay a vast expanse of light and darkness intertwined—a sphere that seemed infinite yet contained within itself. Streams of data and mana flowed through its sky like rivers of gold. This was the true Nexus Heart. It pulsed once every few seconds, and each pulse sent tremors that crossed both the Nexus and the human realm.
Jinwoo could see it: every Anchor on Earth was connected to this Core through luminous threads. Each one glowed in rhythm, feeding energy toward the center.
Cha Hae-In's voice echoed faintly through the linkstone he carried. "Jinwoo, can you hear me? We're detecting immense fluctuations. The Anchors are accelerating their convergence!"
He responded quietly, "I see them. I'm standing at their source."
Beru pointed toward the far end of the Heart. There, suspended within the glow, floated a humanoid shape—massive, covered in black crystalline armor. It was still, like a statue. Yet Jinwoo could feel the power radiating from it.
Igris whispered, "That presence… it surpasses even the Guardian."
The System spoke again, its tone almost reverent.
System Notification: Core Sentinel Detected – Rank: SSS
Designation: Prime Anchor – Executor of the Nexus Law
Jinwoo's eyes narrowed. "So this is the true guardian."
The Sentinel's eyes opened. Two orbs of white fire burned into existence, locking onto him. The energy shifted violently, sending gusts of raw power across the field.
"You," it said, its voice like an earthquake. "Bearer of Shadows. You should have stayed within your boundary."
Jinwoo stepped forward, shadows coiling around his hands. "Boundaries are for those afraid to cross them."
The Sentinel lifted its arm. "Then you will witness what it means to face infinity."
The Core pulsed. The realm exploded in light.
Everything became motion.
The Sentinel struck with impossible speed, collapsing distances and rewriting space itself. Jinwoo dodged narrowly, teleporting through shadows, countering with volleys of black energy that bent reality in their wake. Every blow that landed carved new scars into the Nexus, each one a reminder of the cost of defiance.
For the first time in years, Jinwoo felt real resistance—not an enemy of rage or hunger, but one of purpose, precision, and perfect power.
The Sentinel extended its arm. A chain of energy formed around Jinwoo, binding him. "Your essence will fuel the Heart."
Jinwoo's shadow army materialized at once. Igris charged with a roar, slicing through the bindings, while Beru launched upward, tearing through the energy web with his claws.
The Sentinel released another shockwave, destroying dozens of shadows, but Jinwoo absorbed their mana mid-blast, fueling his strength.
He smiled faintly. "Wrong move."
The darkness in his eyes deepened until even light bent away from him. "Shadow Fusion: Abyssal Form."
The world itself dimmed.
For a moment, the Sentinel hesitated. Its readings faltered.
Jinwoo vanished. When he reappeared, he was behind the Sentinel, both arms charged with condensed darkness. He slammed his hands forward, unleashing the attack that had once leveled entire realms.
"Eternal Collapse."
The explosion ripped through the Core, consuming everything in a tide of shadow. The Sentinel screamed, its armor cracking, its form unraveling into starlight. The shockwave pierced the Nexus veil and echoed all the way to the mortal world.
---
On Earth, the sky turned black for ten seconds. Every Anchor pulsed violently, then dimmed. Hunters fell to their knees as mana surged uncontrollably through the air.
Cha Hae-In stared at the monitors, voice trembling. "The Core just destabilized. The readings are off the charts. He's done something inside."
Baek Yoonho clenched his fists. "Then maybe… he's winning."
The clouds parted slightly, revealing a beam of violet light stretching into space.
---
Back in the Nexus, Jinwoo stood amidst ruin. The Core pulsed weakly now, cracks spreading across its surface. The Sentinel was gone.
Beru and Igris bowed low. "My king, it is done."
Jinwoo looked ahead. "Not yet. Destroying the Core means destabilizing everything—including our world. We need to sever the Anchors carefully."
He turned his gaze upward where the light flickered. "Agnorath… I know you can hear me. I'm coming for you next."
A deep voice echoed faintly through the fading Nexus. "Then hurry, Sung Jinwoo. Because by the time you arrive… the real war will have already begun."
The Nexus trembled again, as if breathing its final breaths. Jinwoo raised his hand, and the shadows surged outward, wrapping around him.
The next step would determine the fate of both worlds.
And Sung Jinwoo walked forward without hesitation.