By sunrise, half the league's network was on lockdown.
The other half belonged to me.
Aurora's rebirth wasn't subtle — it stormed through encrypted walls like lightning.
Every ghost account, every erased transaction, every hidden signature from Ω lit up in violent clarity.
It wasn't a game anymore.
It was exposure.
And exposure burns.
---
Aurora Control Hub — 05:13 a.m.
"System breach holding at sixty percent," Luna reported through comms. "But… Ruo, if we keep pushing, we risk a cascade."
"I know," I said.
Ashen's voice cut in. "Captain, this isn't sustainable! They'll trace the signal to Lyra HQ."
"Good," I replied. "Then they'll know where to find me."
The silence that followed wasn't shock — it was respect.
I'd stopped hiding the moment Xiao Yi hit the ground.
---
Parallel — Seoul, Private Terminal
Lao K slammed his hands on the console.
"Damn it, Ruo!"
Every trace led back to her.
Every firewall she broke flared on his screen like a warning flare.
He could've stayed out of it.
He should have.
But he'd never been good at watching her fight alone.
He grabbed his headset.
"Uploading access key," he muttered. "If you're going to set a fire, you'll need backup."
---
Lyra Systems — Sublevel Mainframe
The temperature rose. The hum of power built until it rattled through the walls.
Aurora's core burned white on the central screen.
Ω's counterattack came fast — clean, surgical, and confident.
> Ω: Persistent, aren't you?
But every system has a threshold.
You've reached yours.
I typed back.
> Qin Ruo: Maybe. But the thing about thresholds—
They're meant to be broken.
The system surged.
Ω's code clashed with mine, line for line, a duel of logic and will.
Then a third signature appeared — familiar, reckless, warm.
> Lao K: Mind if I join the game?
Ω hesitated.
And that was enough.
---
The Fireline
Aurora's algorithms exploded into synchronized countercode — burning through Ω's encryption in golden threads.
Every move they made, we mirrored.
Every wall they built, we turned transparent.
Lao K's voice was steady in my earpiece.
"Two minutes before system collapse."
"Then we finish it in one," I said.
"Ruo— if this works, it'll wipe every record. Including yours."
"I know."
"Then say something."
I smiled. "Checkmate."
---
Impact
The servers flared like a sunrise.
Then — silence.
Every monitor went black. Every trace of Ω vanished.
For a moment, I thought it was over.
Until a final message blinked across the screen.
> Ω: Clever. But you've only burned one mask.
See you soon, Queen.
Then the lights died completely.
---
Aftermath — Rooftop, Dawn
The city was waking.
Smoke rose from Lyra Tower, but the sky — for once — was clear.
Lao K found me standing there, watching the sunrise.
"You broke the system," he said.
"No," I murmured. "I freed it."
He stepped closer, brushing a streak of soot from my cheek. "And what about you?"
I looked at him, tired and alive.
"I'm still here."
He smiled. "Then that's enough."
---
✨ End of Chapter Twenty-One — "Fireline."
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