For ten years, Kael Ardyn lived inside a dying world.
Eternum Frontier was no longer popular. Its servers were half-abandoned, its forums silent, its final content still uncleared. Most players quit long ago—broken by brutal mechanics, hidden failure conditions, and bosses designed to be unfair.
Kael stayed.
Not because he loved it.
Because he refused to lose.
Ten years of repetition carved habits into his bones. He knew spawn timings by instinct. He could hear a boss mechanic before it triggered. He memorized damage values the way priests memorized scripture.
Tonight, standing alone in the final chamber, Kael delivered the last blow.
The final boss collapsed without music.
No fireworks.
Just silence.
Then the message appeared.
"CONGRATULATIONS. PLAYER KAEL ARDYN HAS CLEARED ETERNUM FRONTIER"
Kael stared at it, fingers trembling.
"…So that's it?"
His vision blurred—not from tears, but exhaustion. Ten years condensed into a hollow ache behind his eyes.
Another line flickered.
"UNREGISTERED CLEAR CONDITION DETECTED"
"QUALIFICATION: SOUL-TRANSFER — ACCEPTED"
"What?"
The word Accepted appeared without his input.
The screen went black.
---
The Body That Rejected Him
Kael awoke choking.
Not for air—for weight.
Gravity crushed him from the inside out. His heartbeat thundered like war drums, each pulse threatening to tear his ribs apart.
He opened his eyes.
A cathedral of black stone loomed overhead. Pillars carved with ancient sins. A throne at the center—vast, cruel, and unmistakably wrong.
Kael was sitting on it.
No.
Fused to it.
Pain ripped through him as something foreign resisted his presence. This body rejected him violently, like a blade lodged in a wound that refused to close.
A voice—cold, mechanical—cut through the agony.
"SOUL INTEGRATION: 12%"
"WARNING: HOST BODY — DEMON LORD VARGATH NOCTIS — IS INCOMPATIBLE"
Kael screamed.
Not aloud.
Internally.
His memories collided with another's—wars that scorched continents, betrayals soaked in blood, a throne earned through extinction. The original Demon Lord's will clawed at him, furious and unfinished.
Then—
It went silent.
Not defeated.
Suppressed.
Kael collapsed forward, gasping, sweat soaking his skin.
He was alive.
Barely.
---
The System That Did Not Obey Him
A translucent interface hovered before his eyes.
Not polished.
Cracked.
As if damaged by time.
Name: Kael Ardyn
Host Body: Demon Lord Vargath Noctis (Sealed)
Synchronization: 12%
Authority Access: Severely Restricted
Below it, a warning pulsed faintly.
"NOTE: THIS BODY'S TRUE POWER REMAINS SEALED"
Kael swallowed.
Good.
If it weren't, he suspected he'd already be dead.
Another line appeared.
"UNIQUE PERCEPTION SKILL GRANTED: HEAVEN-PIERCING SIGHT (INCOMPLETE)"
The world shifted—but not cleanly.
When Kael focused, faint outlines surfaced around distant figures. Fragments of intent. Emotional weight. Unstable probabilities.
Not status screens.
Not certainty.
And when he held the focus too long, a sharp pain stabbed behind his eyes.
"COST: MENTAL STRAIN"
"PROLONGED USE MAY CAUSE COGNITIVE FRACTURE"
"So it's not omniscience," Kael muttered. "It's… inference."
Good.
Lies could still exist.
---
The Court That Watched Quietly
He wasn't alone.
Kneeling before the throne were twelve figures—Demon Lords, each powerful enough to shatter kingdoms. They did not move. They did not speak.
But Kael felt it.
Not unity.
Evaluation.
One general—an armored giant with burning eyes—radiated barely contained hostility.
Another, a pale demon woman with folded wings, hid her thoughts so deeply Kael could barely read her surface intent.
And one—an older, hornless demon standing slightly apart—watched Kael with unsettling calm.
Not loyalty.
Not hatred.
Curiosity.
That one worried him the most.
No one attacked.
Yet.
---
The Starter Gift That Bit Back
The system chimed again.
"STARTER PROVISION — PARTIALLY UNLOCKED"
Items appeared—not exploding with light, but resting quietly, as if dormant.
• 1,000 Allocation Points (Locked — requires stabilization)
• 3 Ascension Pills (UNSAFE FOR HOST BODY)
• Skill Fragment: Clone Genesis (Incomplete)
• Gacha Token x10 (Heaven Tier)
• Gacha Token x1 (Unknown Tier — Sealed)
Kael's gaze lingered on the sealed token.
No probability.
No description.
Only a single line:
"WARNING: MAY IRREVERSIBLY ALTER CAUSALITY"
He did not use it.
Not yet.
Instead, he opened the Clone Genesis fragment.
Pain lanced through his skull.
Images flashed—copies of himself diverging, rebelling, evolving beyond control.
The skill stabilized.
Barely.
"CLONE GENESIS (RESTRICTED)"
• Maximum Active Clones: 1
• Clone Power: 30% of current state
• Clones possess independent will
• WARNING: Clones are NOT bound by loyalty
Kael closed the window slowly.
"So they can betray me," he whispered.
That wasn't a flaw.
That was a story waiting to happen.
---
The Throne Accepts Him — Slightly
Kael straightened.
Pain flared again—but less than before.
Synchronization ticked upward.
13%
The throne's pressure eased, just enough to let him breathe.
Below him, the generals finally moved.
One spoke—the curious one.
"Demon Lord," the old demon said carefully, "you feel… different."
Kael met his gaze.
For the first time since arriving, he smiled.
"Good," he said. "Then you won't underestimate me."
Not a threat.
A promise.
Far above the citadel, something ancient shifted in its sleep.
And somewhere between sealed power and borrowed authority, Kael Ardyn realized the truth:
This wasn't a reward.
It was a trial.
And the throne beneath him would kill him the moment he failed.