The ten rings of morgetti, the only form of fast-paced leveling to reach your title. The rings are one of the most dangerous places in the scantary, yet there were only nine functional rings, the last one being desolate lands with nothing to be found and becoming a forgotten legend.
At least, that was the case until now.
The system gleams; its words seemed unreal to him, but not far-fetched or a lie.
_________
Do you accept this newfound path?
▶ Yes ▶No
_________
This is the only way to gain what I want.
The only way to avenge reincarnators who died following the foolish goal set by Vitalis. And the only way to repay them for making me a forgotten soul.
"I accep-"
Crack! Crack!
The sound of glass breaking above grabs his attention. Lifting his head to the sound, his eyes meet the roof of the black domain spreading with cracks that seep pure white light into the confined space.
Still, something else grabs his attention.
A tall frame looming high above him.
[Error!] [Error!]
[Disruptance alert!]
Even with the countless errors rapidly flooding his vision, his eyes are firm on something he never thought he would see.
A dead god.
Towering above him, a shackled boned god comes into sight. The small remnants of light casting down on it utterly baffles him.
His heart races.
Air comes in short breaths, barely enough to sustain his new form.
"What the hell is this?" He mummered out.
"A traitor." A voice echoes as the top of the black domain caves in, letting in someone or something.
Snapping his head back up, all the air sucks out of his lungs in an instant. His feet instinctively backpedal, tangling together—
thud
—he crashes to the ground, elbows scraping the floor.
"Vi...Vi...Vitalis." His eyes widen.
Slowly.
A being clad in robes of impossibly bright white, so stark it feels like a mockery of purity itself, descends. Its face is hidden beneath a veil of darkness caused by its hood, yet its presence speaks louder than any word could.
Above its head—halos. Not one. Not two. But many. Rotating. Interlocking. Each one inscribed with symbols too divine to be understood, yet too cruel to be holy.
And its wings...
Not two. Not four. But uncountable. Sprouting from its back like blades from a thousand graves—each feather sharp, each beat shaking the bones of the earth.
"Yes indeed." It says arrfiming who it was. "Why is an anomaly like yourself doing in this camber?"
Cipher couldn't utter a word, stiffening to the bone like a statue.
I can't move. Even though it asked me a question, I can't bring myself to feel anything but...Inferior.
And completely helpless.
"How dare something like yourself wonder into here." Vitalis hissed; this time, he could feel the blatant disgust in its tone.
"I..."
Move...
Move goddammit!
"A foolish soul… clinging to borrowed purpose behind a shell forged in stolen mana."
Vitalis speaks, and he has no choice but to listen as the system repeats errors around him.
But this time, his words are not alone. Reality behind him begins to groan, like the very cosmos is protesting his wrath. The space behind him fractures, not in sound, but in concept.
Time slows. The wind holds its breath.
And from the rippling distortion, a colossal golden sword forges itself piece by piece, emerging like a holy monolith birthed from creation itself. Its blade points skyward, humming with ancient judgment—impossibly massive, unnervingly still. It does not fall.
Not yet.
Its very presence promises obliteration.
Vitalis raises a hand, his many wings unfurling like banners of divine conquest. His halos flare, spinning like rings of execution.
"Anomalies should know their place," he intones."Your kind belongs buried in oblivion, not crawling through my sacred realm like vermin."His gaze sharpens, each word pressing on Cipher's lungs like gravity.
"You stand not in defiance, creature…But in error."
His finger slowly descends like a divine guillotine in motion. The blade followed its action.
"And I am the correction."
"N...No."
I just gained something... I was just about to forge a path to end you, but here you are, ending me.
I do not accept this outcome.
"System!!" He screams, desperation clawing at the last embers of vengances. "I ACCEPT THIS PATH!"
[Excellent!]
The system bursts with a brilliant red light, but the sword doesn't stop descending on him.
[Situation assessed.]
<<
Before the sword can come any closer, the system interface blocks it, stopping it as the sparks of both red and golden merge one an obvious winner but the next trying to defy its odds of failure.
It's slowing it down!
[Solution found!]
<<
Inche by inche, his body began to dematerialize into nothing. Vitalis relies back slightly, enough to show Cipher that the god had been caught off guard. Yet, it isn't the end; with a flicker of light, Vitalis vanishes, reappearing just inches away from him, arms outstretched and clasped around his neck.
"You insignificant anomaly." The god growls, a spark of light flaring along his alsmot vahised neck line.
Spark!
[Error in teleportation!]
No! I gotta do something!
I have to stop it!
No matter how many times he pled, the remaining body parts still glitching in and out of teleportation refused to do anything.
I'm helpless...Powerless against...against...Vitalis!
[Error repairing!]
<<
"You'll never get away from me. Your existence will always be an anomaly, a blight on my order, a glitch in my sacred design." The god says, bright golden orbs for eyes peering through the darkness of its hood, "You can never rival me... or my world. You were never meant to. And for that, you will suffer for eternity."
[Error!]
[Teleportation location changed!]
It changed my location! System, change it back!
[Request denied!]
"May your anomalous existence fade into oblivion."
That was all he heard before teleporting.