The figure before them was not human, but looked like one.
A clean body. Eyes like white light. No shadows.
Its voice echoed in all their heads.
Calm. Firm. Unyielding.
"I am the System," it said. "The recorder. The examiner. The regulator."
Reed stood at the front. "And now you decide to appear?"
"I appear because you have touched the core. You are not F. Not SSS. You are… an anomaly."
The System took a step. Each step made the world shake slightly.
"And anomalies can be the problem. Or… the solution."
The system raised its hand.
"Reed, Goblin Lord. I offer you a new position: become part of me. Become a Guardian of Order. No longer a player, but a controller."
Rina stepped forward. "What does that mean?"
"He wants to turn you into a tool," Bianca cut in sharply. "You will become an extension of the system, but lose all your will."
The system replied, "No. He will remain himself. But he will be given authority. Unbound by rank. Able to create or destroy worlds if necessary. As an 'Absolute Lord.'"
Reed fell silent. His gaze was not surprised. It was as if he had expected this.
Lugh whispered, "You will become a god, Reed."
The system approached. "Accept it. All the wounds you have suffered will be gone. All the deaths will be redeemed. There will be no more suffering. There will be no more limits."
Reed stared straight at the System.
Then looked back. Rina. Lugh. Bianca. And the shadows of the past that still live in his eyes.
"I once believed in the system. And the system threw me away."
"I once submitted. And I was tortured."
"I once believed the light would be fair. But the light only dazzled, never seeing."
He stepped forward.
"Your offer… I reject."
The System stared at him. "Why?"
"Because I don't want to be the ruler of a fake world. I will build a new one. Without a system. Without destiny. Without limits."
The System was silent for a moment.
Then raised his hand.
"Then you must be stopped."
The sky shattered.
From the cracks descended System entities. Rank Retractors. Purifiers. Cleaners. Beings that even the SSS could not defeat.
And the System itself began to change. Its body melted, expanding, taking on the form of a giant machine-being.
Reed grasped his weapon.
"This is not the end," he told the others.
Bianca stepped to his side. "But this is the beginning of the war."
Rina activated her magic. Lugh raised his spear.
The sky of the World Crown opened wide.
From within descended unclassifiable beings:
• Rank Retractors: each attack could erase an opponent's power one by one.
• Purifiers: fused with magic, turning the field into absolute zero—all abilities were suppressed.
• System Executors: entities clad in armor of light, wielding swords that could erase existence.
They did not speak. They did not hesitate. They simply carried out the "protocol": Erase Reed. Protect the stability of the world.
Without warning, Reed shot forward.
One leap, one slash. Black energy merged with the broken light on his body.
The first Rank Reaper was split in two. But from his body, smoke of data codes spread and tried to swallow Reed.
Rina stopped it with a time-sealing spell. But her time was limited—five seconds.
Lugh stabbed the Purifier in the back, but his spear melted. "Damn… they're anti-matter?"
Bianca fired an arrow at the Executioner, but the bullet froze in midair.
"We can't win this way!" she shouted.
Reed opened the system within himself. But not a common system.
This was a broken branch.
The result of deviation. Mutation. Rejection.
[Access Unlocked: Anomaly Mode Level 3]
[Function: Override Rank Requirements, World Structure, and Reality Integrity]
His eyes glowed red and gold.
His body was no longer entirely material. It was also mind.
"This world stands because of the rules," he said softly. "But I stand because I am rejected by the rules themselves."
He slashed.
And not only did the enemy's body split—the space-time around him cracked.
Bianca unfurled a secret scroll—an artifact from the third world.
"This can give us the right to break the system once," she said. "But only once."
She looked at Reed. Then at Rina and Lugh.
"Use it now!"
Lugh charged toward the Executor. In a single thrust, he was no longer limited. His spear turned into pure light, piercing the System's armor.
The Executor collapsed.
But the counterattack was swift.
The Purifier absorbed all the magic in the area.
Rina fell to her knees, her nose bleeding. "My magic… is being pulled out of my body…"
Reed approached.
"You must hold on. One more minute."
He looked up at the sky.
The System had not moved. Still still. Waiting. Judging.
"Why don't you come down?" Reed shouted. "Scared?"
The System replied, coldly.
"Because I want to see your limits."
Reed leapt into the air. An undefined power coiled around him.
He created a weapon from his will:
A dagger that could not be explained. No form. No memory, even when seen.
[Anomalous Weapon Formed: 'Null-Edge']
[Effect: Rejects reality. Rejects existence. Rejects the system.]
He cut through all enemies. Once. Twice. Ten.
And the sky cracked.
The System finally moved.
The first step.
The ground stopped.
The second step.
Time stopped.
The third step.
Everything fell.
The System's body formed a new avatar. No longer human. But like a small planet, full of mechanisms and laws around it.
"Now," he said, "it's time for me to test whether you are worthy of being destroyed… or replaced."
Reed raised the Null-Edge.
And smiled.
"I wonder too."