Arthur sat in the quiet of his obsidian throne room, the 100 'Keys to the Surface' floating in front of him like miniature black stars. The world outside was in chaos, but here, in the heart of Xerxes, there was only the cold hum of absolute power.
"System," Arthur said, his voice echoing through the empty hall. "You said these keys could open any portal. But I don't want to go to a city. I want to go to the place where the system was forged."
[Ding!]
[Warning! You are attempting to open the 'Rift of Origins'.]
[This is the forge of the Great Twelve. No mortal or Sovereign has ever returned from this space.]
"I've heard enough 'warnings' for one lifetime," Arthur snapped. He grabbed ten of the keys and crushed them together in his palm.
[Ding!]
[100x Multiplier Activated!]
[Opening 1,000 Rifts of Origins simultaneously...]
The space in front of the throne didn't just open; it shattered. A jagged, white-hot crack appeared in the air, revealing a dimension where laws of physics didn't exist. There was no floor, no sky—only rivers of liquid mana and floating islands of celestial steel.
Arthur stepped into the rift, Igris following closely behind.
As they entered, a mechanical guardian—a being made of pure white fire and ancient runes—blocked their path. It was the 'Time Warden', the keeper of the forge.
"Turn back, anomaly," the Warden spoke, and the sound alone felt like it was trying to erase Arthur's memory. "The forge is not for the living."
Arthur didn't even draw his dagger. He pointed his finger at the Warden. "100x Multiplier... Monarch's Erasure!"
A beam of dark gold energy struck the Warden. Because of the multiplier, the beam didn't just destroy the guardian; it erased every version of the guardian from the past, present, and future. The white fire vanished as if it had never existed.
Arthur walked to the center of the rift, where a massive hammer of blue light was automatically striking a piece of invisible metal. This was the 'Anvil of Existence'.
"I need a weapon," Arthur whispered. "Something that doesn't just cut flesh, but cuts 'concepts'."
He took the 'Sun God's Essence' he had taken from the Executioner and the 'Blade of the Void' and placed them on the anvil.
[Ding!]
[Forging 'The Concept Blade'...]
[Estimated Time: 1,000 Years.]
"I don't have 1,000 years," Arthur said, his eyes flashing violet. "System... 100x Multiplier on the Forging Speed!"
[Ding!]
[Forging Speed Multiplied x100!]
[Forging Complete.]
From the anvil, a blade emerged that was neither black nor white. It looked like a crack in reality. It had no weight, no edge, and no reflection. It was a weapon that could cut through the concept of 'Defense', 'Life', or even 'Time'.
[Artifact Acquired: The End of All Things (Rank: Genesis).]
[Special Ability: CONCEPT CUT - Can delete any law of the universe it touches.]
Arthur gripped the hilt and felt a power so immense that his level jumped once more.
[Ding! LEVEL UP! Host has reached Level 600!]
"Now," Arthur said, looking back through the rift at the Earth below. "I have the city. I have the army. And I have the blade. It's time to upgrade the planet."