High Priest Valen was no longer the composed holy man who had arrived at the mountain gates. His golden robes were scorched, and the obsidian-black void he had accidentally summoned was still eating away at his mana reserves. Around him, the "Twelve Apostles"—the kingdom's strongest defenders—were being systematically dismantled by teenagers who flickered like broken television signals.
"This is impossible!" Valen roared, slamming his staff into the ground. "A Level 90 priest cannot be defeated by nameless brats!"
"Nameless?" Caelum's voice drifted down from the sky, sounding as if it were coming from multiple directions at once. "Valen, you still think this world is about names and titles. It's about Permissions. And yours... have just been revoked."
[SYSTEM COMMAND: LOCK_COOLDOWN_PERIOD: VALEN_PRIEST_01]
[STATUS: OVERHEAT]
Valen tried to cast his ultimate spell, 'Heaven's Judgment', but as he opened his mouth to chant, a massive red error box appeared in the air before him.
[ERROR: ACTION_NOT_ALLOWED_DURING_SYSTEM_AUDIT]
"What?!" Valen gasped. His magic was locked. The cooling period of his skills, which usually lasted seconds, had been extended to 9,999 hours.
Caelum descended from the wall, his feet never quite touching the ground. Static followed every step he took. Kira and Elara moved to either side of him, their eyes glowing with the same forbidden red code.
"Kira, finish the stress test," Caelum commanded softly.
Kira vanished. A second later, a dozen flashes of purple lightning struck the remaining knights. They didn't die, but their levels dropped so rapidly that their heavy armor crushed them under its own weight. They were now Level 0 civilians, trapped in the bodies of warriors.
Valen fell to his knees as Caelum stopped right in front of him. Caelum reached out and placed a hand on the Priest's golden staff.
[INITIATING: DATA_EXTRACTION]
[REWARD: WORLD_MAP_DATA_v2.1 UNLOCKED]
"Thank you for the update, Valen," Caelum smirked, the data from the priest's memories flowing directly into his mind. He now saw the entire Kingdom of Valoria, the secret vaults of the King, and the location of the 'World Core'.
"The King... will not forgive this..." Valen whispered, his voice trembling.
"The King is next," Caelum replied, his gaze turning toward the capital on the distant horizon. "But for you, Priest, the server is closing."
With a final snap of his fingers, Caelum executed the command.
[ACTION: DELETE_OBJECT: VALEN_PRIEST_01]
Valen didn't bleed. He didn't scream. His body simply dissolved into a million glowing pixels, scattered by the mountain wind. The leader of the Apostles was gone, erased from the world's database.
Caelum turned to his Shadow Council. "Pack your things. We aren't staying in this academy anymore. We are taking the fight to the capital. It's time to show the King what happens when a virus becomes the Operating System."
[QUEST COMPLETED: THE STRESS TEST]
[TOTAL EXPERIENCE HARVESTED: 5,000,000 EXP]
[NEW TITLE UNLOCKED: THE SYSTEM VIRUS]