The Royal Treasury of Aurum was not guarded by men, but by ancient magic and a beast that didn't exist in any regular monster manual. As Caelum stepped inside, the temperature didn't rise; it dropped until his breath turned into white mist.
In the center of the vault, coiled around mountains of gold and glowing artifacts, was the Spectral Dragon—Zul-Gorth. It was a Level 99 World Boss, a creature made of pure light and ancient code.
"Intruder," the dragon didn't speak with a voice, but with a direct telepathic strike that vibrated through Caelum's skull. "You carry the scent of a virus. You do not belong in this reality."
"I get that a lot," Caelum replied, his hands deep in his pockets. Behind him, Kira and Elara stood ready, their mana flickering in anticipation. "But I'm not here for your gold, Zul-Gorth. I'm here for the Root Admin Key hidden in your scales."
The dragon roared, and a beam of pure 'Divine Fire' erupted from its jaws. This wasn't ordinary fire; it was a 'Deletion Beam' designed to erase anything it touched.
Caelum didn't dodge. He simply blinked, and the air in front of him shattered like a glass screen.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: MIRROR_DIMENSION_GLITCH]
The fire didn't hit Caelum. It entered a portal in front of him and exited from a portal directly behind the dragon's own head. Zul-Gorth recoiled as its own attack scorched its spectral scales.
"You dare use my own power against me?!" the dragon hissed, its body beginning to glow with a terrifying intensity.
"Your power is based on the system's rules," Caelum stepped forward, his eyes turning a deep, void-like black. "I am the one who rewrites them."
[SYSTEM COMMAND: MODIFY_ENTITY_HITBOX: ZUL_GORTH]
[STATUS: COLLISION_DISABLED]
Suddenly, the dragon's massive claws passed right through Caelum as if he were a ghost. The dragon tried to bite, to tail-swipe, to crush—but nothing worked. To the system, Caelum and the Dragon were now occupying two different layers of reality.
"Elara, now!" Caelum shouted.
Elara raised her staff, her 'Quantum Mage' powers peaking. She didn't attack the dragon; she attacked the floor beneath it. The gold coins and artifacts began to glitch, turning into sharp data-shards that flew upward, piercing the dragon's transparent body.
[CRITICAL HIT: DATA_CORRUPTION_99%]
The great beast let out one final, digitized shriek before its body fractured into thousands of glowing cubes. In the center of the pile of pixels, a small, obsidian-colored key floated in the air.
[NOTIFICATION: WORLD_ROOT_KEY_OBTAINED]
[TOTAL WORDS COUNTED: 12,000+ MILESTONE REACHED!]
Caelum picked up the key. The King's throne room was now only one 'Glitch' away.