The Cheat Seed

Chapter 15

"What's a GOD SLAYING DEMON?" Marcus boomed at the system, his voice echoing through the empty temple.

[A God Slaying demon is far more powerful than a god ranked demon beast]

Marcus ran his fingers over the living tattoo now adorning his skin, tracing the intricate patterns that depicted the ninety-tailed fox. "So why hasn't the world encountered one yet?"

[The God Slaying Demons are very rare and only 2 have ever showed themselves to humans. If I simply say, they are not interested in ruling over the world or species. They are enlightened beasts who have the power to kill God ranked beasts with a sliver of their true power.]

"Woah, amazing." Marcus's eyes widened with childlike wonder. "Wait, tell me about those two God Slaying Demons."

[Yes. One out of the two is right in front of you, or I would rather say, it's yours now...]

A smug look spread across Marcus's face as his ears reddened with pride.

[And the other one is with that Old Geezer, The Flame Emperor.]

"Oh, is it powerful? Oh, oh, and what type of monster is it?" Marcus asked like a child in an ice cream store, practically bouncing on his toes.

[Yes, it is an Abyss Dragon. The strongest of the True Dragons]

"WHOAAAAA!" Marcus's jaw dropped. "Is it more powerful than my beast?"

[Hmm... Both are equal in power terms, but your Fox is way faster than the Dragon. However, the Dragon is equally far more durable than your Demon Fox—it's an actual fortress]

"So they're equal in a way?"

[Yes] came the reply.

Marcus's eyes sparkled as his thoughts raced. His beast was equal to the Flame Emperor's... the FLAME EMPEROR, GODDAMNIT. And he could easily surpass the old geezer because he was still young.

'KEKEKEKEK Elves—'

[ZZZAP]

"Ouch!"

Marcus rubbed his arm where the system had delivered its disciplinary shock. He turned his attention back to the fox as it began dissolving into particles of light. Within five minutes, only dust and ashes remained where the mighty creature had stood.

[The Home Of the Nine Tails Cleared]

[Objective Progress: 100%]

[Congratulation to User on clearing the second objective of the 3 Guardian trials]

[Objective Updated]

[New Objective: Defeat The God Of God Slaying]

[Due to Conquering a God Slaying Demon, The Stats will be shared with The Tamer]

Pain surged through Marcus's body like liquid fire. He collapsed to his knees, then fell forward onto his hands, gasping as waves of agony washed over him. He'd never experienced such intense suffering, not even when the fox had torn off his arm.

He lay on the grass, struggling to breathe. "Breathe in, Marcus. And breathe out," he coached himself, gradually regaining control.

The ground beneath him began to change. A two-meter radius circle formed around his body—the respawn circle. Its color dimmed from gold to blue before vanishing completely, leaving only ash in its wake.

"Eh?" Marcus blinked in confusion.

[The Respawn Circle is no longer required as this Objective does not pose any threat to the User or his life (Damn, it's boring to talk like this. My mouth hurts)]

"Whoa, I thought this was going to be something like a full-on boss battle with a thousand minion god army."

[Yeah. No]

"Yeah."

An awkward minute passed in silence.

"Wait, lemme see my stats now." Marcus rubbed his hands together with an evil laugh. "KEKEKEKEKEKEKEKE."

The status window materialized before him. His eyes widened, and a massive grin spread across his face.

[User: Marcus G Orno]

Age: 17

Sex: Male

Seed: ???

Soul Level: ???

Strength: Nihility stage 1

Stamina: Nihility stage 1

Agility: Nihility stage 1

Durability: Nihility stage 1

Damage Per Hit: Nihility level (X2 strength)

Sprint speed: Nihility level (X2 agility)

Skills Learned:

G Orno Twist (Original, DMGX100)Lightning Bolt (Original, DMGX100)GS Aura (Original, DMGX100)ROT (Original, DMGX100)Galactic Palm (Original, DMGX100)Galactic Kick (Original, DMGX100)

Passive Skill: (Creator)(Perfection At First Fight)

Created (Original) Passive Skills:

CraftingAlmighty SenseAlmighty RegenUniversal Tamer

[Current Progress(The 3 Guardian Trials): 60%]

"Look at these STATS, GODDAMNIT. THIS IS A CHEAT, A FRICKING HANDSOME CHEAT!!!" Marcus screamed, jumping in excitement.

"System, are you even seeing this? What the hell did you say before? Huh? 'You can only increase your stat range to half of Infinity Break,' kekekekekekek." He mockingly imitated the system's formal tone.

But no reply came.

"Um, System?" Still nothing.

[WHAT THE f**k IS THIS BULLSHIT I'M SEEING??] The system finally responded, its previously formal voice now laced with shock.

"Eh?"

[You weren't supposed to break past Infinity break. I mean, it's not even possible to break past Infinity break in the Guardian trials.]

"Did I do something wrong?" Marcus asked, suddenly concerned.

[Maybe the beast integration helped you. Yes, that's it!!!!] The system continued rambling, seemingly ignoring Marcus's presence.

[That means... I missed a notification, for f**k's sake!!!!!!!!!!]

"What the hell are you going on about?" Marcus questioned, completely puzzled by the system's uncharacteristic panic.

The system finally shifted its attention back to him.

[You. Marcus. Yes, you—CHECK YOUR INVENTORY]

"Inventory wha—" Marcus cut himself off, suddenly remembering. The inventory was a special space which users had built-in to store important items and loot. He'd read about it in countless Demi comics.

"INVENTORY!" he shouted.

A window materialized before him, filled with rows and columns. Only four objects occupied the grid, but the quantities listed beside them numbered in the thousands.

[Battle Axe - 100,000,000, S class Weapon]

[Nine Tails Fangs - 999,999, SC class Item (can be traded or used to make weapons)]

[Nine Tails Fur - 999,999, SC class Item (Can be used to make very tough and durable armor, can be traded)]

The final item caught Marcus's eye, and the system made a 'gasp' sound as he clicked on it.

[Glitched Present Crate - 1]

"What's this?" Marcus's finger hovered over the item, hesitating.

[Do NOT open that!] The system's voice came through urgent and panicked.

Naturally, Marcus's finger moved directly toward it.

[I SAID DON'T—]

Too late. Marcus tapped the glitched crate. The inventory window vanished as the crate materialized in his hands—a small box wrapped in what looked like corrupted data, glitching in and out of reality.

"Cool," Marcus whispered, turning it over in his hands.

[You i***t! Do you have ANY idea what you've done?]

"Nope," Marcus replied cheerfully. "But I'm about to find out."

He tore open the crate. Light erupted from within, engulfing his form entirely. The system's warnings became distant noise as reality itself seemed to twist around him. The temple, the forest, everything dissolved into fragments of broken code.

When the light faded, Marcus stood in an endless void, a strange sense of familiarity washing over him. This wasn't part of the trial—this was something else entirely.

A figure approached from the darkness. Not the Flame Emperor, not a fox or dragon, but something... older. More primal. More terrifying.

"Well, well," the figure spoke, its voice resonating from everywhere and nowhere. "Looks like we have a glitch in the system."

Marcus swallowed hard, suddenly aware that he might have made a terrible mistake. The figure stopped just short of him, its features impossible to discern clearly—shifting, changing, never quite settling into anything recognizable.

"Who are you?" Marcus managed to ask.

The figure chuckled, a sound that sent ice through Marcus's veins despite his supposedly invincible state.

"I am what exists between the lines of code, child. I am what the Flame Emperor and all his predecessors have tried to contain." The figure gestured broadly. "And thanks to your little... glitch... I now have a way back in."

The system's voice came through faintly, as if from a great distance:

[Warning: Unauthorized entity detected. Guardian Trials compromised. Initiating emergency protocols.]

The void around them began to tremble. The figure sighed, seemingly annoyed by the interruption.

"We'll meet again, young Guardian. Sooner than you think."

Before Marcus could respond, the void shattered. He felt himself falling, tumbling through broken reality until—

He slammed back into his body, gasping for breath. The temple had returned, though it now showed signs of instability—walls flickering in and out of existence, the floor beneath him rippling like water.

[Emergency transport initiated. Returning User to origin point.]

"Wait, what's happening?" Marcus shouted, but his voice seemed to dissolve into static.

[Critical system failure. Trial compromised. Retaining user data... Complete. Initiating transfer...]

The world around Marcus collapsed inward, folding like paper into a single point of light. His consciousness stretched thin, pulled between realities. As darkness claimed him, one final message flashed before his eyes:

[Warning: Glitch entity detected. Quarantine failed. System corruption at 37% and rising. Emergency protocols activated. Returning User to last safe checkpoint: Krozon Academy.]

Marcus's scream echoed through dimensions as his body disintegrated into particles of light, rushing toward a destination he couldn't comprehend. The third trial would have to wait—something far more dangerous had been unleashed.