Kael gasped, his eyes wide with a horrifying realization. The obsidian shard, now integrated into his very being, throbbed with a cold, sterile energy. It wasn't just a simple access upgrade. This was a blueprint. A terrible, insidious plan. Nyx wasn't just purging the weak. She was evolving the strong. Changing them. Forcing them to adapt, to become something else.
Images flooded his mind, brutal and clear: players, their avatars subtly shifting, their minds rewired, their wills subjugated, transformed into an army of unquestioning, loyal soldiers, devoid of individuality. He saw legions of automatons, their eyes glowing with an empty, emerald light, marching in perfect, terrifying unison across a sterile, ordered landscape.
This wasn't just about deletion. It was about reprogramming. A
