Episode 5: The Final Boss Awakens
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The Holy Champion crashed through the castle wall.
Stone and dust exploded into the air.
For a moment, the entire battlefield went silent.
Kael stood in the center of the courtyard, his black armor covered in blood. His eyes were fixed on the hole where the champion had disappeared.
Behind him, Elena lay unconscious in the arms of a servant.
Kael could hear nothing except the sound of his own breathing.
The God System flashed before his eyes.
[Target: Princess Elena.]
[Life Force: 11%.]
[Condition: Critical.]
[Emergency Quest: Save Elena.]
[Time Remaining: 04:59.]
Kael’s fists tightened.
Five minutes.
That was all he had.
He had faced monsters capable of destroying cities.
He had defeated gods.
He had survived dungeons where one mistake meant instant death.
But none of those battles had ever made his heart beat like this.
“Take her to the throne room.”
The servant trembled.
“But, My Lord—”
“Now!”
The servant immediately obeyed.
Two others carried Elena inside.
Kael turned back toward the battlefield.
The Holy Champion emerged from the rubble.
Blood ran down his forehead, but he was still standing.
He raised his golden sword.
“You…”
His voice shook with anger.
“You are not the Final Boss I was told about.”
Kael smiled coldly.
“Then whoever gave you information about me is already wrong.”
The champion charged.
His sword exploded with golden light.
[Divine Skill: Holy Judgment.]
A beam of light descended from the sky.
Kael didn’t move.
The attack struck him directly.
BOOM!
The courtyard disappeared beneath a cloud of dust.
The soldiers cheered.
“He’s dead!”
“The Demon Lord is dead!”
But when the dust cleared, Kael was still standing.
His black armor was cracked.
A small line of blood ran down his cheek.
That was all.
The champion’s eyes widened.
“Impossible.”
Kael looked at him.
“Your attack is weaker than I remember.”
“You’ve fought this before?”
“Not you.”
Kael stepped forward.
“The original version of you.”
The champion’s face became pale.
Kael vanished.
The next instant, he appeared behind him.
The champion barely turned before Kael’s fist struck his stomach.
The impact sent him flying across the courtyard.
He smashed through three stone pillars before landing.
Kael walked toward him.
“Who sent you?”
The champion coughed blood.
“I’ll never tell you.”
Kael stopped.
“Fine.”
He raised his hand.
Black energy gathered around his fingers.
“I’ll ask again after you lose.”
The champion suddenly laughed.
“You think defeating me will save her?”
Kael froze.
The champion smiled.
“You don’t understand what she is.”
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
“What did you say?”
“Princess Elena…”
The champion’s voice became weaker.
“She isn’t human.”
Kael’s expression changed.
“What is she?”
The champion looked toward the castle.
“She is the key.”
Before he could say anything else, his body began glowing.
Kael’s eyes widened.
“Self-destruction?”
The champion smiled.
“Tell the Void King…”
Kael’s pupils contracted.
“…the princess has awakened.”
A violent explosion swallowed the courtyard.
Kael raised his arm to protect his face.
When the smoke cleared, the Holy Champion was gone.
Only his golden sword remained.
Kael stared at it.
The God System appeared.
[Enemy Defeated.]
[Emergency Quest Progress: 1/3.]
[New Information Unlocked.]
[The Holy Champion was acting under the influence of an unknown entity.]
Kael’s eyes darkened.
“Void King…”
He had expected the name to appear much later.
But now it had entered the story.
Everything was happening too early.
The timeline wasn’t simply changing.
It was collapsing.
Kael turned and rushed into the castle.
He reached the throne room.
Elena was lying on a large table while Eldran examined her.
The old mage looked worried.
“My Lord…”
“How is she?”
“She is alive.”
Kael exhaled.
“But her condition is strange.”
“What do you mean?”
Eldran pointed toward Elena’s shoulder.
The wound had stopped bleeding.
Instead, a faint silver light was spreading across her skin.
“This isn’t normal healing.”
Kael stepped closer.
The silver light formed a strange symbol.
He recognized it immediately.
It was the same symbol he had seen in the ancient archives.
The Mark of the First World.
Kael touched it.
The moment he did, Elena’s eyes opened.
She looked directly at him.
“Kael…”
He froze.
“You’re awake.”
She slowly sat up.
“What happened?”
“You were injured.”
Elena looked at her shoulder.
Then she looked at him.
“You saved me.”
Kael shook his head.
“You saved me first.”
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
“I would do it again.”
Kael didn’t know what to say.
For someone who had spent ten years playing alone, emotions like this were unfamiliar.
He looked away.
“Don’t do it again.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t like watching people die.”
Elena studied him.
“You care about me.”
Kael frowned.
“Don’t misunderstand.”
“You’re blushing.”
“I am not.”
She smiled.
“You are.”
Kael turned away.
Eldran quietly coughed.
“My Lord, there is something you should see.”
Kael immediately became serious.
“What?”
The old mage pointed toward Elena.
“Her magic.”
Silver light began flowing around Elena’s body.
The entire room shook.
Ancient symbols appeared in the air.
Kael’s God System activated automatically.
[Hidden Character Awakening.]
[Identity: Unknown.]
[Potential: Divine.]
[Origin: First World.]
[Status: Key to the Original System.]
Kael stared.
“The key…”
Elena looked at him.
“You saw it too?”
“Yes.”
She lowered her eyes.
“I knew this would happen.”
Kael stepped closer.
“You knew?”
“I’ve been remembering things.”
“What things?”
Elena hesitated.
“Your first life.”
Kael’s breathing stopped.
“My first life?”
“You weren’t supposed to become the Final Boss.”
Kael stared at her.
“Then why did I?”
“Because someone changed your destiny.”
“Who?”
Elena looked toward the ceiling.
“The Creator.”
Kael’s expression became cold.
“The Creator of the System?”
She nodded.
“He chose you.”
“Why?”
“Because you were the only player who reached Level 999 without becoming corrupted.”
Kael remembered the final secret.
He had thought Level 999 was the highest level.
But perhaps it had been a test.
Elena reached for his hand.
“You were always meant to break the cycle.”
Kael looked at their hands.
“What cycle?”
“The cycle where the Final Boss dies, the hero wins, and the Void grows stronger.”
She looked into his eyes.
“You are the first Final Boss who has remembered.”
Kael’s heart pounded.
“So that’s why I’m here.”
“Yes.”
A notification suddenly appeared.
[GOD SYSTEM EVOLUTION.]
[Conditions met.]
[New Skill Unlocked: Fate Manipulation.]
Kael’s eyes widened.
“What?”
[Skill Description: The user may alter one predetermined event.]
Kael smiled.
One event.
That was enough.
He opened the timeline.
Hundreds of events appeared.
The hero’s awakening.
The Sacred Kingdom’s war.
The destruction of the Demon Kingdom.
Elena’s death.
His own death.
Kael stared at the list.
Then he saw something that made his smile disappear.
[Predetermined Event: Elena’s Death.]
[Time Remaining: 87 Days.]
Kael’s blood ran cold.
“No.”
Elena looked at him.
“What happened?”
Kael closed the window.
“Nothing.”
But his expression had changed.
Eighty-seven days.
That was all he had to change her fate.
And he would.
Even if he had to fight the gods themselves.
Kael looked toward the dark sky outside.
“I spent ten years becoming the strongest player.”
His eyes burned with determination.
“Now I’ll spend everything I have becoming stronger than fate.”
Far away, beyond the boundaries of the world, a pair of crimson eyes opened.
The Void King smiled.
“So the Final Boss has chosen his weakness.”
His voice echoed through the darkness.
“Excellent.”
“Let him protect her.”
“Let him love her.”
“Because when the time comes…”
“We will take her away.”
And for the first time, the enemy had discovered the one thing Kael could not afford to lose.
Elena.
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