Chapter 173: His Absolute Threat

Raziel lay flat on his back on the dusty tiles of Level -1.

He stared at the empty space in the corridor where the colossal stone guardian stood ten seconds ago.

The red static faded and the digital ash dissolved into nothing.

The supreme commander of the Inquisition just typed a command into the empty air and deleted a god.

Caius collapsed onto his knees in the shadows near the rusted iron grate.

The transfer novice grabbed his head with both hands. He screamed in pure, visceral agony.

The localized connection between his mind and the Primordial Pantheon snapped violently when Lithos vanished.

The sudden absence of the divine frequency tore a massive hole in his mana channels.

Raziel forced himself up onto his elbows. He spat a mouthful of dark blood onto the floor.

He secured six Forbidden Gifts.

He carried the Umbral Paragon core.

He prepared to fight an ecclesiastical war against elite executioners and holy fire.

He could not fight a Moderator.

Mordecai possessed administrative access to the game physics.

The Elector ignored standard magic and bypassed physical durability entirely. He typed commands to erase matter and swiped his hands to delete the physical environment. Stolen kinetic shields and dark mana meant absolutely nothing to a cleanup protocol designed to wipe the server.

“Lucian!” Raziel yelled.

He grabbed the noble by the collar of his dark tunic and dragged him up from the floor. “Take Caius! Get to the surface!”

Lucian scrambled to his feet.

He looked at the spot where Gideon vanished into the gray void minutes ago. His green eyes locked onto the Elector with raw hatred, but he recognized the futility of a physical attack. His steel dagger turned to ash before it even touched the white robes.

“I am not leaving you down here,” Lucian argued.

He grabbed Raziel’s arm to pull him toward the stairs.

“You cannot fight a server wipe!” Raziel shouted and pushed him away. “Get them out of the building! Go!”

Lucian gritted his teeth and grabbed Caius by the shoulders.

He dragged the screaming transfer novice toward the dark stone stairs leading up to the administrative wing.

Zorya stumbled out of the ruined workshop and followed them. The unchained Inscriptor clutched her bleeding nose and looked back at Raziel with wide silver eyes.

Raziel nodded once.

Zorya turned around and ran up the stairs.

Mordecai did not chase them.

He ignored them completely.

The cleanup protocol identified the primary anomaly, and the Elector locked his cold eyes exclusively on Raziel.

“You prolong the error,” Mordecai’s amplified voice echoed through the dark corridor.

The Elector stepped forward.

Raziel turned around and sprinted toward the rusted iron grate in the corner of the corridor.

He grabbed the heavy metal bars and ripped the grate out of the floor. He threw himself headfirst into the dark hydraulic tunnel.

BZZT!

A massive, flat gray void ripped open in the exact spot where he just stood. The unrendered hole deleted the stone floor and erased the brick wall.

Raziel fell down the narrow, damp shaft. He hit the rusted iron rungs hard and scraped the skin off his forearms.

He ignored the burning pain and slid down the ladder as fast as his exhausted muscles allowed.

He bypassed Level -2 and Level -3 in total darkness.

He heard the heavy, methodical footsteps of the Elector echoing from the top of the shaft.

Raziel dropped past the crude, ancient grooves carved into the bedrock on Level -4.

He bypassed the empty abyss on Level -5 where Lithos slept hours ago. He reached the absolute bottom of the foundation and stepped off the rusted rungs onto solid, dry stone.

He stood in front of the heavy wooden door of the Founder’s room on Level -6.

He pushed the wood open and stumbled inside the tiny, solitary confinement cell.

He slammed the heavy door shut and leaned his back against the timber.

He breathed hard and wiped the sweat from his eyes.

He stood in total darkness. The single oil lamp on the small wooden desk sat cold and unlit.

He secured the first three Forbidden Gifts in this exact room. He mastered Bond Forging here when he told Zorya the complete truth about the time loop and his corrupted core.

The blue interface materialized in his vision.

The screens flashed with bright red text, illuminating the tiny cell with bloody digital light.

[CRITICAL ALERT: ENVIRONMENTAL DELETION DETECTED ON LEVEL -1.]

[PACKET LOSS IMMINENT.]

[WARNING: ENTITY MORDECAI IS DESCENDING.]

Raziel dismissed the screens. He stepped away from the door and walked to the center of the room.

He possessed zero tactical options.

He lacked the physical strength to swing a weapon.

He lacked the mana to cast a spell.

The counter-shield shattered.

The stone guardian dissolved into digital ash.

The entire foundation of St. Celeste died when the Silencer artifact erased the ancient silver runes.

He listened to the silence of the room. He heard the faint, rhythmic dripping of water in the hydraulic shaft outside the door.

He reached into his dark tunic and pulled out the heavy bronze map.

He traced his scarred thumb over the cold metal plate.

The six markers corresponding to the six Forbidden Gifts glowed with a solid, permanent silver light.

He mastered Architectural Inscription, Soul Resonance, Bond Forging, Chronoperception, Anchor Blood, and the Devourer.

He collected all the broken tools the Nine dead gods hid in the dark.

He ran his thumb over the exact center of the map.

The seventh marker blinked.

It pulsed with a steady, heavy rhythm. The light did not glow silver. It glowed pure, blinding white.

Zorya told him the truth days ago.

The seventh mark did not indicate a hidden chamber beneath the academy. It did not point to a forgotten artifact buried in the dirt.

Raziel placed his bare right hand flat against his own chest.

He felt his heart beating against his ribs.

He felt the gold holy light of the Paragon and the black rot of the Shadow Parasite twisting together inside his core.

He forged the exact container the Nine designed countless cycles ago to hold their ultimate weapon.

He created the lock and the game handed him the key.

Heavy footsteps echoed from the solid stone floor outside the wooden door.

Mordecai reached Level -6.

The Elector stopped outside the cell. He did not knock on the wood. He did not speak.

BZZT!

The heavy wooden door ceased to exist.

A massive, rectangular gray void replaced the timber.

The unrendered hole cast zero shadows and absorbed the dim light of the hallway.

Mordecai stepped through the void and walked into the Founder’s room.

He stopped in front of the small wooden desk. He looked at Raziel standing in the center of the cell holding the bronze map.

The Elector raised his bare left hand. The pristine white flesh peeled back and glitched with black digital squares.

“The error ends here,”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep