[Error: No Destination Found. Logout Function Permanently Disabled.]
The words were a death sentence.
They hung in Ravi's vision, mocking, final, and absolute. The greyed-out logout button was a tombstone marking the grave of his old life. The frantic hope that had surged through him just a moment ago was extinguished, replaced by an icy dread that even his [Mind of the Void] skill couldn't entirely suppress.
Permanently.
The word echoed in the silent chambers of his mind. Not a bug. Not a temporary glitch. A permanent state of being.
He was trapped.
His internal world was a maelstrom of screaming panic, but externally, the avatar of Kaelus remained a portrait of serene, immeasurable power. He hadn't moved. His gauntleted hand was still raised, fingers slightly curled, as if holding the fate of the world in his palm. To his devoted servants, his prolonged silence wasn't a sign of distress; it was a moment of profound, divine contemplation.
"My Lord?" It was Gravity again, her voice a soft, cautious melody. She had composed herself, her ecstatic bliss settling into a state of reverent attentiveness. "Your command… was it for us to rise, or is there a greater purpose you wish for us to witness?"
Ravi's mind, accelerated by his passive skill, latched onto her words. A greater purpose. Yes. That's it. Act like this is all part of the plan. The number one rule of being a leader—or in this case, a god—was to never let them see you sweat.
He slowly lowered his hand, the motion so deliberate and heavy that it seemed to pull the very air down with it. The faint, ambient light of the nebulae above glinted off his obsidian armor, making him look less like a man in a suit and more like a humanoid piece of the night sky.
He needed to gather information. He needed to understand the scope of his new prison.
He turned his shadowed gaze towards the Arachnid Rogue, Spidy. Her seductive, eight-eyed stare had been fixed on him, a predatory curiosity in her look that was both alluring and deeply unsettling. When his gaze met hers, she offered a slow, knowing smile, her fangs peeking just slightly over her bottom lip.
"Spidy," Kaelus's voice resonated, each syllable dripping with authority. "And you, Killer."
From the shadows near the entrance, the void that was Killer seemed to coalesce, the red runes on his gauntlets glowing a fraction brighter. "I… live… to… serve… Master…" a dry, rasping whisper slithered through the hall, a sound like dead leaves skittering across pavement.
Spidy, however, was far more theatrical. She placed a hand over her heart and gave a deep, fluid bow that accentuated her every curve. "Your wish is my web to weave, oh, Sovereign of my heart. What delicious secrets shall I hunt for you today?" she purred, her other four, slender spider-like arms emerging from her back and gesturing elegantly.
Just act natural, Ravi. You're their creator. You know their functions.
"The air has… changed," Kaelus stated, his voice a low rumble. He let the sentence hang, allowing his servants to fill in the blanks with their own terrified, awestruck interpretations. "The fabric of this world feels… unfamiliar."
A collective gasp went through the Guardians. They exchanged looks of shock and dawning comprehension. Of course! Their God had sensed it before they, mere mortals, ever could!
"I require reconnaissance," Kaelus continued, his voice as cold and vast as a winter night. "Leave the Great Tomb. Survey the lands beyond our domain. Report back with any and all changes. Be swift. Be silent."
Killer bowed his shrouded head. "It… shall… be… done." And with a soundless ripple, his form dissolved back into the deepest shadows, vanishing completely.
Spidy's smile widened. "As you command, my Lord." She shot a triumphant, sideways glance at Gravity, whose perfect lips had thinned into a line of disapproval. Spidy reveled in it for a moment before blowing a playful kiss towards the throne. With a flick of her wrist, she shot a line of shimmering silk to the high ceiling and zipped upwards into the darkness, disappearing with a final, husky giggle that echoed faintly.
The hall fell silent once more. Only the most powerful Guardians remained.
Now came the hard part. Interacting with the ones whose personalities were the most… volatile.
"The rest of you," Kaelus began, letting his gaze sweep over Boom, Blast, Gravity, Flora, and Force. "Maintain your positions. A new age is upon us. We must be prepared."
"GLORY TO THE NEW AGE!" Boom roared, slamming his warhammer into his palm with a deafening crack. Blast nodded once, a sharp, precise movement. Force simply bowed his head, his loyalty a silent, unshakeable pillar.
But the two primary female guardians were not so simple.
"A new age…" Gravity mused, her silver eyes glowing with intellectual fervor. "My Lord, have you pierced the veil of reality itself? Has your power finally reached the level where you can rewrite the laws of existence at will? Is this world now your personal divine kingdom, freed from the shackles of its previous architects?"
Previous architects? Does she mean the game developers? Are their memories of the 'game' a form of creation myth to them now? The implications were staggering.
Before he could even formulate an answer, Flora stepped forward, her innocent expression at odds with the dangerous light in her eyes. "My Lord Kaelus," she said, her voice as sweet as honey laced with arsenic. "If the world has changed, then the soil outside may have new, wondrous properties. The vermin that infest it will surely be different. Please, allow me to go out and… cultivate the new landscape. I could grow a garden of screaming mandrakes in your honor. Their chorus would be a beautiful symphony to welcome this new age."
Ravi felt a genuine shiver run down his spine. She was completely serious.
This was the jealousy he had programmed into them, a simple mechanic to make them feel more unique. Now, it was real. Gravity competed for his favor with intellect and grand cosmic theories. Flora competed with obsessive, twisted devotion. It was a terrifying powder keg, and he was sitting right on top of it.
Suddenly, a new conflict arose from an unexpected source. Rose, the Head Maid, who had been standing silently by the entrance, glided forward with an unnerving, perfect grace. Her footsteps made no sound.
"My apologies for the interruption, Lord Kaelus," she said, her voice smooth and polished as marble. "But if this is a new era, then the internal logistics of the Great Tomb of Nexus must be re-evaluated. The deployment of the regular maids, the patrol routes of the Doom Knights, the soul-energy consumption of the lower floors… all will require adjustment. To act without a plan would be… inefficient."
She gave a subtle, pointed look at Flora and Gravity. The message was clear: While you two squabble for attention with your violent and esoteric fantasies, I am the one thinking of the practical needs of our Lord's domain.
A spark of animosity flared between the three women. Gravity's eyes narrowed, a faint gravitational distortion making the air around Flora shimmer. Flora's sweet smile tightened, and a small, thorny vine began to snake up from the floor by Rose's elegant shoes. Rose, for her part, simply maintained her serene smile, utterly unfazed.
Ravi could feel a migraine coming on. A godly, omnipotent migraine.
Stop them! Before they tear the throne room apart!
He raised his hand again. Instant silence. The thorny vine withered to dust. The gravitational distortion vanished. The three most powerful women in this new world froze like statues, their gazes snapping back to him, their petty squabbles forgotten in the face of his authority.
"Your zeal is… noted," Kaelus said, his tone flat and final, leaving them to wonder if it was a compliment or a reprimand. "Rose. You are correct. See to the Tomb's internal functions. Your logic is sound."
Rose's smile became genuine, a flicker of victory in her eyes. She bowed deeply. "Thank you for your infinite wisdom, my Lord."
He then turned his attention to the other two. "Gravity. Flora. Your desire to serve is the foundation of my strength." He was laying it on thick, spouting the kind of grandiose lines he'd heard in epic fantasy movies. To his astonishment, it worked.
Gravity's expression softened, the pride of being acknowledged washing away her irritation. Flora beamed, her twisted bloodlust momentarily replaced by pure, unadulterated happiness.
"However," he added, his voice dropping an octave. "Your power is a blade to be used at my discretion. Not for settling petty grievances. Do you understand?"
The threat was veiled, but the sheer, overwhelming pressure of his [Aura of the Sovereign] intensified, pressing down on them. It was a palpable weight, a promise of consequences so dire they were unimaginable.
They both bowed their heads in unison, their submission absolute.
"Yes, Lord Kaelus."
"Of course, my Master."
Holy crap, it worked. He felt like a lion tamer who had just successfully stopped two tigers from mauling each other.
Having navigated the immediate social crisis, he returned his focus to the most pressing issue. The world outside.
He focused his immense mana, recalling a high-tier scrying spell he'd used countless times to spy on rival guilds.
[Activate Tier 9 Spell: Eyes of the Sovereign.]
The world beyond the throne room walls dissolved. His consciousness soared, phasing through solid stone, up through the ten subterranean floors of the Great Tomb of Nexus—past the barracks of his skeletal Doom Knights, the lavish living quarters of the Guardians, the treasure vaults overflowing with legendary artifacts, the gruesome torture chambers he'd designed for fun—and burst out into the open air.
He expected to see the familiar swamp that surrounded the Tomb in the game. The Gloomfang Fen.
But that's not what he saw.
There was no swamp.
The Great Tomb of Nexus, a colossal, black ziggurat that pierced the clouds, was not nestled in a murky marshland. It stood in the center of a vast, sweeping grassland, under a sky that was a brilliant, unfamiliar blue. Majestic, snow-capped mountains, mountains that had never existed on any game map, clawed at the horizon. The air smelled of grass, wildflowers, and clean, fresh earth.
His scrying vision swept outwards, flying over the pristine landscape at impossible speeds. A few miles away, he saw it.
Not a cluster of high-level mobs. Not a player-made outpost.
A road. A simple, dirt road. And on it, a wooden cart, pulled by two tired-looking horses. It was being driven by a man who looked… real. Frightened. He was whipping the horses, urging them on, glancing over his shoulder.
Kaelus's magical gaze followed the man's line of sight.
He saw the reason for his fear.
A pack of creatures was closing in on the cart. They looked like goblins, but they were different from the game models. They were filthier, their movements more feral, their eyes burning with a savage, desperate hunger that no string of code could ever truly replicate. They carried crude, rust-pitted weapons, and they were snarling, drool dripping from their needle-like teeth.
Inside the cart, huddled behind some crates, were a woman and a small child.
Ravi's first instinct was… nothing. It wasn't his problem. They were strangers. Probably just more NPCs, albeit more advanced ones. Getting involved was a risk.
But then, the goblin leader, a hulking brute with a notched axe, threw a crude spear. It sailed through the air, and with a sickening thud, it embedded itself in the cart driver's back. He screamed, a real, wet, agonizing scream, and fell from his seat, trampled by his own panicked horses.
The cart swerved wildly and crashed into a ditch. The goblins descended upon it, their triumphant, guttural shrieks echoing across the plains.
The woman's terrified scream was a sound Ravi had never heard in Yggdrasil Nova.
It was the sound of genuine, hopeless despair.
And it changed everything.
This wasn't about saving them. This wasn't about heroism. It was about one, simple, terrifying fact that was now staring him in the face.
This world, wherever it was, had its own rules. And it was brutally, unapologetically real.