Kai stood in the central chamber, watching as new structures within the guild base began self-assembling. Walls of shimmering algorithmic glass coded themselves in real-time, supported by glitchsteel beams that bent physics with elegance.
[System Notice: Guild Reputation +4000]
[Global Interest: Spreading]
[Rumors Generated: 23]
“EX-Class Demon Lord?”
“The One Who Declined the King”
“Null Code Prophet?”
“Is He Even Real?”
Kai grinned at the last one.
He opened his Guild Terminal and accessed the Ranking Feed. New names were appearing under the Glitchwalker banner. Some were from the trials. Others… strangers whose exploits echoed with glitched intensity.
- Kai – Rank: EX / Founder
- Raiya – Rank: S / Pathwalker
- Nehla – Rank: SS / Corebreaker
- Nox – Rank: SS / Glitchknight
The lower tiers were filling too. Initiates, Coderunners, and Pulseblades were being trained by guild AI mentors and Kai’s crafted simulators.
The guild had started with one man.
Now it was becoming a force.
Elsewhere – In the Kingdom of Vyrneia
A conclave of kings gathered in a virtual glitched dome. The air shimmered with static energy. Each throne was connected through dimensional projection: the King of Arkanis, Queen of Draventhia, Sultan of Miraglitch, and the Emissary of the Iron Cloud Empire.
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Their topic?
Kai.
“He’s setting dangerous precedents,” the Sultan growled. “We rely on the guilds to balance nobility. But he is a guild.”
“And a rogue EX-Class,” added Queen Lira. “No kingdom commands him. No oath binds him.”
The King of Arkanis, Aetherion, stayed silent, but his grip on his digital scepter tightened.
“He must be either recruited, bound, or removed,” Lira said coldly.
Back in Null Ascent – Kai’s Crafting Chamber
Kai sat cross-legged within his personal forge room: a sphere of pure white nothingness lit by constellations of data nodes.
In front of him floated his current EXP pool.
[Current EXP: 986,310] [Skill Crafting Available]
He opened his mind—and the forge responded. Possibilities rippled in the void.
Skill Blueprint: Adapt Echo (Active)
Description: Allows Kai to observe an opponent’s skill, analyze its structure, and craft a copy tailored to his system. Cooldown: 5 minutes.
Skill Class: Mythic Glitch
He named it: Code Thief.
And with a blink, it was added to his arsenal.
Arkanis Outskirts
A caravan of knights was approaching Null Ascent.
Their armor flickered with static-crowns. Enchanted with royal command sigils, they carried with them an ultimatum sealed in glitch-gold.
Join. Submit. Or face eradication.
But they weren’t the only ones on the move.
From the dungeons of Nethergorge, a glitched beast called Ravellion, a Leviathan fused with data error energy, had awakened—drawn to the signal of Kai’s new skill.
It roared once. And corrupted the sky around it.
Within Null Ascent: Guild War Room
A red sigil glowed on the map.
“Visitors,” Nox said.
“And trouble,” Nehla added, feeling the spirits tremble.
Kai stood, flexing his hand, now pulsing with the unstable power of Code Thief.
“Two things coming our way…” he whispered.
“One wears a crown.”
“And the other wants to delete the sky.”
He grinned.
“Let’s welcome them both.”
END OF CHAPTER 16