Chapter 160: Ascendant
"Ascendant..."
The word echoed across the heavens.
The hooded man’s calm expression cracked for the first time.
Nathan frowned.
"What does that mean?"
The stranger took one slow step back.
"It shouldn’t exist."
"It was erased."
Blue lightning continued to surge around Nathan’s body.
Unlike the old System’s energy, it carried no commands.
No status windows.
No restrictions.
It answered only to his will.
Harold stared in disbelief.
"Freedom Energy..."
Nova smiled brightly.
"He did it."
Yelena looked between them.
"What is Freedom Energy?"
Harold never took his eyes off Nathan.
"When the old System disappeared, all power tied to it should have vanished."
"But Nathan..."
"...created his own."
Halo remained dark in Nathan’s hand.
Yet a faint pulse came from deep within the crystal.
Almost like a heartbeat.
The hooded stranger finally spoke again.
"I destroyed every possibility."
"I erased every future where an Ascendant could be born."
Nathan smiled faintly.
"You forgot something."
"Oh?"
"You can’t erase a choice."
The stranger’s eyes narrowed.
Nathan raised one hand.
The silver lightning around him suddenly spread across the city.
Instead of destroying buildings...
It touched people.
One after another.
The terrified civilians stopped trembling.
The false memories clouding their minds began separating naturally.
Parents recognized their children again.
Friends remembered who they truly were.
The fear slowly disappeared.
Halo’s silent crystal suddenly lit up with a faint blue glow.
A weak voice echoed inside Nathan’s mind.
[Partner...]
Nathan smiled.
"Welcome back."
The crystal pulsed.
[System authority rejected.]
[New Energy Source accepted.]
[Synchronization complete.]
Blue cracks spread across Halo’s surface.
Then disappeared.
The crystal floated from Nathan’s hand.
It looked different now.
The old symbols covering its surface had vanished.
In their place...
Small silver stars slowly rotated inside the crystal.
Halo laughed.
It sounded lighter than ever before.
[No more chains.]
[I finally feel... alive.]
The hooded man’s expression darkened.
"You freed the Core."
Nathan shook his head.
"No."
"I freed my friend."
Those words struck Halo harder than any power.
Its light expanded until it covered the battlefield.
Guardian Zero looked at the glowing crystal with tired eyes.
"So..."
"...this is what we were missing."
Elder Song smiled proudly despite the crystal chains binding him.
"My troublesome disciple..."
"...always chooses people over power."
The countdown continued.
05:18
05:17
05:16
Harold looked toward the unstable Core.
"Nathan!"
"The countdown hasn’t stopped!"
Nathan nodded.
"I know."
He turned toward the hooded stranger.
"This ends now."
The stranger laughed.
"You still don’t understand."
"You’ve only escaped one prison."
He pointed upward.
The sky shattered.
Not into darkness.
Into countless reflections.
Each reflection showed another universe.
Another Earth.
Another cultivation world.
Millions of realities stretched endlessly beyond sight.
Nathan looked in disbelief.
"There are..."
"...this many?"
The stranger smiled.
"No."
"There are far more."
He spread his arms.
"I cultivated despair across every one of them."
"Your victory means nothing."
"You saved a single branch."
"The tree still belongs to me."
Silence fell.
Even Harold looked shaken.
Millions of universes.
How could anyone fight something that vast?
Nathan closed his eyes.
He remembered Elder Song’s lessons.
One step.
One battle.
One person.
Trying to save everything at once always led to failure.
He opened his eyes.
"I don’t need to save them all today."
The stranger frowned.
"What?"
Nathan pointed toward the city below.
"I only need to save this one."
The silver lightning exploded again.
Every person in the city looked toward the sky.
Without understanding why...
They felt hope.
A child smiled.
A firefighter stood back up despite his injuries.
Doctors continued treating patients.
Police officers guided frightened families to safety.
Ordinary people chose to help one another instead of running away.
The stranger watched in silence.
Nathan met his gaze.
"You’ve spent forever trying to control people."
"You still don’t understand them."
The hooded man’s fists slowly clenched.
"Hope..."
"...is temporary."
Nathan nodded.
"So is fear."
"But every generation chooses which one survives."
The stranger took another step forward.
The space around him twisted violently.
"So let us test your belief."
He raised one finger toward the sky.
The remaining nine minutes vanished.
The countdown changed instantly.
00:30
00:29
00:28
Harold’s eyes widened.
"He accelerated the Core!"
Nova looked at Nathan.
"We only have thirty seconds!"
The crystal giant began collapsing.
The Core inside its chest glowed brighter than a newborn star.
Still trapped at its center...
Elder Song looked directly at Nathan.
Then he smiled.
Nathan knew that smile.
His master had already made his decision and before Nathan could move...
Elder Song raised his wooden staff...
...and struck the Core from the inside.
The wooden staff struck the Core.
CRACK!
A hairline fracture spread across the glowing crystal.
The entire Crystal Giant froze.
Every blue pillar surrounding the city flickered violently.
Halo’s voice echoed through the battlefield.
[Core integrity dropping!]
[Ninety-two percent... eighty-nine... eighty-five...]
Nathan’s face lit up.
"It’s working!"
Then Elder Song shouted from inside the Core.
"No!"
Nathan froze.
The old master looked directly at him.
His smile was gentle.
"Patching the crack."
"The Core is healing itself."
As if responding to his words, streams of blue energy rushed toward the fracture.
Within seconds...
The crack disappeared.
The countdown continued.
00:22
00:21
00:20
Guardian Zero lowered his head.
"It adapts..."
"It always adapts."
The hooded stranger smiled once more.
"I designed it that way."
"No matter what you destroy..."
"...it repairs."
"No matter what you learn..."
"...I evolve."
Nathan clenched his fists.
"There has to be another way."
"There is."
Everyone turned toward Elder Song.
The old man rested both hands on his wooden staff.
"I finally understand."
Nathan shook his head.
"No."
"I know that look."
"You’ve already decided."
Elder Song chuckled.
"You’re getting better at reading people."
"I’m saying no."
"You haven’t even heard my plan."
"I don’t need to."
Nathan’s voice cracked.
"It ends with you dying."
Silence.
The old master sighed.
"My troublesome disciple..."
"You always were too stubborn."
"And you always asked others to sacrifice before yourself."
"I was the teacher."
"And I’m your student now."
The old man smiled proudly.
"You finally said something worthy of a Guardian."
Nathan stepped toward the Core.
"I’m coming to get you."
The crystal chains immediately tightened.
Thousands of sharp spikes erupted from the Core’s surface.
Halo projected another warning.
[Impossible!]
[Any forced entry will trigger immediate detonation.]
Harold cursed under his breath.
"So that’s the safeguard."
Guardian Zero slowly stood.
His body was fading into blue particles.
He no longer had much time.
"I can stop the detonation."
Nathan turned.
"How?"
"I still have administrator access."
"But only for one command."
Nathan’s eyes widened.
"Then do it."
Guardian Zero shook his head.
"It requires..."
He looked toward Elder Song.
"...someone to replace the pilot."
Silence swallowed the battlefield.
Nathan already knew the answer.
"No."
Guardian Zero looked at him calmly.
"It’s the only way."
"No."
"I’ll do it."
Everyone turned toward Nathan.
Yelena grabbed his arm.
"What are you saying?"
"If someone has to take his place..."
"I’m going."
Nova stepped in front of him.
"You promised."
Nathan smiled softly.
"I promised I’d protect everyone."
"And I’m keeping that promise."
Yelena’s eyes filled with tears.
"You also promised we’d live."
Nathan couldn’t answer.
Because she was right.
The countdown reached fifteen seconds.
00:15
00:14
The hooded stranger folded his arms.
"This is the part I enjoy."
"You’ll argue."
"You’ll hesitate."
"And then..."
"...everyone dies."
Nathan ignored him.
His eyes never left Elder Song.
The old master suddenly laughed.
A deep, carefree laugh that reminded Nathan of his first day at Soul Cross Sect.
"Do you remember..."
"The first lesson I taught you?"
Nathan nodded slowly.
"You told me..."
"...a sword is only as strong as the hand holding it."
Elder Song smiled.
"I lied."
Nathan blinked.
"What?"
"The greatest weapon..."
"...has never been the sword."
He pointed directly at Nathan’s chest.
"It’s the heart that refuses to surrender."
The words struck Nathan like lightning.
Heart.
Not power.
Not systems.
Not cultivation.
Heart.
His eyes suddenly widened.
He remembered something.
Book One.
The final battle.
The Third Option.
Create a New Path.
Every impossible victory had happened because he stopped choosing between the options placed before him.
He created another answer.
Nathan slowly smiled.
The hooded stranger noticed immediately.
His expression darkened.
"What are you smiling about?"
Nathan looked at the countdown.
00:10
Then at Elder Song.
Then at Guardian Zero.
Finally...
He looked straight at the hooded stranger.
"You’ve made the same mistake twice."
The stranger frowned.
"I don’t follow rules."
Nathan shook his head.
"No."
"You believe everyone else has to."
Silver lightning erupted from Nathan’s body once again.
But this time...
It didn’t surround him.
It spread into the Core itself.
Halo gasped.
[Partner...]
[What are you doing?]
Nathan smiled.
"What I’ve always done."
"I’m making..."
The silver light consumed the battlefield.
"...a third choice."
Before anyone could react, the countdown disappeared.
In its place, a single message appeared across the sky.
---
UNKNOWN AUTHORITY DETECTED
NEW PROTOCOL REQUESTED
Awaiting Command...
---
The entire world waited.
Even the hooded stranger looked uncertain.
For the first time in countless ages...
He didn’t know what would happen next.