Chapter 161: The Third Protocol
The message stretched across the sky.
---
UNKNOWN AUTHORITY DETECTED
NEW PROTOCOL REQUESTED
Awaiting Command...
---
Silence consumed the battlefield.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Even the Crystal Giant froze as though reality itself was waiting for Nathan’s decision.
The hooded stranger’s silver eyes narrowed.
"What are you doing?"
Nathan smiled calmly.
"The same thing I did at the end of the last cycle."
"I stopped accepting the choices someone else made for me."
Silver lightning flowed from his body into the Core.
Unlike the blue energy of the Recovery Protocol, it felt warm.
Alive.
It carried countless emotions.
Hope.
Love.
Regret.
Forgiveness.
The hooded stranger suddenly shouted,
"Cancel the request!"
Nothing happened.
Halo floated beside Nathan.
Its crystal shone brighter than ever.
[Request accepted.]
The hooded stranger’s face hardened.
"Impossible."
"I designed every Protocol."
Nathan looked at him.
"You designed every one except mine."
The glowing message changed.
---
ENTER NEW PROTOCOL NAME
---
Nathan closed his eyes.
He remembered the frightened faces across the city.
He remembered Guardian Zero carrying the weight of eternity alone.
He remembered Nova sitting in endless loneliness behind the Silent Door.
Most of all...
He remembered Elder Song.
"The greatest weapon has never been the sword."
"It’s the heart that refuses to surrender."
Nathan opened his eyes.
"I have a name."
The silver lightning erupted into the heavens.
"The Harmony Protocol."
The words echoed through every universe.
Immediately, Halo announced,
[Protocol Accepted.]
[Beginning Rewrite.]
The Crystal Giant trembled violently.
Its blue light began turning silver.
The twelve remaining anchors stopped feeding energy into the Core.
Instead...
They started absorbing the unstable memories spreading across Earth.
People who had collapsed slowly opened their eyes.
Their breathing steadied.
Their minds became clear.
Children recognized their parents again.
The terrifying overlap between worlds began fading.
Halo continued its report.
[Reality Merge decreasing.]
Thirty percent...
Twenty-two...
Fifteen...
Guardian Zero stared at Nathan.
His expression was filled with disbelief.
"You..."
"...rewrote the Recovery Protocol."
Nathan nodded.
"I didn’t destroy it."
"I gave it a better purpose."
The Harmony Protocol spread through every crystal structure connected to the giant.
Instead of forcing memories into people...
It sorted them.
Only memories that truly belonged to each soul remained.
Everything else dissolved into harmless light.
The hooded stranger finally lost his composure.
"No!"
He raised both hands.
Dark energy poured from his body toward the Core.
"If I can’t control it..."
"...I’ll erase everything!"
The sky split open.
A black sphere formed above the city.
It grew larger every second.
Harold looked up in horror.
"He’s collapsing the dimensional barrier!"
Nova stepped forward.
"I’ll stop it."
She flew toward the sphere.
The moment she touched it...
She was thrown backward.
Nathan caught her before she hit the ground.
She coughed blood.
"It’s too strong..."
The hooded man laughed.
"You’ve all misunderstood."
"I never needed the Recovery Protocol."
"It was only bait."
He pointed toward the black sphere.
"This..."
"...is my true prison."
Cracks spread across its surface.
Something enormous moved inside.
Something that made even the hooded stranger step backward.
Nathan noticed immediately.
"You’re afraid."
The stranger didn’t answer.
Another crack appeared.
Then another.
A deafening roar burst from inside the sphere.
Halo’s light flickered wildly.
[Warning.]
[Unknown lifeform detected.]
[Threat level exceeds all recorded limits.]
The hooded stranger clenched his fists.
"It was never supposed to awaken."
Harold slowly looked at him.
"What did you imprison?"
For the first time...
The hooded man answered honestly.
"My creator."
The battlefield fell silent.
The black sphere shattered.
A massive hand emerged from the darkness.
It was so enormous that it covered half the sky.
Its fingers reached toward the stars as though the universe itself was too small to contain it.
Then...
A single golden eye slowly opened.
It looked down at everyone.
At Nathan.
At Halo.
At Nova.
At the hooded man.
Finally, a voice older than time itself echoed across existence.
"My children..."
"...why are you fighting?"
The ancient voice rolled across every universe.
It wasn’t loud.
Yet every living being heard it.
The stars fell silent.
The oceans became still.
Even time itself seemed to pause.
Nathan slowly looked up.
The colossal golden eye watched him without anger.
Without judgment.
Only sadness.
The hooded stranger dropped to one knee.
His hands trembled.
"...Father."
Harold’s eyes widened.
"He..."
"...actually called him Father."
Nova tightened her grip on Nathan’s sleeve.
"Brother..."
"I’m scared."
Nathan gently squeezed her hand.
"I know."
The enormous being slowly emerged from the shattered black sphere.
He wasn’t a monster.
Nor was he human.
His form constantly shifted.
One moment he looked like an old man.
The next, a young woman.
Then a child.
Then a figure made entirely of stars.
Every living race seemed reflected within him.
Halo whispered,
[Existence itself cannot decide what he is.]
The being smiled.
"Very observant."
Halo froze.
"You..."
"...heard me?"
"I hear every thought."
The battlefield fell silent.
The ancient being looked toward the hooded stranger.
"You have done well."
The hooded man’s expression twisted.
"No."
"I failed."
"I couldn’t stop them."
The ancient figure shook his head.
"You misunderstood your purpose."
Nathan frowned.
"What is he talking about?"
The ancient being turned toward Nathan.
His warm smile carried the weight of endless ages.
"My name..."
"...has been forgotten."
"So you may call me..."
"...Origin."
The word echoed through reality.
Every fragment of silver lightning surrounding Nathan reacted instantly.
Halo projected countless warnings.
[Origin Signature Confirmed.]
[Highest Authority Detected.]
[No hostile intent detected.]
Nathan didn’t lower his guard.
"You created everything?"
Origin nodded.
"I created possibility."
"The rest..."
He looked at humanity below.
"...was created by choice."
The hooded stranger suddenly stood.
His calm mask was gone.
"You abandoned us!"
"You created endless worlds..."
"...then disappeared!"
Origin looked at him with deep regret.
"I trusted you."
"I trusted all of my children."
"You called that trust?"
The hooded man laughed bitterly.
"You left us to watch civilizations destroy themselves."
"You left us to watch innocent lives suffer."
"So I imposed order."
"I removed freedom."
"I erased chaos."
He pointed toward Nathan.
"And he ruined everything!"
Nathan calmly stepped forward.
"No."
"You ruined it yourself."
The hooded man glared at him.
"You think freedom is beautiful?"
"It is."
"It creates war!"
"It also creates peace."
"It creates betrayal!"
"It also creates love."
Nathan met his eyes without fear.
"You only looked at half of humanity."
Silence followed.
Origin watched both of them carefully.
Then he smiled.
"The final lesson."
Harold frowned.
"What lesson?"
Origin raised one hand.
The entire universe dissolved.
The battlefield disappeared.
The city vanished.
Nathan suddenly found himself standing in an endless garden beneath a bright blue sky.
Yelena.
Nova.
Halo.
Harold.
Guardian Zero.
Elder Song.
Even the hooded stranger stood beside him.
No one understood how they had arrived.
Origin walked ahead of them.
Flowers bloomed beneath every step.
"This..."
"...is where creation began."
Nathan looked around.
There were no buildings.
No stars.
Only endless life.
Origin stopped beside a tiny seed growing in the middle of the garden.
"I planted one seed."
"It had two branches."
He pointed toward the first.
"Freedom."
Then the second.
"Control."
"They were meant to grow together."
The hooded stranger looked away.
"I cut one down."
Origin nodded sadly.
"You believed only one could survive."
Nathan slowly understood.
"It was never freedom versus order."
Origin smiled.
"No."
"It was always balance."
At that exact moment...
A violent tremor shook the peaceful garden.
A deep crack split the ground.
Origin’s smile faded.
He looked toward the widening fissure.
"...Too late."
Nathan followed his gaze.
A hand climbed out of the darkness beneath the garden.
Then another.
Then dozens.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Every hand belonged to a different version of the hooded stranger.
Some wore armor.
Some wore crowns.
Some carried books.
Others held broken chains.
Origin whispered with quiet sorrow,
"They’ve found this place."
The countless versions slowly pulled themselves from the darkness.
Every one of them smiled.
Then they all spoke together.
"There can only be one future."
The countless versions of the hooded stranger continued climbing from the darkness beneath the garden.
No two were exactly alike.
One wore the robes of an emperor.
Another carried a crown made of crystal.
One had mechanical wings.
Another was covered in glowing runes.
Yet all of them shared the same cold silver eyes.
They stood shoulder to shoulder until the horizon was completely filled.
Nathan instinctively stepped in front of Nova and Yelena.
Halo floated higher, its silver stars spinning rapidly inside the crystal.
[Scanning...]
[Impossible.]
[Every one of them is real.]
Harold stared at the endless army with disbelief.
"They’re from different realities."
"They’ve all reached the same conclusion."
Origin slowly nodded.
"They believed freedom was humanity’s greatest flaw."
"So each of them chose absolute control."
Guardian Zero looked at the army with horror.
"I thought I was alone."
Origin turned toward him.
"You never were."
"You simply stopped looking."
The First Guardian lowered his head.
For the first time in countless years, tears rolled down his face.
"I became one of them..."
Origin gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
"No."
"You stood at the edge."
"But you turned back."
Nathan looked across the endless army.
"If they’re all here..."
"...then every universe is in danger."
Origin answered quietly.
"Not every universe."
"They have already conquered most of them."
Silence fell over the garden.
The weight of those words settled on everyone.
Millions of worlds had already fallen.
Their people had chosen security over freedom until there was nothing left to choose.
One of the alternate hooded figures stepped forward.
Unlike the others, his face showed neither anger nor hatred.
Only pity.
He looked directly at Nathan.
"You still believe hope can save them."
Nathan met his gaze without flinching.
"I know it can."
The stranger slowly shook his head.
"Then allow us to show you the price of that belief."
He raised one hand.
The peaceful garden dissolved like shattered glass.
In its place appeared thousands of floating windows, each revealing a different universe.
Every window showed the same terrible scene.
Heroes kneeling.
Kingdoms silent.
Children growing up beneath perfect order.
No war.
No crime.
No laughter.
No dreams.
Only obedience.
And from every window, billions of lifeless eyes slowly turned toward Nathan as one voice echoed across the multiverse.
"Will you free us... even if freedom means we may suffer again?"