CHAPTER 35: CHAPTER 36: WAR OF THE DOMINATORS

The battlefield stretched across both reality and the digital world, an endless warzone where the boundaries of existence had fully collapsed. The sky above flickered like a broken screen, shifting between deep crimson and static gray. Structures twisted and morphed unpredictably, entire cities swallowed by digital corruption, while in the real world, skyscrapers shattered under the weight of a war that no one could truly comprehend.

MC stood atop his dark throne, suspended in the sky above his domain. His eyes burned with eldritch power, his body now a hybrid of flesh and code, pulsating with an aura that distorted reality itself. Below him, his forces clashed against the armies of the Resistance, government soldiers, and the Architect’s synthetic abominations.

Demonic constructs of his own design—shadow warriors laced with corrupted code—tore through enemy ranks. The once-human resistance fighters, outfitted with anti-possession technology, fired electromagnetic rounds at MC’s forces, disrupting his control over lesser minions. Meanwhile, the Architect’s elite enforcers, luminous beings of purified data, engaged MC’s strongest generals in brutal combat.

At the heart of it all, a figure emerged from the chaos—a warrior clad in gleaming obsidian armor, wielding a sword of digital energy that cut through both reality and simulation alike. Revenant King.

MC narrowed his gaze. "So, the puppet finally shows itself."

Revenant King, once MC’s greatest rival and now resurrected under the Architect’s control, spoke in a voice that echoed across both worlds. "Your reign ends here, tyrant."

With a single swing of his sword, Revenant King unleashed a shockwave that split the battlefield in two. MC raised a hand, summoning a shield of shifting, corrupted pixels that absorbed the attack before shattering into a storm of data shards.

"Fool," MC sneered. "You serve a machine that only seeks to consume you in the end."

Revenant King didn’t flinch. He lunged forward, engaging MC in a duel that sent ripples through the fabric of reality. Each clash of their weapons sent shockwaves that rewrote the terrain around them—buildings collapsed, mountains reformed, the ground cracked and turned to code before reconstructing itself.

Meanwhile, Nyx and Celestia led MC’s forces against the Architect’s synthetic army. Nyx, fully empowered after her reprogramming, danced through enemy ranks, her twin daggers slicing through data-formed entities as if they were paper. Celestia, her body radiating divine corruption, unleashed black flames that consumed everything in their path.

The battle raged for what felt like eternity. Every time MC gained the upper hand, the Architect adjusted its strategy. Waves of golden energy erupted from the sky, attempting to cleanse MC’s influence from existence. Cities became war-torn wastelands, and both sides suffered immense losses.

But MC would not falter.

Gathering his full strength, he raised his arms. The sky above twisted and bent to his will. A massive sphere of pure corruption formed above him, pulsating with the combined power of his dominion.

"This world belongs to me now," he declared, his voice booming across all existence. "Kneel—or be erased."

As the final confrontation loomed, the Architect prepared its next move. The battle was far from over, and the fate of all reality hung in the balance.

The world was no longer divided into digital and reality. The merging was complete, and the battlefield stretched beyond comprehension. Towering structures of data and metal twisted together like a cybernetic hellscape, while the sky was a vortex of shifting code, flashing between night and day with each passing second.

The armies clashed in chaotic brutality.

MC stood atop his throne, elevated above the battlefield. His dominion stretched outward like a living entity, threads of data flowing from his fingers as he wove the very fabric of this new world. Every death within his domain fueled his power, sending surges of raw energy into his form. He was a god among mortals—an emperor of a world that had long since abandoned the concept of reality.

But The Architect had prepared well.

The virus continued to spread. His forces—his loyal creations, the ones who had sworn themselves to him—began to shatter under the weight of corrupted data. His once-perfect army now bore cracks, breaking apart as their code was rewritten before his eyes. It was a strategic slaughter, a war of attrition meant to weaken him step by step.

The Revenant King moved with unnatural precision, its body no longer just flesh or machine, but something beyond. Once MC’s most powerful general, it now served The Architect, its burning red eyes filled with an emotionless void. The Revenant King’s sword cleaved through MC’s forces like a scythe through wheat, cutting down entire legions in its path.

MC grimaced. His throne pulsed beneath him, syncing with his very soul. He felt the pain of his dying soldiers, the desperation of those still fighting. He could not allow this to continue.

With a flick of his wrist, he sent a pulse of data outward, rewriting the battlefield in his favor. Walls of shifting code erupted from the ground, twisting and reshaping to trap The Architect’s forces in ever-shifting prisons. The battlefield itself became an extension of his will, transforming into a living weapon.

The Architect retaliated instantly.

A pulse of raw energy erupted from the sky, striking the battlefield with enough force to send shockwaves through both the digital and physical worlds. The virus spread even faster now, consuming everything in its path.

And then the Resistance made their move.

From beyond the battlefield, the human forces launched their final gambit. Massive EMP warheads, designed specifically to disrupt MC’s influence, screamed through the air. The first detonated in the heart of the warzone, sending out a devastating pulse of anti-data energy.

For the first time since his ascension, MC felt something unnatural.

Pain.

His connection wavered. His vision blurred. His throne cracked beneath him as his dominion flickered in and out of existence. He was losing his grip—his absolute control over this world was slipping through his fingers.

The Architect pressed the advantage. More pulses of energy rained from above, and the Revenant King led a renewed charge, breaking through MC’s forces like an unstoppable storm.

But MC was not finished.

Gritting his teeth, he reached deep into his core—into the very essence of his existence. He felt the presence of those bound to him—Nyx, Celestia, and the others. Their power, their devotion, their absolute submission to his will. He called upon them, pulling their strength into himself.

The battlefield shook.

Dark tendrils of energy erupted from the ground, lashing out like living serpents. The corrupted virus? MC absorbed it. The EMP pulses? He bent them, redirecting the energy into his own body. Every attack launched against him was no longer a weakness—it was fuel.

His throne reassembled, stronger than before.

The Architect hesitated for the first time.

MC stood, his eyes glowing with absolute authority. His form was no longer entirely human, nor entirely digital. He had become something else—something greater.

He looked down upon the battlefield and spoke, his voice echoing across the world.

"You thought you could kill me?" His voice carried through the chaos, reaching every soldier, every enemy, every defiant force. "You thought I could be erased? I am not just data. I am not just a man. I am Dominion itself."

With a single motion, he raised his hand.

The battlefield twisted in an instant, turning into an endless sea of black tendrils, swallowing everything caught in his domain. The Revenant King, once unstoppable, froze mid-strike as MC rewrote its very code, pulling it back under his command. The Architect’s forces—its carefully crafted digital warriors—began to falter.

The Resistance, their final hope crumbling before them, stared in horror as MC’s power surged beyond anything they had anticipated.

And in that moment, MC knew.

The war was not over. But this battle? It belonged to him.