The Warden's fist came down not with a simple smash, but with the terrifying finality of a system executing a delete command.

-Zaaaaaaaa...!

It was a shockwave of pure, visible force— a ripple of distorted, red-tinged air that blasted towards us instantaneously, tearing up the stone floor in its wake.

"Miss Aria...! I...! I can't!" Cass shrieked, horror covering his face, but his body moved on pure survival instinct.

He slammed his staff down, a desperate, raw scream tearing from his throat. "Barrier!"

-Ooooooooooong!

A dome of vibrant blue energy, fragile as glass, flared to life around us. And a shockwave was generated from it hitting ithead-on.

-Bam!

The sound was unbearable...

-Shreeeeee!

A high-pitched screech of magic being shredded, the groan of a spell pushed miles past its breaking point, and the breaking threads of the spell were visible right before my eyes.

"Cass...!"

For one heart-stopping second, the barrier held, Cass's entire body trembling, his knuckles blue, his face a mask of agony as he poured every last drop of his mana into it.

Then...

-Booooooo!

It exploded.

"Argh...!"

The backlash was violent. Cass was thrown off his feet like a discarded doll.

-Bam!

He sailed through the air and crunched into the wall behind us, slumping to the ground in a boneless heap. His staff clattered to the floor, the light on it's crystal dying instantly.

He didn't move anymore, but we could tell he was at least alive.

"Fuck! Fucking hell...!"

"Grrrrr."

The Warden took another ground-quaking step forward, its single, blazing red eye swiveling from the unconscious mage to me.

The non-essential process had been neutralized. I had always been the primary anomaly.

"Qwy, now! Keep its eye busy!" I yelled at the top of my lungs even though u did not have to, my grip so tight on the mithril blade I thought my fingers would fuse to the hilt.

-Zaaaaaaa...

The sword hummed in response, its ethereal glow brightening as if sensing my desperation.

"Qwy!" she trilled, a sound now filled with fierce defiance. She became a blur, zipping straight for the Warden's face.

-Suuuuuuuu!

Her {Glimmer-Pew} flashed, and a concentrated beam of light lanced directly into its crimson eye.

"Grrrrrr!"

The creature let out a low, grating hum of irritation immediately, the sound of a program encountering a minor, persistent bug echoing throughout the chamber.

It swiped a massive stone hand at her, but Qwy was impossibly agile, dancing around its fingers, her feathers puffed up in a display of raw courage.

'Now!'

This was my only opening. I wasn't a warrior, but I was a problem-solver with a very sharp tool in my hands.

-Thum! Thum! Thum!

I darted forward, low and fast, aiming the mithril point for the back of the Warden's knee joint— a potential weak point in any bipedal structure.

-Shreeeek—!

I drove the blade home with all my strength.

-Shunk!

The blade fortunately sank in, but only about an inch. A normal sword would have shattered, but not this treasure.

The mithril held, however, I immediately discovered that the Warden's hide was like layered fortress walls.

"Grrrrrr...!"

The red eye immediately swiveled down, the hum intensifying into an angry growl. Now... I had successfully annoyed a force of nature.

-Trrrrrrr...

Its leg swept out in a kick too fast for me to fully avoid. The edge of its stone foot caught my side, and the world dissolved into white-hot pain.

"Qwy!"

I was flung backwards, skidding across the rough stone, the mithril blade torn from my grasp.

-Tarr! Tarrr... tarrr!

It clattered away, its moonlight glow a taunt in the oppressive red light.

"Ugh!!"

'Get up, get up, Aria! '

My mind screamed, pushing through the agony.

Somehow, I don't know how, but I managed to avoid the critical hit at the very last moment.

"..."

My body did not respond, but my mind told me I still had one card left to play.

My architect's mind raced in the face of turbulence.

Every system has a flaw, a vulnerability in its source code.

'I needed to see it. I must...!'

As Qwy continued her hopeless, heroic harassment, I closed my eyes, reaching for that familiar inner state, the ghost-mode that let me see the dungeon's truth.

I recalled the out-of-body experience once again and commanded my body, pouring all my will into the command.

But, unlike earlier when we entered the dungeon, there was no reaction.

'What the...'

I pushed harder, my head pounding as I wasted more of my mental stamina, but... the world remained stubbornly, physically solid.

Then...

[Ding!]

A cold, system-cold dread flooded me as a new, stark line of text burned across my vision.

[ "WARNING! Guest Architect privileges have been temporarily suspended by the dungeon. The provided reasoning shows the dungeon core has flagged us for administrative review!" ]

'The dungeon revoked my admin access?'

The dungeon hadn't just sent a guardian after bringing us to this part of the first floor; it had locked me out of the developer mode as well!

'Shit...!'

The realization cost me the last of my hope. This had all been a trap all along...

"Grrrrrr!"

Distracted by the system's betrayal, I didn't see the Warden's fist closing in. It wasn't another shockwave this time. It was the real, physical, granite fist, filling my entire vision the moment my eyes got back their light.

"...!"

There was no time to react.

-Bang!

The impact was a universe of pain exploding in my chest, everything inside of me exploding like a bursting bubble.

-Crrrrck!

I heard a sickening crack.

Then, the air was driven from my lungs as I was launched through the air like a broken plaything, a puppet with severed strings.

-Dhum.

I crashed down hard, my body skidding to a stop right beside Cass's motionless form.

Darkness swarmed at the edges of my vision. My whole world was a symphony of agony. Through a blurred, pain-filled haze, I saw the Warden take another final, decisive step towards us. Its mission was clear: complete the purge it was tasked with.

[ "The assistance system will create an emergency [Safe zone]. Deployment underway." ]

A familiar green light formed around us, the angelic voice of my eternal saviour echoing inside my head once again...

'Rosaviel...'

My head lolled to the side in those final moments.

Cass's face was deathly pale, a dark bruise already forming on his temple.

'Weak...'

But then, through the overwhelming pain, I saw his eyelid flutter.

"Garh..."

A low groan escaped his lips. He was swimming back to consciousness, only to wake into our final moments.

'Cass oh Cass...'

His groggy, terrified eyes cracked open, struggling to focus. They took in the dreadful reality: the immense, unstoppable Warden looming over us, me broken and gasping beside him, and Qwy's desperate chirps now weak and distant.

His gaze, hazy with pain and fear, drifted past my face.

Something had shifted in those eyes... but before I could know what it was, the darkness had already swallowed me whole.

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