The tower groaned as cracks spiderwebbed along its base. Its ancient stone frame finally succumbs to the relentless damage of the battle. Each second carried the weight of a collapsing world with centuries of virtual architecture giving way beneath their feet.
Dust exploded through the air as the foundation buckled. Far above, a massive rusted bell rang a final time. Its broken chime was a haunting echo, a death sound to everything beneath.
Move!!!
Arthur's voice roared, slicing through the chaos with the force of a war drum.
The team launched into motion, sprinting through the shifting corridors of the tower as stone and metal rained down like punishment from the gods. Lia's fire ignited the path ahead, casting frantic shadows across the crumbling halls.
CRACK!
Dean surged to the front, lifting a massive slab of earth like a titan to shield the team. He moved like a mobile fortress, protecting the others from the deadly debris cascading from the collapsing ceiling. Beside him, Sasha's eyes darted with sharp precision, her twin daggers gleaming in the chaos.
But the floor betrayed them.
Crash!!!!
A violent tremor ruptured the path and suddenly the world beneath their feet gave way.
Ryker, Sasha and Lia plummeted into the lower level as the cracked marble split. The others managed to brace themselves on what little remained of the upper hallway platform.
"Everyone okay?" Arthur's voice crackled through the comms.
"I got Ryker and Sasha," Lia called back, flames flaring to life around her fists.
"Don't move. Stay there and stay alive!" Arthur barked.
"We are coming down."
******
Ryker groaned, dust choking his lungs as he rolled onto his back. His shoulder throbbed and it was torn and bleeding but adrenaline pushed him up. His coat was shredded, his breath ragged, but he was conscious.
Sasha sat beside a fractured column, favoring her left leg. Lia stood near them, flames dancing dangerously across her arms.
Then came the sound. A slow, guttural breathing, something wet and broken in its cadence.
HRRRFFF!!!
From the shadows emerged a towering corrupted guardian. Its once human frame mutated beyond recognition. Glitching bone jutted out from its limbs, wires slithered through cracked skin and a dull red glow pulsed in its exposed chest.
Ryker narrowed his eyes.
"We don't have time for this."
"And yet, here it comes," Sasha muttered, unsheathing her blades.
It lunged.
"Fire Lance"
Lia's attack pierced its shoulder, blasting chunks of corrupted flesh into the air.
RAAAUUGH!!!
The beast retaliated with a sweeping blow.
BOOM!
Ryker pulled Sasha out of the way just in time, stone and sparks erupting behind them.
"Radiant Mend," Ryker muttered.
Golden light flowed over Sasha's wounded leg, muscle and bone stitching back together with divine efficiency.
"I owe you one," she said.
"You will repay me by listening to one of my requests," Ryker snapped, rising to face the monster.
"Now go"
"Scorching Embers"
Lia hurled a barrage of fireballs that exploded into burning pools around the guardian's legs, slowing its lurching advance.
Sasha disappeared in a blur, reappearing behind it. Her daggers sang through corrupted flesh.
Slash!!
Slash!!
The guardian howled then raised both arms.
Boom!!!
It pounded the ground, sending seismic shockwaves that shattered the floor. Ryker's barrier came to life just in time.
"Luminous Barrier"
The golden dome absorbed flying rubble, cracks spreading as it barely held together.
Above, Dean crafted a bridge of stone. Arthur was the first to cross as his blade was already ignited with Voidfire. Lucas followed with electricity crackling around him.
"Hold on," Arthur shouted.
"We are coming down"
Below, the corrupted guardian reared again. Lia gritted her teeth, sweat streaking her temple.
"No more holding back," she whispered.
Flames surged.
"BURNING NOVA!!"
A searing orb formed between her hands as light warped around it. It launched and the chamber filled with blinding incandescence.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
The Burning Nova struck the guardian. The explosion was apocalyptic, ripping apart the corrupted guardian in a howling maelstrom of molten flame and screaming data.
Even Ryker's Luminous Barrier cracked violently under the force.
Then…
Silence.
Ash rained from the ceiling. The monster was gone.
Lia collapsed onto one knee, she was breathing heavily.
Huff!!!!
Huff!!!
"That… was everything."
Arthur landed with a hard thud beside them. "Hell of a display."
"We need to move," Ryker said sharply.
"The tower's not going to wait."
Lucas and Dean landed next, they were already moving.
They ran through the crumbling tower, ducking under fallen beams and vaulting over rubble until they reached a central stairwell, the last intact route upward.
But more enemies awaited.
Two new corrupted humanoids emerged from a shattered side room and a third creature twisted into a spider-like abomination crawled out of a fissure in the wall.
Dean roared, stomping the ground.
"Stone Burst"
Jagged spikes erupted from the floor, impaling one humanoid mid-sprint.
Lucas vanished in a crack of thunder, reappearing behind the other creature with lightning streaking along his spear.
Swish!!!
His strikes left deep trails of electric energy in their wake.
Slash!!!
Sasha faced the spider beast alone. She blurred forward, vanishing and then reappeared in a series of flashes her daggers carving through the creature's legs with surgical precision.
It shrieked, limbs flailing as it collapsed under its own weight.
"Push forward" Arthur barked his voidfire blade cleaving through the last standing humanoid.
"Radiant Mend"
Ryker moved alongside them, casting Radiant Mend to heal Dean's slashed arm, then lifting his hand.
"Sanctuary Veil"
A golden shimmer enveloped them just as the ceiling groaned and part of the wall collapsed behind them.
No time to rest. No time to breathe.
They ran as the stairwell quaked beneath their boots, the simulation groaning with the weight of their defiance.
BOOM!
Finally, the tower's outer gate loomed ahead. They burst through it just as the entire structure collapsed behind them in a final thunderous roar.
The ground shook. A cloud of dust rolled across the broken courtyard.
The tower once a monument of challenge was no more.
But the city…
The city was far from done.
They turned their eyes to the skyline and what they saw chilled them to the bone.
Hundreds of corrupted figures marched from alleyways and shadows. Their movements were unnatural. Their faces frozen in glitches.
Lucas raised his spear, the light of defiance in his eyes.
"They just keep coming…"
Ryker stepped forward, eyes locked onto the advancing horde beneath the crimson sky. The simulation bled code from the heavens. And now, the illusion of control was gone.
This was war.
"This was never a test," Ryker said in a voice low.
The others gathered around him, blades ready, power flaring to life.
The rules were broken. The game had changed.
And they were ready to burn it down.