The black sun of the Origin Core loomed over existence, its presence unraveling reality itself.
Ethan, now stripped of his System, stood at the edge of oblivion. But he was not afraid.
Because for the first time—he was free.
> [WARNING: SYSTEM UNRECOGNIZED]
[ERROR: NEW ENTITY DETECTED]
[DESIGNATION: ANOMALY PRIME]
A deep boom echoed across the void as the Core pulsed again.
It was not just alive.
It was aware.
And it had noticed him.
---
The Battle Beyond Existence
The void cracked.
Not like shattered glass. Not like metal breaking.
It was the fabric of reality itself that splintered.
> "YOU SHOULD NOT EXIST."
The voice of the Origin Core was law, a fundamental truth that had shaped everything Ethan had known.
But Ethan's response?
A sharp, defiant grin.
> "Yeah? Well, I do. Deal with it."
The Core did not hesitate.
It attacked.
A wave of annihilation surged forward—not energy, not magic, but the pure destruction of everything it touched.
The Administrators—once unshakable—vanished on contact.
Entire concepts ceased to be as the force surged toward Ethan.
---
Defying the End
Ethan could feel it.
This wasn't something he could dodge. It wasn't something he could block.
It was absolute.
> "This thing... it's trying to erase me from existence itself."
A normal being would have no chance.
Even a System User—even a god—would be powerless.
But Ethan?
He was something else now.
> [New Ability Unlocked: Immutable Will]
[Effect: Deny the effects of existential erasure]
The wave of annihilation collided with him.
And nothing happened.
> [ERROR: SUBJECT REMAINS UNCHANGED]
The Origin Core paused.
Ethan laughed.
Not just because he had survived.
But because, for the first time, he had made it hesitate.
> "Guess what?"
"I make my own rules now."
His fist cracked with a new, undefined power—one that even the System had never recorded before.
And then, with a single step forward—
He punched the Core itself.
---
Breaking the Unbreakable
BOOM.
A soundless explosion ripped through all of creation.
The Origin Core shuddered.
A being that had never known opposition—had just been struck.
For the first time in eternity—it had felt pain.
Ethan wiped the dust from his knuckles and smirked.
> "I don't care if you made the System."
"I don't care if you made reality itself."
"You're just another obstacle in my way."
His new power surged.
The war between an unstoppable anomaly and the god of the System… had truly begun.
---
The War of Unmaking
The Origin Core shuddered, an impossibility made real.
Ethan had struck it—and it felt pain.
For the first time in eternity, the being that dictated all rules of existence faced something it could not control.
> "THIS CANNOT BE."
Its voice was not sound.
It was law itself rejecting reality.
And yet, the crack Ethan had made in the Core's form remained.
---
A Power Beyond Definition
Ethan rolled his shoulders, feeling his new strength coursing through him.
The System was gone.
Stats? Skills? Titles? All erased.
But in their place was something greater—absolute will.
> [ANOMALY PRIME: FULL ACTIVATION]
[WARNING: UNDEFINED ENTITY DETECTED]
[ERROR: SYSTEM INTERFERENCE FAILED]
The Origin Core roared, the void trembling under its fury.
> "REALITY WILL BE RESET."
"YOU WILL BE UNDONE."
It lashed out with a force that had erased entire civilizations before they had even existed.
But Ethan just smirked.
> "Not this time."
---
Unraveling the Chains of Fate
The Core's attack was absolute.
A pulse of existence-warping energy surged toward Ethan—not meant to destroy, but to rewrite.
To undo him at the most fundamental level.
He felt the pressure, the crushing weight of reality trying to reject him.
But instead of resisting—
He embraced it.
He grabbed hold of the force itself.
> [NEW CONCEPT ACQUIRED: SYSTEM OVERRIDE]
[EFFECT: REWRITE SYSTEM-IMPOSED LIMITATIONS]
The attack froze.
The Core jerked back.
For the first time in its existence—it lost control.
Ethan clenched his fist, feeling the sheer power now at his fingertips.
He could see it—the strings of reality, the hidden laws governing fate.
And he did the one thing no being had ever dared to do.
He reached out—
And he snapped them.
---
The Core's First Defeat
The void collapsed in on itself, the fabric of the System twisting unnaturally.
The Origin Core's form rippled, flickering in and out of existence.
> "WHAT… HAVE YOU DONE?"
Ethan grinned.
> "I told you already."
"I make my own rules now."
The Core howled, its shape twisting into something unstable.
Ethan launched forward, fist glowing with power that had no name.
The Core tried to counter, but—
It was too late.
> BOOM.
Ethan's punch landed.
The black sun of the Origin Core fractured.
For the first time in eternity, the System's true master had been wounded.
---
The Core's Last Resort
The void screamed as the Origin Core shattered.
Ethan stood amidst the collapsing chaos, his fist still smoldering from the impact. He had done the impossible—he had broken the unbreakable.
The System's creator, the entity that governed all reality, had been wounded.
But Ethan knew better than to celebrate.
Because the Core was not dead.
Not yet.
> "YOU… HAVE FORCED MY HAND."
Its voice was no longer a command of existence. It was rage.
A first.
A sign that Ethan had pushed it beyond logic.
> "IF I CANNOT ERASE YOU—"
The Core pulsed, and reality bent inward.
> "THEN I WILL ERASE EVERYTHING."
---
The Final Weapon: Absolute Collapse
Ethan's eyes narrowed as the black sun pulsed once more.
This time, it was different.
Not an attack.
Not an erasure.
Something far worse.
> [SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT: FINAL PROTOCOL INITIATED]
[ABSOLUTE COLLAPSE: ACTIVATED]
The stars disappeared.
The worlds shattered.
The very concept of existence began to fade.
Ethan felt it—the weight of all things unraveling at once.
The Core had realized that it could not delete him.
So instead, it had chosen to end everything.
> "YOU HAVE WON, ANOMALY."
"BUT THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT FOR YOU TO RULE."
The void tore apart, space and time collapsing as reality itself began to cease.
Ethan clenched his fists.
The Core thought this would stop him?
No.
This was just another challenge.
---
Defying the End
Ethan's mind raced. He had already surpassed the System.
Now he had to surpass existence itself.
> [NEW CONCEPT ACQUIRED: REALITY FORGE]
[EFFECT: CREATE NEW LAWS TO REPLACE THOSE ERASED]
He exhaled.
The black sun cracked again, its glow flickering like a dying ember.
Ethan raised his hand—and grabbed hold of existence itself.
> "You want to destroy everything?"
He pulled.
> "Then I'll just make it all over again."
The collapse halted.
The Core shuddered, its final weapon denied.
For the first time, the true master of the System realized the truth.
> "THIS… IS NOT POSSIBLE."
Ethan grinned.
> "It is now."
And then, for the last time—he struck.
A final punch, fueled by the will to rebuild existence itself.
And with a final, echoing scream—
The Origin Core… was destroyed.
---
What This Chapter Adds:
The Core activates Absolute Collapse—an end to all existence.
Ethan evolves further, gaining Reality Forge, allowing him to create new existence.
The final strike—Ethan destroys the Origin Core, ending its rule over reality.
Next: What comes after a destroyed System? Can Ethan shape a new world, or has he become something even greater?
Ready for Chapter 24?