"It's a shame, really."
Adrien's voice echoed with a calm disappointment, his figure hovering in the vacuum of space as if he were no more than a shadow.
Then he moved.
No—he vanished.
CRACK!
Rey barely had time to process the sound before Adrien's fist crashed into his face like a collapsing star. His body was hurled backward, slamming into an unseen force before rebounding toward Adrien again.
A kick found his side this time, snapping the air from his lungs and sending him flying off-course.
"You're too predictable, Rey," Adrien said, his voice devoid of hostility—only cold certainty.
Rey steadied himself, wiping a streak of blood from his lip as he floated in the void.
Adrien's strength… it was absurd.
"You've been fighting too long with restraints. Let me show you what it means to be free."
Adrien raised his arm—and the very fabric of space twisted.
One. Two. Three… Six. Dozens of wormholes tore open across the sky, painting the heavens with an unnatural kaleidoscope.
From each portal emerged twisted creatures—massive, grotesque things whose anatomy made no sense. Some slithered like liquid shadow. Others galloped across invisible plains. A few floated silently, their cyclopean eyes radiating void energy.
"What… are those?" Rey muttered, stunned.
"My beasts," Adrien grinned. "Creatures from other realms… gifts from beyond this reality. Each one is strong enough to level cities, and they're all headed to H'Trae."
Rey's blood ran cold as he saw them pass him.
They weren't coming for him—they were heading straight to the world below.
"No—!"
He surged forward, but Adrien was faster. He cut Rey off with ease, slamming his palm against Rey's chest. The impact didn't just send him flying—it ruptured his core. His energy scattered, his breath caught, and his body twisted from the force.
"You can't stop them, Rey. And once H'Trae burns, what will you have left?" Adrien said as he advanced again, hands crackling with dark power. "You'll be like me—unbound. Free. Finally able to transcend."
"Shut up!!" Rey roared, his aura erupting in defiance.
They clashed again.
Fist met fist, power collided with power. Their blows lit up the void like crashing stars. Each strike carried enough energy to obliterate a continent. Adrien fought with an effortless elegance, as if he'd memorized Rey's every move before he made it. Meanwhile, Rey struggled to land a single clean hit.
"You're too attached to that decaying rock!" Adrien shouted as he drove his elbow into Rey's jaw. "You still think it's worth saving?!"
"YES!"
Rey retaliated with a blast from his palm, sending Adrien hurtling back—but Adrien spun midair, flipped, and landed feet-first against the void, repelling toward Rey with even greater force.
"You're clinging to chains, Rey. You could have been like me."
He grabbed Rey's head and smashed him through a cluster of meteor debris. Rey's back bent unnaturally from the impact.
"And yet you choose to remain weak."
Rey's body screamed in pain, but he gritted his teeth and grabbed Adrien's wrist.
"You're wrong…"
Their eyes locked.
"…I'm strong because I still care."
Adrien's face twisted.
Then he released a dark pulse from his body—an energy that distorted space itself. Rey's arms were torn away, and his body spiraled once more into the abyss. Far below them, the first beasts were nearing H'Trae's atmosphere.
Fire trailed behind them. Death loomed.
Rey reached out, but they were too far.
He couldn't stop them. He couldn't save anyone.
'Am I… really powerless?'
He coughed violently, a crack forming across his core. His vision blurred as he floated alone in the emptiness. Adrien stood tall, surrounded by his growing army of abominations.
"You've lost, Rey."
Adrien's words echoed in Rey's mind as he closed his eyes.
'No… not yet.'
Deep within him, he felt it.
Something ancient. Something… forbidden.
The power that had been locked away. A feature of his Class he hadn't dared explore. A name he couldn't even pronounce.
But now… it was calling out to him.
[Do you wish to activate Class Privilege: "$@%&"?]
[Warning: System will be forcefully altered.]
[This is irreversible.]
He smiled weakly.
'It's now or never.'
[Confirmed.]
FLASH!
A light erupted from within Rey—blinding, pure, and absolute.
It tore through the void, blasting Adrien back as reality itself trembled.
Colors warped.
Dimensions twisted.
The laws of existence bent around Rey as his body absorbed the limitless light.
His Level, long stagnated at the cap…
[Level 100 → 200 → 400 → 700 → 999…]
Then it broke.
[Level 1,000 Achieved.]
[System Override: Success.]
[Exclusive Skill: Complete Doppel – Activated.]
In a single instant, his power evolved.
The fragments of his past—every ability he had lost, every skill sealed away—came flooding back, not as echoes, but as perfected versions. His form shimmered, cloaked in brilliant white and gold, the silhouette of countless possibilities layered over him.
This was [Complete Doppel]—his perfected Skill that possessed the records of every single Skill recorded within the System.
"W-what?!" Adrien staggered backward, shielding his eyes.
His beasts reeled in agony from the sudden change in presence.
"What did you do?!" he growled.
Rey opened his eyes, now glowing with twin golden irises that seemed to pierce every veil.
"I stopped holding back."
Adrien hurled himself at Rey again, roaring with unrestrained fury. But this time, Rey caught his fist—caught it—and didn't budge.
Adrien's eyes widened.
"You…"
Rey twisted Adrien's wrist, flipped him around, and slammed him into a wormhole, forcing it to collapse on impact.
Then he vanished.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared behind Adrien, elbowing him in the spine. Adrien's form distorted before Rey sent him flying with a high-speed kick that seemingly shattered the stars behind them.
"You don't get to destroy H'Trae," Rey said, his voice echoing like thunder.
Adrien staggered back to his feet, blood dripping from his mouth.
He tried to summon his beasts again—but Rey raised a hand.
A massive, multi-dimensional construct formed above them—a lattice of lights and energy woven from thousands of versions of Rey.
"[Doppel: World Lockdown]."
Chains of pure concept wrapped around each wormhole, sealing them shut. The beasts howled in confusion before vanishing like illusions.
"No—NO!!" Adrien screamed.
"You said I couldn't protect them," Rey said. "But I just did."
Adrien surged again, more unstable now, hurling everything he had—dark flames, dimensional knives, temporal grenades. Rey met him head-on, matching his fury with calm precision.
Their fight was no longer just destructive. It was reality-breaking.
Each blow they exchanged bent time, cracked the void, and sent pulses through the System itself.
"HOW?! How can you stand against this?! I spent decades—!"
"Maybe that's the problem," Rey replied. "You kept running to other realities… but I stayed."
With a final burst of speed, he slammed his palm into Adrien's chest and unleashed a blast of radiant energy from [Complete Doppel].
BOOOOOOMMMM!!!
The explosion spread outward, not just destroying—purifying. All the corruption Adrien had accumulated from other realms was washed away in the blinding brilliance.
When the light faded, Adrien was on his knees, coughing and gasping, his black cloak in tatters.
"I… I don't understand…" he muttered, his voice weak.
Rey floated above him, silent for a moment before speaking.
"The fight," he said calmly, "is over."