THE CORRUPTED

  Ethan barely had time to react.

  One of the creatures lunged at him, its claws gleaming like blackened steel.

  Too fast!

  His instincts screamed. He threw himself back, narrowly dodging as its strike shattered the ground where he had stood. Fragments of stone exploded outward.

  Solis leapt onto a broken column, watching with sharp eyes but not intervening. “Time to see what you’ve learned, Fireborn.”

  Ethan landed, his mind racing.

  These things weren’t normal. They weren’t just corrupted beasts—they were something more.

  Their bodies… their structure… they’re unstable.

  His vision flickered—his heart pulsed—and the code of their bodies appeared before him.

  And then he saw it.

  The corruption wasn’t just magic.

  It was written into their very being—woven into their flesh like a program infected with malware.

  I can rewrite them.

  One of the creatures lunged again. This time, Ethan didn’t retreat.

  Instead—he focused.

  With one motion, he reached out—not with his hands, but with his power—grasping the corrupted symbols that made up the creature’s form.

  And then—he rewrote them.

  Green Virgo energy surged through his veins, mingling with something deeper, something older. The symbols twisted—shifting, changing—overwriting the corruption with a new code.

  The creature screeched—its form unraveling like a broken equation. The molten veins dimmed. The shadows in its eyes flickered—before finally, it collapsed into dust.

  Ethan’s heart pounded. It worked.

  But there were still more.

  Two more charged toward him.

  Ethan’s mind raced. He couldn’t rewrite them all—not fast enough.

  Then I won’t rewrite them. I’ll rewrite the battlefield instead.

  He slammed his hand to the ground.

  The code of the ruins rushed into his vision—old stone, decayed structure, weak points. In an instant, he rewrote the composition of the broken pavement beneath the creatures—making it brittle, fragile.

  The moment they stepped forward—the ground collapsed beneath them.

  They fell—swallowed by the very ruins they had emerged from.

  Silence.

  The ruins grew still once more.

  Solis hopped down from his perch, his silver eyes watching Ethan with something almost… satisfied. “Not bad.”

  Ethan exhaled, his body still humming with adrenaline. He turned to face the cat. “Where’s the remnant?”

  Solis flicked his tail, pointing toward a crumbling temple at the heart of the ruins. “Through there.”

  Ethan nodded. This was just the beginning.

  Without hesitation, he stepped forward, deeper into the ruins.

  ?The Descent into Darkness

  Ethan pressed forward, his breath steady, his mind racing. The temple loomed ahead, half-buried in the ruins, its entrance swallowed in shadow. Every step closer, the air grew heavier, thick with something unseen.

  Solis padded beside him, his tails flicking, his gaze sharp. “The deeper we go, the worse it will get.”

  Ethan nodded. He already knew. The moment he had rewritten that first creature, he had felt it—this corruption wasn’t just lurking in the beasts. It was in the very bones of the ruins themselves.

  And then—they came.

  From the broken archways, the collapsed stone corridors, from the very shadows themselves—more creatures emerged.

  Twisted figures, their forms more distorted than the last. Some had elongated limbs that bent in ways that defied logic, their fingers stretching into jagged claws. Others slithered, their bodies partially merged with the stone as if they had been born from the ruins themselves.

  Their eyes—black, endless voids—fixed on Ethan.

  And then they attacked.

  The first one lunged.

  Ethan dodged, twisting to the side. But even as he avoided its strike, another creature came from behind. Too fast!

  His instincts screamed. He threw up his arm—Virgo aura pulsing through him—and transmuted his sleeve into reinforced armor. The creature’s claws scraped against the newly hardened material, sparks flying.

  But they weren’t stopping.

  Three more surged toward him.

  Ethan’s mind raced. I can’t just keep dodging—I need to change the way I fight!

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  His heart pounded. His vision flickered. He reached for the code.

  Lines of shifting symbols filled his mind—the rules of this world, waiting to be rewritten.

  And then—he experimented.

  He grabbed a nearby broken spear from the ground, its wooden shaft rotting from time. With a pulse of his aura, he forced its code to mimic iron.

  The wood darkened—its structure shifting, morphing—turning into a reinforced weapon in his hands.

  Without hesitation, he spun and slashed—cutting through the first creature. It screeched as the rewritten iron burned through its corrupted flesh, disintegrating it.

  One down.

  But more were coming.

  Ethan saw another beast charging at inhuman speed—too fast to counter.

  Instead of trying to fight directly, he rewrote the stone beneath its feet.

  He made it slippery.

  The creature’s claws scraped against the suddenly smooth surface—its balance gone. It tumbled forward, crashing into a broken pillar. Before it could recover—Ethan was already moving.

  The beasts weren’t stopping. More were emerging, and they were stronger.

  He needed something more.

  He needed a way to strike faster.

  His eyes flicked to a chain lying in the rubble—a broken weapon from a battle long lost.

  He reached for its code.

  Virgo energy surged through him. He transmuted the chain—not into metal, but into something more fluid, more alive.

  When he swung it—the chain extended on command, shifting and hardening in the air like a whip of reinforced steel.

  The creatures snarled and lunged—but this time, Ethan struck first.

  The chain lashed through the air, wrapping around the neck of the closest beast. He rewrote the metal’s weight—making it ten times heavier.

  The creature was yanked down, crashing against the stone floor.

  One after another, Ethan moved—rewriting his own weapons, rewriting the battlefield, rewriting the very way he fought.

  And then—

  The ground shook.

  The air cracked.

  And from the depths of the temple—something roared.

  ?The Guardian of the Remnant

  Ethan’s breath was ragged. The last of the corrupted creatures disintegrated, their dark essence fading into the night.

  But he barely had time to rest.

  The ruins trembled.

  From the temple’s entrance—it emerged.

  A hulking figure, larger than any he had fought before. Its body was no longer just corrupted—it was consumed by darkness.

  Where flesh should have been, there was pure shadow, its form shifting, tendrils of black mist curling and twisting around it.

  And in the center of its chest—a pulsing fragment of golden light.

  The Fallen Sun’s essence.

  Solis tensed. “This is it. The guardian.”

  Ethan swallowed. This thing… it’s stronger than the others.

  Stronger than anything he had faced.

  But he wasn’t turning back now.

  He tightened his grip on his weapon, his heart pounding. His mind already moving, searching for the code that would bring this thing down.

  The beast roared—and the battle truly began.

  The corrupted guardian roared, and the entire ruin seemed to shake with its fury. The shadows around it expanded, twisted, pulsing with a power that threatened to consume the entire temple.

  Ethan barely had a moment to react before it attacked.

  Faster than he expected.

  A massive claw of writhing darkness lashed out, slamming into his side.

  CRACK.

  The impact sent him flying—his body smashing against a stone pillar. Pain exploded through his ribs as dust and debris rained down.

  Ethan gasped, trying to breathe through the sharp pain. His mind reeled. Fast. Too fast.

  The creature did not move like the others.

  The darkness around it shifted unpredictably, morphing into different limbs, different weapons.One second, a jagged arm—the next, a whip of tendrils that lashed toward him with violent force.

  He barely rolled away before the tendrils struck the stone where he had been lying—the entire ground cracked open from the force.

  Ethan coughed, blood on his lips. His vision spun.

  “I can’t fight this thing like the others.”

  His mind screamed for him to run.

  For a brief moment—fear crept in.

  This thing was beyond him. It wasn’t just a corrupted creature—it was something ancient, something that had existed in these ruins far longer than anyone had realized.

  “I can’t win.”

  The thought rattled in his mind.

  And then—his heart pulsed.

  A familiar warmth spread through his chest.

  “A lion’s heart is the source of his power.”

  Sophia’s words echoed in his mind.

  “Focusing aura around his heart, the lion discovers bravery.”

  His hands clenched. His breathing steadied. The pain was still there—but his fear began to fade.

  Ethan forced himself to stand, blood dripping from his lip. His gaze hardened.

  “I’ve faced worse.”

  He had been born into a world that wanted him dead.

  He had survived.

  And he would not fall here.

  His Leo heart burned.

  And his mind awakened.

  Fighting Back – Ethan’s Innovation

  The guardian lunged again, its form shifting—the entire room darkening as its shadow swallowed the battlefield.

  Ethan narrowed his eyes. Darkness. Shadows. That’s its advantage.

  But he wasn’t just a fighter.

  He was a builder. A creator. A coder.

  “If I can’t fight it directly—I’ll change the battlefield itself.”

  He scanned his surroundings—breaking down the materials in his mind.

  The stone pillars. The scattered weapons. The broken chains.

  All of it had code.

  All of it could be rewritten.

  Ethan slammed his palm onto the ground—rewriting the torches nearby.

  “Increase heat. Increase brightness. Increase intensity.”

  The torches ignited with blinding golden flames.

  Not fire—but artificial sunlight.

  The darkness in the room shrank back.

  The guardian snarled. It was weakened.

  “It works.”

  But he wasn’t done.

  The guardian lunged again, but this time—Ethan was faster.

  He grabbed a broken sword from the rubble, its metal rusted with time. He rewrote its properties.

  “Increase density. Harden structure. Add electromagnetic properties.”

  The moment the guardian tried to strike—Ethan hurled the weapon into its chest.

  A shockwave of magnetic force exploded outward.

  The creature froze, its shifting form struggling—its darkness tangled by the magnetic pull of the blade embedded in its body.

  Ethan gritted his teeth.

  “One more strike.”

  He grabbed a long metal rod from the ruins—once part of an ancient gate.

  He rewrote it.

  “Reinforce structure. Hollow core. Compress energy. Accelerate output.”

  The metal hummed with power.

  A weapon—one inspired by his original world.

  “A railgun, but in spear form.”

  The guardian roared, breaking free of the magnetic trap—lunging toward Ethan one last time.

  Ethan thrust the spear forward.

  The air exploded as the energy within the weapon ignited.

  The spear launched forward— moving so fast that the sound barrier cracked around it.

  It PIERCED through the guardian’s chest—straight into the Fallen Sun’s essence.

  The entire ruin shook.

  The guardian let out a final, ear-piercing scream before its form shattered— darkness unraveling into nothingness.

  Silence followed.

  The only thing left behind—was the glowing fragment of golden light.

  The Fallen Sun’s essence.

  Ethan collapsed onto one knee, breathing hard. His body ached, his aura drained. But a grin tugged at his lips.

  He had done it.

  Solis padded forward, his silver eyes gleaming with approval. “Not bad, Fireborn.”

  Ethan exhaled, reaching for the essence. The warmth of it pulsed in his palm—the first piece of Leo’s lost power.

  This was only the beginning.

  As Ethan knelt beside the glowing fragment of the Fallen Sun, Solis padded closer, his silver eyes gleaming with something unreadable. The twin-tailed cat flicked his tail once—and then lightly touched Ethan’s shoulder.

  A pulse of energy surged through Ethan’s body.

  A brilliant blue light ran through his veins, spreading outward in waves. The pain from his cracked ribs vanished in an instant, his aching muscles soothed as if he had never been injured. His wounds sealed, and every trace of exhaustion faded.

  Ethan gasped, his hands instinctively touching his side. The damage was gone.

  He turned to Solis, wide-eyed. “How—”

  Solis turned his gaze toward the fragment, ignoring Ethan’s shock. “I told you—I can do many things.”

  Ethan swallowed, still reeling from what had just happened, but Solis spoke again—his voice calm, yet firm. “Now, run your Leo aura through the fragment.”

  Ethan hesitated only for a moment before placing his hand over the fragment.

  He focused—channeling his aura the way he had been learning.

  The moment his energy touched it—

  The fragment levitated.

  A golden glow engulfed Ethan’s entire body.

  The light intensified—and suddenly, the fragment shot forward.

  Straight into his chest.

  Ethan’s eyes snapped wide open—turning into pure, blazing gold.

  His entire body lit up with golden inscriptions, ancient writings flowing across his skin, wrapping around his arms, legs, and chest like celestial tattoos.

  The language of the stars.

  He levitated, his feet rising off the ground.

  The ruins around him trembled—the stone cracking, dust rising in the air as the energy pulsed outward. The power of the Fallen Sun coursed through him, overwhelming, limitless—like he was touching something far beyond human understanding.

  For a few heartbeats—

  Ethan felt everything.

  Every material, every element, every shifting energy in the ruins. He could see the threads of existence itself, the codes of reality stretching endlessly before him.

  But then—it was too much.

  His mind snapped back.

  The glow vanished.

  His body collapsed.

  Ethan fell like a stone—unconscious before he even hit the ground.

  Solis watched in silence, his silver eyes flickering with something like quiet satisfaction.

  Then, with a flick of his twin tails, a portal opened.

  The ruins faded—replaced by the dim, quiet comfort of Ethan’s dorm room.

  Solis effortlessly transported Ethan onto his bed, ensuring he landed softly before curling up at the foot of the mattress.

  His work for the night was done.

  The first fragment had been claimed.