Hegemon scanned the void, waiting. Seconds passed. Nothing. Loading was gone.

  His fingers tightened close to the Code Manipulator as he exhaled sharply. Damn it. Where the hell did he go?

  Not wasting another moment, he launched himself forward, his glowing green wings unfurling as he tore through reality itself. He passed through multiple universes in an instant, slipping between dimensions, traversing the fractured layers of this alternate existence. Then, he found it.

  A remote world—a desolate, unknown planet at the far edge of existence. Without hesitation, he descended, landing on its barren surface.

  He needed a moment. A strategy. A place to hide—at least until he could figure out what the hell Loading was planning. But the moment his feet touched the ground… Someone was already waiting for him.

  A lone figure stood a short distance away, his silhouette barely visible against the darkened sky. Then, it spoke.

  "Having the most powerful transformation in all twelve realities standing in front of me is kinda surreal."

  Hegemon didn’t hesitate. A blinding beam erupted from his wing, streaking toward the figure at lethal speed.

  But the stranger merely sidestepped—slowly, effortlessly—allowing the attack to pass by, leaving a searing trail in its wake.

  "Look," the figure continued, seemingly unbothered. "I know you're in the middle of the hardest fight that will literally shape the future, but I'm here to help you out—since, well... you need the help."

  Hegemon’s wings flared, their green radiance illuminating the sky, casting an eerie glow over the darkened world.

  "Who are you, and what makes you think I'll believe you?"

  Hegemon's voice was sharp, wary. His glowing green wings cast an eerie light over the barren landscape as he hovered slightly above the ground.

  The figure remained still, his expression unreadable.

  "Well, first—I'd rather you not kill me, since I’m nowhere near strong enough to stop you," the stranger said matter-of-factly. "And second, I am the Conduit of Knowledge. I see most of what’s going to happen—not just to you, but to everyone. The more important someone is, the more I know about them."

  He paused, then added, "Including how you die."

  Hegemon narrowed his eyes, waiting for him to continue.

  "Right now, Loading is scouring every multiverse looking for you. We’re in Reality Three. But as you are now? Loading will kill you effortlessly. It’s stopped holding back."

  Hegemon clenched his skeletal fingers closer to the Code Manipulator.

  "You’ve gained incredible control over the Conduit of Code," the stranger went on. "Because of that, you’ve accessed the Mainframe—the source of all system functions. We’re going to take that power and merge it with your new form. At the very least, it’ll make this fight last longer."

  Hegemon’s wings dimmed slightly as he floated lower. His gaze darkened.

  "What do you mean, ‘last longer’?"

  The Conduit sighed, his face betraying a flicker of weariness.

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  "Just because I tell you your future doesn’t mean you can change it. What we’re about to do is merely… delay your inevitable end. You will die fighting Loading."

  Hegemon scoffed, cutting him off. "Then what’s the damn point? If I’m just going to die anyway, why go through all of this? I’ve already defied death multiple times."

  For a second, the Conduit of Knowledge looked… defeated. "There are others who support you. And there will be—even after this. Just because you seem alone now doesn’t mean you always will be."

  His voice softened. "What you’ve accomplished so far won’t be in vain."

  A heavy silence hung between them. Then, the Conduit shook off his hesitation. "We need to move—now—before Loading finds us. You must claim as much energy from the system as possible. Doing this will make you an extension of the Mainframe—almost like a part of Loading itself."

  Hegemon’s expression remained unreadable, but the way his wings twitched betrayed his unease. "And the cost?"

  The Conduit hesitated. Then, slowly, he spoke. "This will play out in one of two ways. Either you’ll die the moment the form deactivates… or the entire Mainframe will collapse."

  A pause. "And I think you understand what that would mean."

  Hegemon landed back on the ground, his breath steady but his mind racing. Slowly, he reached out, mimicking the attack he had once used on Loading, forging a direct connection to the Mainframe. Then—everything went dark.

  A flood of static consumed his senses, crackling through every fiber of his being. His vision shattered into fragmented glimpses—Reality Three, Six, and Seven flickering into view like unstable signals.

  For a fleeting second, he saw V?rher standing among his allies. He reached out—only for the image to vanish.

  Then, The Administrator appeared, searching tirelessly through another universe for something… or someone.

  More figures emerged. Some he recognized. Others were strangers, their very existence unknown to him until now. Information poured into his mind—too much information. Every detail of every being, every action, every possibility surged through his consciousness, overloading his very essence.

  The once-familiar silence he had known was obliterated by an endless onslaught. Hegemon screamed.

  The processors in his eye sockets glitched and stuttered, their mechanical precision unable to handle the sheer magnitude of what he was experiencing. His body convulsed as he dropped to the ground, as if trying to cry—but no tears came. His form began to change.

  The right half of his body glitched violently, half of his bones darkening to an unnatural black. His once-faded shirt turned into a brilliant blue, the intricate patterns on his jacket shifting to a piercing red. And then—silence.

  Floating before him was a pulsing orb. It radiated with a presence both familiar and foreign. Hegemon’s eyes flickered, his mind struggling to comprehend what he had just become. With a single touch, Hegemon's body began to change.

  His jacket and clothes dissolved into nothingness, replaced by the gleaming white of the Code Manipulator. His bones, once fractured by countless battles, returned to pristine ivory, radiating an unnatural glow. Then—armor formed around him.

  It manifested from the very essence of his being, seamlessly covering his frame, matching the luminous hue of his wings. His eyes ignited with a piercing green, their glow cutting through the void like twin stars.

  Above him, red particles—fragments of the Mainframe—began to ascend, drifting from his wings and scattering into the air like dying embers. The world around him stabilized, the overwhelming static vanishing into silence.

  The Conduit of Knowledge stood before him, unwavering. His voice was calm but firm. “Two things before you go.”

  Hegemon remained still, listening. “First, I will see you again—once you bring everyone together.” A pause. Then the second warning came.

  “And second… the power you’re emanating has altered more than just Loading’s perception. You have drawn the attention of something else—the Unnamed’s Vessel. Think of it as the final, post-game boss that simply exists—wandering reality itself. Do not engage it.” Before the Conduit could finish—reality shattered.

  Hegemon felt himself ripped from the world, his body forcefully teleported. In an instant, he was back. Back in Reality Six’s Anti-Void. Back where his journey had truly begun.