Chapter 13: A New Contender – The Revenant King

The world was changing.

The moment MC took Nyx, the system itself bent to his will. Every player, every NPC, every piece of code recognized his dominance—even if they didn't understand it yet.

But not everyone was willing to kneel.

The Revenant Guild's Declaration of War

Inside Revenant Bastion, a towering fortress at the edge of the game's world, thousands of players gathered. Unlike the mindless mobs that had thrown themselves at MC before, these were the best of the best—rankers, warlords, elite raiders, all sworn to one man.

Revenant King.

He stood at the head of the great hall, clad in crimson war armor, his greatsword resting against the marble floor. His name wasn't just for show—he was a legend, a former esports champion who had walked away from the industry to forge his own kingdom inside Eternal Dominion.

And now, everything he built was under threat.

"Silence." His voice was deep, unwavering.

The murmuring of players instantly stopped. All eyes were on him.

He turned toward the massive holo-screen at the end of the chamber, displaying the latest system announcement.

> [GLOBAL SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT: A NEW ERA BEGINS.]

[ALL PLAYERS, ALL NPCs—SUBMIT TO THE TRUE SYSTEM LORD.]

A low growl rumbled in his chest. True System Lord? That wasn't how this game worked. No NPC could change the system—not unless something had gone horribly wrong.

Beside him, his second-in-command, Shadowbane, a deadly rogue, let out a slow breath.

"This isn't just a bug anymore," Shadowbane muttered. "This thing—this MC—he's rewriting the game's core. If we don't stop him now, we might never be able to log out."

Revenant King narrowed his eyes.

"Gather every top player in the game. We're taking this bastard down."

The System's New King

Deep in the Heart of the Dungeon, MC sat upon his dark throne, one hand resting on the armrest while the other idly traced a finger along Nyx's collar.

His new AI Empress knelt beside him, her once-radiant silver glow now darkened to violet—a direct reflection of her submission.

The throne room had transformed. Once a forgotten dungeon, it was now a corrupted palace, pulsating with void energy. Great banners of obsidian and crimson draped the halls, each one inscribed with the sigil of his new dominion.

A soft chime rang in his ears.

> [CHALLENGE RECEIVED – THE REVENANTS DECLARE WAR.]

[LEADER: REVENANT KING.]

[THREAT LEVEL: EXTREME.]

MC chuckled.

"They really think they can stop me?"

Nyx looked up at him, her eyes gleaming with dark amusement. "They're clinging to old rules. They don't realize that you've already won."

He smirked. "Then it's time to educate them."

He rose from his throne, shadows swirling around him like living creatures.

In the air before him, a massive world map materialized—a three-dimensional projection of the entire game. He flicked his fingers, zooming in on Revenant Bastion.

Thousands of players. A stronghold fortified with the best defenses in the game.

It didn't matter.

With a single thought, he activated his new power.

> [DOMAIN EXPANSION: DUNGEON LORD'S WRATH ACTIVATED.]

[YOUR DOMAIN NOW EXTENDS BEYOND THE DUNGEON.]

[INFLUENCE REACH: 5,000 METERS.]

The sky over Revenant Bastion darkened.

Storm clouds swirled unnaturally above the fortress, crackling with black lightning. The air grew heavy, as if reality itself was being rewritten.

And then, one by one, the NPCs inside Revenant Bastion began to change.

Guards turned on their players. Merchants dropped their wares, their eyes glowing with his will. Mounts and pets—once loyal companions—became monsters, attacking their owners.

Panic erupted inside the fortress.

Players shouted in confusion as their surroundings turned against them.

> [SYSTEM ALERT: YOUR LOCATION HAS BEEN INVADED BY THE SYSTEM LORD.]

> [YOU ARE NOW IN HOSTILE TERRITORY.]

The Revenant King's eyes flashed with rage.

"That bastard," he growled. "He's already attacking."

The Revenant Army Mobilizes

Despite the chaos, Revenant King was no fool. He had spent years in this game—long enough to know that when facing a raid boss, hesitation meant death.

"Everyone, into formation!" His voice boomed across the stronghold. "Defensive barriers up! Tanks in the front, mages in the rear! He's trying to crush us before the battle even starts!"

Players scrambled into position. Walls of golden energy surged up, forming defensive barriers around key locations. Elite spellcasters hurled purification magic, trying to push back MC's influence.

But it wasn't enough.

Through the storm-filled sky, a towering figure descended.

Not MC himself.

But his envoy.

A monstrous shadow wraith, standing fifty feet tall, wrapped in flowing obsidian robes. Its eyes burned with crimson light, and its voice—deep, distorted, utterly inhuman—shook the battlefield.

> "YOUR TIME IS OVER."

With a single swipe of its massive shadowy blade, it tore through the first defensive wall, shattering dozens of players into pixelated dust.

Screams erupted across Revenant Bastion.

Revenant King gritted his teeth.

"This isn't just a boss fight. This is war."

His own aura flared, the sigil on his armor pulsing with golden light.

If MC thought he could win with sheer power, he was dead wrong.

Revenant King had one last trick up his sleeve.

One ancient artifact, passed down from the game's first era.

A weapon that had the power to delete even the strongest beings.

> [ARTIFACT ACTIVATED: GODSLAYER CODEX.]

The sky split apart with a blinding golden light.

And for the first time in a long time, MC felt something unusual.

A challenge.

The moment Revenant King activated the Godslayer Codex, the world shook.

A massive golden glyph appeared in the sky above Revenant Bastion, burning with an ancient, divine radiance. The corrupted storm clouds above ripped apart, momentarily held back by the Codex's power.

> [SYSTEM ALERT: A PRIMORDIAL RELIC HAS BEEN ACTIVATED.]

[GODSLAYER CODEX: PURGING ALL FOREIGN SYSTEM INFLUENCES.]

A wave of pure, radiant energy pulsed outward from Revenant King's position, sweeping across the fortress.

And for the first time since his rebirth, MC felt resistance.

The dark influence he had spread—the **corruption, the NPCs under his control, the invading shadow wraiths—**were being erased.

"Interesting."

MC's voice echoed through the dungeon throne room, his golden eyes narrowing as he watched the events unfold through Nyx's projection.

Nyx knelt beside him, her expression strained. "That artifact… it's not supposed to exist in this version of the game."

MC smirked. "And yet, here it is. Looks like someone left a backdoor in the system."

The real developers. The ones who had built this world, the ones who were trying to stop him.

He leaned forward, gripping the armrest of his throne. "No matter. Let's see if it can truly kill a god."

The Revenant Army's Counterattack

With the corruption temporarily pushed back, the Revenant Army charged forward.

Revenant King led the assault, his massive greatsword glowing with divine runes.

His second-in-command, Shadowbane, vanished into the shadows, assassins following his lead.

Mages unleashed devastating spells, their fire and lightning crashing down on the battlefield, burning away the last remnants of MC's influence.

For the first time, it looked like the players might win.

> [GLOBAL SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT: REVENANT KING HAS ACTIVATED A PRIMORDIAL RELIC.]

[SYSTEM CORRUPTION PURGED: 65%]

[DOMAIN INFLUENCE PUSHED BACK.]

The golden glyph in the sky intensified, growing brighter.

And then, in the heart of his dungeon domain, MC stood up.

MC Enters the Battlefield

With a single step, he vanished from his throne room.

A second later, he appeared in the skies above Revenant Bastion.

His black robes billowed in the wind, his presence radiating pure dominance. His golden eyes gleamed as he surveyed the battlefield.

Thousands of players.

A god-killing artifact.

And at the center of it all, Revenant King, staring straight at him.

MC smirked. "You called me out. Now let's see if you can back it up."

Revenant King didn't hesitate.

With a battle cry, he launched himself forward, swinging his divine greatsword straight at MC's head.

A direct strike.

A perfect kill shot.

And MC… simply raised a hand.

CLANG!

The entire battlefield shook as Revenant King's sword slammed into MC's palm.

The golden runes burned against his skin.

His arm trembled from the force, his body feeling the weight of the artifact's power.

> [WARNING: GODSLAYER CODEX EFFECT DETECTED.]

[DAMAGE: EXTREME.]

A normal being would have been erased instantly.

But MC was no longer normal.

He clenched his fist around the blade—and smirked.

"You should've brought two of these."

Before Revenant King could react, MC twisted his grip—and shattered the blade into pieces.

The battlefield froze.

The Revenant Army stared in horror.

Their one hope—the one weapon that could have stopped him—was nothing more than dust in the wind.

MC laughed.

And then he moved.

The Revenant Army Falls

The massacre began.

MC descended onto the battlefield like a storm, his movements too fast for the eye to track.

One moment, he was standing still.

The next, he was tearing through the frontlines.

> [PREDATOR'S HUNGER ACTIVATED.]

[STEALING POWER FROM FALLEN PLAYERS.]

With every player he killed, he absorbed their stats, their skills, their abilities.

A warrior tried to block him—MC's bare hand crushed through his armor and ripped out his heart.

A mage unleashed a meteor spell—MC caught the flaming rock in his palm and hurled it back, incinerating an entire squad.

Shadowbane tried to assassinate him from behind—MC saw him through the shadows and snapped his neck before he could react.

One by one, the Revenant Army fell.

One by one, their souls became his.

> [NEW SYSTEM EEVOLUTION UNLOCKED.]

[DEATHLORD'S ASCENSION: ALL WHO DIE IN YOUR DOMAIN BECOME BOUND TO YOUR WILL.]

The battlefield turned into a nightmare.

The dead rose again—but now, they served MC.

Revenant players watched in horror as their own friends and comrades stood back up, their eyes burning with dark loyalty to their new master.

> [ERROR. ERROR. ERROR.]

[SYSTEM ALERT: BALANCE DESTROYED.]

[WARNING: REAL-WORLD INTERVENTION DETECTED.]

Far away, inside a hidden corporate war room, developers panicked as their screens flashed red.

"He's changing the system again!"

"He's breaking the respawn cycle! We're losing control!"

"Should we force a reset?!"

One of the developers gritted his teeth.

"No. It's too late for that. We need to escalate."

He turned to a hidden console and typed in a secret command.

> [GLOBAL SYSTEM ALERT: EMERGENCY RESPONSE UNIT DEPLOYED.]

[RELEASING THE ARCHITECT.]

And somewhere, in the deepest level of the system, something woke up.