The Root Admin didn't scream. He couldn't. His shadow-face flickered like a broken television as the golden hand squeezed his throat. Jin stared, his daggers shaking in his hands . He knew that voice. It was the same voice that used to tell him stories about the stars before the world turned into code .
"Dad?" Jin's voice was barely a whisper, lost in the humming of the thousands of glass jars around them.
"Run, Jin. Take Mi-na and go," the golden figure said, his form emerging from the throne. It was K. Jin-Ho, or what was left of him—a glowing memory integrated into the very heart of Tokyo . "I can't hold the Admin for long. He is the Root. He is the machine."
Subject Zero didn't hesitate. He didn't care about the family reunion. He lunged at Jin, his golden blade glowing with a light that felt like a localized sun . "The Creator is a failure, Jin! He chose a glitch over the perfect system! I will delete you both!"
Jin didn't back down. He felt a new kind of heat in his chest—not the cold black mana of the slums, but something raw and human . He met Zero's strike head-on. The sound of their blades clashing shattered the glass jars nearest to them, releasing dozens of flickering souls into the air like digital fireflies.
"Mi-na! Help Dad!" Jin roared, ducking under a horizontal slash that nearly took his head off.
Mi-na didn't move toward the fight. She closed her eyes, her silver veins glowing so brightly they began to light up the dark corners of the sanctuary . She reached out with her mind, touching the raw code of the floor. "I'm not helping him, Jin. I'm giving him a body!"
[SYSTEM ALERT: UNAUTHORIZED DATA RECONSTRUCTION][TARGET: K. JIN-HO][STATUS: RE-MANIFESTING...]
The Root Admin broke free from the golden grip, his shadow expanding until it covered the ceiling. "You think a ghost can stop a God? I am the one who wrote your lives! I will format this entire floor!"
The Admin slammed his hand onto the ground, and the white "Delete" light began to swallow everything from the edges of the room. But as the light reached Jin's feet, a third blade appeared out of nowhere—a blade made of pure, white mana that cut the floor in half, stopping the deletion. A man in a blue Tuareg robe stepped through a portal of sand. It was Idir . "The Atlas Renegades don't leave their King behind," he said, his amber eyes burning.