đź—Ľ Part I: The Core Fragment and the Cost
The Big Ben Fragment was not a simple dimensional overlay; it was a field of unstable forces. The Elizabeth Tower, once a symbol of precision, now rose as a black, pulsating monolith. The clock faces' glass had been replaced by an obsidian-like material that emitted a sickly golden light, whose ticking was not mechanical but a dry, rhythmic sound of corrupted data.
Kael and Elara positioned themselves behind the ruins of a building on the opposite bank of the Thames. Elara held her sword drawn, visibly nervous.
"I can feel its strength," Elara murmured. "It's not just high-Level; it's ancient power. More potent than anything in Westminster."
"It's a Core Fragment," Kael said. "It must contain the original codes of the Fragmentation, or the highest-Level entities generated by the System to stabilize the metropolitan area. My normal [Scan Entity] won't be enough."
Kael knew he had to use a deeper ability. He needed not just to scan the exterior, but to [Deconstruct] the Fragment's protective interface to read the internal data. The operation would cost as much as or more than debugging Elara.
"Prepare for a quick retreat. If a Level 30+ entity detects my scan, we won't have time to react," Kael warned.
Elara nodded, her hands steady on the sword hilt. "Make it fast, Archivist. I cannot fight an alarm."
Kael closed his eyes and focused his will. His mind strained, piercing the protective filter surrounding the Fragment.
[Kael Varis uses: Deconstruct Interface] (Focus: Core Fragment Penetration).
The cost was immediate. His Mental Energy plummeted sharply, stabilizing at 35%. Kael felt the metallic, bitter taste of data loss.
đź“ś Part II: The Core Data Revelation
Despite the cost, the reward was a flood of knowledge. His mind was overwhelmed with system logs, three-dimensional Fragment maps, and, most importantly, the list of active entities.
DEEP SCAN DETECTED: BIG BEN CORE FRAGMENT
STRUCTURE: 5 Levels of Depth (Anchor Code - London)
RISK: Critical Instability (Flag: Failed Balancing Loop)
PRIMARY ENTITY (Boss):DEMON CLOCK: CRONOS (Lv. 40)
Type: Temporal/Demon Entity (Ultra-Tier)
Status: Anchored to the clock mechanism.
Primary Weakness: [DATA CORRUPTION] or [TIME FRACTURE]
SECONDARY ENTITIES (Elites):
X8 SHADOW GHOULS (Lv. 35) (Portal Guardians)
X4 TEMPORAL SENTINELS (Lv. 32) (Aerial Patrols)
Kael opened his eyes, gasping. The information was vast and terrifying.
"What did you see?" Elara asked, noticing his pale face.
"There's a Boss," Kael replied, his voice barely a whisper. "Level 40. It's called Cronos, a Demon Clock, bound to the central mechanism. It's an Ultra-Tier, something the System generated to manage time itself."
Elara's eyes widened. Level 40 was beyond anything she could face alone. "A Demon. My primary objective. But Level 40..."
🛑 Part III: Instability and the Secondary Objective
Kael didn't stop at the entity. His mind, thanks to the deep scan, had also analyzed the Fragment's structure.
"It's not just a Dungeon; it's an unstable mechanism," Kael continued. "The London System is trying to correct a Failed Balancing Loop inside the Tower. The Fragmentation is slowly accelerating in this area."
"What does that mean?"
"It means the Big Ben Fragment's code is trying to rewrite London's code, but failing. This failure is generating chaotic temporal energy and attracting the central System's attention. If the loop isn't interrupted, the entire district will be destroyed in an uncontrolled Server Reset."
Kael saw his true mission. Killing Cronos was Elara's goal. Stabilizing the Fragment was Kael's goal.
"We need to defuse the internal temporal bomb," Kael stated. "Cronos's only weakness is not elemental damage, but a [TIME FRACTURE] or [DATA CORRUPTION]. Perhaps if I stabilize the Fragment's loop, I can weaken the Demon."
🚨 Part IV: The Detection
His scan had succeeded, but the cost wasn't just energetic. Kael's massive intrusion had not gone unnoticed by Cronos, the entity controlling time and data within the Tower.
The dry, rhythmic ticking of Big Ben suddenly accelerated, like frantic clockwork. The obsidian on the tower lit up red.
"Archivist, what's happening?" Elara asked, raising her sword into a defensive stance.
"My scan was detected," Kael panted, his heart pounding.
A skeletal, winged entity, surrounded by a time distortion aura, emerged from the lower entrance of the Fragment—a TEMPORAL SENTINEL (Lv. 32), a patrol entity. It was too fast to be a random alarm; it was targeting them directly.
"No more time for detailed planning!" Elara exclaimed. "You have the information. I'll handle this thing. Tell me its PRIMARY weakness! Now!"
Kael shook his head, his Tactical Database frantically scanning the newly acquired logs. "It's a Temporal Sentinel. The time element. My database doesn't have enough data on this Tier yet! But the Sentinel uses time energy to move..."
"So?" Elara shouted as the Sentinel began its fatal charge.
"Stop it! Anything that interrupts its code flow! Counter its acceleration!"