The End of the Corrupted Developer

We made it to the eighth floor and began to take down each of the monsters on the floor. The waves of monsters had grown in numbers, but soon we took them all out swiftly.

[Floor 8 Cleared!]

"Geez man...soon enough we won't have enough energy to even fight Matsuta. This may be a game, but our bodies still need energy to operate.." Athena sighed softly then looked at me.

"I agree, but we can't stop. Once Matsuta is dead, the universe is practically saved. From here I'm basically playing the game over again. Without Matsuta pulling the strings, everyone will be able to log off the game as they please." I said.

"We will save millions...So many people will be able to go back to their friends and families.." Athena smiled.

"You will be able to do the same as well." I said.

"What about you? Aren't you coming back to the real world as well?" Athena asked.

I shrugged and looked at the next flight of stairs. "I can't. I'm trapped in this universe. Even if I wanted to log off...I can't knowing that my best friend is planning to destroy a universe of a good people who just enjoy the game. I have to see this to the end."

"What about your parents? Your siblings?" Athena asked.

I smiled and shook my head. "My sister is a college student like me and our parents passed away due to an illness that was inherited from our grandparents. My sister and I are lucky to not have it, but due to our decisions we now walk two different paths."

"I see...well if you're staying to defeat Grand Order and whoever else, I'm staying too because I'm not allowing you to go through this alone." Athena said then nodded.

"If that's what you wish then that's fine. Let's continue." I said then we all hurried off to the next floor.

We noticed the next wave of monsters and units on the ninth floor and we began to strike them all down one by one. I struck down the last monster and exhaled.

[Floor 9 Cleared!]

"Alright everyone...this is the final floor. Floor 10...we are at the top of the tower. Let's give it our all here." I said.

They nodded and we walked forward only for our units to be blocked by a barrier. Only Athena and I could enter. We looked back and I noticed Yuki's worried face.

"Master..." Yuki placed her hands on the barrier.

"Yuki...Tch..." I turned around and glared. "This is the type of battle Matsuta wishes to have...that's fine by me."

"What about our units? We can't leave them here." Athena said.

"I know." I said then removed Yuki and the others from the party. "That's why they are going home. It would be too dangerous for them to stay here just in case Matsuta wants to try something."

I warped our units back to my home and Athena and I progressed to the tenth floor. We noticed Matsuta sitting on a throne trying to speed up the process of making the Goddesses destroy the Universe.

"Developer Matsuta! That's enough! We've come to stop you here and now!" I called out to him and he looked up at us.

Matsuta laughed and held his hand out, summoning his custom unit. "You won't be stopping anything! Go, Daze! Defeat these nuances!"

A woman with black hair tied in a ponytail, and green eyes appeared in front of us. She wore a brown top with a brown skirt and brown boots. She carried a lance and a short sword. I scanned her.

Name: Emerald Knight Daze

Rarity: Eight Star

Element: Water and Earth

Weakness: None

Resist: Fire and Lightning

Type: Breaker

Level: 30

HP: 18,528/18,528

MP: 1,792/1,792

ATK: 1,012

DEF: 712

MATK: 912

MDEF: 710

AGI: 589

LUK: 700

"Definitely equipped with a sphere...Plus it is a custom unit, but I'm guessing he had limitations. Let's try to do our best here! No weaknesses means she takes only neutral damage." I said then got in my stance.

"Mmm." Athena nodded and got in her stance.

We dashed into action and we began to try and attack Daze. She began to avoid our attacks flawlessly then kicked Athena away. I stuck the blade of my sword in the ground and activated the Oracle Core's Field Effect, Moonlit Field at the expense of 50% of my HP. The field boosted my and Athena's stats by 140%, gave us a Light Barrier, and added the light element to us. I changed my element to Dark and Athena switched to her Oblivion Mode.

"Let's get this over with now." I said.

"Yeah.." Athena nodded then got back in her stance.

She rushed towards Daze first then used her Million Stab skill on Daze. Daze tried to dodge and block the attacks, but the majority of the attacks began to hit her body. Athena's eyes shined as she blew Daze backwards with her final attack. I appeared in front of Daze then hit her with my Full Death Striker then slashed in a circle, knocking her against a pillar. Daze groaned as she had taken massive damage from our attacks.

"This isn't over yet!" Daze bellowed and dashed towards us.

Athena dashed towards Daze and clashed with her. Daze slashed at Athena, and Athena blocked the attack. Daze charged an attack then broke Athena's guard and Athena looked surprised. I used my Judgement of Light to strike down Daze. She groaned loudly then an explosion happened. The smoke cleared then Daze fell on one knee with her weak spot exposed.

"Burst Skill: Thousand Cut!" Athena bellowed then rapidly slashed at Daze. She bellowed then slashed one last time before a flurry of slashes hit Daze's body defeating her.

Daze shattered into magic particles and we looked at Matsuta. I looked at the time remaining. We had two hours left before he finished the process. Matsuta looked at us then stood up off his throne. He summoned his long sword and shield.

"There is nothing you can do to stop this process...This is it, Summoners. Sorry to break it to you, but this is the end." Matsuta laughed.

I scanned Matsuta.

Name: Matsuta [DEV]

Class: Summoner

Title: Developer

Element: Dark

Weakness: Light

Resist: Dark

Type: Mixed (Breaker + Tank)

Rarity: Eight Stars

Level: 150

EXP: 100/100%

HP: 95,950/95,950

MP: 7,991/7,991

Burst Gauge: 100%

OD Gauge: 100%

ATK: 16,000 + 755

DEF: 16,000 + 755

MATK: 12,210 + 755

MDEF: 16,000 + 755

AGI: 11,021

LUK: 10,100

Skills: Stellar Eclipse, Eternal Dimension, Heavenly Order, Endless Suffering

Burst Skill: Final Order

Burst Skill EX: Eclipse Dimension

Final Burst Skill: Irreversible Fate

Overdrive Art: God's Work

Leader Skill: Ultimate Will [Boosts all parameters for self by 300%, always have Burst Gauge and Overdrive Gauge at 100%, Auto-dodge all attacks at a 100% chance, HP and MP restores by 5% per second, all skills are unblockable.]

Extra Skill 1: Fate is Decided [All attacks ignore defenses and has a 15% chance to OHKO an opponent]

Extra Skill 2: God's Will [All attacks from opponent will be redeemed useless against the wielder of the EX Skill.]

Extra Skill 3: Ultimate Immortality [The user can not die.]

Equipment:

Weapon: Sword of Heaven (MAX)

Shield: The Guardian of Fate (MAX)

Accessory: Nullifying Ring [Nullifies all opponents attacks]

"We...can't beat him..." I said.

"Wait what? What do you mean?" Athena asked.

"His stats...his abilities...we have zero hope of defeating Matsuta. He can one shot us all if he desired it...not even if he desired it. He can one shot us. We are too low of a level for this fight." I said.

"That's right and now you can't run from this battle! You are stuck in here with me!" Matsuta laughed and dashed to us.

I pushed Athena out of the way then went to block his attack out of desperation. I groaned and coughed blood as I was blown away into the wall. My HP went all the way down to one and I slid down the wall.

"Shin!" Athena yelled then looked at Matsuta. She looked back at me and back at Matsuta.

"He should have given up while he had the chance...maybe he would have had a more peaceful death." Matsuta smirked and walked forward. "Top Five doesn't mean shit when you are a developer. Now he must die knowing all he did was for naught."

Athena ran in front of me and glared at Matsuta. "I won't let you kill him...I don't care if I have to sacrifice my life if it means millions of people are safe..."

I slowly stood up and held my arm then coughed a bit of blood. I grabbed Athena's shoulder. "You have people you can return to...I don't. I am trapped in the game with no way to log off. You shouldn't have to sacrifice yourself..."

"It doesn't matter! Neither of you can live this attack anyway! Say your final goodbyes!" Matsuta laughed then slashed his sword then a barrier blocked the attack and he looked surprised. "What the- How was my attack blocked?!"

"You will not kill them. I won't allow it." Bravulla said then a light shined brightly in the tower.

Matsuta groaned loudly as his power began to disappear from his body. I looked at him and noticed my HP going back to full. I scanned him once again after Bravulla intervened.

Name: Matsuta [DEV]

Class: Summoner

Title: Developer

Element: Dark

Weakness: Light

Resist: Dark

Type: Mixed (Breaker + Tank)

Rarity: Eight Stars

Level: 25

EXP: 0/100%

HP: 10,195/10,195

MP: 1,001/1,001

Burst Gauge: 0%

OD Gauge: 0%

ATK: 591 + 755

DEF: 591 + 755

MATK: 300 + 755

MDEF: 591 + 755

AGI: 312

LUK: 201

"We may have a chance...Bravulla weakened Matsuta." I said.

"Thank you Bravulla.." Athena said quietly.

"Damn you, Goddess! I don't get how you hold more power over the developers! Fuck! Fuck! Who gave you all of this power?! This is unacceptable! I won't allow these pathetic weaklings to defeat me so easily!" Matsuta yelled and held his head. "I will create a perfect world without you in it Bravulla!"

We looked at Matsuta and dashed towards him. Matsuta looked at us surprised and I used my Waking of Willpower to nullify all of his skills and abilities. Athena bellowed as she used Million Stab on him in Luminous Mode then sent him flying upon the final strike. I appeared above him and bellowed then slashed down, hitting him and making him crash to the floor. Athena dashed forward then slashed upwards, knocking him back in the air. I flew down to him and my eyes shined brightly as I struck him and sent him crashing three floors down.

Matsuta groaned loudly as he hit the seventh floor. Athena and I jumped down the hole and landed in front of him. Matsuta stood up then looked at us and yelled then dashed forward towards us. I walked forward and used my Waking of Willpower to auto-dodge his attack then punched his stomach.

"Million Stab!" I bellowed then rapidly stabbed his body.

Matsuta groaned loudly in pain and coughed a lot of blood. I kept using my MP to extend the Million Stab for as long as I could. "Stop it you idiot! You're gonna kill me!" Matsuta groaned loudly.

I glared at him and my eyes shined as I kept extending the Million Stab. I yelled then blew him away with the last attack. He crashed into a pillar and slid down the pillar. I walked to him and gripped my sword tightly. Athena hurried to me and grabbed my arm. I looked at her.

"He's done...He's dead. You stabbed him a million times. It's over...so we can now stop this process." Athena said.

I looked at Matsuta and noticed his body slowly turning into magic particles. I sheathed my sword then we hurried back to the tenth floor.

"System Command...Fast Forward times three..." Matsuta chuckled then fully disappeared into magic particles.

We made it to the throne and I sat down on the throne to summoned the interfaces. I looked at the timer and noticed it was going three times as fast.

"What the hell? Wait what's going on?!" I asked and tried to hurry and stop the process.

"We only have 40 minutes left?! We haven't even been fighting for longer than ten minutes! How are we gonna stop this?!" Athena asked scared.

I concentrated hard on trying to stop the process. I clicked every button and tried to rearrange the codes to make it stop. I closed my eyes and slammed my fist against the arm of the throne. "System Command, grant me access to Player ID 00016132's Account!"

"Access denied as Player ID 00016132 no longer exists." The AI responded.

"We killed him...and if you die in the game you and your account is deleted..." Athena said then looked at the timer, seeing we now only had 20 minutes left despite us only being here for only five minutes.

"System Command! Grant me access to Developer Mode!" I commanded.

"Access Granted. What is your Player ID Number?" The AI responded.

"Player ID 00091312!" I replied.

"Summoner Shin is now a Developer." The AI said.

I noticed new options for the process open then I noticed the stop button on the interface and clicked it. The process was stopped and I decided to do more than just stop the process.

"What are you doing?" Athena asked.

"Giving every player the option to log off so they can delete this game...and be safe and sound. As a developer, I will send out a Global Notification to every server and player to delete this game so they can no longer be in danger...Those who stay will have their accounts locked so no one else can access them but the owner of the account, but they will no longer have the option to log off." I said then made the notification then sent it worldwide to every player.

[Notification Send Worldwide]

I sat back on the throne and sighed heavily. I looked at Athena as she had the notification in front of her.

Athena looked at me then smiled and closed her eyes, clicking the decline button then walked to me. "I am staying here with you. We may not have known each other for long, but something in my heart is telling me to stay with you...stay and tough out this reality with you. That is exactly what I will do." Athena smiled and placed her hands on the arms of the throne then pressed her forehead against my head.

I looked at Athena and smiled then closed my eyes. "You know once we die in this universe, that is it correct? We are dead for good."

"I know and that's the thrill of the game isn't it? Not only do I get to work with the number one player in America, but I get to learn from him and be by his side." Athena smiled then pulled away from me then smiled. "Thank you for saving us all..."

"SHIN!" Cuara ran into the room and rushed to me. "YOU ACTUALLY DID IT! YOU STOPPED HIM!"

I smiled at Cuara then noticed our units rushing into the room as well with excitement. I looked at the decrease in numbers in the player base who all heeded my warning about this game. The player base went from millions to a few hundred thousand. Once the numbers had stopped I gave the AI the command to delete the game off the stores and lock all accounts.

[Congratulations! Aclia Cleared!]

[Party Earned 30000 EXP!]

[Battle Spoils]

[10K Gold, Nullifying Ring, AI Dungeon Key]

[Mandatory Maintenance is underway! Returning all players to their homes.]

[Athena Level UP!]

Name: Athena

Level: 19 -> 23

EXP: 14/100%

HP: 10,100/10,100 -> 12,213/12,213

MP: 892/892 -> 1,012/1,012

ATK: 601 -> 712 + 755

DEF: 301 -> 412

MATK: 310 -> 421

MDEF: 303 -> 414

AGI: 601 -> 712

LUK: 300 -> 411

[Shin Level UP!]

Name: Shin

Level: 20 -> 23

EXP: 0/100%

HP: 10,380/10,380 -> 13,195/13,195

MP: 1,145/1,145 -> 1,390/1,390

ATK: 690 -> 722 + 755

DEF: 680 + 213 -> 712 + 329

MATK: 391 -> 404 + 755

MDEF: 422 + 213 -> 520 + 329

AGI: 392 -> 429

LUK: 380 -> 417

"Mandatory maintenance? What's going on?" I asked.

"It appears after Matsuta's death the other developers regained their control over the game, but it seems the Goddesses are still planning to destroy the universe, but the process of them doing so is a lot slower than ever. We still need to save the universe from the Goddesses and there is only one way to do it." Cuara smiled.

"And I am ready to take that action, but now we can go at our own pace instead of rushing because I noticed each dungeon had hidden paths we could take to find new bosses and secrets. I think exploration and grinding is a must now." I nodded and smiled.

Cuara nodded and placed her hands on her hips. "Let's take our time from here on out. I actually want to explore with you, but your party is full so if you need me, I'll be in the Otherworld!"

[New Unit Acquired! Cuara obtained!]