The air in the plaza tasted of ozone and burning rubber. Han-Jun stood in the center of a crater, his golden skin reflecting the flickering neon signs of the surrounding skyscrapers. He looked like a god, but felt like a prisoner.
Analysis: Hostile count: 240. Synchronization: None. Threat Level: High. Crown Protocol: Engagement Inhibitor Active (Lethal Force Restricted).
"Don't look at me with those gold eyes, Han-Jun!" Min-Ho screamed, his mechanical arm hissing as it reached its peak charge. "You left us! You blew up the system and left a vacuum, and your brother... he filled it with Hate!"
Min-Ho fired.
A bolt of blue plasma tore through the air. Han-Jun didn't dodge; he simply raised his golden palm. The plasma hit an invisible barrier—a kinetic dampening field generated by the Crown Protocol—and dissipated into harmless sparks.
"I didn't leave you, Min-Ho," Han-Jun said, his voice echoing through the plaza like a thunderclap. "I was taken. Where is Han-Seol?"
"He's everywhere!" Min-Ho roared, signaling the Fanatics. "He's the voice in our heads! He's the one who promised us that we'd never be 'bullies' again... because we'd be Exterminators!"
The Non-Lethal Slaughter
The Fanatics charged. These weren't the brainwashed drones of Aegis. These were angry, traumatized kids who had survived the Island and the Hive. They fought with a wild, desperate ferocity, wielding makeshift spears, chains, and stolen Aegis batons.
Han-Jun faced a localized paradox. The Crown Protocol wouldn't let him kill them—it viewed them as "Assets of the Sector"—but it also wouldn't let him be harmed.
He moved like a blur of gold.
He didn't use punches. He used Vibration Waves. Every time he tapped a student's weapon, it shattered. Every time he touched a shoulder, the kinetic energy caused their muscles to temporarily paralyze.
Touch. Paralyze. Pivot.
He was a hurricane of mercy. But for every ten he downed, twenty more emerged from the subways.
"You're just a puppet in a different suit!" Min-Ho laughed, leaping into the air. He used his mechanical arm to grapple onto a streetlamp, swinging it like a morning star. "The Chairman gave you the gold, but he took your soul!"
The Signal from the Dark
Suddenly, every screen in the plaza turned to static. The red-eyed Fanatics stopped in their tracks, clutching their heads. A high-pitched frequency—the "Banshee Hum"—vibrated through the air.
"Han-Jun... look up."
It was Han-Seol's voice, but it wasn't coming from the speakers. It was coming from the Icarus Satellite itself, beamed directly into Han-Jun's neural link.
Han-Jun looked up. High above the smog of New Seoul, a faint red dot was blinking in the stratosphere.
"The Chairman told you I was building an army of monsters," Han-Seol whispered. "But look at Min-Ho. Look at his arm. That's not my tech, Han-Jun. That's Aegis 2.0. The Chairman is using these kids as live-fire targets to test your new Crown Protocol. He's the one broadcasting the Rage-Signal."
Han-Jun's eyes widened. He looked at Min-Ho. The red glow in Min-Ho's eyes wasn't passion; it was a rhythmic pulse.
SYSTEM OVERRIDE DETECTED.
SOURCE: CELESTIAL SECTOR.
MISSION UPDATE: ELIMINATE ALL UNREGISTERED SUBJECTS.
"No..." Han-Jun whispered.
The gold veins in his arms began to burn. The Crown Protocol was taking control of his motor functions. His hand began to move on its own, forming a lethal spear-hand strike aimed at Min-Ho's throat.
The Glitch in the Machine
"Min-Ho, run!" Han-Jun roared, his body trembling as he fought against his own nervous system.
"I'm not... running... from a traitor!" Min-Ho lunged, his mechanical arm glowing white-hot.
Han-Jun did the only thing a "Designated Bully" could do. He didn't fight Min-Ho. He fought the Gold.
He bit his own tongue, the pain causing a momentary spike in his adrenaline that bypassed the Crown's inhibitors. He grabbed his own right arm with his left and forced it downward, slamming his fist into the concrete floor.
BOOM.
The shockwave was so powerful it cracked the entire plaza. The feedback from the "Resonance" traveled back up the link, temporarily short-circuiting the Chairman's control.
"Seol!" Han-Jun screamed to the sky. "If you can hear me, drop the Icarus shield! Now!"
"If I drop the shield, Han-Jun, the Chairman will see us. He'll send the 'Archangels'. Are you ready to fight the real 1%?"
"I've been fighting for 1% my whole life," Han-Jun spat, standing up and ripping the golden resin mask from his face. "Drop it."
The sky above New Seoul didn't just open; it bled.
The Icarus shield flickered and died, revealing the Celestial Sector floating directly above the city. From the golden city, four white streaks of light descended.
They weren't drones. They were humans in sleek, white-and-gold powered armor. They didn't carry weapons; they carried Light-Scythes.
"Subject Zero has malfunctioned," one of them said over the public broadcast. "The 'King' is deposed. Initiating the Great Reset."
The first Archangel landed. With a single swing of his scythe, he didn't just kill a Fanatic; he erased them. The student simply vanished into a cloud of digital particles.