Urban Plundering: I Corrupted The System!
Chapter 446 - 446: The Final Trial: Face Eighth Parker

*You have passed the second test through sacrifice that defies comprehension,* the Guardian acknowledged, its ancient voice carrying newfound respect. *But one final trial remains—and this one will be fought not in the external world, but within the battleground of your own consciousness.*

The space around them dissolved completely, and Parker felt his awareness being pulled inward, spiraling down through layers of his own psyche until he found himself standing in a realm that existed purely within his mind.

The landscape was a twisted reflection of every choice he had ever made—crystalline spires representing moments of nobility rising alongside obsidian monuments to his darker impulses.

At the center of this mental battlefield stood a figure that made Parker's damaged soul recoil in absolute terror.

Himself.

But not just any version of himself. This was the Eighth Life Parker—the culmination of seven previous existences, the being who had been the power to take down the entire cosmos!

Parker recognized him instantly from the deepest memories of his consciousness, the echo of who he had been before choosing to undergo the Ninth Life—the final incarnation that would determine whether the Prince of Existence would achieve his ultimate purpose.

The Eighth Life Parker didn't need to move, didn't need to attack, didn't even need to acknowledge current Parker's presence. He simply existed, and that existence was so overwhelming that reality itself bent around him like space around a cosmic singularity.

His mere presence was an assault on everything the Ninth Life Parker had become.

The moment their eyes met, Parker screamed.

It wasn't pain in any conventional sense—it was the complete overwhelm of an incomplete consciousness trying to process absolute completion. The Eighth Life Parker's aura radiated such concentrated authority that Parker's already-damaged soul began fragmenting further just from proximity. This was what eight lifetimes of accumulated power looked like—not just strength, but the fundamental authority of someone who had lived through cosmic cycles that current Parker couldn't even comprehend.

"So," the Eighth Life Parker said, and his voice was the sound of destiny itself speaking.

Each syllable carried such fundamental power that Parker's essence convulsed, his spiritual wounds tearing wider as the words washed over him. The Eighth hadn't intended it as an attack—he was simply speaking—but his voice contained the accumulated weight of eight complete lives.

Parker collapsed to his knees, blood streaming from his eyes, nose, and mouth as his consciousness tried to process what stood before him. This wasn't just power—this was completion itself. The Eighth Life Parker had reached the pinnacle of what seven previous incarnations had built toward.

He had stood ready to face "it," ready to fulfill the ultimate purpose of the Prince of Existence.

"Look at you," the Eighth Life Parker continued, each word a hammer blow against Parker's sanity. The mental battlefield around them began to crack and shatter, unable to withstand the pressure of his casual attention. "The Ninth iteration. The final chance. And this is what you've chosen to become?"

The observation wasn't cruel—it was simply factual. But the truth behind it was more devastating than any weapon. The Eighth Life Parker had been everything the Prince of Existence was meant to be—prepared, complete, ready to face the ultimate threat that had necessitated nine lives of preparation.

Current Parker was diminished, damaged, spiritually mutilated by his choices to save others instead of preserving himself for the greater purpose.

*The final test,* the Guardian's voice echoed through the collapsing mental realm, barely audible over the cosmic pressure radiating from the Eighth Life Parker. *Face the completion you abandoned. The Eighth Life was ready for everything—ready to stop what threatens all existence. You chose to start over, to become this broken version. Can you justify that choice when faced with what you gave up?*

Parker tried to speak, tried to move, tried to even think coherently, but the Eighth Life Parker's presence was too overwhelming. This wasn't a battle he could win through power or sacrifice—this was facing the question of whether his choice to undergo a Ninth Life had been cosmic wisdom or cosmic foolishness.

"I was ready," the Eighth Life Parker said, his voice containing the weight of absolute certainty. "Eight lives of preparation, eight cycles of growth, eight iterations of learning. I stood at the threshold of our ultimate purpose, ready to face what even the Existence fears. And you... chose to throw it all away."

Each word was true. The Eighth Life had been complete, perfect in his readiness for their cosmic destiny. He had sacrificed nothing because he had needed to sacrifice nothing—he had been exactly what the Prince of Existence was supposed to become.

"You chose to start over," the Eighth continued, and now there was something like sadness in his cosmic voice. "To become incomplete again. To damage yourself saving mortals instead of preserving yourself for immortal necessity. Do you understand what you've done? What you've risked?"

Parker felt his achievements—saving those realities, accepting infinite responsibility—shrinking to insignificance when measured against the cosmic scope of what the Eighth Life had been prepared to accomplish. The current him was broken, diminished, spiritually crippled by his choices.

But as the overwhelming presence of his Eighth Life continued to crush his consciousness, Parker began to understand something crucial. Yes, the Eighth Life had been complete, ready, perfect for their ultimate purpose.

But he had also been incomplete!

The question was whether that understanding could help him survive this encounter with what he had chosen to abandon—and whether his choice to become incomplete had been wisdom or the greatest mistake in cosmic history.

The Eighth Life Parker waited, patient as eternity itself, for the Ninth iteration to either justify his existence or be consumed by the weight of comparison to perfection.

"I was ready," the Eighth Life Parker said, his voice containing the weight of absolute certainty that made the mental battlefield tremble. "Eight lives of preparation, eight cycles of growth, eight iterations of learning. I stood at the threshold of our ultimate purpose, ready to face what even the Existence fears. And you... chose to throw it all away."

He repeated!

Parker struggled to his feet, blood still streaming from his wounds as he forced himself to speak through the overwhelming pressure.

"Ready?" He spat the word like a curse. "You were arrogant. Arrogant enough to think that eight lives were sufficient when the design clearly called for nine."

The Eighth Life Parker's eyes blazed with cosmic fire. "Arrogant? I had conquered every force that opposed us. I had accumulated power across eight lifetimes that made everything kneel in reverence. I was—"