Date (Real World): Wednesday, March 1, 2025. 4:10 AM.
The world dissolved into the chaotic whine of a high-sequence dimensional jump. The man in the deep purple hood, the King's assassin, had moved them through infinite space and time in less than a heartbeat.
Null reappeared, standing on a dais of polished, black obsidian. The air was heavy, smelling of ozone and crushed stone. He was in the heart of the enemy's fortress.
Before him, seated on a throne carved from a single, rough-hewn Prime Stone fragment, was the King of Stone. The King's long, vibrant red hair flowed down his massive, sculpted back. His unnerving pink eyes fixed on Null, radiating an energy that felt like the absolute weight of a thousand suns. His missing right arm, sealed by a conceptual scar, only added to his dangerous silhouette.
"This is indeed our first meeting, Void King," the King of Stone said, his voice deep, resonating with a gravelly rumble that suggested the crushing of tectonic plates. "Or should I say, Null? The convenient shadow."
Null ignored the taunt, the cold metal of the Katana gone from his neck, replaced by a chilling stillness. "Why the theatrics? You want the Shadow Stone. Take it."
The King of Stone smiled, a wide, condescending gesture that momentarily softened his terrifying face. "Such youthful impudence. I did not bring you here for your death, nor for your Stone. I brought you here for a solution."
He leaned forward, his pink eyes boring into Null.
"I, the King of Stone, do not desire a pointless war," he stated, his voice resonating with sincerity that was more frightening than any threat. "This dimension, these fractured Codes, they are fragile. The true threat lies beyond this plane, unifying faster than we can prepare. I need a hand to prepare the true counter-force. Become one of my fingers, Null. Serve me. And I will stop this war."
The Price of Delay
The offer was insidious, targeting Null's core desire for peace. But Null's internal Code, the echo of Soren's memory, screamed betrayal.
"I will never serve a coward who hides behind hired blades," Null countered, his grey-cross eyes blazing gold.
The King of Stone simply sighed, a sound of profound disappointment. He raised his intact left hand and clicked his fingers.
K-Z-T.
A localized dimensional distortion flared on the platform beside the throne. From the shimmering air, a body dropped to the floor with a chilling, sickening thud.
It was the body of Maya, the Water Stone user. Her gentle face was unmarked, but her eyes were dull, lifeless, and empty. Her Code Anchor had been systematically extinguished.
Null stopped breathing. This was the cost of his training, the answer to the conceptual chill he had felt. The King had taken an asset and destroyed a life to send a message. Maya, the kind, low-level Elemental user who was close to Ashley, was dead because he prioritized his own growth.
Tears, hot and searing, streamed down Null's face, landing on the obsidian floor. The gold in his cross-eyes flickered, threatening to extinguish completely.
C R A C K.
The sound was not auditory; it was conceptual. The air behind Null ripped open, a fissure tearing through the very fabric of the King's fortress.
This was the final conceptual trauma, the breaking point that fractured the last mental seals Soren had placed on himself.
Chains, forged from pure darkness and dimensional law, began to snap within Null's consciousness. These were the chains locking away the full, destructive, and brilliant memory of Soren Asura—the killer who became the protector.
The Fourth Awakening[1]
Umbros, the God of Death and Darkness, awakened from his conceptual slumber within the Shadow Stone. His massive, primordial voice—a whisper that swallowed light—filled the frozen air of the fortress.
"Seems like he awakened a fourth time. The final conceptual safeguard is broken. Fang did a wonderful job. He will be rewarded after this is done."
And with that final observation, the God of Darkness retreated, knowing the true Void King was finally unleashed.
The world shattered. The chains that had locked away Soren's mind, his body's memories, his Code's full potential, dissolved into nothing.
Soren Asura's mind was restored, but perfectly fused with the cold, absolute focus of Null.
The King of Stone's massive obsidian fortress froze. The guards in the room, the assassin, the floating dust—all movement, all Code execution, stopped instantly.
The blinding light of the dimensional freeze began to turn a terrifying, solid red. Not the color of fire, but the color of pure, consuming rage. Null's mind had become a conceptual demon from another hell.
A primal, guttural SCREAM tore from Null's throat, shattering the conceptual silence and vibrating the frozen air.
The rage was absolute. Mercy was never an option.
Clash of Gods
The conceptual freeze shattered. The world returned to normal, but Null was no longer standing where he was.
He was a blur, a streak of black and red fury. The King's elite guards intercepted him, five massive figures clad in heavy armor. They were like paper. Null summoned his iconic weapon—a massive, crescent-bladed Scythe forged from the purest, deepest Shadow Code—his true Shadow Scythe. He didn't slow; he cleaved through the guards, their conceptual anchors severed in a single, devastating sweep.
Null rushed toward the King of Stone, but was intercepted by the King's true commander: a man with striking white hair and contemptuous, burning red eyes. This was Satan 666, the King's supreme enforcer and the wielder of unmatched kinetic defense.
"You're the strongest after the King of Stone?" Satan 666 laughed loudly, a sound of mockery and disdain. "What a fucking joke!"
Null channeled the full, terrifying rage of Soren Asura. He ignored the taunt, focusing only on the final command: Execute.
The Scythe slammed down, aiming for a conceptual sever. Satan 666 met the blow not with a weapon, but with his bare hands. His skin was layered with dense, obsidian scales—the ultimate defense against kinetic and conceptual force.
K-L-A-N-G!
The clash was deafening. Scythe against Scale. The impact sent a shockwave of Code through the fortress, proving Satan's hands were conceptually sharper than any manufactured blade.
Null realized he had fallen into the rage bait, but it didn't matter. The raw power was overwhelming. He channeled the Void King Code, not for power, but for propulsion. Massive, crystalline Dark Shadow Wings erupted from his back, tearing through the Nexus Suit. This was the final sign of his dark rebirth.
With a conceptual roar, Null slammed his foot into Satan 666's midsection, channeling the full Kinetic Code gained through Kai's training. The kick was instant and final.
Satan 666, the Commander, was launched through the obsidian ceiling of the fortress and accelerated directly into space—a humiliating, impossible expulsion.
Null landed, the powerful flap of his Dark Shadow Wings sending a conceptual gust of wind that cracked the remaining structure of the King's throne room. He stood wreathed in black strands and pure red light, his cold, grey cross-eyes locked on the King of Stone.
The King of Stone simply observed, the faintest hint of a true smile finally crossing his lips. "It works. The Asura has returned."
Null didn't look at the King. He looked at the guards, the debris, and the dead body of Maya. The war had begun not on a battlefield, but in his soul. He focused his rage, sending a mental decree across the entire dimension.
"Listen to my orders. At this moment, the war has begun. Find them. Every one of them. And kill everyone that is seen."
[1] He shall return. A dark rebirth fueled by a consuming, crystalline rage. Gone is his past self, replaced by a being reset, forged anew, his head wreathed in inexorable black strands. With eyes like sighting runes, locked in a permanent cross, his sole imperative is to execute all who stand against his kin. When the Lying Snake faces him, it will meet the end carried on a wing of unstoppable, hungry shadows. They will come to him, the weak and the damned, clinging to that lethal embrace like a moth drawn to a burning, final dawn