Null keeps fighting.
Each demon that falls makes the system repeat the same message, over and over, stacking until it becomes almost irritating.
"Level up."
"Level up."
"Level up."
There is no satisfaction. Only exhaustion.
One of the demons manages to slip through the attacks and strikes Null brutally in the side.
The world, seen through his eyes, ripples and twists, as if reality itself had taken the blow alongside him.
He is sent flying.
His body cuts through the air and ends up sinking into a lake of lava. The impact drags him down to the bottom.
The heat is immediate, suffocating. Lava seeps into wounds that haven't yet healed, burning not only his skin but also from the inside, as if every breath were liquid fire.
Null: …damn it.
His body trembles.
I won't fall.
Not like this.
Not this easily.
Memory hits harder than the heat:
his parents' abuse, the shouting, the blows;
the laughter at school, the looks that pierced through him as if he didn't exist.
Being weak.
Being ignored.
Being nothing.
NO.
The fire begins to consume him… but something changes.
The combustion slows.
His body responds.
Null: I don't want to disappoint them…
Elina's image.
The firm voice of his grandfather, Alaker.
Null: I won't fall again. I won't kneel before the world again.
His body begins to electrify.
The fire no longer devours him: it dances around him.
The oxygen churns so violently that bubbles begin forming in the lava.
On the surface, the demons surround the lake.
They growl.
Something is wrong.
Some step back. Others instinctively cover themselves.
One second later—
A colossal lightning bolt crashes down from the sky, surrounded by a ring of compressed fire and violent wind.
It slams into the lake with a deafening roar.
The lava scatters, evaporates, breaks apart.
What once burned with impossible intensity vanishes.
Null stands up.
His body steams.
His eyes are locked on the demons surrounding him.
He grips his sword.
An unknown aura envelops him.
It is not lightning.
It is not fire.
It is not wind.
It is something different… something they don't know how to read.
Null: Let's go.
He takes a combat stance.
Null: Round two begins.
The demons rush him in fury.
Null answers with a vortex of wind that repels them and raises his right hand toward the crimson sky.
He closes his fist.
Clouds rapidly form—a dense storm mass charged with electricity.
Bolts race within it like luminous serpents.
The demons try to react, but it's too late.
A massive lightning strike crashes down upon them.
It doesn't just burn their bodies.
Something else breaks inside.
Silence returns.
A window appears before Null.
System:
New passive skill acquired: "Spiritual Damage."
Your attacks now affect both the physical body and the enemy's spirit.
Null blinks, surprised.
Null: …how convenient. (sighs) But very useful.
He accepts the skill and closes the window.
He starts walking through the remains, breathing with difficulty, though growing steadier with each step.
Null: This place is hell… literally. (sighs) I couldn't sleep comfortably here. —Something bothers him—
«I'm being watched.»
«I don't know by who… but I feel it.»
He decides to test his luck.
He summons a lightning clone and lets it walk openly, while he hides beneath a rock, exploiting his incompatibility with perception to disappear completely.
The clone moves forward.
Null (clone): Is there at least a place to lie down?
About ten meters away, a hooded figure watches from above.
She wears demon hide. Her face remains hidden.
Her voice is feminine.
The Figure: Who is this kid…? Did he really take down so many demons by himself?
She looks over the terrain devastated by lightning.
The Figure: I need to be careful… He could be an ally. Or an enemy.
She moves swiftly and silently, leaping between rocks, debris, and demon corpses, closing in without a sound.
The Figure: Why can't I sense his aura…?
Her eyes glow, trying to see beyond the visible.
She searches for his energy.
His soul.
She finds nothing.
The Figure: (whispering)…what are you?