The room was heavy with silence, broken only by the ticking of the clock against the monotonous walls of time. Sunlight filtering through the window reflected on Saruto's sleeping face, bringing a semblance of warmth after a long week of absence.
His brows furrowed slowly, and his breathing quickened before his eyes suddenly opened, dull at first, then sparkling again as he realized he was… alive.
He sat up wearily on the bed, his hand cradling his heavy head. He tried to recall what had happened… the sparks, the explosion, Adrian's face, the scream… Void.
Before his thoughts could wander further, the door opened quietly, and Ethan entered, his steps measured and his voice reassuring. "Oh, so you're finally awake," he said.
Slowly, Saruto raised his head, looked at his servant and trainer, and said in a hoarse voice, "What happened?… And how long have I… been unconscious?"
Ethan moved closer until he sat in the chair near the bed, placing his hand on Saruto's shoulder. "It's been a whole week since we returned from the Founder IV," he said softly. "You were completely unconscious… but don't worry, the Time Chamber has healed you. Even your internal wounds have completely healed."
Saruto froze for a moment, and memories flooded back. He remembered the battle, the pain, Void's last scream as he was severed from his body. He stood up abruptly, his face etched with worry. "Void…!"
He reached for Void's chest, trying to connect with him through the usual connection… but silence answered him. No sound, no echo, no energy. Only an inner emptiness as harsh as death. "He's not answering…" he whispered, his voice trembling.
Ethan smiled sadly. "Are you trying to call him? Don't you remember what happened there?"
Saruto's eyes narrowed, and he froze for a moment, then he remembered perfectly… when Adrian raised his hand, his energy piercing through his body, and how Void had screamed out of him. He snapped his head up and said sharply, "Where is he? Where's Void, Ethan?!"
"Don't worry… he's fine. In the Time Chamber. He's fine, so…" Ethan reassured him, crossing his arms.
But before he could finish, the entire palace shook. A heavy air, a strange tremor, then a massive explosion of energy erupted from the depths of the place. The air itself became charged, the walls of the room shook, and the glass shattered under the pressure. Ethan raised his eyebrows and said seriously, "That energy… it's Void's energy!"
Without hesitation, Saruto placed his hand on Ethan's shoulder and said firmly, "Let's go to him."
In an instant, the two of them vanished from the room, transported to the Time Chamber. When they opened their eyes, they were standing in the center of the Time Chamber, in the infinite white space. And there, just meters away, was Void in his true form. A colossal dragon filled the horizon, its wings outstretched, its eyes glowing with a purple light. Its deep voice echoed through the room as it noticed Saruto: "There you are… my partner."
Saruto smiled despite his nervousness and said lightly, "It's a pleasure to see you again, Void."
Void lowered his enormous head, his breath shaking the entire room, and replied with a faint smile in his eyes, "Me too, Saruto."
Saruto took a step forward, raising his head to look at the massive form and saying with genuine surprise, "Weren't you usually smaller?"
Void laughed a thunderous laugh and said, "That form you know is my second form. I can control my size as I please. But this is my true form. When I have my full power."
Saruto felt a mixture of surprise and respect, while Ethan simply watched them, his eyes shining with anticipation. Then Saruto said, stepping closer, "Ethan… how did Adrian manage to separate us like that?"
Ethan replied, clasping his hands behind his back, "Most likely… he took advantage of your moment of weakness after using Consciousness. Your energy was unstable, and he focused his dark energy on the bond between you… forcibly severing it. It's a very dangerous technique, mastered only by those with absolute control over darkness. Any small mistake could kill you both."
Saruto was taken aback by Ethan's statement that Cain and Void would die. He looked up resolutely and said, "So… how do we merge again?"
Ethan replied calmly, "All you have to do is reconstitute your energy, then merge it as you did the first time. But… you have to be in perfect harmony, or it will fail."
Saruto and Void exchanged a brief glance, then nodded.
They both closed their eyes simultaneously, and the energies began to flow. The violet aura emanating from Saruto's body and the shimmering black energy from Void's body surged toward each other like two currents yearning to merge.
The light intensified, and the wind within the room grew stronger, but… the moment the two energies touched, an explosion occurred. A deafening cry of pain escaped Saruto's lips, and Void roared with a sound that shook the room. The energies repelled each other instead of merging, as if something unseen prevented them from uniting again.
The energies rebounded into their bodies, and both collapsed to the floor, exhausted and throbbing with pain. Ethan rushed to them and placed his hand on the system's screen. The Time Chamber began to heal them, enveloping their bodies until their breathing became regular again. After a moment of silence, Saruto, his voice weak, raised his head and asked, "Why? Why didn't we succeed?"
Ethan answered him with a deep, unspoken look of suspicion: "Either Adrian has left some mark on both of you that's preventing fusion… or the reason is simpler than that."
He paused for a moment, then continued: "One of you… doesn't want to fuse."
Silence fell. Saruto froze, turning slowly toward Void. At the same moment, Void raised his head, his violet eyes meeting Saruto's. It was a long, reciprocal gaze, Ethan's words echoing in both their minds: "One of you doesn't want to fuse…?"