Nihil staggered back from the colossal golem, his mind reeling from the absorbed memory echo. Blood trickled from his nose, the stabbing pain behind his eyes the price of knowledge.

`[Capacity: 0/50]`

`[Warning: Critical Physical Condition. Minimal Regeneration Active.]`

Elara Moonveil rushed to his side, helping him lean against a ruined stone pillar. "Nihil, what did you see?" she asked, voice tense.

"My ancestor," Nihil rasped, staring at the dormant golem. "Archon Zarthus Nocturne. He... he did this. He fought this golem."

Elara looked at the gaping void in the golem's chest, then back at Nihil. "That means... he didn't die in the Cult's ritual. He escaped. And he came here."

The implications were staggering. Known history was a lie. More critically, another Nocturne had achieved extraordinary Void power—enough to defeat an ancient guardian of this magnitude.

"Is he still here?" Elara asked, eyes scanning the silent forest with newfound wariness.

The Heze mind took over, pushing pain and exhaustion aside. This wasn't just survival anymore. This was solving a mystery. "In the echo," Nihil said, recalling chaotic vision fragments. "After defeating the golem, he walked... that way."

He pointed toward the dormant volcano dominating the island's center.

"We can't go now," Elara stated firmly. "You're critical. We need shelter, water, food."

Nihil knew she was right. But he also knew the answers to all his questions—about his curse, his family, his fate—lay within that mountain.

For the rest of the day, they worked with silent efficiency. Elara, drawing on arcane botany knowledge, identified edible silver-leafed fruits and a hidden freshwater spring. Nihil, though weak, used micro-scale Atomic Manipulation to assist.

`[Using Atomic Manipulation: Water Purification]`

`[Capacity: 2/50 → 1/50]`

He didn't boil the water. He simply 'erased' all contaminant particles, leaving it perfectly pure. They found shelter within a half-collapsed stone tower, enough to shield them from the cold night wind.

As night fell and two pale moons hung in the unnervingly clear sky within the storm's eye, Nihil finally processed his evolution. He closed his eyes and activated his new sense.

`[Activating: Tier Vision]`

He looked at Elara, who was examining a damaged device. A faint visual overlay formed in his mind.

`[Elara Moonveil: A-Tier]`

He felt her existential "weight"—dense, complex, pulsing with controlled energy. Then he looked at the ruins around them. He didn't see Tiers for stones, but he sensed something else: faint echoes of immense power, as if touched by something beyond scale.

`[Void Sync: 10.0%]`

`[Depth Level 2: The Crack - Passive Active]`

He began to see them: hairline fractures spiderwebbing the air, visible only in his peripheral vision. Cracks in reality's fabric. This island was fundamentally unstable.

The next morning, after Nihil recovered a sliver of Capacity, they set out for the volcano. The forest grew stranger the deeper they went. No animal life, but the silver plants seemed to shift when unobserved, leaves always facing them.

Hours later, they reached the mountain's base. Hidden behind a waterfall frozen in time was a door. Not built, but carved directly into obsidian rock, covered in unrecognizable runes.

"This isn't human, elven, or dwarven," Elara whispered. "It's far older."

Nihil placed his hand near the runes. He didn't need Void Memory. He could feel it: thick, ancient Void aura mixed with desperation and madness. "Zarthus was here," he said.

They entered. The tunnel descended into the volcano's heart. Walls were unnaturally smooth and black, as if carved by acid, not tools. Minutes later, the tunnel opened into a vast cavern.

This wasn't a monster's lair. It was a laboratory and temple fused. Walls were covered in intricate cosmic diagrams, mad formulas, and panicked scratchings in an ancient tongue. At the center lay a scorched ritual circle.

"He was trying... to understand everything," Elara breathed, eyes fixed on a diagram mapping the universe's cycles. "He was trying to chart the Void itself."

Nihil walked deeper. He saw no corpse. No bones. But he saw something else. On the farthest wall was a carving. Not ordinary—a lifelike 3D relief depicting a battle.

One figure he recognized from the golem's echo: Archon Zarthus Nocturne, shrouded in shadowy tentacles. Opposing him was an indescribable entity—pure darkness with a thousand screaming eyes. Between them, a cracked seal.

This was Zarthus's final testament. Not a journal. A Memory Echo carved permanently into stone.

Nihil knew what he had to do. He had to see. He had to know what happened.

Ignoring Elara's warning, he stepped forward and placed his palm on the carving.

As his palm met cold stone, his world vanished.

`[Activating: Void Memory (Deep Echo Absorption)]`

`[Capacity: 15/50 → 10/50]`

He was no longer in the cave. He was Zarthus.

He felt immense Void power flowing through him—Void Sync likely 80% or 90%. He felt the madness it brought: an urge to erase, cleanse, return all to silence.

He saw through Zarthus's eyes. Fresh from defeating the Guardian golem, he stood before a massive seal in the volcano's heart. Floating before him was an entity of pure darkness. A Trans-Essential—a being of pure concept, in this case, 'eternal hunger'. Ancient light-beings had imprisoned it here millennia ago.

Zarthus hadn't come to free it. He came to become it. He believed absorbing the entity would let him transcend mortality and embody true Void.

The battle began. Not of swords or magic. A war of concepts.

Zarthus attacked with macro-scale Void Grasp, trying to erase the entity's existence. But how do you erase something fundamentally 'hunger'? His attacks were absorbed, making the entity stronger.

The entity retaliated—not with claws or fire, but by flooding Zarthus's mind with absolute hunger. Nihil felt his own stomach devouring itself, an insatiable void.

The conflict lasted days, perhaps weeks, in a timeless conceptual space. Zarthus realized his mistake. He couldn't win. This entity was part of the cosmic foundation, like the Void itself.

In his final moment of sanity, he chose differently. If he couldn't destroy it, he would imprison it again.

He began a desperate final ritual. He didn't draw external power. He *became* the ritual. He turned his soul into the key, his body into the lock, his Void power into chains.

Nihil watched in horror as Zarthus pulled the hunger entity into himself. He felt Zarthus's soul stretched beyond limits, filled with infinite alien darkness.

The vision ended with Zarthus kneeling, his body turning to black stone. He didn't die. He became an eternal prison for the monster he sought to master.

Nihil was thrown from the vision with a mental scream.

In the real world, he collapsed, body convulsing. Elara rushed to him, trying to steady him.

`[WARNING: EXPOSED TO PURE VOID ECHO. CONCEPTUAL STABILITY FAILED!]`

`[VOID SYNC DRASTICALLY INCREASED!]`

`[Void Sync: 10.0% → 12.5%]`

"Nihil! Snap out of it!" Elara yelled.

Nihil finally opened his eyes. He gasped as if drowning. Now he understood everything.

This island wasn't just a prison. It *was* the prison. The unnatural silence, absence of life, encircling storm—all were side effects of Zarthus's immense power, still pressing down on the entity within him after millennia. His ancestor was a slumbering silent god beneath their feet.

Then, his system delivered a different notification. Not a warning. A report.

`[CRITICAL EXPERIENCE ANALYSIS COMPLETE. PROCESSING CONCEPTUAL DATA FROM ZARTHUS ECHO...]`

`[FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF VOID APPLICATION ACHIEVED.]`

`[SKILLS REACH NEW BREAKTHROUGH. INITIATING RANK UPGRADE.]`

`[Void Grasp (Rank F) -> (Rank E)]`

`[Old Description: Nullifies physical objects or low-level magical energy through direct contact.]`

`[New Description: Nullifies physical objects or low-level magical energy more efficiently. Can now erode low-level magically reinforced materials.]`

`[Atomic Manipulation (Unstable) -> (Mostly Stable)]`

`[Old Description: Advanced application of Void Grasp at micro-scale. Highly unstable and massively drains Capacity.]`

`[New Description: Better control over micro-scale applications. Capacity cost for basic actions reduced. Unlocks potential for more complex 'Pseudo-Magic' applications.]`

`[Paradox Mirror (Rank F) -> (Rank E)]`

`[Old Description: Absorbs one low/mid-level magical projectile and stores it for up to 60 seconds.]`

`[New Description: Can absorb projectiles with slightly higher energy levels. Storage duration increased to 90 seconds.]`

He had become stronger. But the price of knowledge was terrible awareness. He wasn't just heir to a curse. He was heir to a divine failure. And sooner or later, he might face the same monster that consumed his ancestor.

Elara stared at the volcano with new awe and dread. "So," she whispered. "We're not on an empty island. We're living on a god's tomb."

Nihil gasped on the cold stone floor, his mind still reeling from Zarthus's memory echo. Elara Moonveil knelt beside him, her diagnostic tools hovering uncertainly.

"You're back," she whispered, a statement rather than a question. "What happened in there?"

"Failure," Nihil rasped, forcing himself upright. The pain from his spiked Void Sync felt like icy fire in his veins. "My ancestor... he didn't try to master the Void. He tried to become one with something else. Something trapped here. He failed and turned himself into an eternal prison to contain it."

Elara stared at the cave walls etched with mad diagrams. "So this entire island... the storm surrounding it... all side effects of his seal?"

"A seal that's now unstable," Nihil said. He looked up, and for the first time, Elara could almost see what he saw: hairline fractures spiderwebbing the air, leaking faint darkness. Depth Level 2: The Crack had permanently altered his perception. "My presence here—another Void anomaly—has disturbed its balance. Sooner or later, this prison will rupture."

They had to leave.

Over the next two days, they worked relentlessly on the black-sand beach beside the wrecked *Spectre*. Their plan was simple and desperate: patch the submersible enough for one final voyage through the storm.

This was the first test of Nihil's upgraded skills.

`[Capacity: 35 / 50]`

He placed his hands on the torn hull. No longer just erasing damage—he could now *feel* the molecular structure of the alloy.

`[Using Atomic Manipulation (Mostly Stable)]`

`[Capacity: 35/50 → 25/50]`

Under Elara's technical guidance, he began. He didn't patch the hole; he *regrew* it. Commanding atoms at the tear's edge to replicate, weaving the hull back together molecule by molecule. Slow, draining, agonizingly precise. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he focused.

While he worked, Elara jury-rigged the emergency navigation and secondary thrusters.

"It won't last long," Elara said, wiping grease from her face. "Once we clear the storm, we might have hours before total system failure."

At dusk on the second day, as Nihil finished the last repairs, they felt it. A tremor.

Not from the sub. From the island itself.

Nihil looked toward the forest. His Void Sonar detected movement. Too much movement.

`[Activating: Void Sonar]`

`[Capacity: 10/50 → 9/50]`

From among the silver trees, they emerged. Dozens of Phantom Beasts—transparent echoes of ancient victims—drifted forward. But this time, they were different. Their eyes weren't empty. They glowed with the same black light as the entity trapped within Zarthus.

"The seal is weakening," Nihil whispered. "The entity is starting to 'touch' the outside world through these echoes."

The Phantom Beasts lunged, their silent screams a direct assault on the mind.

Elara activated her personal energy shield from her bracer, deflecting the first mental wave. "Nihil, we need time!"

Nihil stepped forward. He knew attrition meant defeat. He had to strike the source.

He didn't target the beasts. He targeted the concept *binding* them.

`[Using Void Grasp (Rank E)]`

`[Capacity: 9/50 → 5/50]`

He didn't touch them. He reached out and 'grasped' the air between them, targeting the invisible 'tethers' connecting them to the mountain's entity.

The Phantom Beasts shrieked as their connections tore. Some dissipated into dust. Others, stronger, fought back.

A massive Phantom Beast, shaped like a shadow-bear, charged straight at Nihil.

No time to dodge. Nihil raised his hand.

`[Using Paradox Mirror (Rank E)]`

The shadow attack wasn't a projectile—it was corrosive life-energy. The Paradox Mirror couldn't reflect it, but its new E-Rank allowed it to absorb a sliver of the conceptual energy.

`[Absorbing Entropic Energy. Void Pocket Unstable!]`

`[Capacity: 5/50 → 2/50]`

Nihil was thrown back, his chest burning from within. But he'd deflected the main blow.

"Ready!" Elara yelled from *The Spectre*'s hatch.

Nihil didn't hesitate. He released the absorbed energy in an uncontrolled blast toward the horde, creating momentary chaos.

`[Releasing Entropic Energy]`

He turned and leaped into the sub. "Go! Now!"

The hatch sealed just as Phantom Beasts swarmed their position. Elara slammed the emergency thrusters to maximum. With a groan, the jury-rigged *Spectre* plunged back into the churning water, leaving the cursed island behind.

The Spectre shuddered violently, every patch groaning under pressure. Underwater lightning flashed around them. Elara fought the controls while Nihil sat behind her, recovering his depleted energy.

After six eternity-like hours, they broke through. They pierced the storm wall into calm waters under a starry night sky.

"We made it," Elara whispered, slumping with exhaustion. "Total power failure in... three hours."

They were a speck in an endless ocean, directionless.

In the Wild Northern Mountains

Darius val-Luminar stood on a snow-covered ridge, watching a village burn below. Around him, knights from his legion tended their wounds.

They'd been ambushed.

Lycan Bloodmoon Tribe warriors, led by Chieftain Fenris Ironmaw, had attacked not with military formations but brutal guerrilla tactics. They struck from blizzards, killed, and vanished.

Darius's textbook strategies proved useless against enemies fighting like wolf packs. He'd won the battle but at great cost—a third of his force lost.

Now, he faced Fenris Ironmaw, whom he'd defeated in a brutal duel. The Lycan chief was gravely wounded, but his yellow eyes held no fear—only reluctant respect.

"You fight well, city-man," Fenris growled. "But you fight without soul. You follow rules, not instinct."

"Rules are what separate us from beasts," Darius retorted.

"Honor is what separates us from monsters," Fenris corrected. "You came to our land, burned our villages, on orders from an Emperor who's never set foot on snow. Where's the honor in that?"

The words cut deeper than any Lycan claw. For the first time, Darius questioned the absolute truth of his mission.

In a Solara Magna Safehouse

Velka Nocturne studied an intricate strategy board. Across from her sat Duke Alaric and her new ally, The Weaver.

"Reports from our northern network confirm," The Weaver said. "Darius val-Luminar's expedition suffered heavy losses. This creates political fractures in the military council. An opportunity."

"And our spy reports from the Life Church are even more interesting," Alaric added. "After the Sanatorium incident, High Priestess Terra recalled all her banned alchemy researchers to the main temple. She's panicking. Covering her tracks."

Velka pointed to a map coordinate. "Here's where we strike. Not with force, but information. Weaver, leak forged medical records about my mother's 'madness' to neutral noble factions. Alaric, formally request a council investigation into 'fund mismanagement' within the Life Church."

She no longer requested. She commanded.

A weak alarm chimed on Elara's panel.

"Got something," she said, refining the signal. "Faint. Not Imperial."

Minutes later, she cleaned it up: an automated distress signal from the Dimensional Guild.

"It's from a remote outpost," Elara said, eyes widening. "On the Silverwood Forest border—Elven territory. Activated after detecting... large-scale combat. Between Elves and... a demonic incursion."

She looked at Nihil. They had a new destination. A place to hide. But it was now a warzone.

Nihil studied the map. Elves. A race famously xenophobic and distrustful of humans.

"Set course there," he said.

"They might shoot us on sight," Elara protested.

"Better than dying adrift," Nihil replied. "Besides," he paused, "I'm curious to see how demonic magic reacts to the Void."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.