The sky was fractured.
Where once there had been the serene blue expanse of a peaceful world, now there was a tear, stretching across the heavens like an open wound. Divinity itself was shaken.
Null stood motionless, the divine power he had just devoured swirling inside him, a terrifying force coursing through his very core. The fallen sky-saint's body, now but an empty husk, laid at his feet—its golden armor tarnished, wings disintegrating into ashes. His Void Echo reverberated faintly in the air, as if even reality itself feared to challenge his presence.
The villagers who had witnessed the event cowered in silence. They had never seen anything like this. The gods had failed. And in the wake of their failure, they knew they were nothing but insects before the Sovereign who had risen.
Null did not care for them. He did not care for their fear or their worship. What did they mean to him? Nothing. The gods were the only concepts worth his attention, and now they were starting to feel his reach.
He turned his gaze upward. The Void Tear was still open, pulsing faintly, sending echoes of power through the skies. His Sovereign Mutation was progressing—each echo, each ripple in space was now an extension of him. It was like he was becoming the void, a force capable of devouring not only the worlds beneath him but also the very fabric of reality itself.
The world beneath him… the world still had no idea.
[Achievement: Sovereign Mutation – Second Awakening]**Effect: As the Sovereign of Hollow Power, your essence merges further with the Void. All skills and abilities gain an additional layer of temporal distortion, allowing control over space and time. Your presence in any realm causes a gradual collapse of natural laws.]
"Your presence… marks the end of an Era."
Null's eyes flickered as he turned to the source of the voice. A presence, darker than shadow, emerged from the broken temple at the heart of the village. A figure cloaked in a robe woven from the very fabric of the Void—a being that seemed more a part of reality's cracks than the reality itself.
It was a priestess, but unlike any Null had encountered. Her skin shimmered like liquid night, and her eyes were a pair of pale moons, devoid of emotion, yet filled with infinite knowledge.
"You are the Hollow Sovereign, aren't you?" she asked, her voice not human but echoic—as if it was carried through time.
Null did not speak immediately. Instead, he examined the priestess. He could feel something ancient about her, something that seemed connected to the very fabric of his new existence. It was as though she was not just a mortal—she was a reflection of something that came before.
"I am." His voice was as cold as the darkness inside him. "You seek something, do you not?"
The priestess nodded, her smile barely a flicker on her lips.
"I seek to understand your power. To comprehend the devouring force you embody." Her eyes gleamed, as if studying him. "You are the bridge between worlds. Between what is alive and what is empty. You… are something far older than gods."
Null's gaze narrowed, his voice rising slightly, "Older than gods? You mean… I'm not the first of my kind?"
The priestess tilted her head, considering him, then responded in a voice barely above a whisper.
"You are the new age, Sovereign. The first of what will come. The Hollow Herald. But others like you… they existed before."
Null felt the cold chill of the Void stir within him. His memories—the fragmented pieces of his past—began to stir, though he pushed them back. He was not ready to face them. Not yet.
The priestess continued, her eyes never leaving his.
"The Hollow Sovereigns were not born, but made. Created through an ancient and forbidden art—a method of consuming divinity, of devouring the essence of gods themselves. And you, Sovereign, are the latest incarnation of this force."
"I am not your servant." Null's words were firm.
The priestess smiled, unphased.
"I never asked for your servitude, Sovereign. I only offer you the knowledge that can aid you. The knowledge that will allow you to take your rightful place as the Supreme of all that lives."
Null was silent, considering her words carefully. It seemed the priestess had come not to challenge him, but to inform him of something far more insidious.
Her words were like a whispered prophecy—one that stirred deep within the Void.
"I do not need your knowledge," Null said finally, his voice steady. "But I do need answers."
"Answers to what?" The priestess's voice was soft, yet it carried the weight of millennia.
"To the gods. To the real enemy. I will not bow to them. And I will not be a servant to anyone. Not now, not ever."
For the first time, a flicker of emotion crossed the priestess's face. It was not fear, nor surprise. It was amusement.
"How bold. How very… like them." She chuckled softly, the sound echoing in the emptiness between them. "Very well, Sovereign. I shall leave you to your path. But know this…"
She stepped back, her form flickering like a fading star.
"The gods have already begun to move. And they will not tolerate the existence of another who can devour them."
With a final, cryptic smile, the priestess disappeared into the shadows, leaving Null standing in the ruins, alone once again.
Null stood motionless for a long time, the air thick with tension. The winds picked up, swirling the ashes of the fallen sky-saint and mixing them with the dust of the ancient world. He could feel the presence of something more in the air, something that had just barely brushed against him.
"The gods," Null whispered, his voice tinged with disdain. "They will learn what it means to be devoured."
He turned his gaze upward, his eyes narrowing as the Void Tear in the sky pulsed again. Something was coming.
And it was not going to be pleasant.
[New Skill Awakened: Devourer's Wrath]Effect: You may consume the essence of divine entities at will. Once consumed, their power becomes yours. Their consciousness lingers within your mind for one hour. Use wisely.
As Null felt the new power surge through him, he realized something.
The gods were not just his enemies. They were his prey.
And he would hunt them all.