Location: Depthroot Veins, Beneath the Root Chamber – Hidden Sanctum
The silence after carnage wasn't peace—it was promise.
As Null descended from the desecrated Root Chamber, the roots parted for him like ancient subjects bowing to their sovereign. Each pulse of the earth beneath echoed like the heartbeat of something alive. Something old. Something hungry.
His feet sank slightly into the dark moss covering the stone floor. Even the walls here breathed. The aura was thick—not just with decay, but with divine denial. A sacred place long twisted into something else.
And at the center of the passage… a cocoon.
Not of flesh, nor silk, but of writhing light—weaving, fracturing, twisting upon itself like it was in pain.
Null's hollow eyes narrowed.
"Sanctuary of the Fallen Womb... so the rumors were true."
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: Forbidden Zone – Womb of Withering Light – Confirmed
World Rank Secret Domain Discovered! First Entry Bonus Applied
You have received: [Shattered Core Fragment – Grade A+] | +75,000 CP | +3 Hollow Vein Points
But even as the system chimed its sweet rewards, Null's expression darkened.
Because this wasn't just a reward zone.
It was a trap.
The air shimmered—and then screamed.
Dozens of golden seals lit up across the chamber walls. From every crack, a cascade of purifying light burst forth—forming spears, chains, glyphs. Holy suppression mechanisms built to exorcise gods.
At their core, a glowing figure materialized. No armor. No weapon. Just a robed silhouette of absolute light, genderless and faceless.
But Null felt its intent.
To cleanse. To erase. To unmake.
A voice echoed—not aloud, but inside his skull.
"You are anomaly. Aberration. You are Unwritten. Therefore, you must return to the Void."
Null raised his palm. Void dripped like oil from his fingertips.
"And yet," he replied calmly, "I already own the Void. So who are you to command it?"
The seals activated.
SYSTEM ALERT: Purity Protocol Engaged. You are being forcefully erased from the plane.
Timer Until Complete Cleansing: 3 Minutes 00 Seconds
Escape Rate: 0.02%
Survival Rate: 0.0001%
Null's cloak fluttered upward—its edges burning, unraveling under the holy purging light.
But he didn't step back.
He stepped forward.
SKILL ACTIVATED: Hollow Dominion (Suppressed State)
SKILL ACTIVATED: Chaos-Echo Mutation
The void beneath his feet bled out, flooding the sanctum with a pulsating, ink-like mist. From within it, arms formed—limbs of failed gods, voices of those devoured, memories of divine beasts who never ascended.
All whispered one word:
"FEED."
Chains of light clashed with roots of null-matter.
Every second was agony.
Each heartbeat drained his HP in chunks—50,000... 60,000... Null was down to 12% max health.
His soul core was cracking.
But still he grinned.
"You were built to erase monsters like me. What you forgot..." he whispered, voice fraying with madness, "is that I am no longer a monster."
The cocoon cracked.
Light poured out.
Then it screamed.
Not Null.
The construct.
The very womb.
It began to die.
SYSTEM OVERRIDE: Path of the Hollow Sovereign Initiated
Do you wish to Absorb the Sanctum Core?
Warning: Core Absorption may trigger a localized divine catastrophe.
Warning: 93% Chance of being marked by celestial tribunals.
Warning: This action is irreversible.
Null raised both hands.
And he laughed.
"Let them mark me."
ABSORPTION CONFIRMED.
The cocoon exploded.
A surge of gold and black crashed into Null's chest, spinning him in midair. His body shattered—flesh burning, bones liquefying, soul trembling at the edges of oblivion.
But something else screamed in joy.
The Hollow Core. It grew.
Roots burst from his back like wings.
Eyes opened across his arms.
A halo—twisted, obsidian, and cracked—began to form above his head.
He was no longer mortal.
He was becoming something primordial.
SYSTEM NOTICE: New Title Gained – [Abyssal Crownbearer]
Those who see your true form must roll sanity check or suffer Madness Effect (Variable Tier).
SYSTEM NOTICE: Skill Gained – [Sacrosanct Reversal]
Once per day, convert any purifying/divine attack into a corrupted duplicate under your control.
SYSTEM NOTICE: Class Evolution – [Hollow Sovereign → Epoch Scourge (Phase I)]
True Devourer path unlocked.
And the chamber?
It no longer existed.
It had melted under the strain of his rebirth.
Where once the sanctum had stood was now a crater of withering light, decaying rapidly into vines, bones, and hollows. The air shimmered with ghostly chants. The sky above cracked slightly—like a glass jar under pressure.
Something beyond this world had taken notice.
Something divine.
Null stood in the middle of the devastation, hair billowing, form glowing with dark magnificence.
Then he spoke one word, his voice like thunder woven with silence:
"Next."