The sky had cracked.
Though the mortal realm continued spinning, unaware of the fracture, those attuned to the higher layers of existence felt the tremor. It wasn't an earthquake or a divine omen—it was something more intimate, more violating. It was like the world had inhaled sharply in fear.
In the snowy highlands of the Northreach Peaks, monks in meditation opened their eyes in unison, blood leaking from their nostrils. In the Southern Wastes, titanic sandworms shrieked and burrowed deeper into the crust, abandoning their feeding grounds. In the sleeping ruins beneath Ashveil, long-dead gods stirred.
And in the Hollow Sovereign's cradle—the Rootscar—Null opened his eyes.
He was calm.
Too calm.
All around him, the remains of the Withering Sanctum were being devoured by black, threadlike roots that had sprouted from his very shadow. What was once an overgrown cathedral of ancient nature magic was now nothing but a pit of unrelenting decay.
The throne of roots beneath him hovered silently above the crater. His silver hair, once dulled and dirt-slicked, now shimmered with ghostly strands of obsidian. His body bore symbols that flickered like runes from a forgotten language. His eyes glowed faintly violet—and within that violet, something screamed.
A quiet system chime echoed in his skull.
[SYSTEM WARNING: Unique Evolution Path Selected — "Epoch Devourer"][Warning: Host Entity Has Deviated From Natural Growth Curve][Recalibrating Mission Objectives...][New Title Unlocked: Hollow Sovereign (Fragmented)][Path Progression: 8.2%]
He exhaled, and the sky above dimmed.
Far above the world, in a space between dimensions, the Tribunal of Bound Concepts had convened. A dozen thrones, each forged from a conceptual law—justice, flame, silence, time, order—floated around a shared core: a pulsing orb of radiant neutrality.
These beings weren't gods. They were older.
Faceless entities that governed rules, not prayers.
Today, they were trembling.
The Womb has ceased its heartbeat.
The Seal has unraveled prematurely.
Echoes of the Hollow have returned.
A figure shrouded in Chrono-silk rose.Then the Epoch has resumed its turn.
Another—clad in divine flame—growled.He must be extinguished before it takes root.
Not yet, said Silence. Let the vessel choose. If he becomes Sovereign once more, we intervene.
And so, the Tribunal watched. Again.
Null stood slowly, floating down from his root-throne into the crater where the Sanctum once lay. His boots made no sound as they touched down, and the corrupted ground welcomed him like an old friend.
"I need more."
He muttered the words aloud. His voice had changed—lower, distant, echoing slightly even though there were no walls around him.
Power was not enough. He could feel it. The hunger of the Hollow Core inside him was ancient, but also… empty. It wasn't just about power.
It wanted meaning.
[SYSTEM ALERT: Evolution Milestone Reached – Optional Paths Unlocked]1. Path of Dominion: Consume Lesser Sovereigns. Rule by Tyranny.2. Path of Echoes: Absorb Lost Memories of the Old Gods. Reforge the Forgotten.3. Path of Hollow Unity: Bind Fragmented Concepts Into a New Law. Reconstruct Reality.— Selection Pending...Timer: 13 Hours 22 Minutes 08 Seconds
"None of these are what I want yet," he murmured, swiping the window away with his mind.
He needed clarity. But clarity came at a price.
Far from the Rootscar, in the fortified city of Lightborne, alarms rang through the High Citadel. The Crystal Bell of Prophecy had shattered for the first time in recorded history. Archbishops screamed in agony as divine sigils across their skin burned themselves into ash.
A young paladin knelt in prayer beside the corpse of his dying master.
"What's happening?" he whispered.
The old man's lips trembled.
"The Hollow returns. May the Heavens damn us all."
Null's steps carried him away from the Sanctum without direction. He didn't walk so much as glide across the land, leaving behind withered soil and warped space. Each tree he passed bowed—or withered. Each bird that came too close fell mid-flight, feathers disintegrating.
His path led him toward the Deadwisp Mire, where a forbidden gate rested: a remnant of the old world sealed shut after the Cataclysm. Rumors claimed that beyond the gate was a battlefield where Sovereigns once warred—where fragments of their bodies still lingered, buried in rot and ruin.
Perfect.
He needed to remember.
He needed a memory worth devouring.
The closer he came to the gate, the more unstable the space grew. Whispering winds spoke languages he'd never learned. Shadows danced in broad daylight. The gate—once a massive slab of obsidian and bone—was already reacting to his presence.
It groaned.
It begged.
It hungered back.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: "Forbidden Gate of Epoch Graves" Identified]Status: Corrupted / SealedUnlock Cost: 25,000 Hollow Essence or 3 Sovereign Blood CrystalsWarning: Area Contains Sovereign Remnants, Dormant Concepts, and Unknown Entities.Would you like to initiate forced override?
Null raised his hand.
"Override."
[Override Initiated. Hollow Protocol Engaged.]
The sky above the gate screamed. Black lightning tore across the clouds, and the obsidian doors shattered outward—not inward—as if something inside had been desperately trying to escape.
Null walked forward without hesitation.
He wasn't afraid of the past.
He was the past.
Deep within the gate's ruins, he came upon a shattered colosseum. Fragments of old banners still fluttered in the stale wind. Colossal weapons lay embedded in the cracked stone—relics of Sovereigns who had once waged godlike war.
As he stepped into the center of the arena, the system roared.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: Memory Grave Detected – Initiating Synchronization]Fragmenting Time Shell...Engaging Ancestral Sequence...Downloading: "Sovereign Memory – The Day the Epoch Died"Warning: This experience may induce existential destabilization. Proceed?
Null grinned for the first time.
"Show me."
Darkness swallowed him whole.
And in the abyss, the truth waited.