Chapter 117: The Core of Null
The air trembled.
Not with sound, nor heat, nor even the vibrations of mana. It trembled with something more fundamental, as though reality itself hesitated in the presence of what was about to unfold.
Kael stepped across the edge of a broken realm—a land stitched together by rifts and cracks, where gravity curved sideways and the sky bled fragments of forgotten stars. His boots pressed against nothing and something all at once, and his breath came out in mist, not from cold, but from proximity to The Null Core—a legendary place even the most ancient Authorities whispered of only in riddles.
Elenai floated beside him, her wings dimmed, her expression carved in stone. "Are you sure you want to open this, Kael?" she asked quietly.
He didn't answer immediately. Before them stood a massive obelisk of black crystal, infinitely tall, infinitely deep, reflecting no light but all intentions. It pulsed in rhythm not with time—but with possibility.
"This is where it all began," Kael finally said. "Before the First Script. Before the Laws. Before even the Primordials. This... is where the seed of Energy Authority was sown."
Zeraphin appeared behind them, his cloak fluttering as if caught in a wind that didn't exist. "And perhaps where it should have stayed buried," he added grimly. "The Core of Null is not just a source. It is The Unmaker—a paradox, a blind god asleep in itself."
Kael reached into his satchel and drew out the Fractured Crown of Azakai, an artifact made from the thought-ashes of a forgotten realm. As it came closer to the obelisk, the black crystal began to hum.
Authority Rank: Hyper-Dimensional - Awakening Sequence Initiated
A system prompt appeared before Kael. It wasn't the usual translucent panel, but a construct made from starlight and the screams of dead timelines.
You are about to enter the Pre-Script Zone. Are you prepared to confront the Origin of All Energies and the Null Paradox?
— Proceed: [Yes] | [No]
Kael pressed Yes.
The Awakening
Reality broke.
Not shattered, not torn—broken. Concepts unraveled: time became a river that flowed backwards and sideways. Kael's thoughts became memories of futures he hadn't lived yet.
The group found themselves inside the obelisk. Or rather, it was inside them.
"This is the Internal Realm of Null," Elenai whispered, eyes wide. "We're being unwritten even as we exist."
Floating within the infinite void was a being. Not large, not terrifying. Just... a child. A girl, humming a lullaby, sitting atop a cube of collapsing paradoxes.
Her eyes met Kael's.
"You came late," she said simply.
Kael blinked. "Who... are you?"
"I am the concept that birthed energy," the girl replied. "Before light, before shadow. Before even 'before'. I am the Moment of Ignition that birthed the first flame of possibility."
Zeraphin muttered a curse. "We shouldn't be here."
But Kael stepped forward. "I have come to rewrite reality—not to destroy, but to repair. The Divine War broke the cycle. Realms are dying because energy is no longer being replenished. I seek the Core to restore the Flow."
The girl looked at him. "You want to steal from me?"
"No," Kael said. "I want to remember you. Give you a name. So you'll never be forgotten again."
The cube stopped collapsing. Her eyes widened. "Name me...?"
Kael extended his hand. "You are Araneya—The First Spark."
Light erupted.
And then—
The Ascension of Authority
All around the Multiverse, stars trembled. Divine Thrones cracked. The Council of Eternal Architects screamed into the silence as a new Authority burst into existence.
Kael has obtained the Origin Core of Energy.
Title Acquired: Worldbinder of the Infinite Pulse
New Rank: Dimensional Architect – Tier 0 (Unofficial)
Authority Unlocked: Pulse Reality | Entropic Synthesis | Origin Spark
Kael opened his eyes, now twin galaxies of spiraling runes.
He saw everything.
Elenai wept silently. Not from sadness, but awe. Zeraphin dropped to one knee, not in submission, but in recognition.
"You've become more than just a Rewriter," Zeraphin murmured. "You are the Anchor now. The fulcrum around which the real and unreal spin."
Kael turned toward the void, and with a wave of his hand, remade a broken realm far across the cosmic weave.
Elsewhere: The Hidden Watchers
In the shadows between thought and event, ancient beings stirred.
One of them, robed in nothingness, watched Kael through a mirror of flame.
"He's done it," it whispered to another. "The boy has awakened the Core."
The second voice hissed, "Then begin the next phase. Initiate the Protocol: Celestial Collapse."
Back in the Core
Kael stood before Araneya, who was now fully formed—not a child, but a woman crowned in embers and wrapped in time's golden threads.
"You've restored me," she said. "But the cost of memory... is permanence. They will come."
"I'm ready," Kael said.
"No," she corrected gently. "You're becoming ready."
And with that, the Core faded. Not disappeared—faded into Kael himself. He had become the living conduit of the First Energy. The world would never be the same.
To be continued in Chapter 118: "The First Pulse Echoes Across the End"