CHAPTER 15: NULLFRAME DESCENDS
The night sky above Earth shimmered with an unnatural static—stars flickering like a broken screen. A deep chill crept through the city. Every motion seemed… delayed. Even sound carried strangely, echoes distorted.
Kael stood on a rooftop with Veyra, Orion, Lyra, Zevak, and Cryalis nearby—newly gathered, their bond stronger than ever after defeating Ecliphaze.
Suddenly—
KRK-KRRRKK—
A tearing hum rolled through reality itself. The stars in one part of the sky… stopped moving. The world seemed to lag, like a frozen frame in time.
And then—he appeared.
A tall, unmoving figure… cloaked in black static, riddled with fractures of infinite stillness. His eyes didn't glow—they devoured light. Reality buffered around him, glitching in subtle waves.
Nullframe — The Absolute Pause.
He stood atop a ruined spire, watching.
Motionless.
"That… presence…" Veyra whispered, her aura flickering as if trapped between pulses.
Kael narrowed his eyes. His body felt wrong, as if energy refused to flow.
Zevak's voice cracked through the comms:
"GUYS… something is—different! This one… isn't engineered… I—I can't lock onto it! This is trouble!"
Orion clenched his fists. "Then we'll bring the fight to him—"
But the moment Orion moved, time itself staggered. His leap skipped. He landed yards away, gasping—he hadn't even realized he moved.
"What the hell?"
Kael's jaw tightened. "We're fighting something beyond the others. Stay sharp—don't rush him."
Lyra darted forward in a blur—or tried to. Mid-step, her movement froze—her entire attack unraveled.
"Nullframe."
A soft, distorted voice echoed across the rooftops—fractured, cold:
"You lost… when you started."
Nullframe raised one hand—slow, deliberate. No flashy energy—yet the sky itself darkened, stars flickering out.
Cryalis stepped beside Zevak, voice steady but quiet:
"This one… chills even my blood."
Zevak's fingers raced across a holo-interface, eyes wide.
"I… can't calculate him. He doesn't register in the data stream—he's… skipping causality itself!"
Kael's aura flared with silver light. "Then we force him to act."
Together—the team attacked:
•Cryalis unleashed absolute-zero waves, freezing space—
•Veyra fired crystalline resonance blasts—
•Orion charged with cosmic force—
•Kael led the charge, fists blazing—
BUT—
"Event Nullified."
None of it landed. The attacks… skipped, vanished—like scenes never filmed. Nullframe remained still, unfazed.
His broken voice resonated:
"The end… does not come from pursuit… but from surrender."
The team fell back, breathing hard. They had fought war machines. They had faced illusions. This… was different.
Kael stood tall, breath steady despite the odds.
"We're not done."
But deep within… a spark began to rise. Something ancient, something beyond him—his Ascension stirring.
Veyra glanced over. "Kael… your aura…"
A faint chorus—multiple voices beneath his own—just beginning to awaken.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"This… isn't over."
⸻
TO BE CONTINUED…