Miles away from the stillness of the Clock Tower, in a realm that existed just outside of Earth's conventional space, the training ground was not a place of practice, but a canvas for annihilation. This was the Shattered Citadel, and its ground was perpetually scarred by unimaginable force.
A man named Aris stood in the center of the devastation. His white hair was cropped short, contrasting sharply with the cold, precise focus of his face. His right eye was obscured by a thin, jagged scar that ran from his brow to his cheek, leaving it half-blind, but his visible eye—a sharp, calculating grey—missed nothing. He was clad in sleek, black kinetic armor, and the immense, obsidian blade in his hand was an extension of his will.
Aris didn't pant, nor did he look satisfied. He merely breathed, the picture of lethal calm.
With the casual, detached movement of a man folding laundry, he swung his blade in a short, horizontal arc. The kinetic force unleashed was so vast that the very concept of the objects in its path failed. A hundred-foot-tall plateau in the distance, designated for destruction, didn't shatter—it simply vaporized, the stone and mass turning to nothingness in a silent, violent compression of energy.
A figure of pure, terrifying power stepped out of a portal of crimson fire. 666:Satan stood surveying the clean-cut void where the plateau had been. His eyes were a deep, controlled blood red.
"Great," Satan stated, his voice a low, cold hum of approval. "The conversion rate is optimal. You used sixty percent less mass in your exertion than the target mass consumed. But this is still not enough."
Aris lowered his blade, the tip resting silently on the cracked ground. He looked at his mentor, his scarred face impassive. "Elaborate, Master."
"You still think in terms of mass and force," Satan explained, tilting his head. "The Unwritten King—Soren—is not a mountain. He is a concept. His Prime Stone powers are not based on material reality, but on the fundamental laws of existence. You need to learn how to unmake the concept of 'Prime Stone,' not just slice the user's body. Your power, Absolute Kinetic Control, must break the idea of order."
Aris simply nodded, a silent acknowledgment of the technical requirement. Emotion was a waste of energy. He is the King of Stone's right-hand man, the hardest obstacle Null had ever faced, and his mission was absolute.
The King's Decree
As Aris prepared to recalibrate his attack, a shimmering, crystalline figure appeared in a holographic projection beside Satan. It was the King of Stone, delivering a mandatory broadcast to his legions across the dimensions.
"Attention, my loyal enforcers," the King of Stone boomed, his voice resonating with cold confidence. "A temporal anomaly has been neutralized, and a second, more stable anomaly—the Space Prime Stone—has been located in the central sector. This confirms that the Unwritten King and his fractured team are organizing."
The King of Stone leaned slightly into the camera, a cruel, sharp smile forming beneath his crystalline crown. "They are attempting to gather the remaining pieces of the old Code to mount a resistance. This cannot be permitted. We represent the absolute order, the singularity. They represent disorder and the past."
He finished with a cold decree: "The Unwritten King has been marked for immediate termination. Aris, you will proceed to the target location. Take the anomaly out of play and seize the Space Prime Stone. Do not fail. The Stone Code is unbreakable."
The holographic broadcast winked out.
Satan looked at Aris, whose singular eye was now fixed on the direction of Earth. "You heard the King. The target is the Space Prime Stone user, who is currently immobilizing their leader. It is a perfect opportunity."
Aris pulled down the black goggles that rested on his forehead, shielding his eyes as the immense energy gathered around him. "Understood. The mission is the retrieval of the Stone. The termination of the Unwritten King will be a necessary secondary objective."
With that, Aris stepped into the swirling portal of crimson shadow that Satan opened for him, moving with the unwavering speed of a predator who has finally caught the scent of its intended prey.
The focus returns to the Clock Tower. Aris, the King's most lethal weapon, is en route to Null's location. How will Null's move—the Reality-Bending void—affect his initial battle against Vera, and can he possibly prepare for the imminent arrival of Aris?
End of chapter 51
See you again tomorrow