[Nicholas Anstalionah.]
There was something oddly disquieting about receiving reports that everything was proceeding smoothly.
A letter had arrived at midday from Sansir, informing me that the armies had begun their march toward the sea.
With a battleship under construction, they would soon secure the coast and ensure that no dragon breached the land.
Until then, it would fall to Malachi, Ouroboros, and a few hundred thousand men to safeguard the kingdom.
The reforms I'd made to monster hunting had brought an immense surge in wealth.
Adventurers came from faraway kingdoms, drawn by coin and glory, yet few contributed more than the taxes their greed allowed.
Surprisingly, a large number hailed from Bamdia, a troubling detail, given that their movements had grown increasingly suspicious.
From my last vision, it was clear that war was inevitable.
Still, I found myself laughing and smiling, a strange reaction for someone like me.
A cursed being should not find amusement in looming war.
Cassio stood before me, reciting the list of things she wanted to do.
We were in the throne room, a place I had not occupied in some time, yet it felt fitting that I be there now.
Midir was returning, claiming to bring urgent news and, more intriguingly, gifts, coins, weapons, and items far more personal.
Among them, a novel tied to the deepest threads that wove this world together.
I heard whispers that Barlah was making his move, and Midir had requested a meeting in exchange for payment.
Two audiences in one day. Unfortunate, but manageable.
With Mirabel occupied at Miraculum, Cassio's presence near my throne made the situation tolerable.
Her energy filled the vast hall.
Mirabel had recently devised a failsafe against dragon attacks, and I silently appreciated her foresight.
I was dressed in a sharply tailored military uniform.
The jacket was black, accented with thin white trim tracing its seams like quiet lightning.
Threads of dark blue shimmered faintly at the cuffs and shoulders, subtle but deliberate.
Brass buttons gleamed along the chest, each embossed with the royal crest.
A black belt with a silver buckle cinched the waist, and from it hung my sword, its hilt catching the flickering light of the throne room.
A heavy cloak, lined with deep blue satin, fell from my shoulders.
Cassio pranced about, chattering about some morbid fascination of hers, until she suddenly froze.
"Hmm… Daddy," she said softly, her head tilting in that deceptively innocent way, "someone very strong is nearby."
Her tone was playful, almost amused, yet her instincts were rarely wrong.
Without warning, she ran forward and leapt into my lap.
The impact was far from gentle, her black dress and heavy boots made certain of that, but I didn't move her.
I'd rather bear her weight than warp space to move her away.
Some things, however inconvenient, are meant to be felt.
"Daddy," she continued, "are you ready to fight this terrible someone?"
Before I could answer, the grand doors creaked open and Midir entered, his steps measured and certain.
In his hands, he carried a small jeweled container, its golden surface glinting like starlight caught in crystal.
He approached, bowed deeply, and declared, "I greet thee, O great King of Darkness."
A strange greeting,but I found it amusing.
[Title Obtained: King of Darkness. Nicholas shall never again be touched by dark… nor by light.]
I blinked once, twice, as the title burned across my vision. Immune to both light and dark.
A strange paradox.
My sight sharpened beyond what should be possible, as though reality itself had forgotten how to conceal its flaws.
"Welcome to my kingdom, Midir Faust," I said after a pause. "You left too soon last time."
He smiled faintly. "Yes, well… I've made a discovery, and as allies, it's only proper I share it."
Cassio folded her hands behind her back and watched in silence, her bright eyes studying him like an ancient scholar waiting for the next secret of creation.
"Go on," I said.
He hesitated, then asked, "Tell me, have you ever heard of a place called the Haze?"
[It was a realm that existed by not existing, visible only as a blur upon the mind.]
The Haze was neither void nor place.
It did not exist, yet it could not be said not to.
It was fiction that mistook itself for reality, illusion that demanded to be true.
A realm of fading reflections, where form meant nothing, thought meant less, and even negation had no opposite.
It was the echo left behind when truth denied its own reflection.
"Yes," I said at last. "I know of it."
He looked almost disappointed. "Then you must understand why my discovery troubles me."
He set down the jeweled box and opened it, revealing a small book bearing his name: Midir Faust.
"I've freed our Books of Me," he said proudly.
[Nicholas had his story returned to the Narrative, a feat both impossible and undeniable.]
So, the Haze had been holding our stories captive.
Perhaps that explained why death here carried no meaning.
Why even after dying, I had not truly merged with my True Self.
This existence of mine had been reduced to fiction scattered across countless reflections.
If Earth was the heart of all interpretations, then my fiction had spread through them all.
Heaven could see us once again. The Haze must have clouded even the divine eye
I thought for a moment, my mind stretching across the unseen layers of being.
"The Haze must sit beneath Heaven." I said.
Once you die, stories lose meaning.
It was a fleeting thought, yet I could feel my True Self responding, feeding me insight, letting me ponder.
A faint pulse of unseen power stirred within me, quiet but certain.
Midir nodded slightly. "Then you understand."
He drew another small book from the box, its pages rippling with symbols that resisted comprehension.
"This," he said softly, "is my artifact. The Book of Nothing. Take it."
The tome appeared in Cassio's hands, only to slip through her grasp and fall into my lap.
It seemed unwilling to be held. Cassio frowned and focused.
The air shimmered, and the book became tangible. "Here, Daddy."
[Nicholas was outshined by his daughter again, touching what could not be touched.]
I took it carefully, feeling its impossible weight.
The book thrummed faintly, like a heart beating between existence and erasure.
"You're generous, Midir. What do you want in return?"
"Only that you tell me what you discover," he said with a knowing smile.
He bowed, then turned and departed under escort, his aura lingering like a fading mirage.
I looked down at the Book of Nothing, its pages shifting as though alive.
I could not read it, nor even sense it fully.
It was not a tool, but a paradox, a thing that existed solely to refuse understanding.
More mystery than knowledge. More symbol than truth.
Perhaps that was its purpose: to remind even beings like me that not all secrets were meant to be mastered.
I placed the book within my inner world and stood. Cassio blinked up at me, her eyes shimmering with curiosity.
"You have to leave for my next meeting," I told her. "Can you find your mother?"
"Sure," she said, placing a finger to her lips.
She vanished in a flicker of light, teleporting effortlessly.
[Nicholas had to admit, he was a fool.]