as the city began to quieten down, the echoes of an underground battle beneath Solara Magna were just starting to spread, forever changing the players and the chessboard.
In a damp safe house at the edge of The Undercroft, Tarek Mornhall's muffled screams finally subsided, replaced by heavy, gasping breaths. His Umbra Venari hunters moved around him with pale, frightened faces.
"How's the wound?" one of his lieutenants asked the guild healer.
The healer, an old woman with trembling hands, slowly shook her head. She had just tried to cast a high-level healing spell on Tarek's severed arm. "It's not working," she whispered in horror. "My holy light... it's as if it's being swallowed. There's no wound to heal. Just... nothingness. As if the arm was never there. I've never seen anything like this."
Tarek listened to every word. He stared at the unnaturally smooth end of his arm. The physical pain was excruciating, but the pain of humiliation and powerlessness burned far worse. He, Tarek Mornhall, the feared leader of Umbra Venari, had been crippled by a boy right in front of his own men.
"Silence," he growled, his voice hoarse with pain. He pushed the healer away and tried to sit up straight. His usually sharp eyes now burned with a cold obsession. "I don't need healing. I need vengeance."
He looked at his lieutenant. "Tell me again. Every detail. The second group. What did they do?"
"They didn't fight, Boss. They were like... scientists. They wore dark uniforms without insignia. Their devices fired blue beams, not to kill, but to incapacitate. After you... were wounded, they just observed. Recorded. Then they left without a trace," the lieutenant reported.
Tarek gritted his teeth. So there was a third player on this chessboard. Someone else interested in "Nihil." This was more complicated than just a job from House Nocturne.
"Send a message to 'The Silencer'," Tarek ordered. "Tell him the target is far more dangerous than anticipated. Tell him we need more resources and information about his abilities. Don't mention my wound. Just say we lost track of him after a fierce resistance. Let the nobles remain in their darkness about the magnitude of the problem they face."
He paused for a moment, staring at his missing arm. "From now on, this is no longer about House Nocturne's coins. That boy... his soul belongs to me."
At the clean and quiet base of the Dimensional Guild, Elara Moonveil replayed the holographic recording of the battle for the fifth time. She slowed down the image as her stasis beam struck Nihil.
On the screen, data flowed rapidly.
[Energy Analysis: Dimensional Stasis Beam. Composition: Negative Kinetic Energy interwoven with Chrono-static Threads.]
[Result of Contact with Subject 'Nihil': Energy forcibly absorbed. Conversion efficiency into pure Nihility Energy: 87.4%.]
"Amazing," Elara whispered to her assistant, her eyes gleaming. "He's not just a passive black hole. He's a converter. An organic singularity machine that can metabolize almost any type of energy and turn it into fuel for himself. The Void Assimilation theory turns out to be true."
Her assistant looked worried. "But, Miss Elara, power like that... He erased the leader of Umbra Venari's arm without even touching it."
"That's not the point!" Elara retorted with enthusiasm. "That's just a crude application of power. Think about the implications! If he can control it, he could neutralize magical disasters, absorb ancient curses, maybe even close Abyssal portals! He's the key to understanding the fundamental laws of the universe."
She switched to the recording of Thorek the Dwarf. "And this... a blacksmith from the reclusive Ironhide clan, fighting to protect him. Why? Is there a connection between them? Note this. Thorek Ironhide is now a secondary subject of interest."
Elara's strategy now took clear shape. Direct confrontation was a foolish method, as demonstrated by Umbra Venari. She didn't need to capture her subject. She just needed to get close enough to learn.
"We need a way to communicate with him," Elara said, more to herself. "A way to show that we're not enemies. We need to offer something he can't get from anyone else. Not gold, not weapons... but knowledge."
Deep within the belly of the city, in an old, dry reservoir room, Nihil finally stopped running. He was alone. Silence was his only companion. He slid down the wall, his body shaking uncontrollably.
The power surge during the fight with Tarek had left its mark. His head throbbed as if it would split open. The Nihility Code interface in his mind flickered erratically.
[...System unstable... Recalibration required...]
[...Void Sync surging. Detected conflict between Host Consciousness and Void instincts...]
He stared at his palm. The same hand that had erased someone's arm. Part of him—Heze's soul—felt horrified. It was a brutal act of mutilation. He had permanently injured someone.
Yet, another part of him—the core of the Void power growing within him—felt something else. Not regret. Not horror. But... cold satisfaction. A sense that order had been restored in the most efficient way. The enemy was eliminated. The threat neutralized.
[Quest 'Reconcile Two Lives' - Progress hindered due to acute internal conflict.]
The warning from the Transmigration System woke him up. This was the real war. Not against Tarek or Alban, but the war within himself. The Shackles of Nihility not only bound his power; they poisoned his soul, pushing him to become something cold and empty.
He couldn't lose this war.
With the last of his strength, he sat into a meditative posture, closing his eyes. He wasn't trying to recover his Capacity. He was trying to calm the storm in his mind, reasserting his control. He was Heze. He was Nihil. He wouldn't let himself become a slave to the void. The battle to control his power had just begun.
Morning came without light in the depths of Nihil's hiding place. He woke not to sunlight, but to his stabilized system.
[Recalibration Complete. System stabilized.]
[Void Sync: 4.8%. Remain vigilant against negative emotional influences.]
He felt better. His mind was clear. The internal conflict wasn't over, but for now, Heze was in control. He rose and began analyzing the data from yesterday's battle. It was a habit from his old world; after every market crisis, he would conduct a post-mortem.
He focused on the moment when Elara's stasis beam struck him. [Absorbing Foreign Dimensional Energy]. That was the key. He could not only repel or erase magic. Under certain conditions, he could consume it. Magic, which was a poison to his body, could now also be food for his power. This paradox made him smile.
"This world is truly full of fascinating variables," he murmured.
At that moment, a new notification appeared.
[Analysis of battle data and energy absorption complete.]
[Conditions met. New skill available in the 'Fractured Existence' Skill Tree.]
Nihil immediately opened his skill window. There, beneath Void Grasp, a new icon faintly glimmered.
[Paradox Mirror (Paradox Mirror) - Rank F]
[Description: Absorbs a small amount of incoming magical projectile energy and stores it in a temporary 'void pouch'. The skill can be reactivated to release the stored energy in its original form. The amount of energy that can be absorbed and the storage duration depend on the skill rank and Depth.]
Nihil's eyes widened. This was a game-changer. He was no longer just a shield that could negate. He could now become a mirror that reflected. He could turn his enemies' greatest strengths against them.
He needed to test this. But how? He couldn't just wait to be attacked by a mage. He needed a controlled environment.
His thoughts turned to the rumors he had heard in The Undercroft. About the illegal dueling arenas in the Foundry District where novice mages and mercenaries tested their strength. About the small pockets of magical rebels hiding from Imperial surveillance.
A new plan formed in his mind. A risky one, but necessary.
He wouldn't wait for the hunters to come to him anymore.
He would hunt them. Not knights or mercenary killers. His new targets were magic users. He would seek them out, provoke them, and use their attacks to hone his new skill and feed his hungry power.
In the secret archives of House Nocturne, Velka finally found what she was looking for. An ancient map hidden inside the cover of a book on urban architecture history. The map of the "Raven's Exit."
The network was more extensive than she had imagined, connecting their properties not only to The Undercroft but also to temple districts, the old market, and even near Imperial military barracks. Searching for Nihil alone here was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Nihil emerged from his sewer hiding place, his cloak pulled tight. He had a new destination. He walked toward the Foundry District, where smoke and fire met with forbidden magic. His journey for survival had ended. His journey to become stronger had just begun. And for that, he needed sparring partners.