> "The Void does not fear death. It remembers."
---
The execution chamber was silent.
Above, jagged strands of celestial light pulsed from obsidian pylons — imperial formations powered by soul-crushing energy. The floor hummed, carved with ancient runes meant to bind the unruly. Even gods.
Kael Vire knelt at the center of it all, bound by void-iron chains. His robes were torn, blood crusted along the fabric where high-energy whips had struck. His long silver hair hung limp, streaked with ash and neural burn marks.
He raised his head slowly, eyes glowing faintly with fading violet light — the last traces of Void Resonance still flickering within him.
> "Any last words?"
The voice came from a high platform above: Lord Caeron Vire, Supreme Archon of the Galactic Cultivation Dominion… and Kael's father.
Kael chuckled softly. A dry, broken sound.
> "You always feared the unknown, Father," Kael said. "That's why you'll never ascend."
Gasps echoed. Murmurs rose from the watching elites, noble cultivators and machine-sages who came to see the 'Void Traitor' erased. Among them stood Riven Solmar, former brother-in-arms, eyes filled with barely-hidden pain.
> "You toyed with the fabric of reality," Riven shouted. "You tried to become something no one was meant to be!"
> "I became something you never understood," Kael whispered.
He lowered his head again — but not in defeat.
He was remembering.
The Void Engine, once part of his neural core, had failed days ago… or so they thought. Even now, in the deepest corner of his consciousness, a spark glimmered. Not data. Not logic.
Code.
Memory.
Backup ignition.
> "Begin execution," Lord Caeron said flatly.
The celestial pylons flared. Light twisted into a focused spiral of entropy, converging on Kael's heart. A forbidden energy designed to not just kill — but erase.
Kael smiled.
> "I already saw this moment. Simulated it a thousand times."
The energy struck.
And the world—
—went white.
---
Then black.
---
Somewhere far from the Empire's core sectors… in the Outer Slums of the Broken Worlds Cluster… a body spasmed.
A boy choked, clawing at the air, gasping for breath. His skin was pale, sickly, worn. His soul — cracked.
But then his eyes opened.
Violet light burned through them.
> "...System recovery complete," whispered a mechanical voice inside his mind.
[ VOID ENGINE REINITIALIZED ]
[ TRANSFERENCE SUCCESSFUL — HOST VESSEL STABILIZED ]
Kael Vire exhaled slowly.
> "Reborn...?"
A cruel smirk crept across his lips as fragmented memories of betrayal, power, and death flooded in.
> "Good. Let them think they erased me."
> "Now… I erase them."
---