Location: The Dead Zone — Edge of the Wonder World.
Date: Wednesday, March 1, 2025.
The horizon was a jagged, glitching violet. Five miles away from the main sanctuary, the air screamed as the Mirror Code reached its breaking point. Null, in his translucent silver form, held his hand buried deep in The Plague's emerald core.
"Disconnect! DISCONNECT!" The Plague shrieked, his six obsidian arms clawing at the silver light binding them.
"You wanted to show me 'The End'?" Null's voice was a dual-toned resonance of Void and Grace. "Let's see it together."
Null didn't swing a blade. He reached into his own mind and grabbed the Concept of Pain, multiplied it by the power of the Void, and plunged his own silver-light hand into his own side.
"GAHHH!"
Null screamed, but an identical hole exploded in the side of The Plague's torso. Green ichor sprayed into the air. The General buckled. Null then triggered the Axiom of Sacrifice, deleting his own sense of sight. Driven by terror, The Plague directed his Entropy Code inward to rot the connection, but only accelerated his own decay.
"This is the difference between us," Null whispered. "You think death is a tool. I know it's a doorway."
Null unleashed the Void-Zero, forcing his heart to stop for three seconds. In those seconds, the universe forgot both of them existed.
With a sound like a trillion mirrors breaking, the connection snapped. The Plague was blasted backward, his form dissolving into a pile of dry, grey leaves that scattered into the wind. The Second General was no more.
II. The City of Marble and Life
While the God-clash ended in the distance, the "Hell-Replica" of the Wonder World was being transformed.
Sophie, the Earth Prime Stone user, slammed her palms onto the jagged obsidian. "The earth needs a spine!" Her stone resonated, and massive slabs of white marble and reinforced granite erupted from the wasteland, weaving together into beautiful, fortified towers. She was crafting a sanctuary of stone and strength.
Sooji, the Life Stone user, followed in her wake. Her Life Stone pulsed with emerald-white light as she touched the grey ash left by the demons. Vibrant green vines and glowing lilies burst from the marble cracks.
"The Earth gives them a home," Sooji whispered, her angelic aura acting as a beacon. "And I will make sure life thrives within it."
She moved among the wounded, her hands "re-knitting" shattered cells and healing the rot-wounds of the survivors. Together, Sophie and Sooji had created a miracle: a living garden city in the heart of a bloody wasteland.
III. The Conversation in the Eclipse
Null didn't return to the city immediately. He couldn't. He sat down on a jagged shard of obsidian, looking up at the blood-red sun as it hung heavy in the sky. His silver form had faded, leaving him exhausted.
"I think I have done my part now..." Null whispered to the empty air. "I'm tired."
"It has been quite weird, huh... This world you live in," a voice answered.
Null didn't startle. He turned his head slowly to see Umbros. The primordial entity had taken a new form: a young child with stark white hair and a blindfold covering his eyes. He wore an all-white robe with matching pants, decorated with various silver keychains that jingled as he moved. Most noticeable was a heavy, spectral chain wrapped tightly around his small frame.
Null let out a dry, tired laugh. "Why do you look like a child now? Fuahaha."
Umbros looked at him, visibly annoyed, his small brow furrowing. "This damn universe is too weak to handle God-like beings. You will also experience it... well, you already are. If I took my true shape, the Wonder World would collapse into a singularity."
Null looked back at the red sun. "Where is Asura, though?"
Umbros sighed, leaning back against the air as if it were a wall. "He is busy managing another universe. Someone has to keep the balance elsewhere while you're busy breaking things here."
Null stayed silent for a moment, then asked without looking at the child-God: "Remember our promise? That if I hit 50%, I would be able to revive my brother for a week?"
Null finally turned to look at Umbros. A single tear escaped his eye, tracing a path through the dust on his cheek.
Umbros sighed again, his expression softening slightly behind the blindfold. "Yeah. But currently, you are at 48% of my power. So hold on a little bit longer. You're almost there."
A small, happy smile touched Null's lips. It was the first genuine warmth he had felt in a long time.
"Oh," Umbros added, his tone shifting. "And also, congratulations on becoming a God. Have you decided what kind of God you want to be?"
Null didn't hesitate. He had seen the destruction of the Void and the restoration of the Grace. "I haven't thought of it much... but what do you think about Yin Yang? Like... a Balancer?"
Umbros tilted his head, a small smirk appearing on his face. "Alright. It is settled! Welcome, God of the Balanced Universe."
Umbros reached out. His hand didn't touch Null's physical body, but a dark, terrifyingly deep aura flared around his arm. He touched Null's soul directly.
The spiritual weight was too much for Null's exhausted mind. His vision went black, his body slumped over on the obsidian, and the world went silent.
End of chapter 78
See you later