I. The Weight of Royalty
The Throne Room did not just feel silent; it felt empty, as if the very concept of sound had been forbidden by a royal decree. As the King stood, the ground behind him simply ceased to exist. He didn't destroy the floor; the reality behind his footsteps was retracted, leaving a yawning abyss of nothingness in his wake.
He walked with a chilling, pressurized aura that turned the oxygen in the room into a heavy, suffocating lead. His pink hair caught the dim light, and his red eyes remained fixed on Null with a terrifying lack of emotion.
"My ability," the King began, his voice deep and resonant, echoing not off the walls but within Null's own chest, "is to control.and I am the strongest."
Null forced his legs to move, his new Shadow Raiment pulsing with a defiant dark light. "I control darkness and—"
"—Death and Light, right?" the King interrupted, his voice smooth and terrifyingly calm. "See, Null... I know almost everything about you. You are truly an uncommon error. I still remember when your father was killed by my man. No... your mother as well."
The mention of his parents snapped something inside Null. In a flicker of black static, Null appeared directly in front of the King, his fist coiled with enough force to shatter a mountain. He swung.
The punch stopped mid-air. There was no shield. There was no parry. Null's fist simply hit an invisible wall of absolute authority.
"Do you have no manners?" the King asked, looking down at the frozen fist. "I am sure your parents taught you that before they died, right?
II. The Truth of the Crown
Null's heart hammered against his ribs. Beside him, in the mental plane, the spirit of Umbros was paralyzed with shock.
"You see, Null," the King continued, "I don't control people. I merely control them by my voice and royalty. No abilities involved. Matter of fact, the last time I actually used my stones was during my fight with your father. He was a strong man... I had to kill him because he would have been a very tough wall to push down."
The King's missing right arm began to glow. It reached into the air, and like a vacuum, it began to suck the darkness out of Null's own aura. The dark energy swirled into the shape of a limb, but as it touched the King, it turned a pure, blinding white. He was purifying Null's own power, forging a temporary arm out of stolen, sanctified shadows so that Null couldn't reclaim it.
"Right now," the King whispered, stepping closer, "I am controlling everything. The air you breathe. The space between our bodies. Even the universe itself, dare I say."
"What do you mean 'the universe'?" Null gasped, kicking off the air to fly backward, desperate to create distance. "You can't do that! That's against God's rules!"
The King didn't react with anger. He didn't even move fast. He simply *was* there. He appeared in Null's face mid-flight, his expression as cold as a frozen star.
"So?"
The King landed a kick to Null's side. The sound was like a tree trunk snapping. Null's ribs shattered instantly, the force sending him tumbling across the vast hall.
"Sooner or later, I will be the God of this universe anyway," the King said, picking up his ancient blade. "All I need to do is kill you now."
III. A Story of Blood and Dehydration
The King raised his blade and made a swift cross sign in the air. A jagged red light manifested, hurtling toward Null like a guillotine. Null rolled to the side, gasping for air.
"Left," the King commanded.
The red cross abruptly changed direction mid-flight, slamming into the wall where Null had jumped and detonating in a shockwave of crimson energy. The King remained unbharmed, standing in the center of the destruction.
"And to think... you killed my Right Arm[1]," the King sighed, a rare moment of weariness crossing his face. "I haven't had anyone to talk to in a while. So, let me tell you a story."
The King walked back to his throne and sat down coldly, the blade resting across his knees. Null tried to stand, but he felt a cold sting in his limbs. His veins had been cut by the sheer pressure of the King's words, leaving him slumped against a pillar, his eyes fading as his life-force leaked onto the stone.
"When I was born," the King began, "I was born differently from the rest of you. I was born with the ability to speak. I remember everything... down to the darkness of the womb."
He looked out over the hall, seeing past Null into the past.
"My mother was an Elf, a woman of high standing, the wife of the King during that era. But she had an affair with a soldier my father. He was a man of the people, with hair as red as a setting sun and a spirit that couldn't be tamed by palace walls. I was the product of that sin. The Prime Stone within my infant heart was so powerful it pumped red energy that almost killed my mother; it required so much essence just to keep me intact."
The King's voice dropped an octave.
"She eventually ran out of energy. She was no Prime Stone user, but she was strong for keeping me that long. She died giving me life. My father... he was returning from the war, rushing through the battlefields when he heard the news. He ran until his feet left blood traces on the dirt, passing through hundreds of dead bodies just to reach the hospital. He died of dehydration steps away from the door."
The King stood up, his red eyes burning with a dark, ancient fire.
"The old King took me in, seeing me fit for the role because of the power in my chest. And that's when everything began. Story time is over. Now... shall we dance at death's door, Null? I'm aware of your regeneration."
IV. The Ascension
Null's body lurched. His bones began to crack and reset, the sound echoing like firecrackers. Blood sprayed from his mouth as his lungs reformed. Driven by pure, unadulterated spite and the roar of Umbros in his head, Null surged forward.
"Kid... let's Marge," Umbros growled.
"Yeah... kill that guy!"
Within a fraction of a second, Null was no longer across the room. He was in the King's space, his hand gripping the King's mouth with crushing force. Null ignited his Mana, flying straight up, shattering the ceiling of the High Castle and soaring into the stratosphere.
As they passed through the atmosphere and entered the silent cold of space, Null's appearance shifted. His dark aura turned a blinding, ghostly white. A white blindfold materialized over his eyes, covering his sight, yet his movements remained perfectly synced with the King's struggling form.
"Remove your hands from me, mortal," the King commanded, his aura growing in size until it rivaled the stars.
Null did as he was told, releasing the King into the vacuum of the high heavens. The final dance had left the earth behind.
End of mini break see you tomorrow
[1] talking about aris