The newly born cosmos stretched out in pristine, silent majesty. Billions of stars burned with vibrant, youthful light, painting the void in shades of deep indigo, gold, and violet.
Null stood on the balcony of Aera's floating pavilion, resting his hands against the smooth stone railing. Beside him, Aera leaned gently against his side, her long, white hair swaying in the soft cosmic breeze. Her glowing pink eyes reflected the starlight as she quietly watched the quiet rhythm of the universe they had just hand-crafted together.
Null looked down at his chest. Beneath his shirt, the Prime Stone rested against his sternum, pulsing with a slow, warm, rhythmic beat like a second heart.
> "You feel it now, don't you?"
The Void Master's voice resonated softly within Null's mind, lacking its usual sharp edge, sounding almost reverent.
> "When you wove reality from non-existence, you didn't just command dark matter. You tapped directly into the source. Never forget what rests inside your chest, Null. The common stones that mortals and warriors use across your world... those were birthed merely from the Almighty's tears. But your Prime Stone? It is a direct fragment of the Almighty's blood and hair."
Null ran a thumb over the fabric covering his chest.
> "Umbros and his brother Asura—who rests within Haruto's stone—were born of that very divine essence," the Void Master continued. "They were reborn into human flesh eons ago, only to seal themselves back into these Prime Stones. When you unlocked Reality Manipulation, you didn't just use a technique, Null. You awakened the living blood of the Almighty flowing through Umbros."
Null swallowed hard. The sheer weight of his lineage and the power he carried was staggering. He wasn't just wielding higher-dimensional energy; he was carrying a piece of the supreme origin itself.
Beside him, Aera noticed the sudden shift in his demeanor. She reached over, her slender fingers lacing smoothly through his.
"Thinking about what's coming?" she asked softly, her voice like a calming melody in the quiet space.
"They're coming for this," Null replied, gesturing slightly to his chest. "The Inquisitors didn't just feel a universe being born. They felt the Prime Stone. They felt Him."
Aera didn't flinch. Instead, she stepped closer, wrapping both arms around his waist and resting her head against his chest, right above the pulsing Prime Stone. She listened to its steady, divine rhythm for a long moment before looking up at him with a fierce, unwavering devotion.
"Let them come," Aera said softly, a playful yet resolute smirk touching her lips. "They can bring all the higher dimensions they want. But before any of that... you owe me something."
Null blinked, taken aback by her sudden change in tone. "I... I do?"
"Yes, you do," she teased, poking his chest gently. "Once we deal with these arrogant 8th-Dimensional fools, you are taking me out. A real, normal date across one of those mortal worlds down there. No universe-destroying Taekwondo kicks, no dark matter crowns, and definitely no dying."
Null's face flushed red, but a genuine, soft smile broke across his face. "Yeah. Okay. Deal."
BOOM.
The sweet, quiet moment was shattered as the sky outside the cosmos turned a deep, bruised, oppressive violet.
This wasn't a simple spatial tear like the one the Inquisitors had opened. The 8th Dimension wasn't just invading it was attempting to overwrite reality itself. The higher-dimensional laws began pressing down on Null's universe, trying to crush its physics, freeze its time, and force its stars to bow under higher-dimensional weight.
A colossal figure materialized at the edge of the cosmos. It was an 8th-Dimensional Herald, a being whose very form defied 3D comprehension shifting between towering geometric spires, burning rings of ethereal light, and a massive, faceless silhouette draped in dimensional armor.
The Herald's voice vibrated across the fabric of the entire universe, loud enough to rattle the foundations of reality:
"MORTAL VESSEL OF THE UNWRITTEN KING! HAND OVER THE FRAGMENT OF THE ALMIGHTY! THE BLOOD OF ORIGIN DOES NOT BELONG IN THE HANDS OF A LOWER-DIMENSIONAL INSECT!"
The pressure was suffocating. The surrounding galaxies flickered violently under the Herald's divine demand.
Aera stepped forward, her space-time mantle unfolding around her like a pair of luminous, translucent wings. She linked her power directly into Null's shoulders, weaving a protective space-time barrier around his physical frame so his body could handle the sudden, violent surge of divine energy.
"Show them what the Almighty's blood actually means," Aera whispered in his ear, her voice filled with absolute faith.
Null stepped out onto the edge of the void.
He didn't back down. He didn't hesitate. The Prime Stone in his chest flared with a blinding, golden-black radiance that cut straight through the bruised violet sky of the 8th Dimension. The Dark Crown materialized above his head, pulsing with condensed, galactic dark matter, while the living resonance of Umbros roared within his soul.
Null looked up at the colossal 8th-Dimensional Herald, his eyes burning with absolute, pitch-black determination. A cold, dangerous smirk spread across his face.
"You want the Almighty's blood?" Null echoed, his voice carrying the combined weight of Reality Manipulation, Umbros' divine legacy, and his own unbreakable will.
Null raised his hand, gesturing for the Herald to make its move.
"Come and take it."
End of chapter 12
Part 3