The year-long journey toward Mikail's Second Spear had begun like any other morning. But as they pressed forward, the very fabric of the planet began to shift. The pale light of the sun surrendered to a leaden twilight—a gray, source-less gloom that painted the world in a single, suffocating tone.
Swen came to a halt, her fingers tightening around the sphere in her hand until they trembled. "Do you feel it?" she whispered. Her voice was dead, swallowed by an invisible wall the moment it left her lips. "The air… it no longer behaves like 'air.' The Yang density has plummeted below the critical threshold. Yin energy is flooding over us like a tide."
She turned to the group, her eyes sharp with professional gravity. "The Yin levels here are toxic. Fortunately, thanks to the Elysium pills I gave you earlier, our bodies will remain untouched by the decay. However… I can promise nothing for your senses."
Koharu shivered. She remembered her days of exile all too well—how the acidic breath of the Void had once begun to rot her flesh. This time was different; her body remained whole and sturdy, but her mind could not say the same.
"Depth..." Koharu said, reaching a hand out toward the horizon. "Shinju, those rocks… they feel close enough to touch, yet miles away at the same time. My eyes can't focus on anything. Is the world… flattening?"
Indeed, it was. In the Void, perspective was a lie. The rules of light and shadow had vanished; everything was simultaneously crystal clear and as elusive as a dream.
Aurelia, despite her human form, felt her ancient dragon instincts screaming. Her golden eyes scanned the pitch-black sky. "This atmosphere..." she said, her voice deeper and more resonant than usual. "It is the same curse that poisoned my kin a thousand years ago. There is no life here—only a hunger that feeds on the absence of life. Look at the sky; even the stars have hidden themselves in fear of this concentrated Yin."
Shinju stood at the very front, appearing almost hypnotized. While the others were gripped by unease, the darkness within his right eye began to resonate with the surrounding Yin energy. To his surprise, this lethal atmosphere felt… right.
Why am I not afraid? Shinju wondered. Why does this silence feel like a lullaby?
The dense Yin energy swirling around them seemed to sing through his veins. He placed a hand over his heart. "This place..." he murmured, his voice echoing with an icy stillness. "This is where the universe was forgotten."
For a reason he couldn't name, a strange sense of peace washed over him, as if he were walking through the doors of his own home. Am I truly a part of this Void? he asked himself. If my nature is this compatible with the darkness, will I ever truly be able to learn how to 'create'?
"We must trust the sphere," Swen said, re-establishing her scientific authority. "Your eyes will lie to you. This is not a place of distances, but of intent. The distortion of your depth perception is simply the Void's way of untethering you from reality. Focus on the protection of the Elysium pills. Your skin is not decaying, and your hearts are still beating. Just… keep moving."
The sky had turned into a total, ink-black void. There was no longer any wind, any scent, or any sign of life. Only four shadows remained, walking through this black hole of the universe toward the pale, artificial light emitted by Mikail's Second Spear.
The Void greeted them with a silent, absolute darkness.