Vaize did not return to the Hall.
He left the captains in their rage, in their arguments, in their bruised pride, and he walked into the part of Kōseikan that most people never learned existed.
The lower research wing sat beneath the administration ring, below the sealed archives, below the halls that pretended history was clean. The corridors here were narrower and older, carved before modern law, before slogans, before the Eight Divisions became a symbol. There were no banners. No speeches. Only doors that opened with blood codes and seals that did not respond to rank, only authority.
Two guards stood at the last gate. They wore plain armor. No division markings. Their eyes did not move. Not because they were fearless. Because they had been trained to treat fear like a useless signal.
Vaize approached.
Guard One: Arbiter.
Vaize: Open.
The gate split down the center and folded into the wall silently.
Cold air rolled out, carrying metal, disinfectant, and something else underneath it. A faint burnt scent, like ozone and rot forced into the same room.
Vaize stepped inside.
The laboratory was wide, circular, and built around a single structure at its center.
A cylinder.
Tall enough to hold something standing. Thick glass wrapped in reinforcement bands etched with anti phase script. Pipes fed into its base. Seals crawled around it like living ink. There was no water inside.
Only suspended darkness.
A black void shaped like a man.
Humanoid. Large. Broad shouldered. Six eight, maybe more if it stood straight. Arms hanging slightly forward like the body had learned violence as its default posture. Its surface was not skin. Not armor. It looked like corrupted space, layered black on black, with faint distortions running over it as if the air couldn't decide what it was seeing.
A face existed where a face should be.
No clear eyes. No clear mouth.
Just a shifting impression of features, like something pretending to be human.
A technician stood on the far side of the room. His hands were trembling, but he forced them steady as he checked a slate.
Technician: The subject is stable. Still asleep. Sedation holding.
Vaize looked at the cylinder.
Vaize: Name.
Technician swallowed.
Technician: Void Kuda.
Vaize: Species.
Technician: Voider. Outer space origin. Humanoid structure. Unknown internal anatomy. We have no organs mapped. The body behaves like a vessel and the void behaves like the true entity.
Vaize: Voice.
Technician: Distorted. Glitching. Sometimes it overlaps itself. Sometimes it sounds like two tones arguing in the same throat.
Vaize: Powers?
The technician hesitated, then spoke faster, like saying it quickly would make it less terrifying.
Technician: Void, dark, black, cursed, corrupt. Instant void adaptation. Alter ego behavior. It learns techniques after contact. It eats patterns. It copies pressure signatures. It rejects restraints. It becomes what counters you.
Vaize's gaze did not leave the cylinder.
Vaize: Alignment?
Technician: Anti hero. It does not obey morality. It obeys interest.
Vaize nodded once, slow.
Vaize: Good.
The technician blinked.
Technician: Good?
Vaize: I did not bring you a saint. I brought you a weapon.
He stepped closer.
The void figure did not move.
But the seals around the cylinder shifted slightly, like they reacted to Vaize's proximity. The air in the lab tightened. The room felt smaller, not because walls moved, but because everyone's bodies started acting like they needed less space to survive.
Vaize: Wake him.
The technician's face went pale.
Technician: Arbiter, the captains are mobilizing. If the sedation fails—
Vaize: Wake him.
The technician lifted his hand to a control slate. His fingers shook. He entered the sequence.
A low hum rolled through the floor.
The cylinder's seals brightened.
Then dimmed.
Then dimmed again.
Like the system was losing conviction.
The black figure inside shifted.
A slow head tilt.
A shoulder roll.
The movement was wrong. Not stiff. Not human. Like an animal testing a cage, not waking from sleep.
The lab lights flickered once.
The technician stepped back, breathing too fast.
Technician: Subject consciousness rising.
The void figure lifted its head.
A voice came out.
Not loud.
But it filled the room anyway.
It glitched in and out of itself. Words overlapping. Tone shifting. Sometimes deep, sometimes sharp, sometimes like laughter buried under static.
Void Kuda: Mmm.
Void Kuda: I smell fear.
The technician flinched.
Vaize did not.
Vaize: Void Kuda.
The figure's head turned toward Vaize slowly, like it was tasting the name.
Void Kuda: Vaize.
Void Kuda: Supreme Arbiter.
Void Kuda: Father of the traitor.
Vaize's eyes narrowed slightly.
Vaize: You know.
Void Kuda: I know things that were never spoken.
Void Kuda: Your halls scream even when they are silent.
Void Kuda: Your laws bleed.
Void Kuda: Your son tore you open.
The technician backed away toward a wall.
Technician: It shouldn't know that. We never told it—
Void Kuda: You do not need to tell me.
Void Kuda: I eat the vibration of truth.
Vaize spoke calmly.
Vaize: I am releasing you.
The technician snapped his head toward Vaize.
Technician: Arbiter, you can't just—
Vaize: You will be quiet.
The technician's mouth closed instantly. Not because Vaize threatened him. Because Vaize's tone made disobedience feel stupid.
Vaize faced the cylinder.
Vaize: Kōseikan has been violated.
Vaize: My son has declared authority over the mind.
Vaize: He has a clan.
Vaize: They are moving.
Vaize: I need something that does not break under illusion.
Void Kuda's head tilted.
Void Kuda: You think I cannot be controlled.
Vaize: You cannot.
Vaize: That is why you are useful.
Void Kuda's body shifted inside the cylinder.
The seals flared.
Void Kuda: If you free me...
Void Kuda: I may kill your captains first.
Vaize: Then they were too weak to hunt my son.
Void Kuda: I may kill you.
Vaize: Try.
Void Kuda's voice cracked into something amused, something broken.
Void Kuda: Hah.
Void Kuda: You speak like you believe you are the ceiling.
Vaize: I built the ceiling.
Vaize stepped forward and pressed his palm to the seal console.
Vaize: Release.
The cylinder seals screamed.
Not an alarm.
A spiritual rejection.
The glass did not open like a door.
It shattered outward in a controlled spiral, fragments caught mid air by containment fields.
Void Kuda stepped out.
The room temperature dropped instantly.
The air turned heavy and dirty, like the void dragged outer space into the lab.
The technician gagged and fell to one knee.
Technician: I can't breathe—
Void Kuda turned his head slowly toward him.
Void Kuda: Weak.
Vaize spoke without looking away from Void Kuda.
Vaize: Ignore him.
Vaize: We hunt.
Void Kuda's head snapped back to Vaize.
Void Kuda: Hunt?
Vaize: Sereon Vaize.
Void Kuda's shoulders rolled like the name tasted good.
Void Kuda: The one who cuts certainty.
Void Kuda: The one who lies so well people call it peace.
Vaize: Yes.
Void Kuda: And his clan.
Vaize: Yes.
Void Kuda: You want them dead.
Vaize: I want them erased.
Void Kuda's mouth shape flickered into something close to a grin.
Void Kuda: Then give me one thing.
Vaize: Speak.
Void Kuda: Do not pretend this is justice.
Void Kuda: Say it how it is.
Void Kuda: This is a father hunting his own blood because he was outplayed.
The lab went silent.
The technician's eyes widened like he expected Vaize to explode.
Vaize did not.
Vaize walked closer until he stood directly in front of Void Kuda, looking up slightly because Void Kuda was taller.
Vaize: You are correct.
Vaize: And?
Void Kuda's grin widened.
Void Kuda: Good.
Void Kuda: Honesty tastes cleaner.
Void Kuda stepped past Vaize and headed toward the exit like he already owned the corridor.
Void Kuda: Show me where his scent is strongest.
Vaize turned.
Vaize: Captains.
A door on the far side opened.
The Eight Captains stood waiting in the corridor beyond, weapons ready, eyes sharp, bodies still bruised from humiliation.
Raith's gaze locked onto Void Kuda.
Raith: What is that.
Keth: That's not a captain.
Iora: Arbiter, what did you bring.
Nahl's eyes narrowed, blood still faint at her lower lids.
Nahl: I can't read him.
Nahl: I can't see his outcome.
That alone made the corridor colder.
Vaize spoke once.
Vaize: This is Void Kuda.
Vaize: He is with us.
Raith's jaw tightened.
Raith: With us?
Raith: Since when do we bring monsters into a hunt.
Void Kuda turned his head slowly toward Raith.
His voice hit like corrupted metal scraping stone.
Void Kuda: Monster?
Void Kuda: You call me that while your captain son rewrites minds?
Void Kuda stepped closer, towering over Raith.
Void Kuda: You are not hunting evil.
Void Kuda: You are hunting competition.
Raith's knuckles whitened on his blade.
Vaize: Enough.
Vaize: Move.
They moved.
Not as a formation. Not as ceremony.
As hunters who understood that whatever stood ahead of them was no longer a political problem.
The corridor bent as they advanced. Old seals peeled away from the walls as Vaize passed, ancient systems recognizing his authority and stepping aside. The deeper they went, the less Kōseikan felt like a city and more like a weapon waking up.
Void Kuda walked ahead of them.
Not leading.
Not following.
Just moving.
Every step distorted the floor beneath his feet, the stone darkening for half a second before correcting itself. The air around him jittered, like reality was buffering. His presence did not feel heavy. It felt wrong. Like something that should not be standing upright had decided to imitate posture.
Raith kept his blade ready.
Raith: I still don't like this.
Void Kuda turned his head slightly, not enough to look at Raith directly.
Void Kuda: You will die liking nothing.
Keth snarled.
Keth: Arbiter, if this thing turns on us—
Vaize: It will not.
Void Kuda laughed.
The sound fractured into overlapping tones. One deep. One sharp. One distant, like it came from the inside of a collapsing star.
Void Kuda: He speaks with such confidence.
Void Kuda: Just like his son.
That landed harder than any insult.
They exited into open space.
Not sky.
A dead zone.
A region between verses that had been stripped clean, an old convergence site where nothing grew because causality had been burned out of it long ago. Stone floated in fractured slabs. Gravity pulled inconsistently. Sound echoed in places it should not.
And at the center of it all sat six chairs.
Normal chairs.
Arranged in a loose circle.
Sereon Vaize sat in one of them.
Coat off. Sleeves rolled. Calm.
Skirgash leaned against a floating slab, arms crossed, smiling faintly.
Lyra sat with her legs crossed, eyes half lidded, already bored.
Aurel stood with his hands behind his back, gaze distant, calculating.
Rhel sat slightly apart, balance perfect, eyes unfocused.
Eshren stood at the edge of the space, presence pressing inward like a held breath.
Sereon looked up.
Not surprised.
Not impressed.
Sereon: You brought help.
Vaize stepped forward.
Vaize: Stand down.
Sereon smiled.
Small. Genuine.
Sereon: Father.
Void Kuda stepped into the open.
The space reacted immediately.
Fragments of stone collapsed inward toward him, then froze, then fell away again as if unsure whether to obey gravity or fear.
Void Kuda's head tilted.
Void Kuda: So this is the mind that thinks itself sovereign.
Void Kuda walked closer.
Void Kuda: Hm.
Void Kuda: You smell like intent.
Sereon's gaze flicked to him once.
Measured.
Sereon: And you smell like a mistake my father made out of desperation.
That did it.
Void Kuda stopped.
The distortion around his body spiked.
Void Kuda: Oh.
Void Kuda: I wish you had not said that.
He took another step.
Void Kuda: Now I am going to enjoy tearing you open.
Skirgash chuckled softly.
Skirgash: Careful.
Skirgash: He provokes on purpose.
Void Kuda laughed again, louder this time.
Void Kuda: Good.
Void Kuda: I like when prey understands the game.
Vaize raised his hand.
Vaize: Engage.
The captains moved instantly.
But then.
Void Kuda did not turn his head.
Void Kuda: No.
The word cracked.
Not sound.
Structure.
A wave of pressure rolled outward, not fast, not explosive, just inevitable. The ground beneath the captains buckled instantly. Armor groaned. Teeth clenched. Blood leaked from mouths and noses without warning.
Void Kuda raised one hand.
Two fingers extended.
Void Kuda: Forty percent.
Every captain froze.
Not by command.
By instinct.
Void Kuda: Any of you move closer.
Void Kuda: Any of you interrupt.
Void Kuda: I will extract your soul, compress it into void mass, and let it rot while your body keeps screaming.
Raith snarled, muscles shaking.
Raith: TRY ME—
Void Kuda's head snapped toward him.
Raith collapsed.
Not thrown.
Not struck.
His knees hit the ground so hard the stone cratered beneath him. His sword clattered away uselessly. He vomited blood, choking, eyes wide in terror.
Void Kuda: I said don't move.
Silence followed.
Heavy.
Ugly.
Sereon finally spoke.
Sereon: You are loud.
Void Kuda turned fully now, grin splitting his face too wide, teeth jagged like something half formed.
Void Kuda: And you are arrogant.
Void Kuda: I like arrogant things.
Void Kuda: They break better.
Skirgash exhaled slowly.
Skirgash: Yeah. That's not good.
Lyra's eyes narrowed.
Lyra: Sereon. That thing isn't listening.
Sereon: It doesn't need to.
Sereon lifted his hand slightly.
Sereon: Kill it.
They moved together.
No signal.
No count.
Instant.
Skirgash vanished first, reappearing above Void, palm already descending.
Skirgash: Gyuro Thirty Two.
Skirgash: Byōsha no En.
A pressure ring expanded outward, saturating Void's emotional spectrum. Surrender. Resignation. The instinct to give up pushed inward like a tide.
Lyra layered over it mid strike.
Lyra: Gyuro Forty Seven.
Lyra: Juyō Sareta Shinjitsu.
Truth folded. Reality selected the version where Void accepted defeat.
Aurel snapped his fingers.
Aurel: Gyuro Sixty One.
Aurel: Ketsuron Shikkō.
Logic finalized. Outcome sealed. Resistance mathematically impossible.
Rhel lifted his hand slightly.
Rhel: Gyuro Twenty Three.
Rhel: Unmei Kōsei.
Probability collapsed into a single guaranteed hit.
Eshren stepped forward.
The air around Void screamed.
Confessions tried to tear free.
Regret. Fear. Self awareness clawed at the edges of existence.
Void Kuda stopped smiling.
Then—
He laughed.
Hard.
Violent.
The sound glitched, repeated itself, overlapped, voices layered inside his own.
Void Kuda: HAAAAAH—!!
Void Kuda: THAT'S CUTE.
Void Kuda: YOU THINK YOUR SYSTEMS APPLY TO ME?
The emotional field shattered.
Truth snapped back.
Logic broke.
Probability detonated outward.
Void Kuda raised his hand.
Void Kuda: Gyuro.
Void Kuda: Zero.
Black symbols burned into existence around his arm, jagged and corrupted, written in something older than language.
Void Kuda: Mujun no Kōshin.
Contradiction's Core.
The weakest Gyuro.
The world inverted.
Every attack aimed at Void bent backward mid execution, folding into itself. Skirgash was ripped sideways through the air, blood spraying as his shoulder dislocated on impact with nothing.
Lyra screamed as her own belief control rebounded inward, shattering her sense of self for half a second.
Lyra: NGH—!!
Aurel's eyes widened.
Aurel: That Gyuro deletes consistency—
Void Kuda appeared in front of him.
Instant.
Void Kuda: Correct.
Void Kuda drove his fist straight through Aurel's chest.
Not piercing.
Crushing.
Aurel's ribcage imploded inward, blood and fragments spraying out his back as Void ripped his hand free, still holding a piece of his heart.
Void Kuda leaned close to his face.
Void Kuda: Think faster.
He threw Aurel aside like trash.
Eshren moved.
Void Kuda turned.
Void Kuda: Oh.
Void Kuda: You're interesting.
Eshren's presence surged.
Void Kuda's grin widened.
Void Kuda: I wished you hadn't stood that way.
Void Kuda: Now I'm going to rip you open slowly.
Behind them, Vaize stepped forward.
Vaize: Enough.
Void Kuda did not look back.
Void Kuda: Stay out of this, Arbiter.
Void Kuda: This is my fun.
Sereon watched it all calmly.
Eyes sharp.
Unbothered.
Sereon: You're enjoying this too much.
Void Kuda turned his head slightly, blood dripping from his fingers.
Void Kuda: Oh I haven't even started.
Void Kuda: Zero is mercy.
Void Kuda: Want to see what one feels like?
The pressure rose.
Void Kuda: Kheee... hehee..
To Be Continued.
End Of Chapter 6.