There is no air in the celestial void.
No light. No heat. No sense of time or space.
Only silence—and the slow, stretching pressure of divine space peeling itself apart.
Chen floated through it, his bonded flames tethered beside him by thin threads of spirit and resolve. Ye Yue's moonlight curved like a silver ribbon around his form, pulsing faintly with divine tension. Lanmei glowed a deep crimson, her battle aura clashing against the oppressive nothingness. Mei shimmered gently, the warmth of her soul fighting to anchor them all in something real.
The void was endless. But their destination… it loomed.
Somewhere beyond the black—the Obsidian Court waited.
Inside the Flow of Divine Transit
Time didn't move here—it folded.
Every heartbeat stretched into eternity, then snapped back into a second.
Chen felt it inside him: his system fluctuating as if confused, realigning stats, trying to define a place that defied structure.
[WARNING: Realm of Order Disconnected]Celestial Drift Detected… Initiating Flame Stabilization Protocols
His soul surged briefly—three flames flickering brighter to keep him grounded.
Lanmei's voice broke through the haze.
"This is worse than any battlefield I've known. I can't tell which way is forward."
Mei reached toward her. "It doesn't matter. As long as we stay together, we are forward."
Chen nodded.
But Ye Yue's gaze narrowed. "We're not alone in here."
Something Watches
A ripple passed through the void.
Then another.
Like footsteps—except there was no floor.
Chen turned. His aura flared. His bonded tightened formation around him.
And then… a voice.
It didn't come from outside—it slithered into the mind, into the soul.
"You should not exist."
A shape materialized in the dark—vague, shifting, older than gods. Its eyes glowed like dead stars. Its presence wasn't divine… it was pre-divine. A Remnant. A thing left behind by the forging of realms.
Ye Yue gasped. "It's a Void Warden."
Even the system stuttered.
[ERROR – Unknown Entity Detected]Analyzing…
Name: ████████Classification: Remnant of Primordial BalanceThreat Level: ???Advise: Do Not Engage.
But the thing was already watching Chen.
"You carry too many truths," it whispered. "Too many flames. You burn where there should only be cold."
Lanmei stepped forward, defiant. "Back off."
The Void Warden ignored her.
Instead, it leaned toward Chen's soul—and hissed:
"The Obsidian Court will not kill you. They will cage you. Drain you. Break you from the inside."
Chen's jaw tightened. "Then maybe I'll burn the cage down."
Something like laughter echoed in the void. Then, silence again. The creature dissolved, leaving behind only a flickering black mark in the weave of space.
The path ahead reformed.
[System Stabilized – Destination Locked]
Realm Alignment: Obsidian Court, Throne of Judgment
All flames tethered. Bonded consciousness stable.
Transference complete.
The void cracked.
Light—dark, obsidian-tinted, violet-edged—flooded their senses.
And then they fell forward… into the heart of enemy territory.
Final Line
Chen's boots touched down first, surrounded by marble black as midnight. A thousand veiled eyes turned to him from behind mirrors and altars. The Obsidian Court was not what he expected.
It was worse.