The echoes of shattered timelines whispered through the ruins.
Null's heart thudded—a pulse, foreign to him. The beat wasn't his. It belonged to the world around him, to the rifts that began to tear at the fabric of reality. The sky was no longer a calm reflection of the past; it was alive, a feverish dance of colors, as fractured realms bled into one another.
[WARNING: ENVIRONMENTAL DISTORTION DETECTED.][Timeline Anomaly: LOCALIZED RIP IN SPACE-TIME.]
It wasn't a question. It was a statement. The world was breaking. And Null was its creator.
His hand lifted slowly, eyes tracing the ruins of a city he had never seen, yet recognized. The Hollow Core hummed within him, and as he took in the wreckage, he felt something stir in his chest.
[Sovereign Evolution: Stage 1][Skill: Devour Essence – Activated]
There was no physical hunger. No thirst. It wasn't his body craving sustenance—it was his Core. The world bled energy and Null simply reached out, a single thought drawing all that was left in the decay into himself.
A beam of light erupted from his palm. It was like a torrent of dark fire—swallowing everything, from the broken statues to the twisted trees that had once marked this place as a city.
The energy condensed into his chest, feeding the Core.
Power surged through him.
[Skill: Energy Assimilation – Acquired][Class Evolution: VAMPIRE NECROMANCER (UNSTABLE)][Timeline Fragmentation: Error: World Rifts Detected.]
Null paused. The world quivered. His body ached in a way he could not understand. But the power—the sheer overwhelming strength—was undeniable.
He had just devoured a portion of a collapsed city. Not its inhabitants, not its magic—but its essence, the very energy that had once held it together.
Suddenly, a low growl echoed from the darkness. A presence—dark, foreboding—brought the hairs on the back of Null's neck to attention.
From the shadows, beasts emerged. Their forms were once human, but now their bodies were twisted, malformed by the energy from the broken realms. The rifts had corrupted them, turning them into monstrous shadows with glowing eyes and jagged, skeletal limbs.
[Enemy Detected: Void Spawn – Level 1][Enemy Detected: Void Spawn – Level 3][Enemy Detected: Void Spawn – Level 5]
The Void Spawns were relentless. They charged forward, screeching with shrill voices as they descended upon Null, their claws aiming for his throat.
Null didn't move at first. He watched them approach with a detached calm, his fingers twitching as if the idea of fighting was an afterthought. The Hollow Core within him pulsed. The devouring instinct stirred.
[Skill: Echo Shell – Activated]
A barrier of ethereal energy enveloped Null. The Void Spawn attacked, but their claws slammed against the shell with nothing more than a faint shudder.
Null smiled.
It wasn't a smile of joy. It wasn't a smile of victory.
It was the smile of someone who had just discovered what it meant to be untouchable.
With a single step, he advanced toward the nearest Void Spawn. He didn't need weapons. The Core had granted him something more. His body shifted, moving like liquid through the air, each motion leaving ripples in the fabric of reality itself.
He touched the Void Spawn's head, his palm crackling with black energy.
And it vanished. Disintegrated. Nothing but dust.
[Skill: Soul Devour – Activated.][Enemy Essence Absorbed.]
Energy poured into him—soul essence, broken pieces of life, devoured and absorbed into his Hollow Core.
The remaining Void Spawns hesitated. For the first time since their birth, they sensed fear. They weren't supposed to be afraid. Yet, as the boy before them glowed brighter, they backed away, sensing an ancient, unstoppable force.
Null's eyes flared, glowing with the strange light of a world that shouldn't have been.
[Skill: Absolute Control – Acquired.][Class Evolution: VOID DEVOURER (UNSTABLE)]
The rifts seemed to pulse in response.