The world was quiet.
Unnaturally quiet.
Far north of the Haven of Six, beyond frozen valleys and mountains carved by ancient storms, a lone citadel of obsidian rose from the ice like a blade piercing the sky. Its walls were carved with runes older than memory, flickering with dim, dying constellations.
Inside that citadel…something began to move.
A heartbeat.
Not like a human pulse.
More like a drum carved from bone and filled with black stars.
thump.
The throne at the center of the room pulsed faintly, a throne made from broken fragments of reality, suspended by chains of light that refused to glow.
And sitting upon it…
Was a hollow man.
His body was a silhouette of silver-white hair draped over shadow. His armor was cracked, leaking shreds of stardust. His chest had a missing cavity, a gaping void where a Heart should have been.
Bellerophon opened his eyes.
Twin voids, deep, vast, impossible.
A whisper followed, drifting like smoke between broken pillars.
"…Typhon is gone."
The air around him rippled.A faint echo emerged from the shape of a shattered helm lying at Bellerophon's feet — the last remnant of Typhon's existence.
Bellerophon lifted a hand.
The echo shimmered.
Then shattered.
"…pathetic. Even in death, he was nothing more than a tantrum with power."
Silver strands of hair drifted as he stood from his throne.
Each step cracked the ground.
Fragments of Typhon's essence floated upward, black lightning suspended in time.Bellerophon gathered them in his palm and pressed them into the hollow cavity in his chest.
But the fragments evaporated.
Rejected.
He clicked his tongue in displeasure.
"Even now, this vessel refuses impurity. Only a Heart of true power will fill this emptiness."
He raised his gaze.
The northern sky warped.
Stars bent subtly, forming a single glowing direction.
South.
Toward the Haven.
Toward six Hearts unlike any other in existence.
Bellerophon spoke their names without emotion:
"Ryosen…Aegis…Shichiro…Rokuro…Kentarō…Ketsuki…"
His head tilted slightly.
"And the boy who should not exist…"
The citadel darkened.
"…Katsu."
A faint tremor ran across the frozen wasteland.
Not from anger.
From awakening.
He stretched out a hand.Runes ignited on his armor, repairing themselves, threading like needles in cosmic cloth. Constellations stitched into the gaps. His form sharpened, becoming less shadow and more solid.
Power returned to him in whispers.
Incomplete.
Insufficient.
Unacceptable.
"The Heart of Eternity…"His voice was a calm, gentle hum.
The icicles on the ceiling cracked and fell.
Bellerophon's eyes narrowed.
"That Heart should not exist.And yet, it does."
He raised one finger.
A single slash of invisible force split the air.
The entire mountain in front of the citadel collapsed silently, sliding off itself like melting glass.
A path was cleared.
He stepped forward.
Outside, the wind froze mid-gust.The sunlight dimmed.The clouds parted around him as if terrified to touch his presence.
A massive shadow passed over the snow.Not wings.Not a creature.
Just an absence. A hole in reality shaped like a man.
As he walked, the world distorted behind him, refusing to hold its shape.
He didn't rush.
He didn't need to.
"They have grown stronger," he murmured softly."Typhon proved that."
A faint pause.
Then, for the first time, his voice sharpened.
"But strength breeds arrogance.Arrogance breeds mistakes."
He raised his hand.
A swirling nebula formed above his palm, a binding star, black at the core.
"When I reach the Haven…"
He closed his hand.
The nebula vanished.
"…I will claim the Hearts I require."
A hum filled the air.
The horizon bent.
The walk south began.
And the world seemed to whisper the title of the being who now moved across it.
Heart Devourer.