The Shattered Oath
The Broken Realm trembled long before the first rupture appeared.
Far beyond the floating shards of land, beyond the fog-swallowed rivers and fractured horizons, a pulse rippled across reality. It was faint at first—like the heartbeat of something buried under worlds—but to those attuned to higher forces, it was unmistakable.
Someone had awakened a power that was never meant to return.
And Leo felt it.
He stood at the edge of the obsidian cliff overlooking the Fracture Basin, his cloak catching the cold wind, strands of golden energy flickering in his eyes. Ever since the encounter with the Echo Guardian in Chapter 21, the truth kept gnawing at him—
Someone else now touched the Nothing.
Not fully, not like him, but enough to disrupt the balance.
"Three pulses within the last hour," Mira said, stepping beside him. Her silver hair shimmered under the fractured moonlight. "This shouldn't be possible. The Oath forbids it."
Leo didn't answer. His mind replayed the ancient words etched into the Pillar of Silence—words no ordinary cultivator could read:
"The Power of Nothing shall not awaken twice in a single era."
He had taken the Oath subconsciously the day he absorbed the Core. He didn't remember choosing it, but the Core had chosen him—and bound him.
Now the Oath was breaking around him.
And the realm felt it.
Another pulse hit, stronger this time. The sky cracked faintly, like glass under pressure.
"Someone is forcing their way into your domain," Mira whispered. "This is war-level provocation."
Leo finally spoke. "No. This is theft."
---
They headed east toward the Source Rift—one of the few places capable of amplifying forbidden energies. Their journey was silent except for the distant keening of realm-wraiths disturbed by the pulses.
Midway, a figure stood waiting in the ruins of an old shrine.
Null Reaver.
His mask glinted under the distorted moonlight, expression unreadable. His voice carried a metallic echo, like it came from several distances at once.
"You feel it too," he said. Not a question.
Leo stepped forward. "Who is trying to imitate my power?"
Null Reaver tilted his head. "Imitate? No… this one is attempting to replace."
Mira's grip tightened on her blade. "Impossible. The Core doesn't allow contenders."
"It doesn't," Null Reaver agreed, "unless one uses a forbidden method. A method that predates even your Core."
He paused.
Then he dropped the bomb:
"The Shattered Oath Ritual."
Mira's eyes widened. "That was banned before the Broken Realm even existed."
Leo felt a coldness seep into his spine. He had seen the ritual once—in the memories sealed inside the Core. It was an abomination, created by ancient beings who wanted the power of Nothing without bearing its burden.
"It requires… sacrifice," Leo said quietly.
Null Reaver nodded. "A lot of it."
The wind shifted.
The sky cracked again.
This time, a deep scream echoed across the horizon—like a soul being torn in half.
Leo clenched his fists. Whoever was doing this wasn't just stealing power. They were tearing reality apart to force a new wielder of Nothing to exist.
"We need to reach the ritual site," Leo said, his voice low and sharp.
Null Reaver didn't move.
"You won't make it in time unless you take a different path."
Leo frowned. "Which path?"
Null Reaver raised a finger and pointed toward the darkening sky.
The moon was splitting.
Down the fracture spilled swirling black mist—something older, thicker, and more conscious than shadow.
Mira stepped back instinctively. "Is that—?"
Null Reaver's voice lowered.
"A Riftborn Entity. Drawn to the ritual's energy. If they reach the source first, this realm will collapse entirely."
Leo's heart hammered. "Give me the quickest route."
Null Reaver stepped forward and placed a hand on Leo's shoulder. The gesture was strange—far too human for someone with no visible face.
"No," he said quietly. "You are the center of this war. You must not arrive first."
Leo stiffened. "What?"
Mira's blade lifted. "Why would you say that?"
Null Reaver turned toward the horizon. His cloak billowed as another pulse hit the land.
"The ritual is designed to react to the current bearer of Nothing. If you approach too early, the ritual will devour your existence to forge a replacement."
Leo froze.
A truth he had never considered.
The ritual wasn't trying to create another version of him.
It was trying to replace him entirely.
Mira stepped between him and Null Reaver. "So you expect him to sit and wait while someone tries to erase him from reality?"
Null Reaver didn't flinch. "No. I expect him to survive long enough to stop what comes after."
"What comes after?" Leo asked.
Null Reaver's mask slowly turned toward him.
"The ritual succeeds."
Silence.
Then the ground rumbled violently.
The moon split completely.
A torrent of black and violet energy spiraled down into the basin ahead—like a waterfall of cosmic ink. Screams echoed from every direction, some human, some something else.
Leo felt the pull. It was the same force that once connected him to the Core—except now it was twisted, hostile, hungry.
He took a step forward.
Mira grabbed his wrist. "Leo. Don't."
He looked at her. "Someone is trying to erase me."
"And rushing in will make it easier for them," she shot back. "Think."
Leo shut his eyes for a moment. He could feel the Core trembling inside his body—like it was trying to warn him. Or preparing to defend him.
Null Reaver turned away from them.
"The entity is almost here. I will hold it back."
Leo blinked. "You're staying behind?"
Null Reaver nodded. "This realm may be broken, but I am bound to it. Go. Not to stop the ritual—yet. But to uncover who is performing it."
Leo hesitated only a second. "You'll survive?"
Null Reaver's metallic echo softened, almost amused.
"I am not so easy to erase."
Then he vanished.
Mira tugged Leo's sleeve. "Come on. If we can't interfere yet, we can at least trace the energy trail."
Leo nodded.
Together, they ran toward the storm of swirling nothingness—toward the ritual that threatened not only his life but the balance of countless realms.
As they reached the ridge overlooking the ritual basin, Leo's eyes widened.
Figures in dark robes circled a massive glyph carved into the land, their bodies trembling under the strain of the ritual. At the center, floating above the glyph, was a silhouette.
Human.
Broken.
And glowing with an unstable, stolen fragment of Nothing.
Mira gasped. "Who is that?!"
Leo's heart dropped.
He recognized the silhouette.
He had seen that face once—among survivors in the Lost Settlement. Someone he saved months ago.
Someone who had looked at Leo with awe.
Someone who had whispered:
"Why were you chosen? Why not me?"
And now, that same person screamed as the ritual pumped corrupt energy into their body.
The glyph burned brighter.
Reality trembled.
Mira grabbed Leo's shoulder. "This is worse than we thought. If that fragment stabilizes inside them—"
Leo finished the sentence, voice hollow.
"—a second bearer of Nothing will be born."
The sky cracked one final time.
All the light in the realm seemed to drain inward, toward the ritual.
And Leo knew:
Chapter 22 would end with an irreversible truth—
someone had finally challenged his existence.