Recap: The war of the Monarchs has begun. Baran, the Monarch of White Flames, descended upon Seoul to eliminate Ren. Jin-Woo was cut off by a wall of celestial fire, leaving Ren to face Baran alone. In a bold move, Ren activated [Void Boundary], dragging the Monarch into a starless dimension where the rules of the system are rewritten by Ren's own will.
The dimension was an endless stretch of violet-black mist. There was no floor, no sky, and no oxygen—only the crushing weight of the Void. In this space, Ren was no longer a hunter or a player; he was the law.
Baran, the Monarch of White Flames, stood in the center of the darkness, his celestial armor glowing with a furious, flickering light. He looked around, his long white hair whipping as if caught in a storm that didn't exist. "You think a simple domain can contain a King?" Baran's voice echoed, cold enough to freeze the very mist. "I have burned entire worlds to ash. Your little 'nothingness' is but a candle in my sun."
Ren stood twenty paces away, hovering slightly above the invisible ground. His obsidian-grey skin hummed with a low, rhythmic vibration. "You talk a lot for a ghost, Baran," Ren said, his voice layered with a hollow resonance. "Jin-Woo told me he killed you in a tower. I'm going to make sure there isn't even a memory left of you to revive."
With a roar that shattered the silence, Baran lunged. He didn't use a weapon; he became the weapon. A massive pillar of white, holy fire erupted from his body, turning him into a meteor of pure destruction.
[Skill: Absolute Nullification - Initializing]
Ren didn't dodge. He simply raised his hand, palm open. As the white flames reached him, they didn't burn. Instead, the fire began to "unravel." The flames turned into grey strings of data, then into nothingness. Baran's fist stopped inches from Ren's face, held back by a barrier of compressed space.
"What... is this?" Baran's eyes widened. "My flames are divine! They cannot be extinguished by mortal mana!"
"This isn't mana," Ren whispered, his eyes swirling like dying stars. "This is the 'Undo' command of the universe."
Ren gripped Baran's wrist. The touch was like liquid nitrogen. Instantly, the white armor on Baran's arm began to crack and turn black. The Monarch let out a scream of agony—not because of physical pain, but because his very essence was being "deleted."
[System Warning: Sovereign Ren is overwriting Monarch Data] [Compatibility: 45%... 52%...]
Outside the Void Boundary, in the real world of Seoul, Jin-Woo was tearing through the Monarch's vanguard. Beru was a blur of silver-black death, decapitating Frost Giants, while Igris held the line against a legion of High-Orcs. But Jin-Woo's eyes were fixed on the shimmering purple sphere hanging in the air where Ren and Baran had vanished.
"Igris! Protect the perimeter!" Jin-Woo commanded. He could feel the reality around the sphere thinning. Ren's power was leaking out, and it was terrifying. It wasn't the power of the Shadow Monarch, which brought death; it was the power of the Void, which brought non-existence.
Back inside the Boundary, the battle had turned into a desperate struggle. Baran, realizing his flames were useless, summoned two massive twin-swords made of lightning and star-matter. He swung with the force of a collapsing galaxy.
Ren moved like a glitch in a program. He didn't flow; he simply reappeared in different spots, avoiding the blades by millimeters. Every time Ren touched Baran, a piece of the Monarch's soul was torn away.
"You are a mistake!" Baran screamed, his voice cracking. "The Absolute Being did not intend for a void to have a heart! You are a cancer in the system!"
"Maybe," Ren replied, appearing directly behind Baran. He wrapped his arms around the Monarch's neck. "But even a cancer can kill the host. And right now, you are the host."
[Skill: Void Devourer - Level Max]
A massive vortex of purple energy erupted from Ren's chest. Baran's body began to stretch and warp, being sucked into the singularity. The Monarch's white flames turned black as they were inverted.
"Antares... help me!" Baran's final plea echoed through the dimension, but the Monarch of Destruction was worlds away, unable to breach Ren's territory.
With a final, sickening sound of static, Baran exploded into a million fragments of light. But they didn't dissipate. Ren opened his mouth and inhaled, drawing the fragments into himself.
[Notification: Monarch of White Flames 'Baran' has been Erased] [Calculation Complete: Ren has absorbed 15% of the Monarch's Authority] [New Skill Acquired: Celestial Ash]
The Void Boundary shattered.
Ren landed on the roof of the Hunter Association building, his knees hitting the concrete with a heavy thud. The violet glow in his eyes was blinding. Around him, the monsters that had been summoned by Baran's presence instantly turned to dust.
Jin-Woo landed beside him, his daggers disappearing into the shadows. He looked at Ren—no, he looked through Ren.
"You ate him," Jin-Woo said, his voice flat with shock. "Ren... you didn't just kill a Monarch. You absorbed his throne."
Ren looked up, his face pale and covered in black veins. He tried to speak, but instead of words, a burst of white-hot steam escaped his lips. His body was rejecting the stolen power.
"The other Monarchs..." Ren wheezed, clutching his chest. "They aren't just coming for me now. They're afraid, Jin-Woo. And an afraid Monarch is more dangerous than an angry one."
Far away, in the deepest pits of the Chaos World, Antares stood up from his throne of dragon bones. The death of Baran had sent a shockwave through the cosmic balance. For the first time in eons, the Monarch of Destruction felt a shiver of genuine doubt.
"The Void has tasted the blood of a King," Antares whispered, his voice shaking the pillars of reality. "Prepare the Legions. We don't wait for the Gates anymore. We burn the world to find him."