The black hand tore through the crack.
The sky screamed.
Not with sound.
With light.
The rivers flowing through the heavens lost their color, turning pale gray. Floating islands trembled as pieces of stone drifted into the endless void below.
People fled in panic.
Captain Lyra raised her crystal spear.
"Sky Guard!"
Hundreds of armored warriors shot into the air on wings of blue light, surrounding the enormous hand.
"Hold the line!"
A barrage of crystal lances rained down.
The attacks struck.
For a heartbeat, hope returned.
Then...
The lances dissolved into black dust.
The hand remained untouched.
"It erased the attacks..." one soldier whispered.
The Keeper's face grew grim.
"That's Null."
"It doesn't destroy."
"It makes things... cease to exist."
The giant hand reached toward the capital.
Zayden stepped forward.
The silver compass floated from his pocket.
Its needle spun wildly.
Aria stood beside him.
"Any ideas?"
He exhaled.
"Working on one."
The shadow's fingers closed around a floating bridge.
Thousands of people were still crossing it.
The bridge began fading.
Children cried.
Families clung to one another.
Without thinking, Zayden ran.
"Zayden!"
Aria chased after him.
He reached the bridge just as its edges dissolved into nothingness.
The people looked at him with fear.
"What do we do?"
For a brief moment, Zayden remembered the Creator's words.
The greatest connection is the one that remains after freedom is given.
He looked at the crowd.
"I'm not going to save you alone."
Confused faces stared back.
"You'll save each other."
An old man grabbed a frightened child.
A woman pulled two strangers to safety.
People formed a living chain across the collapsing bridge.
One by one...
They crossed.
Not because an Anchor carried them.
Because they chose to help one another.
The silver compass blazed with brilliant light.
The fading bridge stabilized.
Captain Lyra stared in disbelief.
"He isn't creating power..."
The Keeper smiled.
"No."
"He's awakening it."
The giant shadow paused.
For the first time...
It hesitated.
A deep voice echoed across the sky.
> "Interesting..."
The hand slowly withdrew.
Not defeated.
Curious.
The crack above the city remained.
Then a figure appeared within the darkness.
Tall.
Draped in a cloak as black as empty space.
His face hidden behind a smooth obsidian mask.
Only two silver eyes shone beneath it.
The Null King.
Not his full body.
Only a projection.
Yet every soul in the city felt the weight of his presence.
He looked directly at Zayden.
> "You are unlike the Anchors before you."
Zayden met his gaze.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
The Null King tilted his head.
> "You mistake kindness for strength."
"No."
Zayden replied calmly.
"I know exactly how strong it is."
Silence.
Then, unexpectedly...
The Null King laughed.
A quiet, almost respectful laugh.
> "Good."
> "I dislike boring opponents."
His silver eyes shifted toward Aria.
Then the Keeper.
Finally, Captain Lyra.
> "Protect them well, Free Anchor."
> "The next time we meet..."
The darkness behind him churned.
> "I won't send only my shadow."
The projection dissolved.
The black hand vanished.
The crack in the sky slowly began to close.
Sunlight returned.
The floating rivers regained their color.
Cheers erupted across the capital.
But the Keeper did not smile.
Because he knew what the Null King had really done.
He hadn't come to conquer.
He had come to measure.
And now...
He knew exactly who Zayden Cross was.
Far beyond the Second Layer, seated upon his silent throne, the Null King opened a book bound in black metal.
A new page appeared on its own.
Only one name was written there.
ZAYDEN CROSS
The Null King closed the book.
"The game begins."
---