The Hollow Wastes were never quiet.
But this silence was different.
It was the kind that crawled under the skin like a parasite—intentional, as if the world itself was holding its breath, waiting for Null to act.
The figure hadn't moved.
Still at the ridge.Still holding the broken hourglass, its grains of black sand hanging motionless in the air.
No mouth.No aura.Yet Null could feel it watching.
Not with eyes.
But with something older than sight.
He stepped forward.
One step.
The Watcher didn't flinch.
Another.
And another.
Each footfall stirred whispers in the air, memories not his clawing at the edge of consciousness.
—Your brother's hands—don't let them fade——The Sovereign is watching even now——What did you trade for the Hollow Core?
He ignored them.
Three meters now.
Closer.
Still, the Watcher did not move.
Then—
[New Passive Detected: Temporal Paranoia – Lv. 1]
[Effect: You are now aware of temporal distortions around you. Symptoms may include hallucinations, fragmented memory flashes, or pre-echoes of danger.]
He blinked.
And for half a second—the Watcher had two shadows. One still. The other screaming.
Null summoned the Hollow Core into his palm, forming a sphere of shifting void.
"Speak," he said coldly.
The Watcher tilted its head.
And without a sound—without moving—its shadow stepped forward.
Not the figure.
Just the shadow.
It detached.
It stood.
And it smiled.
But it had no mouth.
[Temporal Displacement Entity Confirmed – Class: Null Echo]
[Warning: You are facing a distortion of your own unresolved selves.]
"I see," Null muttered. "So that's what you are."
The shadow raised its hand.An hourglass just like the one the Watcher held emerged from its fingers. Except this one bled black mist from the top.
Time was leaking.
The air twisted.
Suddenly Null's mind was full of voices.
"Don't let her die again, please—!"
"We trusted you, Sovereign!"
"The Epoch Blade… it wasn't supposed to awaken—"
He gritted his teeth.
His Core surged—Void energy coiling around his body like armor.
He stepped forward—
And the fight began.
The Null Echo lunged, dragging its bleeding hourglass like a flail.
Null dodged left, unleashing a Hollow Slash that cut through the false shadow's arm.
But it regrew instantly—branches of himself reforming from the wound, every piece a memory.
—His sister laughing by a river.—His father screaming as time was undone.—Zeruth's grin. Always that grin.
"ENOUGH!" he roared, slicing across the chest of the creature.
But the Echo only laughed.
[Emotional Sync Detected – Hollow Rage Lv. 2 Unlocked]
[Skill Gained: Severance Pulse – Disrupts emotionally-bound entities. Cooldown: 180 seconds.]
He didn't hesitate.
The Void pulsed in his chest, flowing into his limbs.
He pressed his palm against the Echo's chest.
"Sever."
[Skill Activated – Severance Pulse]
The explosion was silent.
No light.No sound.
Just absence.
The shadow evaporated into mist.
The real Watcher was still standing at the ridge, untouched. Still holding the hourglass.
But this time… it was ticking.
[Quest Updated – Watcher of the Echo has acknowledged your Will.]
[New Title Unlocked – Fragment Challenger]
The Watcher raised one bony hand.
And pointed.
Not at Null.
But behind him.
He turned—
And saw something buried in the walls of the pit. A cracked monolith of obsidian, pulsing with old code.
Letters carved in a language that didn't exist.
Except he knew what it said.
"When the Hollow Sovereign remembers what he forgot… the end begins again."
And beneath it:
[Do you wish to absorb the Forgotten Memory?]
[Yes / No]
Null hesitated.
Absorbing fragments had costs. The last one gave him three days of nightmares.
But he needed answers.
"Yes."
The world fell away.