The wind howled like a beast starved of its prey, but Null moved forward unrelenting. The sand whipped against his skin, a constant, stinging assault that refused to relent. But none of it mattered. The farther he walked, the more the air around him seemed to pulse, as though it was alive, resonating with his every step.
And then, just as he thought he might be swallowed by the Wastes, the ruins parted before him.
A massive, looming tower of jagged stone and obsidian stretched into the sky, its top lost in a swirling vortex of black clouds and lightning. The air around the tower twisted, distorting reality itself. The structure groaned, as though something within it was stirring, awakening after an eternity of silence.
Null stood at the foot of the tower, gazing up at the endless ascent. His heart, cold and unyielding, pulsed with something he couldn't name. A whisper of recognition. A tug of longing. A bitter promise broken.
[World Event: The Tower of Forgotten Vows Detected.]
[Danger Level: Rank A++ – High risk of temporal collapse. Entry strongly advised to proceed with caution.]
Null smirked. He was beyond caution now.
The moment he stepped forward, the air seemed to crack and twist, the space itself protesting his arrival. Time rippled. The ground underfoot shimmered, as though reality itself was holding its breath.
[System Message: Unstable Temporal Resonance – Beginning Adjustment.]
A voice echoed from the depths of the tower—low, chilling, yet strangely familiar. It seemed to seep into his very soul, an unnerving blend of longing and command.
"You return… too late."
Null's eyes narrowed. That voice.
He'd heard it before.In dreams.In echoes.In fragments.
He knew the source.Knew the name.
"I didn't come to listen to your regrets," Null called back, his voice cutting through the wind. "I came for the Sovereign's Lost Authority. I came to finish what we started."
There was silence for a moment—so thick, it felt like the very air was stifling him.
Then, the voice spoke again, tinged with ancient sorrow.
"You will never claim the Sovereign's Authority. It is buried with all that was lost. It is beyond your reach."
Null clenched his fists, his resolve hardening. "You're wrong."
He began walking again, this time more purposefully, his steps heavier as the weight of his words pressed down on him. The tower seemed to shift, as though reacting to his defiance, its surface rippling like the surface of water disturbed by a stone.
He could feel it now—something was watching him from the tower's height, something ancient and powerful. Something that feared him.
And that fear was exactly why he had come.
The path to the tower's entrance was long and twisted. As Null moved forward, strange visions flashed before him—glimpses of his past. Fragmented memories of a life he had long since discarded, a life full of betrayal, war, and death.
[Memory Fragment Detected: Sovereign's First Oath.]
[Warning: Forced Memory Recall – Identity Shift Possible.]
Null forced himself to focus. He had to ignore the memories, push them aside. The path was the only thing that mattered now.
He reached the base of the tower, the entrance looming before him. The stone door was cracked and weathered, but there was something unmistakable about the power that lay beyond it.
He reached out and placed his hand on the door. The moment he did, the ground beneath him trembled, and the air seemed to crack open.
[World Event: Temporal Collapse in Progress.]
Null pulled his hand back, but it was too late. The door flew open, releasing a pulse of energy that knocked him back, throwing him to the ground.
His vision blurred. His breath caught in his chest.
For a moment, he thought the world had ended.
And then, he heard the voice again—louder now, more urgent.
"Enter. Claim your fate. But know this—every step forward is a step deeper into oblivion."
Null slowly pushed himself up, his heart beating like a drum in his chest.
"Oblivion can wait," he muttered, stepping through the doorway.
The moment he crossed the threshold, the tower seemed to collapse inward, the very air around him warping and twisting. It felt like reality itself was trying to suffocate him, but he powered through, drawing strength from the Hollow Core within him.
Inside, the tower was even more alien than the Wastes. The walls shifted, as though they were alive, pulsing with a strange energy. There were no stairs—no clear path upward. Instead, the tower's interior was a labyrinth, its corridors twisting and looping on themselves.
And the deeper he went, the darker it became. The shadows stretched unnaturally, reaching out toward him with clawed hands.
[System Message: Temporal Collapse Warning – Energy Field Saturation Detected.]
Null didn't stop. He couldn't afford to.
The deeper he went, the stronger the pull became—the pull toward something at the heart of the tower. Something waiting for him.
As he rounded a corner, the light flickered, and a figure appeared in the distance.
A woman.Clad in white armor.Her eyes were empty, hollow.
Null's breath caught in his throat.
It was her.
The woman from his past—the one who had once stood by his side. The one who had once made the same promise he had.
"You…" Null whispered, his voice breaking.
She stared at him, her lips moving soundlessly.
Then she spoke.
"You are too late."