2026-04-12 23:58:18Catherine looked at his hand. Trust was a word she hadn't used in a long time. In the world of high-level sorcery, trust was a weakness. Trust got you killed. Her own family had been the ones who cursed her core, jealous of her potential.
But as she looked at Adam, she didn't see a spy. She didn't see a mage. She saw a boy who had been treated like trash by the world, yet he was the only one brave enough to stand in the cold with her.
[Favorable Impression: -85 -> -40]
[Progress: The target is hesitating. Keep going!]"What do you want in return?" she asked, her voice regaining some of its sharpness. "Money? Power? Revenge on that Martinez boy?"
"All of it," Adam said honestly. "I want everything they said I couldn't have. But I want to earn it. And I want you to be the one to teach me."
Catherine let out a short, dry laugh. "Teach a Null? That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever—"
She stopped. Her face went pale—whiter than usual. She turned her head toward the heavy oak doors of her sanctum.
Adam heard it too.
BAM. BAM. BAM.
It wasn't a normal knock. It was the sound of something heavy slamming against the wood.
"Professor Cook!" a booming voice shouted. It was a voice filled with authority, sounding like a judge delivering a death sentence. "By order of the Holy Council, open these doors! We have received reports of 'Unstable Essence' radiating from this tower!"
Catherine’s eyes widened with terror. "The Inquisition," she whispered. "Not now. Not today."
"Who are they?" Adam asked, sensing the shift in the air. The room was suddenly filled with a different kind of light—a bright, golden glow that began to seep through the cracks in the door.
"They are the Purity Seekers," Catherine said, her voice frantic. She began to wave her hands, trying to hide the scrolls on her desk, but her magic was failing. The black smoke was leaking out of her chest in thick clouds now, triggered by her panic. "They hunt 'Corrupted' mages. If they see my core if they see the Soul-Frost they won't try to cure me. They will execute me on the spot to 'purify' the Academy."
"Can't you stop them?" Adam asked. "You're a Professor!"
"They have the King’s Seal," she said, her breath coming in short gasps. The room was becoming darker as the black smoke filled the air. "My magic is ice. It is 'Cold' mana. Theirs is 'Holy' mana. It is my direct opposite. If they enter this room, the reaction between my corruption and their light will cause an explosion."
BAM!
The door groaned. A crack appeared in the wood, and a beam of blinding golden light shot into the room. It hit the floor and hissed like hot oil.
[Urgent Mission Update!]
[The Inquisition has arrived for a Purity Check.][If Catherine Cook is discovered, the Host will be killed as an accomplice.][New Skill Unlocked: Void Suppression (Temporary).]"Catherine, look at me!" Adam grabbed her shoulders.
She was shaking. The "Ice Witch" was terrified. She was a Tier 7 Mage, but she was a little girl in the face of the Inquisition.
"I can hide it," Adam said. "I can pull the smoke into myself for a few minutes. But you have to let me in. You have to lower your shields."
"I can't," she sobbed. "It will kill you!"
"Let it try!" Adam yelled over the sound of the crashing door.
The door began to splinter. The golden light was filling the room, burning away the frost.
"Open the door, Professor!" the voice outside shouted. "Or we will break it down in the name of the Sun!"
Catherine looked at Adam. She saw the purple glow in his eyes. She saw the absolute certainty on his face. She had no choice. She closed her eyes and let out a long, shaky breath.
The invisible wall of cold around her vanished.
Adam didn't hesitate. He slammed his hand against her chest, right over the black wound in her core.
[Void Suppression: ACTIVE.]
A massive surge of darkness erupted from Adam’s arm. It wasn't the "bad" kind of darkness; it was the darkness of a vacuum, a hunger that could not be filled. The black smoke leaking from Catherine didn't just stop; it was sucked into Adam’s palm like water down a drain.
Adam’s eyes turned pitch black. His veins began to glow with a dark violet light. He felt like his heart was being torn in half, but he didn't let go. He stood there, acting as a bridge, pulling the corruption out of her and hiding it inside his own "Null" body.
"Hide your eyes," Adam groaned through clenched teeth.
Catherine quickly pulled a veil over her face and sat down at her desk, trying to look composed.
The doors to the sanctum exploded.
A group of five men in white and gold armor marched into the room. They carried shields that glowed with a blinding sun-like radiance. In the center was a tall man with a shaved head and a golden cross tattooed over his eye. He held a crystal orb that was pulsing with a violent red light.
"Professor Cook," the man said, his eyes scanning the room. He looked at the frost, the scrolls, and finally, he looked at Adam, who was standing stiffly by the window, his back to them.
"High Inquisitor Malphas," Catherine said. Her voice was cold again, but Adam could feel her heart racing through their bond. "This is an unexpected intrusion. I was in the middle of a private lesson."
Malphas didn't look at her. He looked at the crystal orb in his hand. The orb was turning darker and darker.
"A private lesson? With a Null?" Malphas asked, his voice filled with suspicion. He began to walk toward Adam. "The sensors at the gate detected a massive surge of Forbidden Energy coming from this tower. It smelled of rot. It smelled of the Void."
He stopped three feet behind Adam.
"Boy," Malphas commanded. "Turn around and show me your face."
Adam didn't move. He was fighting with everything he had to keep the black smoke inside him. It was clawing at his throat, trying to get out. If he opened his mouth, he would vomit darkness.
"I said," Malphas growled, his golden shield beginning to glow with a heat that made the ice walls scream, "Turn. Around."
Adam slowly began to turn. His face was pale. His eyes were closed.
"Is there a problem, Inquisitor?" Catherine asked, her hand moving toward a hidden wand beneath her desk.
Malphas ignored her. He reached out a gloved hand and grabbed Adam’s chin, forcing him to look up.
"Open your eyes, Null," Malphas hissed. "Let’s see what you’re hiding in the dark."
Adam’s eyelids fluttered.
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Chapter 342
The Great Cathedral was not a place of worship. It was a cold, metal factory disguised in stone and stained glass. Deep beneath the marble floor, where the air tasted of burning oil, Adam Cook moved with the silence of a falling shadow.Catherine followed close behind. Her blue eyes were wide, scanning the dim, flickering hallways. They were deep within the forbidden archives of the Inquisition. This was the place the High Inquisitor had kept hidden from the world for centuries.Adam stopped in front of a heavy door made of reinforced black iron. He didn't need a key. He reached out with a pale, trembling finger and felt the faint, buzzing hum of the locks. They weren't just mechanical. They were woven with light."Step back," Adam whispered. His voice was a strange, hollow sound that seemed to vibrate inside Catherine’s own skull.He didn't use a spell. He didn't summon the Void. He simply leaned his forehead against the iron. He reached into the metal, feeling the way the atoms held
Chapter 341
The sky over the Capital turned a sickly, bruised green. Adam Cook stood on the high rooftop, his hand stinging where the communication crystal had shattered. Catherine stood behind him, her blue eyes wide as she watched the clouds boil with dark, alien energy."The Prime Creator is playing with time," Adam whispered. His voice was a flat, metallic rumble. "He is using the refugees I saved as a beacon. He wants to trigger the end of the world right on top of them."Adam walked toward a tall, ornate glass window set into the rooftop structure. He needed to check his own stability. The Grave of Kings protocol was pulsing deep in his marrow, threatening to consume his physical form. He felt like he was held together by nothing more than willpower and the heavy, black gravity of his own chest.He stopped in front of the glass. In the reflection, Adam did not see a teenage boy in a torn black suit. He didn't see the pale skin of the boy from the Lower City, nor did he see the obsidian s
Chapter 340
The golden seal in the sky hummed with a low, vibrating drone. It was an ancient, terrible piece of magic. It was a net made of pure, killing light that began to sink toward the desert floor. Adam Cook stood in the center of the canyon, his feet rooted to the melting stone. Beside him, Catherine trembled. The heat from the seal was already boiling the groundwater.Adam knew he could not stop the seal with his bare hands. He looked at the vast, uncaring desert. He looked at the mountain of ice that Valerius had built. He realized that the Inquisition was not trying to fight a war anymore. They were trying to erase the board."Hold onto me," Adam said. His voice was a calm, steady anchor. He didn't fight the golden seal. Instead, he reached out with his mind and found the heartbeat of the mountain. He folded the space between the canyon floor and the dark tunnel system beneath the palace ruins. They didn't travel through the air. They skipped the space in between. They were suddenl
Chapter 339
The steel floor of the Inquisition flagship groaned under the weight of the golden chains. Adam Cook knelt on the metal deck, his pale skin burning where the holy runes bit into his flesh. High Inquisitor Kross stood over him, his face twisted in a mask of triumph. The chains hummed with a low, agonizing frequency that vibrated in Adam’s very marrow. "The shackles of the Order are forged from the bones of the first mages," Kross sneered, leaning down to stare into Adam’s eyes. "They do not just hold your limbs. They bind your potential. You are a Duke-Level threat reduced to a common prisoner in the blink of an eye."Adam remained motionless. He didn't fight the pull of the chains. His mind was a calm, dark lake. He could feel the golden strings of the Inquisition’s anchor digging into his soul, but underneath that, he felt the heavy, rhythmic pulse of the Void. He was not just a boy anymore. He was the anchor. He was the end of the line."You speak of orders," Adam said. His voice
Chapter 338
The massive, golden flagship of the Inquisition groaned under the weight of Adam Cook’s sudden intrusion. The floor beneath Adam’s boots was not made of simple iron. It was made of shifting, complex metal plates that hummed with a deep, rhythmic vibration. The ship was alive.Adam stood in the center of the command deck. Catherine was pressed closely against his back, her blue eyes scanning the dark, flickering corridors. The interior of the ship looked like a nightmare of luxury and death. White marble statues of forgotten gods stood against walls of cold, black steel. The air tasted like recycled mana and burnt ozone.Adam closed his eyes. He didn't need to look with his physical sight. Ever since his body had fused with the Void, his perception had expanded past the walls of the room. He felt the world as a heartbeat. He felt the planet as a giant, living drum. He stretched his mind outward. The Void-Link in his chest surged. He didn't just feel the ship anymore. He felt the en
Chapter 337
The tunnel of light roared like a hurricane. Adam and Catherine tumbled through the impossible space between worlds. The white walls of the tunnel were made of screaming numbers and shifting geometric shapes. This was the place where reality was written. Adam did not fight the fall. He used his dark wings to hold Catherine against his chest, shielding her from the jagged edges of broken time. He knew that if he hit the walls of this tunnel, they would be erased from history. Suddenly, the tunnel ended. They slammed into a floating island made of solid, violet shadow. It was a pocket dimension created by the Void itself. It was a silent, gray place where no wind blew and no sun shone. Adam rolled to his feet. He felt his physical body tearing apart. The transition had cost him everything. His chest felt empty. His lungs were burning for air. He was flickering, turning into transparent smoke, then back into a pale boy, over and over again. "Adam!" Catherine cried, scrambling up. "Y
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