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 145
Adam sat high in the dark, dusty rafters of the main Academy building. Outside, the cold rain hit the glass windows. He only had one week until the mid-term festival. He only had one week to stop Emily and Elias from blowing up the school. Adam realized his old tactics were too slow. Stalking targets one by one, following them through the halls, took too many days. He needed a faster way to hunt. He needed systematic efficiency. Adam closed his dead, dark brown eyes. He did not open the Gate of Hunger, but he tapped gently on the door of the "Grave of Kings." He let the sensory overload of his hollow soul flood his brain. Instantly, the dark school disappeared. Adam’s mind filled with a glowing, three-dimensional map of the entire Academy. He could see the bright, warm blue lights of normal students sleeping in their beds. And he could see the sick, pulsing red strings of the Blood Cult. Adam watched the red strings move like a giant spiderweb. He saw exactly where the cult memb
Chapter 144
Adam stood on the wooden beam high above the candlelit room. His cover was blown. Toby and the other corrupted students were staring directly at his invisible shape in the dark. "Hello, Adam," Emily’s voice echoed. Her dark-purple scar glowed brightly, reflecting in the sick, yellow eyes of her followers. Adam did not panic. His hollow mind worked like a cold, perfect machine. He stepped off the wooden beam. He fell twenty feet through the air and landed perfectly on the dusty stone floor. He made absolutely no sound. The thirty uncorrupted students gasped and stepped backward. But the ten students who had already taken the vow did not move. They stood in front of Emily, moving their feet at the exact same time. They were a perfect, creepy wall of human shields. Adam slowly stood up straight. His dead, dark brown eyes locked onto Emily. "You need to stop this, Emily," Adam said. His voice was completely flat and emotionless. "Put the silver cup down."Emily laughed. It was a loud
Chapter 143
Adam stood completely frozen in the dark hallway. The sharp, black diamond dagger was in his hand. He looked through the crack in the wooden door. He saw the Elias inside the room, standing next to Emily. Then, Adam looked at the second Elias standing right next to him in the hall. "If you attack," the Elias in the hallway whispered, smiling his polite, evil smile, "we will slaughter every sleeping student in the dormitories. The Master has many hands, Adam."Adam’s hollow mind worked like a lightning-fast computer. He calculated the math of the fight. He could kill both copies of Elias right now. He could kill Emily. But he could not be in two places at once. If he started a war tonight, hundreds of innocent children would die in their beds before morning. Adam made a cold, logical choice. He closed his hand. The black diamond dagger vanished into nothing. "Good boy," the Elias in the hallway laughed softly. The tall boy in the dark blue uniform suddenly melted. His body turned
Chapter 142
Emily sat on the cold, dusty floor of the old alchemy building. The dark room smelled like old dried herbs and damp stone. Elias, the tall boy in the dark blue uniform, stood over her. The thick, red blood magic he had given her was pumping through her veins. "Breathe, Emily," Elias whispered. His voice was smooth and polite. "Do not fight the void-scar. The Academy teaches you to control magic with rules. But true power has no rules. Push the red blood magic directly into the scar. Feed it."Emily closed her eyes. She focused her mind. The dark-purple scar on her right arm usually burned with terrible pain. It always tried to eat her life force. But this time, Emily pushed the heavy red blood magic into the jagged wound. The hungry scar drank the red liquid. The pulsing pain instantly stopped. Emily gasped. A cold, rushing thrill of pure energy exploded in her chest. The void-scar was no longer a parasite. It became an engine. It pumped massive, terrifying power back into her bod
Chapter 141
So, Adam did absolutely nothing. He just looked at her with his dead, cold, dark brown eyes. He showed no pity. He showed no surprise. He was just a blank, hollow shell. Emily saw his dead eyes. Her paranoid, angry mind completely misunderstood his silence. “He is not surprised,” Emily thought. “He is looking right at my arm. He knows what happened to me.” "You knew," Emily whispered. Her voice trembled with pure, toxic hatred. Adam blinked slowly. "Knew what, Emily?" he asked in a flat, monotone voice. "You told me to be safe!" Emily hissed, stepping closer. "You told me to stay ordinary. But you knew the relic was trapped! You knew I was going to look for a way to get stronger, and you let me walk right into the fire!"Adam’s face did not change. He just stared at her. To his cold, hollow mind, her anger was just noise. She was not a threat to his mission. "I have class, Emily," Adam said simply. He walked right past her, not looking back. Emily stood in the courtyard, her wh
Chapter 140
The red lightning in the dark, underground room suddenly changed color. It did not stay bright red. It turned into a violent, dark-purple flash of pure void-energy. Emily screamed. The Cursed Lexicon did not give her "Instant Ascension." It did not make her a god. The ancient artifact was a trap. It was hungry. The jagged, rusty iron shard on the cover of the book shot forward. It slashed violently across Emily’s right forearm. The pain was worse than anything she had ever felt. It felt like a hundred angry wasps were stinging her skin all at once. The dark-purple void-energy poured out of the book and burned directly into the deep cut on her arm. "Ahhhh!" Emily cried out, falling to the hard stone floor. The heavy black book dropped onto the ground next to her. The dark-purple light faded away. The book looked completely dead and normal again. But Emily was not normal. She held her right arm. The cut was not bleeding normal red blood. Instead, a jagged, dark-purple scar was p
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