2026-04-12 23:58:39The heat from High Inquisitor Malphas’s hand felt like a branding iron against Adam’s skin. The golden light coming from the Inquisitor’s shield was so bright that even with his eyes closed, Adam saw nothing but a searing, painful red.
Inside his body, a war was raging.
The black smoke he had sucked out of Catherine’s chest was not sitting still. It felt like a thousand angry wasps were trapped in his stomach, trying to sting their way out. His veins felt like they were filled with crushed ice and battery acid. Every second he kept his eyes closed was a second he spent fighting the urge to scream.
"I will not ask you again, boy," Malphas growled. His voice was deep and heavy, like the sound of large stones being ground together. "Open your eyes. If your soul is pure, the light of the Sun will not harm you. If you are hiding the rot of the Void, you will be blinded. It is a simple choice."
[Warning! Warning!]
[Void Capacity: 99.9%][Internal Pressure: Critical.][System Note: You cannot hold this energy alone. If you do not find a way to ground this power, you will explode. The explosion will destroy this tower and everyone in it.]I can't Adam thought, his mind racing. If I open my eyes, they’ll see the purple fire. If I don’t, he’ll kill me.
[Proposed Solution: Temporary Soul-Binding.]
[Description: Use the target, Catherine Cook, as a lightning rod. Transfer 50% of the corrupted mana back to her, but filtered through your 'Null' body. This will stabilize both of you.][Condition: Physical contact is required. Heart-to-heart or Hand-to-hand.]Adam didn't have time to think about the "Physical contact" part. He just knew he was about to die.
With a sudden burst of strength, Adam jerked his chin out of Malphas’s grip. He didn't run for the door. Instead, he lunged toward the desk where Catherine was sitting.
"What are you doing?!" Malphas shouted, reaching for the hilt of a glowing silver sword at his waist. "Guards! Subdue him!"
The white-armored guards moved fast, their spears leveling toward Adam’s back.
But Catherine was faster. Whether it was instinct or the System’s influence, she stood up just as Adam reached her. She didn't move away. She saw the desperation in his eyes—eyes that were still squeezed shut—and she saw the way his skin was beginning to crack with violet light.
Adam didn't care about the guards or the Inquisition anymore. He reached out and grabbed Catherine’s hand.
His fingers locked with hers. Her hand was ice-cold, and his was burning hot.
[Binding Initialized.]
[The First Sovereign Link: Established.]A shockwave of energy rippled through the room. It wasn't a loud explosion, but a silent pulse of power that made the floating crystals in the room shatter at once. The guards were thrown back a few inches, their boots skidding on the frost.
"Stay back!" Catherine commanded. Her voice was no longer trembling. It was the voice of the Ice Witch again, but it had a new edge to it—a resonance she hadn't felt in years.
Malphas stopped. He looked at their joined hands. His eyes narrowed with deep suspicion. "Professor Cook what is the meaning of this? Why are you touching this Null?"
Before Catherine could answer, the door to the sanctum—which was already broken—was pushed open even further.
A young man stepped through the wreckage. He was wearing an expensive, tailored uniform with the lion crest of the Martinez family. His hair was perfectly combed, but his face was twisted into a look of smug excitement.
It was Julian Martinez.
"Ah, Inquisitor Malphas!" Julian said, his voice dripping with fake concern. "I see you found him. I told you, didn't I? I saw Adam Cook sneaking toward this tower with a very strange look in his eyes. For a Null to be here, he must be up to something illegal. Perhaps he’s trying to steal the Professor’s research?"
Julian’s eyes landed on Adam and Catherine. He saw their hands locked together. His smug smile vanished instantly, replaced by a look of pure, unrefined shock.
"Adam?" Julian stammered. "Why why are you holding the Professor’s hand?"
He looked at Catherine, waiting for her to blast Adam into dust. He expected her to be disgusted. He expected her to scream. But she wasn't doing any of those things. She was standing perfectly still, her eyes fixed on Adam.
"Julian," Adam said. He finally opened his eyes.
Julian flinched, expecting to see something horrific. But he didn't see the Void. He didn't see the black smoke.
Because of the "Binding," the System was doing something incredible. It was taking the black, corrupted mana from Adam’s body and "filtering" it through the Void Path. Then, it was pumping it back into Catherine. But it wasn't coming back as poison. It was coming back as pure, refined frost-energy.
And the leftover energy? It was filling Adam.
Adam wasn't just standing there. He was glowing.
A soft, ethereal blue light began to radiate from his skin. It wasn't the harsh, burning light of the Inquisition. It was a calm, moonlight glow. His hair seemed to float slightly in an invisible breeze. His navy-blue rags didn't look like trash anymore; in this light, they looked like the robes of a young prince.
"What what is this?" Malphas whispered. He raised his crystal orb.
The orb, which had been pulsing red with "Danger," suddenly turned a clear, brilliant blue.
"The resonance" Malphas muttered, his voice filled with confusion. "It’s pure. It’s it’s the purest frost-mana I’ve ever seen. But he’s a Null! He shouldn't be able to hold even a drop of mana!"
Catherine took a deep breath. She felt the change immediately. The heavy, crushing weight in her chest—the black smoke that had been killing her for a decade—was being pulled away. In its place, she felt a cool, refreshing flow of energy. For the first time in years, she didn't feel like she was dying. She felt powerful.
She looked at Adam. She saw the sweat on his brow. She saw how hard he was working to stay standing. He was acting as a filter, taking her filth and giving her back life.
She turned her gaze toward Malphas and Julian. Her eyes were cold, but they were no longer desperate.
"Inquisitor," she said, her voice like a winter wind. "You asked what this was. This is my private business. Adam Cook is not a spy. He is my chosen catalyst."
"A Catalyst?" Julian shouted, his face turning red with jealousy. "That’s impossible! Only the highest-tier mages can act as catalysts for a Tier 7 Professor! This boy is a Null! He’s a scholarship brat! He washes the floors!"
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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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