2025-12-29 08:13:17The Grand Plaza of Xylos was a sea of shimmering gold and oppressive heat. Thousands of citizens—from the terrified laborers of the Sinks to the sneering aristocrats of the Spires—had been forced to gather. Above them, floating holoscreens broadcast the scene to every corner of the city.
In the center of the plaza stood ten residents of Jaxen’s home sector, kneeling on a raised platform. Behind each prisoner stood a Valerius "Sun-Guard," their golden blades glowing with the heat of an executioner’s fire.
Lord Valerius stood on the high balcony of the Justice Hall, his voice amplified by mana-rich speakers that made the very air tremble.
"Citizens! This is the price of treason!" Valerius roared. "The boy you call Jaxen, a Null who bit the hand that fed him, has hidden like a rat. Since he will not face his judgment, his blood will pay for his cowardice. Guards! Prepare the blades!"
On the screens, Seraphina stood behind her father, her face a mask of pale stone. Her Golden Eye was darting across the crowd, searching for the one soul she could no longer see.
The executioners raised their swords. The crowd gasped, some turning away, others cheering for the "purification."
"Three..." Valerius counted.
"Two..."
"One..."
"Zero."
The word didn't come from Valerius. It came from the wind itself.
A sudden, violent shockwave of absolute silence slammed into the plaza. It wasn't a sound—it was the absence of it. In an instant, every light in the plaza—the streetlamps, the floating holoscreens, even the glowing golden blades of the executioners—flickered and died.
The sun-spears turned into useless sticks of gray glass.
"What is this?!" Valerius screamed, his voice no longer amplified as the speakers lost power.
A single figure stepped out of the shadows of a nearby alleyway. He wore a tattered black cloak that seemed to drink the sunlight, and his footsteps echoed with a heavy, metallic rhythm.
[System Notification: Entering Combat Zone.] [Enemy Count: 400 Sun-Guards, 1 Level 90 Mana-King.] [Void Storage: 20%. Status: Predatory.]
"Jaxen!" Seraphina whispered, her voice carrying in the eerie silence.
Jaxen didn't run. He walked. Every step he took caused the marble floor of the plaza to crack and turn black. The high-tier aristocrats in the front row tried to cast spells to stop him, but the fireballs and ice-shards simply dissolved the moment they reached his three-foot radius.
"You wanted the 'Null'?" Jaxen called out, his voice flat and terrifyingly calm. "I’m right here. But I didn't come to beg for their lives. I came to show you that your 'Sun' is nothing but a flicker in my dark."
"Kill him!" Valerius commanded, his face purple with rage. "All of you! Now!"
Fifty Sun-Guards charged at once, their armor flaring with solar energy. They moved like streaks of gold. Jaxen didn't even raise his hands.
[Skill Activated: Void Pulsar (Rank D).]
A ring of violet-black energy erupted from Jaxen’s chest. It hit the guards with the force of a collapsing building. Their expensive mana-armor didn't just break—it was unmade. The guards were thrown back like ragdolls, their mana-veins temporarily short-circuited by the sudden vacuum.
Jaxen reached the execution platform in five seconds. He looked at the lead executioner, a man who had once mocked him at the Academy.
"I remember you," Jaxen said. "You said a Null's blood was only good for fertilizer."
The executioner tried to swing his sword, but Jaxen caught the blade with his bare hand. The crystal shattered into a thousand pieces. Jaxen gripped the man’s throat and lifted him off the ground.
[Siphoning... +5% Void Storage.]
He tossed the husk of the man aside and turned to face the Justice Hall balcony. The entire city was watching the "trash" son-in-law standing over the broken bodies of the elite.
"Valerius!" Jaxen shouted, his eyes glowing with a blinding violet light. "You think you’re a god because you control the Core? Look at your guards. Look at your city."
Jaxen slammed his gauntleted fist into the platform beneath his feet.
[Skill: World-Siphon.]
Instead of taking mana into himself, he forced his Void energy into the city’s grid. It was like pouring ink into a glass of milk. The golden veins of mana running through the plaza turned a toxic purple. One by one, the expensive mana-jewels worn by the aristocrats began to explode, unable to handle the negative frequency.
The aristocrats screamed as their "status symbols" turned into shrapnel.
"I’m not a battery anymore," Jaxen said, his voice broadcast through the now-corrupted speakers. "I’m the fuse. And I just blew."
Seraphina looked down at the contract mark on her wrist. It was glowing a deep, dangerous purple. She felt Jaxen’s power—not as a burden, but as a cold, absolute authority.
"Father," she whispered, stepping back as Jaxen began to levitate, his cloak billowing like a storm cloud. "We didn't marry a slave. We invited an apocalypse."
Jaxen pointed a finger at Lord Valerius. "Hundred days, Valerius. That was the deal. But I think I’ll finish this in ten."
[System Notification: Level Up! Level 58.] [Public Face-Slap Complete: Reputation in Rust-Sinks +1000%. Fear in Spires: MAXIMUM.]
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Chapter 13
The repair shack in the Lower District shook with the vibrations of the celebratory stamping outside. Word of the "Rusty Miracle" had spread through the slums faster than a steam-leak. The odds on "Zane" had shifted from 500-to-1 to a modest 50-to-1.Inside the garage, however, there was no partying.Jaxen lay underneath the chassis of the Mark-I, sparks showering down around him as he welded a reinforced strut. He wasn't using a welding torch. He was using his index finger, channeling a concentrated beam of high-frequency friction."Zane, stop!" Mila paced back and forth, clutching a handful of greasy credits—their winnings from a side-bet she had placed at the last second. "We have money now! We can buy a real hydraulic pump. We can buy a targeting computer! Why are you melting down toaster ovens and welding them to the legs?"Jaxen slid out from under the mech, his face smeared with oil. "Because hydraulic pumps are loud, Mila. And targeting computers can be hacked. I’m building so
Chapter 12
The "Iron-Scrap" qualification hall was a cavernous warehouse that smelled of stale beer and engine grease. Hundreds of mechanics and pilots crowded the floor, surrounding massive registration desks. The air was filled with the deafening roar of engines being revved and the clanking of metal fists testing their hydraulics.Jaxen stood beside the Mark-I Loader, which Mila had affectionately named "Rusty." To the naked eye, it was an embarrassment—a humanoid shape made of mismatched plates, exposed wires, and a cockpit that looked like a welded coffin. It didn't gleam like the other mechs; it absorbed light, its surface dull and cold."Everyone is staring at us," Mila hissed, pulling her cap down low. "This was a mistake. Look at them, Zane. That’s a Titan-Class Excavator over there. And that one? That’s a military-grade Striker. We’re going to get laughed out of the building.""Let them laugh," Jaxen said, wiping his hands on a rag. "Laughter is distracting. Fear is focused."He patted
Chapter 11
The northern border of Xylos was marked by the Wall of Sighs, a massive barrier of jagged, soot-stained steel that separated the magic-rich spires from the industrial wasteland of the Iron Duchy. Here, the air didn't smell like ozone and lavender; it smelled of burning coal, hot grease, and the bitter tang of sulfur.Jaxen stood at the end of a long, miserable line of refugees and laborers, his face partially obscured by a hooded traveler’s cloak. He had suppressed his Void Heart to the point of near-extinction. To any scanner or mana-sensitive guard, he was exactly what his forged papers claimed: Zane, a Level 3 scrap-mechanic with a faulty mana-vein and zero prospects.[System Notification: Stealth Mode Active.] [Void Presence: 0.001% (Undetectable).] [Warning: Local environment is saturated with Kinetic and Thermal energy. Siphon efficiency reduced by 40% unless physical contact is made.]"Next!" a guard barked.The guard wasn't wearing the elegant golden silk of the Sun-Guards. He
Chapter 10
The sky above Xylos was no longer a sky; it was a throat. The "Absolute Eclipse" had solidified into a swirling, obsidian canopy that pulsed with a slow, rhythmic violet light, echoing the heartbeat of the Void-Engine deep below. Within the city walls, the air was eerily still, but beyond the dome, the world was screaming.Jaxen stood on the precipice of the Aurelian Spire’s highest balcony, his white hair whipping in the chaotic winds generated by the clashing energies. Below him, the once-proud "Sun-Guards" were throwing down their spears, kneeling in the streets as the darkness washed over them. They weren't kneeling out of loyalty—they were kneeling because the very air had become too "heavy" for those who relied on stolen light.[System Notification: Level 100 Stabilized.] [Status: Global Threat Level - SSS.] [Awaiting Directive: Expand or Consolidate?]"Jaxen."The voice was soft, but in the silence of the Void, it sounded like a bell. He didn't turn. He knew the resonance of he
Chapter 9
Lord Valerius stared at the dust of his ancestral staff as it slipped through Jaxen’s fingers. The silence in the Throne Room was absolute, broken only by the whimpering of the advisors who had crawled into the corners like beaten dogs."You... you are a monster," Valerius hissed, his voice trembling. "The world will not stand for this. The other Spires—The Iron Duchy, the Lunar Sect—they will see what you are. They will burn Xylos to the ground to kill you!""Let them watch," Jaxen said.He moved so fast the air itself shrieked. He grabbed Valerius by the golden breastplate and slammed him into the throne. The impact shattered the mana-crystal seat, sending shards flying like diamonds.[Skill Activated: Soul-Rend.] [Siphoning the Valerius Bloodline...]Jaxen didn't kill him instantly. He reached into the man’s soul and began to pull. The golden mana that gave Valerius his youth and strength was dragged out in shimmering, agonizing strands. The Chancellor’s skin began to wrinkle; his
Chapter 8
The descent into the lowest levels of the Spire felt like walking into the throat of a dying god.Jaxen strode through the corridors of the sub-basement, his every footfall a death knell for the Valerius dynasty. Behind him, Seraphina followed in a daze. She had spent her entire life believing that mana was the only true currency of the universe, yet here was a man who moved through the most concentrated magical fields in the world as if they were nothing more than a light breeze.[System Notification: Proximity to Blood-Core—200 Meters.] [Warning: Ambient Mana Pressure is exceeding safe limits for biological entities.] [Void Heart Status: Overclocking. Storage: 92%.]"Jaxen, stop," Seraphina gasped, clutching her chest. Her Golden Eye was weeping tears of light. "The pressure... it’s too much. Not even my father comes down here without a Level 9 Aegis Suit. Your skin... it’s starting to smoke."Jaxen didn't turn back. "The smoke isn't from the heat, Seraphina. It’s the world trying t
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