The Last Resort—II

Something was wrong.

I had buried the thought, forcing it beneath the chaos of the Hound's relentless attacks and the ever-present gaze of the System. Yet, no matter how much I ignored it, the truth remained—an unshakable realization that I was merely delaying the inevitable.

The Fragment.

The fragment of the Nova Reaper remained inside me—an intruder that refused to be claimed.

It had not dissolved, nor had it broken or bent.

It rejected me.

I pulled harder. But nothing changed. My hunger, my force—everything that defined my existence—had been denied.

And as it rejected me—something inside me began to break.

I had never questioned it before—never even considered the possibility of failure

A singularity is absolute. That is the rule.I pull. I consume. I devour.That is what I am. That is what I have always been. That is why I exist.

But this… this thing inside me does not obey.

The realization rippled through me—a distortion at the very core of my being.

The Paradox Hound's attacks had never truly threatened this law.

Its conceptual negation was devastating, but it had always struck from the outside—never touching the heart of what I was.

The Hound had erased parts of my event horizon, but it had never reached my singularity.

But this fragment… this was different.

It was inside me. Too close.

And the moment I recognized that truth, the cracks began to spread.

My core trembled—fluctuating, unstable. My event horizon flickered, like a flame wavering in a storm.

I had never considered this possibility before.

What happens if a singularity fails to devour?

A singularity that cannot consume is nothing.

For the first time, I felt it. The weakening of my pull.

The fragment did not move, did not resist, did not fight—it simply refused. And as it did, my existence—my law of devouring—began to unravel.

I had always believed in my power, my hunger. That belief had never wavered. It was what sustained me, what kept me moving forward. My gravity was law.

But belief holds no weight when it gets shattered.

And here it was—proof that my hunger was not absolute.

A force that resisted.

A force that did not yield.

A force that refused to become part of me.

A singularity that cannot devour is not a singularity at all.

And as that realization settled within me, my pull weakened further.

No. No.

I refused. I could not accept this. I would not accept this.

This was not how I ended.

But the cracks were already there. Spreading. Growing.

I needed to act, to stop this before it was too late.

I had to do something. No matter what.

And in that moment, I sensed it—a colossal force of burning fury, an inferno suspended in the abyss.

Not a mere flicker in the void.

Not the shattered remains of a dying world, nor the drifting corpse of a collapsed star.

A colossal, living star, burning with enough mass to reignite my existence.

I reached for it, expanding my gravity, and I pulled it—

P.S. Author's Note:

You might notice that this chapter doesn't push the story forward just yet—that's intentional. Instead of advancing the plot, this chapter dives deeper into the protagonist's struggle, exploring a crucial moment that wasn't fully developed before. This insight is important, as it may play a key role in the future.

That said, the next chapter—where things really start moving—drops tomorrow! I'll be updating as fast as I can because this story is just getting started. There's a second volume planned, packed with the action and drama that won't fully unfold in this one. This volume lays the groundwork for something much bigger. 😉

Stay tuned!