24: Contradictions in the Dark

---

The abandoned house stood like a silent ghost in the darkness.

Its walls were decayed, its windows shattered, and the air was thick with the stifling scent of dampness. It wasn't a comforting place, but it was a suitable refuge.

Nullus sat on a torn couch while Iggy stood beside him, staring into the void with his enigmatic eyes.

He spoke in a quiet voice, yet there was a serious undertone to it:

"We need to search for Domains… if we want answers."

---

But Nullus wasn't listening.

His hand pressed against his forehead, eyes closed, as if trying to gather his scattered thoughts.

Then he lifted his head and spoke, his voice low but carrying an underlying resolve:

"Iggy, you can't expect me to search for Domains as if that's my priority."

"Celine… the Organization took her, and I'm certain everything happening now is a trap to capture me."

"My only backup plan was to use the Assassins' Agency."

"But it failed."

"And now?"

"Now, I'm going to save her."

---

Iggy didn't respond immediately.

He stood there, staring at Nullus with unreadable eyes.

Then, with a faint smirk, he said calmly:

"This is quite interesting, really."

"Just moments ago, you killed a man without a hint of remorse."

"And now, you want to save someone you've only known for a few weeks?"

"Strange… isn't it?"

---

Nullus froze for a moment.

"What does he mean?"

But soon, he felt anger rising within him.

His voice turned cold as he replied:

"That has nothing to do with this."

"Killing that man was necessary."

"But Celine… she's not just someone."

"She's the only one who…"

He stopped. He didn't finish the sentence.

---

Iggy noticed and let out a light chuckle.

Then he said:

"Hah… you don't even know why you want to save her, do you?"

"Is she someone who matters to you? Or do you simply refuse to lose what you think belongs to you?"

"You say you don't care about humans, yet here you are, willing to risk everything for one of them?"

"And even worse… you're not even sure she needs saving."

"Maybe she's not the victim you imagine."

---

Nullus felt something crack inside him.

For a moment, he didn't know how to respond.

"Why do I really want to save her?"

"Is it because I care about her?"

"Or because I refuse to let someone who stood by me be taken away?"

"Do I truly see humans as mere tools?"

---

But instead of acknowledging his doubts, he chose to respond with determination:

"Iggy, if you're not going to help me, don't waste my time."

"I'm going."

---

Iggy didn't stop him.

He simply watched him quietly and then said:

"As you wish."

"But remember…"

"The answers you seek… may not be what you expect."

---

Before Iggy could finish his words, a storm of knives exploded in Nullus's mind.

It wasn't just a headache—it was the sensation of something tearing apart inside him, as if his very mind was being reshaped by force.

The pain wasn't just a feeling. It was an existence of its own, a savage entity burrowing inside him, ripping everything apart, rearranging it in ways he couldn't understand.

It felt like cold blades sinking into his brain, twisting slowly, then yanked out violently only to stab again. Each pulse in his head was like a small explosion, as if his very soul was being torn apart.

His head suddenly felt heavy. Reality blurred.

His mind—the fortress he had always relied on—was now collapsing like a sandcastle under a relentless storm.

Then… he saw.

---

Flashes—

Glimpses of memories he had never lived. Or perhaps had forgotten.

A faceless figure staring at him through a cracked mirror.

Delicate fingers closing around his wrist, warming him… or maybe strangling him.

Dozens of eyes in the darkness, watching without blinking.

A distant laughter—one he should remember, yet it felt foreign, as if it belonged to someone who had died centuries ago.

Then…

Something moved behind him.

In the realm of memories, Nullus turned—only to see a writhing black void, a vortex swallowing both past and present.

---

In reality, his body was no longer under his control.

He fell to his knees, gripping his head, his nails digging into his skin until blood dripped down.

Iggy's voice was distant, distorted, like someone speaking from underwater.

But he felt him approaching, kneeling beside him.

Then, Iggy's voice came again—calm, yet heavy, as if it echoed from an ancient dream:

"Nullus? What do you see?"

But Nullus couldn't answer.

Because in his mind, the lost memories were rising from the grave.

---

In the depths of pain, in the whirlwind of shattered recollections, Nullus saw himself as he had never seen before…

The First Chaos.

A world burning.

It wasn't just destruction. It was the complete collapse of reality itself.

The skies split apart, the earth crumbled, and existence became an endless scream.

He stood there, amidst the catastrophe, his eyes dark and featureless, his hands reaching out as if they were tools for something older than him—something beyond names.

With a mere gesture, cities collapsed into themselves, folding as if physics had ceased to function.

People didn't die… they were erased.

As if they had never existed.

And deep within, something inside him laughed…

Was it him? Or something else?

---

Another flash.

A different world.

Here, they didn't flee. They didn't kneel, begging for mercy.

They fought back.

He saw warriors charging toward him, their eyes blazing with a determination he had never witnessed before.

"Monster!" one of them shouted.

"Plague!" another cried.

"You are the curse of existence!"

He paused for a moment, surprised.

They were looking at him as if he was something that needed to be destroyed.

But why? Wasn't he the one who had created this moment? Wasn't he the beginning and the end?

Then, for the first time, he felt something strange—something he wasn't supposed to feel.

Hesitation.

---

Darkness.

In the space that lies beyond human concepts… beyond the universe and what humans call "existence," entities of incomprehensible forms spoke through something beyond the concept of sound.

A familiar voice…

"You are a danger, Nullus. Even to yourself."

A face he couldn't fully remember, but the words carried something he had never heard before… Pity? Fear?

"We have no choice."

Suddenly, he felt something closing around him—not a physical restraint, but a concept, locking him in, binding him, imprisoning him inside words that repeated endlessly.

Words. Letters. Sentences…

A Book.

The book closed.

And so did he.

---

Nullus gasped, as if he had been drowning in a sea of memories and had finally surfaced.

He looked around, sweat dripping from his forehead, his breath ragged.

Iggy was there, watching him with calm eyes, as if he had known this would happen.

"Nullus…" Iggy said slowly. "What did you see?"

Nullus didn't answer immediately. His fingers were still trembling, his mind struggling to process what had just occurred.

He had planned to save Celine… but now, he realized there was something far more important.

Saving her was a momentary decision. But reclaiming himself? Understanding what he was? Why he was imprisoned?

That was fundamental.

He lifted his head, and his eyes no longer held the same emotions they had just moments ago.

"Iggy…" he said, his voice cold this time. "We have something else to do."