Chapter 2 – That Which Dwells in the Abyss (1)

Part 1

The silence hurt.

Not because it was peaceful.

But because it was perfect.

No wind.

No echoes.

Only droplets.

Plink… plink… plink…

Rei Kanzaki hung from a wooden cross-like structure, chained by shackles as dark as the void around him.

His wrists were raw. His skin torn. The metal felt alive, tightening every time he tried to move.

He didn't know how long he'd been there.

Hours. Days? Weeks? Time didn't exist in the depths of the Pit. Only the endless sound of dripping water.

Sometimes, he managed to raise his head just enough to open his mouth and catch a single dirty, salty, bitter drop.

That was all he had left.

His clothes were in tatters. His body was covered in bruises, dried blood, and scars he couldn't even remember feeling.

But the worst part wasn't the pain. Or the hunger. Or the cold.

It was the feeling of being watched.

Not from afar. Not like a prisoner.

But like a… specimen.

Something was staring at him from beyond the darkness.

An ancient presence. Colossal.

Something that would drive any mortal insane.

It was as if the eyes of the universe had opened… just for him.

And even so… Rei didn't scream. He didn't beg.

He just breathed… Very, very slowly.

Because he knew that if he did anything else… his death would come faster.

Not because of that being but because his body was already at the edge.

"…Interesting."

The voice didn't sound. It didn't vibrate. It simply appeared.

"Many have fallen here. Some cried. Others prayed. Some tore their skin off. But you…"

"You simply wait."

An eye appeared in the darkness.

Massive. Fluid. As if it had opened in the fabric of reality itself.

"Are you not afraid? Or perhaps… you simply have nothing left to lose?"

Rei lifted his gaze with effort.

He didn't respond.

But he smiled.

A broken smile.

Dirty.

Real.

"How fascinating…"

"Most lose their sanity the moment they lay eyes on me. But you…"

"You have no sanity left to lose, do you?"

"Who are you?" Rei growled, barely raising his voice. "The monster those idiots from the Church worship so much?"

The silence twisted.

And then… a laugh.

"Ha, ha, ha… what a fascinating human."

"Let's say this world and I… don't get along. They fear me. That's why I'm locked in this dungeon."

"What is it you find so amusing?"

"Oh, that hatred… So pure. So exquisite."

"Sublime. Like a symphony of resentment compressed into a single vessel."

"Tell me… what is your name?"

Rei didn't answer right away. Not out of pride.

But because, in that moment… he wasn't sure he was still himself.

"That name... means nothing anymore."

"Oh… so you abandon it? Interesting. Very interesting."

"Then tell me… how do you wish to be remembered?"

Rei closed his eyes.

He remembered the laughter.

The insults.

The faces that looked at him with disdain.

The lash.

The vote.

The fall.

He opened his eyes—now burning like embers in the dark.

"Yamato… that is my name now."

"Yamato... Dark. Simple. Absolute."

"I like it."

"Tell me, would you like revenge?"

"I've been listening to you in silence for days."

"I can feel that hatred burning in your chest… or what's left of it."

"With every cell of my body... If I had the strength, I would destroy Yoru himself with my own hands."

"Very well, Yamato."

"If you accept my will, I will grant you the power you crave… The power to consume everything. The power of a dark void… in the palm of your hand."

"In return… Correct this corrupt world… Free me from this prison."

"And together… let us drown this rotten creation in absolute darkness."

"I am Nebel'Zar… Supreme Sovereign of the Void."

The darkness trembled, and Nebel'Zar's form began to take shape.

From his body emerged tendrils that vanished into the void, while countless eyes blinked in places where no face should exist.

Some moved as if each one were peering into a different dimension.

He did not resemble a living creature, but rather… an error in reality.

His very presence absorbed light and crushed the soul without speaking a word.

To see him directly was enough to shatter the mind of any being; it made you wish for death, if only to escape his gaze for a second longer.

Yamato looked straight at him.

And smiled.

"You don't have to ask."

"I thought so…"

The darkness began to pulse.

Nebel absorbed the blackness around him, compressing it into a silent maelstrom.

His colossal form shrank little by little. The tendrils withdrew. The eyes closed.

And the impossible took form.

Before Yamato stood a humanoid figure. Tall, slender, with hair as white as stardust ash. His eyes had no pupils—only fragments of the void floating in a lightless abyss.

The shadow of the cosmos… in human form. And he was the same size as Yamato.

"First… let's get rid of those chains."

Nebel raised a hand.

The chains vibrated. Metallic screeches tore through the silence.

Crack!

One by one, the bindings shattered like paper before a greater will.

When the last one fell to the ground… Yamato collapsed with it. On his knees. Powerless.

His body, weakened by days without food, without real water, without movement, could barely support its own weight.

His hands trembled. His heart barely beat.

But his gaze… burned like a dark star.

Yamato looked up—just slightly.

"And what is your grand plan?" Nebel whispered.

"To punish and rebuild this rotten world… the Church, the heroes, the kings… I want to watch the world burn."

Then that is enough for me.

"Rebuild… interesting. I understand the Church's fear now," Nebel murmured.

"Your power doesn't come from magic."

"It came with you, from your world… Forbidden knowledge. Something impossible…"

"Creation without enchantments. You are an anomaly that defies their logic. No wonder the system couldn't classify you…"

"Or that humans fear you. You are a god among mere mortals."

Yamato was so consumed by rage that he couldn't feel pride in those words.

Only a growing certainty.

"Nanolink…"

The word echoed in his mind, as if a part of him had been waiting for it.

A panel opened before his eyes—blue, clear, stable.

Name: Yamato

Class: Nanolink

Specialty: Nanobot creation from metallic elements

Status: Initial synchronization

"Nanobots…" he murmured under his breath.

"Nano-what?" Nebel asked, with genuine curiosity. "What are those things?"

Yamato didn't answer.

He simply knelt lower, his fingers brushing against the damp stone.

"If I'm right…" He closed his eyes.

He felt the metallic traces hidden in the rock. They resonated like scattered notes in a symphony.

"Come to me… Nano-swarm!" The air vibrated.

Thousands of metallic particles began to rise like dust drawn to a superior will.

They gathered. Aligned. Assembled.

Before them…

A perfect replica of Nebel'Zar emerged, formed entirely from nanobots.

"Sublime…" Nebel whispered in awe.

"This… surpasses even my imagination."

The nanobot-formed figure remained motionless.

Perfect.

Too perfect.

Nebel stared at it in silence, with a mix of wonder… and respect.

"So that's what you are… An architect of matter. An engineer of soulless life. A creator… without divine permission."

And for the first time, the voice of the Void lowered. It no longer sounded superior. It sounded resolute.

"Very well, Yamato. I shall fulfill your wish… and you will fulfill mine."

Nebel's humanoid form dissolved into a dark, fluid mass. As if the universe itself had melted.

It began to wrap around Yamato.

"I will not be your master."

"You will not be my vessel."

"We shall become one."

"I accept," Yamato whispered, his gaze unwavering.

The darkness engulfed him.

It did not devour.

It infused.

The black particles merged with his skin, with his bones, with his soul.

His eyes turned a deep violet, like the farthest corners of the universe… They no longer reflected light. They absorbed it.

His hair—once faded blond—began to darken into absolute black. Each strand consumed light like a bottomless pit.

His veins glowed with living circuitry, tracing violet and blue patterns across his body.

His breathing stabilized.

Slow. Steady.

As if the universe itself had synchronized with his existence.

He did not scream.

He did not tremble.

He simply closed his eyes…

And was reborn.

A voice.

A memory.

An entire cosmos screaming inside him.

Rei Kanzaki… died in the Pit.

What rose afterward… was the Void made flesh.

The fusion was complete.

And the world would never be the same.

A cosmic silence enveloped everything.

As if even time itself had paused to witness it.

Then, the darkness parted.

Before Yamato, a new chamber revealed itself.

It wasn't a cave.

It wasn't a cell.

It was a throne.

Forged from stellar metal scraps and stone as black as the abyss.

And atop it… rested a scythe.

Imposing.

Silent.

Waiting.

"Take it… and we will be complete. Our power will be absolute."

Before him, the scythe lay upon the throne as if it had always belonged to him.

Yamato stepped forward with purpose.

The darkness didn't consume him… it embraced him.

He circled the throne in silence, as if space itself recoiled from his presence.

He raised his hand and, without hesitation—took it.

The moment his fingers touched the weapon, a surge coursed through his body.

It wasn't pain.

It was power.

Raw. Pure. Total.

The Death of the Void.

That was its name, according to Nebel's memory.

It wasn't a weapon that cut flesh—

It cut existence itself.

Yamato closed his eyes.

The air around him grew heavier—

As if the abyss itself now recognized him.

"Let's climb those thousand floors… and escape this prison."

He gazed at the dark blade with serenity, his voice barely a murmur.

"Yes. The world will know our name."

His shadow extended. His aura no longer concealed itself.

"Tremble… for true darkness has come."

The moment had arrived. The ascent toward the surface had begun.

The beginning of the end…