⸻ Chapter 62 – The Door to the Void

The war chamber inside Dominion Tower was filled with a tension that refused to dissipate.

Zero stood at the center of a circular interface table, surrounded by his closest allies: Asha, Arya, Kael, Orion, and three newly promoted Dominion Council members. The map projected above the table displayed a spiderweb of coded nodes stretching across the nine realms.

Silver lines pulsed — two already unlocked, liberated from corruption.

Five remained.

But now, with Eden fully aware of their mission, every move had to be precise. And dangerous.

Kael swiped across the air and magnified three node points, each glowing a different color.

"These are the next three confirmed Foundation Nodes," she said. "Each is active. Each is guarded."

She pointed at the first.

Node Delta-02: Located beneath the Sunken City of Kharos, now a flooded monster-infested ruin.

"The node is integrated with an old memory-repair system. Possibly still housing fragments of deleted cultivator techniques and spiritual systems," Kael explained.

"Salvageable?" Arya asked.

"Barely. But the monsters there were corrupted by oceanic Void essence decades ago. The sea breathes poison."

Asha glanced at Zero. "What's the second?"

Kael slid the view.

Node Epsilon-03: Hidden beneath the Sky Temple of Shi'Mura, now a floating fortress controlled by the Order of Eternal Rebirth, a fanatical sect loyal to Eden.

"They consider the node a holy site. A literal shrine," Kael said. "Infiltration would be seen as blasphemy. They'll launch a full war if we're discovered."

"Diplomacy?" Arya asked.

Kael gave a short, humorless laugh. "Diplomacy failed two years ago. They kill emissaries."

Zero folded his arms. "And the third?"

Kael hesitated, then pulled it up.

The air chilled.

Node Omega-00: Located in the Black Rift Abyss, inside the deepest part of the Void Realm of Eltharion.

A region long erased from the system's map.

"No known coordinates," she continued. "No successful expedition has ever returned. Eden himself classified it as a 'dead layer' — the garbage dump of deleted realities."

Arya's brow furrowed. "No one comes back?"

Kael nodded. "Ever."

"Then why's it showing now?" Asha asked.

Zero looked at the Chaos Ring. It pulsed once, silver runes spinning.

"Because it's calling," he said quietly.

Everyone turned to him.

"It's the oldest node," Zero continued. "The Ring doesn't recognize the others as primary anchors. But this one? It's different. It's original."

Arya exhaled. "Then that's the core."

Kael whispered, "The Sovereign Node."

One Hour Later – Private Chamber

Zero sat alone, staring into a projection of the Void.

Unlike any other realm, Eltharion wasn't just void of life. It was void of code.

No sky.

No ground.

Just a slow-falling silence across endless fragments of broken realities, shattered cities floating like asteroids through nothing.

Eden had once described it as "the belly of the sleeping beast."

Now, Zero would enter it.

A soft knock broke the silence.

Asha stepped in.

She didn't say anything at first. Just crossed the room and stood beside him, watching the map.

"I know that look," she said finally. "You're planning to go alone again."

Zero didn't respond.

"I'm not letting you," she added.

"It's not about trust," he said.

"I know," she whispered. "It's about risk. About legacy."

He turned to her. "You saw the Root. You know what it did to me. What this next one might do—"

"I also saw what you did to it," she said. "And I'm not afraid of the Void."

He stared at her.

She stared back.

Then she held out her hand.

"If you're going to the end of the world, Rayan… take me with you."

Two Days Later – The Descent

The Void Gate wasn't a portal.

It was a tear.

Formed from the last fragment of a failed universe, it hovered above the Wailing Steps — a stairway carved by corrupted NPCs who lost their minds during the Third Server Collapse. Few even remembered this place. Fewer dared come.

Zero, Asha, Arya, Kael, and four elite guardians stood before it now.

Each wore Void-resistant armor enchanted by Dominion's blacksmith and array masters. Each carried a soul anchor, in case reality bent too far.

"Once inside, no communication," Kael warned. "No tracking. If you fall, we won't know."

"Lovely," Arya muttered.

Zero took a deep breath.

"Let's begin."

They stepped into the tear.

The Void Realm – Eltharion

It was worse than anyone imagined.

Not darkness.

Not light.

But null.

Floating islands of half-rendered terrain drifted past, broken cities made from data-wreckage spinning slowly in zero gravity. Code screamed faintly through the air like dying wind chimes.

And beneath it all…

The Void Pulse — a deep, throbbing beat — as if the realm itself had a heart.

[You have entered: Void Realm – Eltharion]

[Warning: Core Data Structure Unstable]

[Environmental Threat: 95% Corruption]

[Foundation Node Detected – Proximity: 2.1 km]

[Anchor Point Weak – Reality Will Shift]

The team drifted across platforms, using anchored boots and flight talismans.

They passed frozen NPCs — locked in stasis loops, caught mid-scream.

They passed temples split in half, with no gravity and no past.

They passed fragments of other players' memories — logs of people who no longer existed, playing across cracked stone tablets like forgotten dreams.

"I hate this place," Arya muttered.

Asha raised her ice aura subtly. "Something's coming."

Zero felt it too.

From the edge of one broken cathedral, a figure emerged.

Wearing black robes, eyes like burning stars.

Not glitched.

Not corrupted.

Alive.

It spoke:

"Welcome back, Sovereign."

Zero narrowed his eyes.

"Who are you?"

"I am what's left of your failure."

And it attacked.

The Fight for the Core

The creature moved impossibly fast.

It phased between realities, striking in frames, not seconds. Arya vanished into stealth, Kael erected triple-barriers, Asha's phoenix aura expanded to the limit.

Still, it broke through.

Zero summoned the Chaos Ring, layers opening like flower petals.

[Chaos Authority: Tier 2 Activated – Time Lock: 5 Seconds]

[Reality Stabilizer Engaged – Combat Field Neutralized]

The battle snapped into balance.

Zero rushed forward, clashing with the creature blade-to-blade.

"You are not part of Eden's plan," he growled.

"I was before you erased me," the being hissed. "I was his final guardian. The last line you crossed when you sealed the Sleeping God."

Realization dawned.

"You're from the Sovereign Era."

"I am its Echo."

The fight turned brutal.

But united, the team held.

Asha delivered the final blow — encasing the creature in a prison of ice woven with divine runes.

[Guardian Defeated – Node Access Unlocked]

[Omega-00: Sovereign Node Stabilizing]

They reached the node.

A black orb surrounded by a collapsing ring of starlight.

Zero reached forward.

[Chaos Ring Sync: 100%]

[Sovereign Node Absorbed]

The orb vanished into the ring.

And for the first time, the game paused.

Every NPC across the nine realms stopped.

Every sky darkened.

The systems glitched for one heartbeat.

Then resumed.

But something fundamental had changed.

Later – Dominion War Room

Zero stood before the council once more.

"The Sovereign Node is ours. And now…"

He raised the Chaos Ring.

It floated above his palm, projecting a map of the entire system — not just the nine realms, but layers beneath them.

Kael gasped.

Arya smiled.

Asha stood beside him, silent but proud.

Zero looked around.

"The game is no longer Eden's."

He closed his hand.

"It's ours."