Miles away, in a pocket dimension carved out of pure energy, the training ground known as the Shattered Citadel was a landscape of perpetual violence. Its ground was not merely cracked or scorched, but deeply scarred by forces that had momentarily defied the laws of physics. The ambient atmosphere thrummed with the compressed potential energy of a thousand near-missed annihilations.
In the epicenter of this devastation stood Aris.
He was the very picture of lethal calm. His white hair was cut with military precision, and his posture was absolute stillness, a stark contrast to the surrounding chaos. The thin, jagged scar that bisected his right eye, leaving it cold and half-blind, was the only imperfection on a face engineered for efficiency. His visible eye—a sharp, calculating grey—held the detachment of a scientist observing an experiment. Clad in sleek, black kinetic armor, he held the immense, obsidian blade, an instrument of destruction that felt like a natural extension of his will.
Aris didn't pant or show the slightest hint of fatigue, despite having just cleaved a topographical feature from existence. He merely breathed, the picture of lethal calm.
With a motion that appeared casual, as simple as a man testing the air, he executed a short, precise horizontal arc with the obsidian blade. There was no great wind, no shockwave, and surprisingly little noise. Instead, the kinetic force unleashed was so vast, so perfectly tuned, that it went beyond mere destruction.
A hundred-foot-tall plateau in the distance, designated for a power test, did not crumble or explode. The very concept of the plateau—its definition as a collection of mass, volume, and structure—failed. The object simply vaporized, the stone and mass turning into a momentary, silent compression of nothingness, leaving behind a clean, geometrical void.
A figure of pure, terrifying power stepped out of a portal of crimson fire that smelled faintly of ozone and sulfur. 666:Satan stood surveying the clean-cut void where the plateau had been, his eyes a deep, controlled blood red.
"Great," Satan stated, his voice a low, cold hum of approval that seemed to resonate with the shattered ground. "The conversion rate is optimal. You used precisely thirty-seven kilojoules to annihilate fifty thousand metric tons. A sixty percent less mass exertion than our last test. Mathematically perfect. But this," Satan swept his hand towards the clean vacuum, "is still not enough."
Aris lowered his blade, the tip resting silently on the cracked ground, kicking up no dust. His scarred face remained impassive. "Elaborate, Master. The target's structural integrity was fully compromised."
Satan tilted his head, his crimson eyes glowing brighter as he enjoyed the technical analysis. "You still think in terms of mass and force, Aris. The Unwritten King—Soren—is not a mountain. He is a concept. His fragmented Prime Stone powers are not based on material reality, but on the fundamental laws of existence—Time, Shadow, Reality. You need to learn how to unmake the concept of 'Prime Stone,' not just slice the user's body. Your power, Absolute Kinetic Control, must break the idea of order, the framework they rely on. You must learn to zero out the energy signature of Time itself."
Aris simply nodded, a silent acknowledgment of the technical requirement. Emotion, fear, or excitement were all forms of wasted kinetic energy. He was the King of Stone's right-hand man, the most powerful and ruthless soldier in the new order, and his mission was absolute.
The King's Decree
As Aris prepared to recalibrate his attack, focusing his mind on the conceptual rather than the physical, a shimmering, crystalline figure appeared in a holographic projection beside Satan. It was the King of Stone, his form encased in glistening grey crystal armor, delivering a mandatory broadcast to his legions across the dimensions.
"Attention, my loyal enforcers," the King of Stone boomed, his voice resonating with cold, unshakeable confidence. "A temporal anomaly has been neutralized, and a second, more stable anomaly—the Space Prime Stone—has been located in the central sector. This confirms that the Unwritten King and his fractured team are organizing, attempting to collect the remnants of the old Code."
The King of Stone leaned slightly into the camera, a cruel, sharp smile forming beneath his crystalline crown. His eyes held the cold, absolute certainty of a god. "They are attempting to gather the broken pieces of the old world to mount a resistance. This cannot be permitted. We represent the absolute order, the singularity. They represent disorder, flawed design, and the chaos of the past."
He finished with a cold, almost casual decree, his power radiating even through the projection: "The Unwritten King has been marked for immediate termination. Aris, you will proceed to the target location. Take the anomaly—the Space Prime Stone user—out of play, and seize the Stone. Do not fail. The Stone Code is unbreakable. Victory is not merely desired; it is a mathematical certainty."
The holographic broadcast winked out, leaving behind only the oppressive silence of the destroyed Citadel.
Satan looked at Aris, whose singular eye was now fixed intently on the direction of Earth, absorbing the mission parameters. "You heard the King. The target is the Space Prime Stone user, who is currently immobilizing their leader. The Unwritten King is weak and exposed. It is the perfect opportunity to strike."
Aris pulled down the black, protective goggles that rested on his forehead, shielding his eyes as the immense energy gathered around him, preparing for the dimensional transit. His voice, when it came, was a low, emotionless calculation. "Understood. The mission is the retrieval of the Stone. The termination of the Unwritten King will be a necessary secondary objective to ensure mission success. Required kinetic output: minimal."
With that, Aris stepped into the swirling portal of crimson shadow that Satan opened for him. He moved with the unwavering speed and chilling confidence of a predator who has finally caught the scent of its intended prey—the ultimate weapon deployed for the end of Null's resistance.
The focus returns to the Clock Tower. Aris, the King's most lethal weapon, is moments away from arrival.
END OF CHAPTER 51
NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL