The King's Road stretched endlessly before them.
A golden path suspended within absolute darkness.
No sky.
No stars.
No worlds.
Only the road.
And the void surrounding it.
Null stood at its entrance.
Both eyes now carried the spiral.
The Sixth Fragment had awakened.
And nothing felt the same anymore.
The air itself seemed different.
Reality sounded different.
Even time felt slower.
Behind him, Hyung watched carefully.
"You okay?"
Null was silent.
Then nodded.
"...I think so."
D U immediately pointed.
"That's exactly what people say before something terrible happens."
Nobody disagreed.
The King's Gate fully opened.
The road pulsed once.
Then a voice echoed from the ancient structure.
"ROYAL PATH AUTHORIZED."
The Guardian stood.
Its damaged armor slowly repairing itself.
Golden light flowed across the cracks.
"DESTINATION: PRISON BEYOND REALITY."
One frowned.
"I don't like that."
Zero laughed.
"You don't like anything."
"I especially don't like ancient roads leading to cosmic prisons."
"Fair."
Null stepped forward.
The moment his foot touched the King's Road—
everything changed.
BOOOOOOM.
A wave of energy exploded outward.
The underground capital vanished.
Not destroyed.
Gone.
The group found themselves standing somewhere else.
The World Between Worlds.
Everyone immediately felt it.
The silence.
The endlessness.
The impossibly large darkness surrounding them.
Floating islands drifted across the void.
Broken pieces of forgotten dimensions rotated slowly.
Fragments of ancient kingdoms floated like dead planets.
Entire civilizations existed here only as ruins.
Abandoned.
Lost.
Forgotten.
Eris stared.
"What is this place?"
Caelum answered quietly.
"The place where dead realities go."
Nobody liked that answer.
The group moved forward.
The King's Road guided them.
Golden light illuminated the path.
Everything else remained dark.
Hours passed.
Or maybe minutes.
Time worked strangely here.
Nobody could tell.
Then—
Null stopped.
Immediately.
His spiral eyes narrowed.
Something was ahead.
Watching.
The others noticed too.
A presence.
Massive.
Ancient.
Hungry.
The darkness shifted.
Slowly.
Then an enormous eye opened.
Far beyond the road.
Far beyond the floating ruins.
Yet still visible.
Everyone froze.
The eye alone was larger than a mountain.
D U stared.
"...Nope."
Hyung gripped his sword.
The eye watched them.
Silently.
Patiently.
Like a predator deciding whether its prey was worth eating.
Then—
The eye blinked.
And disappeared.
The darkness became silent once more.
Nobody breathed.
Finally D U spoke.
"I officially hate this place."
Far below the Final Door.
Far below reality.
Far below existence.
Something moved.
Chains stretched across endless darkness.
Ancient seals covered a gigantic body.
Each seal larger than worlds.
Each chain forged from laws older than creation.
Yet—
one chain broke.
SNAP.
The sound echoed through existence.
Then another.
SNAP.
Then another.
A massive eye opened.
Ancient.
Terrifying.
Hungry.
A voice emerged.
Not spoken.
Felt.
Heard by every fragment.
Every Watcher.
Every entity.
Every heir.
A single sentence.
"The King is weakening."
Null froze.
The voice reached him instantly.
So did Hyung.
So did D U.
Even One turned pale.
"What was that?"
Zero didn't answer.
Because he knew.
Everyone knew.
Something beneath the Final Door had just spoken.
And it wasn't fully awake yet.
Suddenly—
The King's Road trembled.
The Guardian immediately raised its spear.
"HOSTILE APPROACH DETECTED."
The darkness ahead began splitting apart.
A figure emerged.
Then another.
Then dozens.
Black armor.
Silver masks.
Executioners.
An entire army.
Their leader stepped forward.
The same First Executioner they had fought before.
His golden-black eye glowed beneath the cracked mask.
The army stopped.
Blocking the road.
Silence filled the void.
The First Executioner looked directly at Null.
Then slowly knelt.
Everyone froze.
Even D U.
The entire army followed.
Thousands of armored warriors kneeling simultaneously.
The First Executioner lowered his head.
Then spoke.
"HEIR OF THE KING."
The darkness shook.
The army remained kneeling.
"THE PRISON HAS FALLEN UNDER SIEGE."
Null's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
The First Executioner's voice grew heavier.
"DURING YOUR JOURNEY..."
He raised his head.
"...AIZENO MADE HIS MOVE."
The King's Road suddenly cracked.
Far in the distance—
beyond endless darkness—
a gigantic golden structure became visible.
The Prison Beyond Reality.
And surrounding it—
millions of black lights.
An army.
An impossible army.
Watchers.
Entities.
Fragments.
And at their center—
Aizeno himself.
Standing before the prison gates.
Waiting.
For Null.
TO BE CONTINUED...