Vivien threw her arms around Vex before he had time to breathe.
"It's a miracle—!" she gasped, voice trembling.
But joy shattered as a priest's terrified shout echoed through the cathedral.
"Stay away from it!"
Two Cathedral Guards surged forward, pulling Vivien from the pit.
Golden armor gleamed under sacred light — armor worn only by those who traded decades of lifespan for skill, mana, and honor.
Spears lowered toward Vex.
He stared back, breath shaking, as the silence thickened.
Only one sound remained:
tick—
tick—
from the guards' slow, steady clocks.
But his own chest was still.
"I–I'm alive… what's happening?"
He looked down — 00:01 — frozen.
"It's a blessing!" Vivien cried, voice cracking. "A miracle of Goddess E!"
"Don't listen to it."
"It could be Null corruption," the priest muttered, stepping back as if from a plague.
Vex's heart — though quiet — dropped.
"Null…?" he whispered.
Nulls. The word was poison.
Creatures of anti-time — legends say they once tried to end every ticking heart in Metronia.
"I'm not a Null! You know me!" Vex pleaded.
But fear deafened the priest.
Guards dragged Vex toward a large door.
He tried to reach her. Tears fell like shattered glass.
"Vivien! Look at me! I'm not a Null!"
The doors closed.
His outstretched hand disappeared behind them as the door closed.
Vex was dragged through winding stone hallways.
He slammed into the marble floor of a cell — white, cold, uncaring.
The door clanged shut.
"Why?" he breathed. "How am I still alive?"
The silence answered.
Not even his chest ticked anymore.
He curled onto the floor, gripping himself against the soundlessness of existence.
For the first time in his life, time did not move.
Eventually, exhaustion drowned his thoughts.
Vex slept.
Above — atop the Cathedral
Moonlight washed through crystal windows as two Archbishops walked the ivory corridor. Golden chandeliers cast halos across their robes.
Highpriest Marcus moved with quiet resolve.
Beside him, another argued frantically.
"It must be a Null! Rust spreads from corruption — this has to be one!"
"But he shows no signs. No decay. No mana distortion." Marcus replied, calm but troubled.
"Would the Goddess agree with you?"
The priest's voice trembled. "Tomorrow is Her Walk — the holiest event. She appears in our sky once a year, cleansing our world."
"That," Marcus murmured, hand on his chin, "is what concerns me the most."
At the corridor's end, shouts broke the stillness.
Marcus pushed open a heavy oak door.
Inside, six Highpriests surrounded a golden council table — arguing like thunder.
"Are you all mad? Why has it not been executed!?"
Highpriest Michola slammed his staff, purple aura rippling like spilled ink.
"We cannot know if it is Null, divine, or a shadow of Oldevil reborn."
Marcus took the final seat — the room went quiet.
"We vote now," Marcus said softly. "And we decide."
After long silence, one verdict rose:
"He must be executed."
Many nodded — fearful, certain.
But Marcus stayed firm and raised his hand.
"No. We wait."
Heads turned sharply.
"Tomorrow is the Walk of Goddess E," he continued.
"She purifies what is corrupt. She blesses what is pure.
If the boy is Null, her radiance will kill him.
If he lives—" Marcus's golden eyes shone,
"—then he is chosen by the Goddess."
Whispers shifted to agreement.
One by one, hands rose.
The vote passed.
A single tick echoed through the chamber —
the sound of fate setting.
Jail Cell — Morning
Sunlight filtered through a tiny window, warming Vex's cheek.
He had never slept so peacefully even on cold stone.
Then memory struck.
Vivien.
The priest's eyes.
The fear.
His heart ached.
Footsteps echoed.
The cell door opened.
Two white-armored guards entered and Marcus followed.
"Good morning," Marcus said gently, gold eyes studying Vex.
Vex managed a shaky, "Morning."
Marcus's voice was both grave and merciful.
"You will not be executed today."
Relief washed through Vex then froze at the next words.
"Instead, you will be chained in the town square. When Goddess E walks the sky, her light will judge you.
If you survive, you are sacred."
A pause
"If not… you are Null."
Vex swallowed hard.
"I do not believe you are Null," Marcus said quietly. "I have seen one before. You are nothing like them."
Then, for a moment, fire flashed in his eyes.
"But if you are… I will not hesitate to kill you."
He turned, robes trailing like falling petals.
"Take him. The ceremony begins."
The cell opened.
Cold hands took Vex by the arms.
And Metronia prepared to watch a man live or die by purity.