Samuel’s POV
Quest: Echo of Nullis Aeternum – Comncing
Target: The Eternal Reflection
Status: System Connection Unstable – You Are On Your Own
—
The air between us was still.
He—the other —stood about ten feet away. Sa height. Sa build. Sa face.
But there was sothing in his eyes that chilled even .
Not rage.
Not pride.
Emptiness.
The kind of void you don’t crawl out of.
He wore a darker version of my armor, jagged and scorched, fused with sothing like eldritch bone. His Gauntlets weren’t alive like mine—they were dead, frozen relics, crusted with the screams of realities long erased.
"You look pathetic," he said, his voice colder than any void. "Still clinging to willpower. To love. To mory."
"You call yourself a king? You’re a child."
I took a step forward.
"You’re just a corpse with my face," I growled. "And I’m about to bury you twice."
He smirked.
"Then let’s see how long your convictions last."
The clash began in silence.
He moved like thought. I barely had ti to raise my arms as his void-wrought blade ca crashing down.
I blocked with my Gauntlets—barely—the shockwave blasting the ground beneath us into fractal shards. My feet skidded back.
I growled, launching Blade Tempest – Chaos Variant in a sweeping arc. He responded with Null Rend, dispersing the slash like it was a paper toy.
He was matching my every move.
Because he was .
—
I leapt, charging Astral Rend, a cot of violet wrath streaking across the black void.
He smirked.
Vanished.
Reappeared above , slamming his knee into my spine, driving into the glass ground. It shattered, but I recovered mid-crash, flipping with a roar and smashing a fist into his gut.
He caught it.
Smiled.
"I rember being this weak," he whispered.
Then he blasted with Reality Inversion, and my skills locked out—
System Suppressed.
Inventory Disabled.
Cooldowns? Reset—negatively.
My nose bled from the force.
"He’s cutting off... He’s not just a copy—he’s a system-less version of operating on raw essence..."
"He’s what I could beco—if I stopped caring, stopped holding on, stopped being human."
I spat blood. Stood.
"Then I’ll remind you why we started this path in the first place."
I slamd my fists together.
"Knightfall Verdict – Initiate."
My form ignited in jet-black fire. The crown of the abyss surged above my head. My presence tripled, quadrupled.
He raised an eyebrow.
"There it is."
He took a stance. No skills. No buffs. Just pure lethal intent.
"Co then, king. Let’s end this."
And then—
The real battle began.
________________________________________
Samuel vs. The Eternal Reflection
Location: Nullis Aeternum – Outside Reality
Mode: Knightfall Verdict (Active – 42 seconds remaining)
---
My body was fire and blade.
Every cell sang with raw, unfiltered destruction.
This wasn’t power from the System.
This was , unshackled.
I launched forward, Voidstep chaining with Soul Echo: Wrathforge, my fists hamring like teor impacts. The Eternal Reflection t midair, no system, no skills, just instinct.
CLASH.
Steel broke. Wind split. The ground fractured into celestial splinters.
CRASH.
I drove him through a pillar of obsidian ice, spun behind, kicked him upward with Fangfire Overdrive, then appeared above with both gauntlets burning—
He grabbed my wrists mid-air.
"Predictable."
He pulled into him—headbutted with a thunderous CRACK that shattered part of my helt.
I staggered back. Blood ran from my temple. He didn’t give a breath.
He swept low, catching my knees, sent airborne—then blurred behind and dropkicked from the sky into the endless dark. A shockwave of black aurora expanded outward as I hit the surface, carving a crater miles wide.
"Tch... bastard fights like a war god on a bad day."
"System—reactivate skills—"
[System Reboot: 17% – External Interference Detected]
"Fine. I’ll kill him with my own hands."
I stood, breath ragged, gauntlets glowing again.
Suddenly, his blade extended—a black, formless construct, shaped by his will alone. He charged, no aura this ti. Just a blurred flash.
I roared and t him halfway.
Fist vs. Blade. Will vs. Emptiness.
Our blows collided—
BOOM.
The impact created a ripple that tore a hole in the sky. The stars above Nullis Aeternum glitched, flickered like dying data. Reality scread.
My gauntlets cracked. His blade flickered.
Still, we fought.
Blow after blow.
Grunt after grunt.
Every strike felt like trying to punch a concept—like I was fighting what I could beco if I gave up on everyone.
He didn’t laugh.
He didn’t monologue.
He just wanted to erase .
—
I slipped under his guard.
Drove my knee into his ribs. He spat blood.
I surged forward with Devourer’s Pulse, my gauntlets sucking in his lingering void force—and then I spun, activated Crownbearer’s Dominion, and slamd him into the throne behind us.
"You’re strong," I panted, blood in my mouth, "but you forgot sothing—"
"I have people I’ll burn worlds to protect."
I raised my hand—**
Reality Sever – Full Charge.
"And you’re just a what-if."
Then I swung.
---
[Reality Sever – Direct Hit]
[Eternal Reflection – Core Fracture Detected]
[Stability... breaking.]
---
His body cracked like porcelain.
He looked at —not with anger.
With... relief.
"Good," he whispered.
"Then you’re ready."
Before I could ask what he ant—
He exploded into black stardust, and the sky of Nullis Aeternum collapsed into silence.
---
[Quest Completed – Echo of Nullis Aeternum]
[You have conquered yourself.]
[System Update: Core Access Permission Gained – ??? Tier]
[Trait Unlocked: Crown of the Broken Mirror]
---
As I stood alone amidst the dying void, the throne ahead of began to change—
Twisting, reshaping.
Not a prison.
Not a test.
But a gateway.
And from the throne, a single, ancient voice echoed:
"Co, Dark Knight... It’s ti you t the ones who built the system."
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