Chapter 59 — Nothingness

The Abyss writhed. Chains coiled into an ocean, and shards of broken worlds floated like dying stars. In that void, only two stood.

Kael, his body cracking under the strain of his own power.
The Sovereign, her form now unveiled—no veil, no mask, no lies. A being of pure void, beauty sculpted from absence itself.

She extended her hand. Not in invitation, but in judgment.
“You defied silence. You defied fate. Now defy me.”

The air split. Her voice alone made the mirrors scream, each fragment shattering into dust.

Kael spat blood and stepped forward. His chains rose like serpents, each link glowing crimson, feeding on his fading soul. His voice was steady, cutting through the void.
“I don’t need fate. I don’t need silence. I’ll chain your eternity… and drag it down.”

The Sovereign moved.

The clash was instantaneous—chains against void, existence against erasure. Each strike birthed explosions that tore holes in the Abyss. Forgotten stars flickered into being, only to collapse as quickly.

The girl clung to a shattered ledge, her voice breaking. “Kael—stop, your body can’t—!”

But Kael didn’t hear. Or wouldn’t. Every strike with his chains burned another piece of himself away—memories, warmth, the threads of who he was. Yet still he fought.

The Sovereign smiled as the chains bound her arms, her neck, her legs.
“Magnificent. Even as you vanish, you refuse. That is why you are mine.”

Kael roared, pulling the chains tight, trying to tear her into fragments.
But instead—she stepped forward. The chains cracked, links dissolving like ash.

Her hand touched his face. Cold. Infinite.
“You cannot chain nothingness, anomaly. You cannot rewrite what has no beginning.”

Kael’s vision blurred. His chains faltered. For the first time, he felt it—defeat pressing down like inevitability.

The girl screamed, tears staining her ash-dusted cheeks. “KAEL!”

The Sovereign whispered:
“Rest in silence.”

And the Abyss swallowed him whole.