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The mine elevator groaned as it plunged into the earth, the air thickening with the scent of rust and ozone. Kael's breath fogged in the chill, his knuckles white on the railing. The War God's voice whispered:
***"Void corruption festers here. It tastes of… absence."***
Lira adjusted her shadow-weave goggles. **"Energy readings are off the charts. Like the chasm, but… hungrier."**
Darius hefted his seismic hammer. **"Anybody else miss basic-tier bats?"**
Thorne's voice crackled through their comm-stones:
**"Remember: Null-Beasts consume divine energy. Your War Affinity is a beacon to them. Control it, or you *feed* them."**
Kael's System displayed the threat:
> **[LOCATION: IRON DEPTHS MINE SHAFT 7]**
> **• VOID CORRUPTION LEVEL: 89%**
> **• NULL-BEAST SIGNATURES: 3 (MINIMUM)**
> **• USER SANITY: 29/100 — PSYCHOSIS RISK: EXTREME**
---
The elevator shuddered to a halt. Darkness swallowed the shaft ahead, broken only by flickering emergency runes.
**"Light's gone,"** Lira murmured. **"Something ate it."**
A *scrape* echoed—like claws on stone. Then another. Closer.
Kael's War Affinity flared instinctively, casting crimson light. Shadows *recoiled*, revealing a creature of nightmare:
- Six spindly legs ending in bone scythes
- A mouthless head with three obsidian eyes
- Skin like vantablack, swallowing the light
> **[NULL-BEAST: VOIDLING SCAVENGER]**
> **• THREAT: INTERMEDIATE**
> **• ABILITIES:** [VOID SHROUD], [AFFINITY DRAIN]
> **• WEAKNESS:** LIGHT-BASED ATTACKS
Darius swung his hammer. It passed *through* the beast like smoke.
**"What the—?!"**
The Voidling's eyes pulsed. Kael's War energy *rippled* toward it.
> **[AFFINITY DRAIN DETECTED!]**
> **• WAR ENERGY: -10%**
> **• SANITY: 29 → 26/100**
***"NO!"*** roared the War God. ***"IT STEALS YOUR STRENGTH!"***
---
Lira's shadow-daggers struck—useless. **"My blades can't cut void-stuff!"**
Kael's vision doubled. The Voidling's form blurred into the War God's memory:
***"See its core? The hunger has a heart. Shatter it."***
A pulsing violet orb glowed in the beast's chest. Kael lunged, red energy coating his fist.
**[WRATH-SURGE: STR]**
His hand plunged into the Voidling's shadow-flesh. Cold agony seared his nerves.
**"ANNIHILATE: CORE!"**
The violet orb *shattered*. The beast dissolved into ash.
> **[NULL-BEAST DEFEATED]**
> **• XP GAINED: +100**
> **• AFFINITY SYNCHRONIZATION: 50%**
> **• [ANNIHILATE] UPGRADED → CAN TARGET MAGICAL STRUCTURES**
---
Deeper in the mine, they found the source: a pulsating **Void Nexus**—a tumor of purple-black energy devouring the walls. Three larger Voidlings guarded it.
> **[VOIDLING STALKERS (x3)]**
> **• THREAT: ADVANCED**
> **• ABILITY:** [VOID CLONE]
Lira cursed. **"They're copying themselves!"**
Illusory duplicates split from each beast, flooding the chamber.
Darius slammed his hammer, cracking stone. **"Which ones are real?!"**
Kael's System highlighted the true beasts in crimson:
> **[VOID SHROUD PENETRATED: PERCEPTION CHECK SUCCESS]**
**"Left! Right! Ceiling!"** Kael shouted.
Lira's daggers flew true, striking the ceiling Stalker. Darius crushed the left. Kael annihilated the right—but the Void Nexus *shrieked*, lashing tendrils at him.
---
A tendril speared toward Lira. Kael shoved her aside—it impaled his thigh instead.
**"KAEL!"** Darius roared.
Void energy flooded Kael's veins. The Nexus *fed*, draining his affinity.
> **[WAR ENERGY: 60% → 30%]**
> **• SANITY: 26 → 18/100**
Hallucinations erupted:
- The mine walls bled
- Darius' face melted into Vorlag's sneer
- *"WEAKLING,"* hissed the Void Nexus with Thorne's voice
***"FIGHT IT!"*** bellowed the War God. ***"YOUR RAGE IS PURER THAN ITS HUNGER!"***
Kael grabbed the tendril in his leg. Crimson light exploded from his palm.
**"YOU DON'T GET TO TAKE WHAT'S MINE! ANNIHILATE!"**
The command tore through the Nexus. Not just its form—its *corruption*.
> **[VOID NEXUS DESTROYED]**
> **• AFFINITY SYNCHRONIZATION: 70%**
> **• [ANNIHILATE] EVOLVED → TIER 2 (MASS LIMIT: 5KG)**
> **• SANITY COST: -10 PER USE**
Light returned to the mine. The surviving Voidlings crumbled to dust.
---
Back at the Academy, Thorne studied the Nexus shard Kael recovered. His usual coldness was gone. Dread replaced it.
**"This isn't random corruption,"** he said quietly. **"It's a *beacon*. The Void is testing our defenses… and it marked *you*."**
He activated a holo-map. Countless purple dots pulsed across the continent.
**"The Godswar never ended. The Void sleeps… and it dreams of devouring realms like ours."**
Lira crossed her arms. **"And you want Kael to fight a war gods lost?"**
Thorne met Kael's gaze. **"I want him to win it."**
---
That night, Kael's scars burned. The War God's voice was grim:
***"Thorne speaks truth. The Void consumed my pantheon. I am the last echo of a dead age. But you… you are new. Unbroken."***
Kael studied his status:
> **[USER: KAEL VANCE]**
> **• LEVEL:** 7 → **8**
(420/500 XP)
> **• SANITY:** 20/100 (Stabilized by Willpower)
> **• AFFINITY:** War/Destruction (S-Rank Manifest)
> **• NEW ABILITY:** [VOID-BANE] (Passive: +25% damage to Void entities)
***"They will come for you,"*** the War God warned. ***"Not just beasts. Void *kings*. And they will offer you lies in pretty whispers."***
Kael clenched his fist, crimson energy swirling.
*Let them come.*
**
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