Amun remained standing near the table while the dark projection of the Null Realm drifted slowly above us.
"There’s another reason the Null Realm is feared," he continued calmly. "The place does not welcome the living naturally. Every living existence entering there is treated like an anomaly." He waved his fingers lightly and the projection shifted, showing countless pale lights drifting endlessly through the darkness. "Souls belong there. Living beings do not."
Knight frowned slightly.
"So the realm itself attacks you?"
"Not directly," Amun replied. "At least not immediately. But the deeper you go, the more pressure you feel against your existence itself." His eyes shifted briefly toward me. "Your soul becomes the true target there, not your body."
That made far more sense now. The Null Realm was fundamentally a world of souls, which meant Saint rank and soul strength would matter far more there than ordinary destructive power.
"There are also zones inside the Null Realm," Amun continued while pacing slowly around the floating projection. "Not territories ruled by factions but regions governed by concepts. Some regions reject memory, some erode identity, some distort time perception, and some..." He paused briefly. "Some simply consume souls endlessly."
Steve stared at him.
"That place sounds horrible."
"It is horrible," Amun replied honestly. "Which is why almost no one willingly goes there."
Ash narrowed his eyes slightly.
"What about the Wardens?"
"They enforce order. That’s the simplest explanation." Amun shrugged lightly. "They rarely interfere unless rules are broken or the balance of the realm is disturbed." Then his smile returned slightly. "Unfortunately, living beings entering the realm already counts as disturbing the balance."
"Wonderful," I muttered.
"Now comes the important problem." He tapped lightly on the table. "The Null Realm Key will not allow an unlimited number of people to enter alongside you."
The room quieted immediately.
"How many?" I asked.
Amun shook his head.
"No idea."
That answer visibly annoyed several people.
"I’m serious," he added. "The key is ancient and no one alive properly understands its limitations. It might allow one person. It might allow five. Or it might reject everyone except Billion entirely."
I frowned slightly hearing that.
"So what’s the plan?"
Amun crossed his arms.
"At minimum, I believe one Defender should accompany you." His gaze shifted toward the others. "And the best choice for that would be Defender Aurora."
"She’s a Demi-God," he continued. "Which honestly might become another problem entirely. The Null Realm may reject her existence completely." He shrugged lightly. "But we should at least try."
The moment he finished speaking, the space inside the hall trembled lightly.
A burst of golden essence erupted near the side of the table before condensing rapidly into a familiar figure surrounded by drifting lightning.
I immediately recognized her.
The same avatar I had fought during my quest.
Golden armor, calm eyes, and the immense pressure hidden beneath a controlled exterior.
Several people around the table straightened slightly after sensing her arrival.
I looked toward the others.
"This is Defender Aurora," I introduced calmly.
North studied her quietly before finally asking, "So she’ll be going with Billion into the Null Realm?"
Defender Aurora nodded once.
"If entry becomes possible."
Then her gaze shifted toward me.
"The Null Realm may reject my existence entirely due to my rank."
I looked toward her again.
"Will this avatar go with me then?"
She shook her head lightly.
"No. When the time comes, I will arrive personally." Her expression remained calm. "This avatar is only here because Amun requested my assistance in preparing you beforehand."
Amun grinned immediately afterward and pointed toward me.
"Which brings us back to the important matter. You need training."
I blinked.
"What?"
"You heard me correctly." He grinned slightly. "You became a Saint barely hours ago and already think you’re ready to jump into one of the most dangerous realms in existence."
"I never said that."
"You were thinking it."
"...Fair."
Amun’s expression became slightly more serious afterward.
"You still don’t properly understand your own soul. Your strength right now is unstable, especially your soul force and existence authority. Inside the Null Realm, that weakness could get you killed very quickly."
I remained silent after hearing that.
Most of my recent growth had happened far too quickly. Oriel, the complete restoration of my soul, Saint ascension, the God Fragment... everything had stacked one after another without giving me proper time to adapt.
"So what do you suggest?" I asked.
Amun smiled.
"You train for the next one or two days before departure." Then his grin widened slightly. "And fortunately for you, I already found the perfect teacher."
He looked toward Defender Aurora.
"You ascended faster than expected," she said calmly.
"And apparently," she added while glancing briefly toward Amun, "I’ll be teaching you how to properly use your soul before you throw yourself into the Null Realm."
"Your soul is powerful," she continued while faint golden lightning drifted around her avatar, "but your control over it is crude. Right now you are relying too heavily on instinct and raw pressure. Against ordinary enemies that works. Inside the Null Realm it will not."
Ever since becoming a Saint, most of my actions had simply relied on overwhelming force and natural authority rather than proper control.
"You have an abnormal soul foundation," Defender Aurora continued. "Its size alone is beyond what most Saints could achieve, and the density of your soul should not normally exist at your rank." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "But density alone means nothing if your control remains inefficient."
Amun chuckled softly from the side.
"In simpler terms, you’re carrying around a divine weapon while swinging it like a club."
Steve snorted while Knight tried very hard not to laugh.
Defender Aurora ignored them completely.
"The Null Realm targets souls directly. Not metaphorically. Directly." Her voice grew slightly colder. "A weak point in your soul control there could mean corruption, fragmentation, memory erosion, or complete loss of identity."
"Several centuries ago," she said calmly, "a Saint entered the Null Realm searching for the soul of his dead wife. His strength was extraordinary even among Saints and his soul was considered nearly indestructible."
The room quieted again.
"He survived for almost three months inside the realm before returning."
Steve frowned slightly.
"So he succeeded?"
Defender Aurora shook her head.
"No."
Her golden eyes remained steady.
"When he returned, he no longer remembered his own name." She paused briefly. "Nor his wife’s."
Nobody spoke.
"He had lost entire sections of his identity. Memories, emotions, attachments... all gone." A faint current of lightning drifted around her armor. "His soul had been eroded so gradually that he never even realized it was happening until it was too late."
Defender Aurora looked directly at me afterward.
"That is the kind of place you are preparing to enter."
I was not that interested in the story itself. What truly intrigued me was something else.
"How did he enter the realm?" I asked.