The debris of the shattered landmass drifted silently in the void around me. I remained suspended there for a moment longer, the black blade steady in my grip, before a familiar set of notifications appeared before my eyes.
[Unique Quest Detected]
[Unique Quest: Unclaimed Throne]
[Sequence: Brother]
[Objective: Reach the Point of Designation.]
[Status: Complete]
[Reward: Fragment of the Sword Prarambh]
I read the final line again.
Fragment of the Sword Prarambh.
"Prarambh," I said quietly, letting the name roll off my tongue.
The sword reacted instantly.
The silver line running through the center of the black blade flared with sudden light. The glow was sharp and intense, spreading outward from the core of the blade. At the same time, the surface of the black steel darkened further, almost like fresh ink spreading across it.
A violent force pulled at my hand.
Pain shot through my palm as something cut into my skin from within my grip. Blood welled up instantly, flowing down from my fingers and dripping onto the blade. The moment the first drop touched the silver line, the sword flashed again.
Essence surged around it in spirals.
My blood did not simply coat the surface. It moved. The red liquid spread along the silver line as if drawn inward, flowing across the blade before being absorbed directly into that glowing center. The silver glow began to shift.
It turned red.
The entire line along the blade deepened from silver into a vivid crimson, pulsing once as the last trace of my blood vanished into it.
Then the void in front of me split open.
A circular portal formed. I recognized it immediately. It was identical to the teleportation portal created through the system token I had once used for Steve and myself for coming here.
My eyes narrowed.
The aura surrounding it was unmistakable.
System.
For a brief moment I wondered why it had intervened now, but I did not hesitate. If this was the next step of the quest, then standing still would accomplish nothing.
I stepped forward and entered. The portal closed behind me without a sound.
The next instant, I found myself standing on solid ground.
At least, it looked solid.
I extended my perception outward instinctively, but what I sensed confused me. As far as my awareness could stretch, there was nothing except land. Endless, cracked, grey land spreading in every direction. The sky above was the same dull grey, without sun, without stars, without clouds.
There were no buildings.
No mountains.
No trees.
No rocks.
Not even wind.
Just flat, cracked ground extending beyond my reach.
I stood still for several seconds, trying to understand what kind of world this was. It did not feel like a normal realm.
Then the ground in front of me cracked.
A sharp line split the surface, widening quickly. Stone broke apart as something began rising from beneath. A rectangular slab of grey stone pushed upward steadily, forcing the land around it to crumble.
It continued rising.
Ten feet.
Twenty.
Thirty.
The structure did not stop until it stood nearly fifty feet tall. It was a solid monolith, perfectly rectangular, smooth on all sides except for a single engraving near its top.
Prarambh.
The word was carved deeply into the metal, glowing faintly with the same crimson tone that now ran through my sword.
I stepped forward slowly.
At the center of the monolith, a rune ignited. It flared bright yellow. Before I could analyze it further, a beam of golden light shot outward from the rune. The beam was direct and it too carried the System’s aura with it. The aura wrapped around the beam was identical to the one I had felt earlier.
The beam struck the sword in my hand.
The impact did not push me back. Instead, the red line along the blade brightened sharply. The energy from the beam flowed into the sword, merging with the crimson glow.
A notification window appeared in front of me.
[Verification Complete.]
[Fragment Retrieved.]
The red glow along Prarambh stabilized. The yellow beam faded slowly, its light dissolving into the crimson line that now ran through Prarambh. The monolith stood silent once more, but the stillness did not last long.
A new series of notifications began to appear before me, one after another.
[Ability Restored]
[Ability Name: Nullification]
For a brief moment, I simply stared at the name and the fact that it was restored not granted.
The next lines unfolded.
[Nullification – Fragment State Active]
[Source: Sword Prarambh – Verified]
[Compatibility: Executor Lineage Confirmed]
Then the descriptions began appearing in sequence.
[Ability Effect: Nullify System Contracts – May sever, suspend, or rewrite system-enforced agreements within operational range.]
[Ability Effect: Nullify System Punishment – May suppress or cancel penalties imposed by system authority.]
[Ability Effect: Nullify System Limitation – May temporarily remove level, rank, or growth restrictions enforced by system framework.]
[Ability Effect: Nullify System Encryption – May access, decode, or bypass restricted system information layers.]
[Ability Effect: Nullify Strength-Based Suppression – May negate suppression effects tied to hierarchical strength difference.]
[Ability Effect: Nullify Law Constructs – May dismantle or collapse active law formations.]
[Ability Effect: Nullify Domains – May interrupt or destabilize domain manifestation within operational limit.]
[Ability Effect: Nullify System Bindings – May sever imposed restraints, seals, or external control mechanisms.]
[Ability Effect: Nullify External System Authority – May override subordinate system directives within defined parameters.]
The list did not stop there.
[Ability Effect: Nullify Forced Evolution Paths – May prevent system-driven class or race alteration.]
[Ability Effect: Nullify System Tracking – May erase or mask presence from governing observation layers.]
[Ability Effect: Nullify Energy Conversion Locks – May bypass system-regulated resource conversion limits.]
[Ability Effect: Partial Nullification of Causality Locks – Conditional. Requires further fragment restoration.]
I exhaled slowly.
My mind reading the notification back to back. An ability that allowed control over the system. I was surprised and shocked. What was going on here.?
This was not simply a combat ability. This was control. The System governed the Prime Universe. It imposed contracts, punishments, level ceilings, growth frameworks, access permissions, and evolution paths. It monitored, restricted, regulated.
Nullification did not replace the System. It disrupted it. It allowed me to cancel specific actions.
That meant if the System attempted to bind me through a contract, I could sever it. If it attempted to restrict growth or apply penalty, I could suppress it. If a domain attempted to lock space, I could destabilize it directly rather than overpower it.
But more importantly—
If the System itself was divided into four parts, and three were with Theras...
Then this fragment of Prarambh was not merely a weapon.
It was a countermeasure.
Amun had said the System was created by the First Executor to assist in imposing the First Order. If Theras held three parts of that structure, then Nullification was likely designed to prevent misuse of system authority.
The notifications continued.
[Warning: Fragment State – Limited Output]
[Warning: Overuse May Result in Structural Backlash]
[Warning: Full Authority Access Locked – Additional Fragments Required]
It wsa a fragment and yet even in this state, it was powerful. The grey world around me remained unchanged, but I could feel something different now. The presence of the System was clearer, layered around the environment like a faint grid.
For the first time, I could sense its seams. Nullification did not make me above the System. It allowed me to reject it to a certain degree.