Nil

As the Imperial Hunting Festival was winding down, the barrier shattered in an instant. All the Magi that were powering the barrier looked like they had been hit by major . What? A massive, vertical slash appeared in the sky, creating a distinct, colorless line that severed part of the sky. What is that? It shot open in the shape of a massive, hundred-foot-tall doorway with what seemed to be an endless tunnel behind it; from the tunnel the red-haired man emerged. Luna immediately grabbed my arm as we both braced for the oncoming onslaught. His was even more intimidating than before. Just how much did he possess? Was there no limit on how much you could have? He calmly emerged, wearing some slick suit while looking as calm as he could be. My grandparents, parents, and uncles all got ready to fight while Nautilus materialized next to Luna and me.

“That’s th’ real one.” Nautilus growled, keeping her eye on our monstrous foe.

“GREETINGS SPERANZA! HAILING THE ENTRANCE OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS CONQUEROR, THE VOID KING!” the man bellowed, before deeply bowing while gesturing to the portal. What? He served someone?

It didn’t matter, as something emerged from the portal. If I thought the red-haired man possessed a lot of , it was utterly dwarfed by what the Void King possessed. The instant he emerged the entire world turned gray while all color vanished as all sounds immediately stopped in his presence. What was once a clear sky became enshrouded in an unnatural storm. There was a loud sound, followed by ripples of light as thunder and lightning seemed to invert. How was that possible? The Void King seemed to be composed of various fragments of distortion, as his entire being appeared to be some warped, ever-shifting cubes of blur. He took a second step, and the world appeared to fracture and twist from him simply existing. I realized that he was making steps out of the lightning trying to strike him as he slowly walked down. Several bursts of lightning protested against him being here, and they’d bend around the Void King into steps for him to descend from the portal with. The further from the portal he walked, the more the land and sky seemed to swap back and forth trying to withstand his mere presence. Everything twisted and spiraled around him trying to free themselves from his presence.

“Hello. I have come to talk.” The Void King stated as his voice sounded like clips of noises edited together filled with distorted static. It was like the entire world protested him being here, but it didn’t matter. His voice unnaturally carried despite how plainly he made that statement.

“Who are you?!” Dad snapped at him, standing to face the monster slowly descending.

“Mahdi stated my name. Do not make us repeat ourselves.” The Void King shot back.

“What do you want?!” Dad retorted. The Void King just calmly walked down his lightning steps.

“Azzeck, the failure of an emperor; I do not wish to speak to you. I am here to chat with that brat Nil.” The Void King taunted. Why? What did I possibly do to offend this?

“Why?” Mom inquired. For a brief moment, his wrath was palpable. Solid wisps of formed as what appeared to be a crimson eye manifested behind him. Unfathomable, endless rage made it near impossible to breathe for a second before he made it stop.

“Do not question me. You do not have the right.” The Void King informed her. Mahdi was waiting for him on the ground with his previous serious expression.

“Why?” I asked him, trying not to collapse from how bad I was shaking. I felt his gaze, and I was forcefully to where the bottom of the staircase would be.

“Because you are the greatest headache that I have ever had the displeasure of interacting with.” The Void King snapped at me, still just calmly walking down his lightning steps. The closer to the bottom he got, the more the world began shaking. His seemed to choke the world itself.

“What did I ever do to you?” I inquired, not grasping why he seemed offended by the notion of my existence.

“You are an infection; a sickness the Lords let pollute their worlds that I will cure as many times as it takes. To be clear, it is not you are a demon.” The Void King answered. What? How? How did he know?

“What do you m-“ Mom began, before he clearly stopped her from talking. By how she was moving, he had some sort of choking on her. Her eyes were bulging as she was struggling to breathe.

“The only one of you that can talk right now is Nil. If I have to clarify this again, you will regret it.” The Void King warned with a minor hint of irritation in his distorted voice.

“What are you talking about?” I checked. He had to be bluffing. Or mistaken.

“I cannot directly state or hint at what you are Nil as the of the Lords stops me. That being stated, we both know what is different about you. Do not act like you do not know exactly what I am referring to, it is only wasting my time. And you will regret wasting more of it than you already have.” The Void King taunted, nearly at the ground now. The entire world seemed to despise that he was about to touch it.

“Why? I have never met you before.” I probed. What was his deal? Why did he seem to despise the fact I even existed?

“I will not spare a single one of you; you all need to be purged and eradicated. Anything you touch could have been tainted by your filth, so do not view this as overly personal.” The Void King spat, sounding utterly disgusted by the fact I was breathing the same air as him.

“Then why are you here to talk?” I asked. He clearly possessed the ability to kill me; there was no way I could buy more than a second against him.

“I am here to make a deal with you. Specifically, a .” The Void King told me, finally reaching the ground. I noticed the ground warped and shifted away from him, refusing to let him touch it; he was floating above the world as it wouldn’t let him even stand on it.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Why? You clearly hate me. Why make a deal at all? Why would I agree to it?” I inquired, getting a horrific sense of dread of what his answer was.

“Someone is capable of destroying and altering time; I want that nonsense to stop. Here is my deal simply put, you cannot use that horrible time-altering of yours to reset timelines of worlds I am conquering, have conquered, rule, or otherwise control, and in exchange I will leave Tenebrae alone until the present average of when I would descend upon Tenebrae as you will waive the for me at that time for our fated match.” The Void King explained. What? Luna mentioned I altered time in the future. Was it to avoid him?

“And why would I agree to that?” I checked. The deal heavily favored him, and it clearly mattered to him for him to personally descend like this. Why? There was more to this.

“Simple, either you agree to my , or I will kill everyone here. I will start with your mother, and end with your precious Luna.” The Void King threatened me.

I didn’t doubt his ability to do so; I could tell it would likely be little effort to him. But could he? What was the ? Before I could voice this, my entire family, Lux, and Luna were all floating behind him. He manifested rings of lances around all of them, as they seemed to struggle pointlessly against the prison he had created. What? When did he cast that? Even Papa was imprisoned by his , looking like he was struggling to even breathe from what the Void King was currently doing. How was he so strong? How was this possible?

“Don’t agree to that Nil!” Luna yelled at me, gasping in her prison. In an instant, she was in his hand, face turning a bit blue as he was choking her.

“None of you get to speak. Be glad I am generous enough to offer this.” The Void King snarled. Before Luna passed out, he dropped her. Behind me, I heard something explode. I turned, to see the numerous buildings floating in the air, utterly eviscerated by some . Wasn’t that the Dawnsfield estate?

“Why did you do that?!” I snapped at him. The Void King cocked his head in response.

“What part of, ‘you will regret it’ was not clear? Only you and I can talk right now and actions have consequences.” The Void King probed with a smug arrogance in his voice.

“If you need me to waive the for you, why would you kill everyone here? Can you currently? You’re not touching the world.” I tried. The Void King chuckled in response. It was a cold, hollow chuckle that made my blood ice.

“The protects you, and the world currently; it is not protecting them to the same extent. Even if I am forced out after the first kill, the I leave behind will finish the job. Want a demonstration? I can probably kill some unimportant guards to show how it works if you want to insist.” The Void King pointed out with sadistic glee.

“How can I waive the ? I don’t even know what it is.” I asked, trying to find some out.

“Simply signing the will allow it to be waived automatically. Any other attempts to try and find an out that doesn’t exist?” The Void King mocked. His palpable wrath was creeping into his voice as he taunted me.

“How long? How long would I have?” I probed, realizing there likely was no way out. I couldn’t fight him now, and I didn’t want to lose my family. I really didn't want to lose them. They were flailing helplessly behind him, imprisoned in his . I wasn’t strong enough to make an out if I wanted to.

“From now? Approximately twenty-one years; your copy will have a countdown to the second on it. I also assure you, the timer cannot be decreased nor increased by either of us.” The Void King explained in a tone of fake sincerity.

“Not like I have much of a choice.” I snapped at him. I could feel the Void King's glee at my helpless position.

“Be glad your is obnoxious. You are the first to ever make me negotiate a deal like this.” The Void King shot back. His gaze was wrath incarnate as he glared at me.

With a snap of his fingers, a magical contract materialized that reiterated what he said. There were no tricks, no fancy wording, just numerous ways of stating I couldn't alter time in regards to him and he'd leave Tenebrae alone until at the specified time he’d descend to annihilate us. Before that, he would leave Tenebrae alone from him and his influence. Could I get strong enough to fight him in twenty years? I thought Nautilus would be a summit, a difficult to obtain goal, but he was way beyond that. The Void King seemed to not even be in a league, just on a throne he made above all. While I was debating what to do, I realized he was tightening the prisons on everyone, making them cough violently. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind he wouldn’t kill them all if I didn’t sign quickly. I begrudgingly signed the which erupted in a powerful fluctuation of as we both agreed to the terms. The Void King gave off this general air of being content as we each had a copy, and as stated, mine had the timer: twenty-one years, two months, five days, four hours, thirty-nine minutes, and forty-four seconds until his return.

“Now, to hold up my end. It is unfortunate, but a deal is a deal.” The Void King said calmly. In an instant, Grand Archmagus Solomon was in front of him, trying to repel his .

“What is the meaning of this?!” Grand Archmagus Solomon cried out, forming a protective barrier. The Void King just laughed at his barrier.

“Someone was so useful in the original way this played out, but I cannot have you betraying Nil and invalidating the this time. That is going to go for a lot of the Institution of Mages, as none of you I have influenced will be left alive. Do not worry, that is giving me special permission to do this.” The Void King assured him with the most insincere concern in his voice. I could feel the joy in his voice as he got to kill.

“Do you think Nyx will forgive this?!” Solomon attempted, which made the Void King laugh some more.

“Yes, I am the after all.” The Void King taunted. Wait. Where did I hear that term before?

I didn’t have time to ask, as the Void King snapped his fingers. Easily fifty circles appeared, all rotating around, locking onto various directions. He made two massive screens project into the air, showing various Magi working, with families, and in other daily locations. What? What was he doing? The circles all launched some form of lance, spiriting towards their targets. In a matter of seconds each spot shown was utterly annihilated as the one lance hit seemed to unfurl into spinning blades the exterminated all nearby life. He didn’t spare a soul; children, innocent bystander, nor animal were safe from whatever the Void King had cast. Solomon was pale, as the Void King simply grabbed his barrier like it was solid and lifted it up. He poked a finger into the barrier like it was a bubble before turning Solomon into a red mist. The Void King tossed the barrier full of the blood that once was Solomon to the side, letting it dissolve as his liquefied corpse seeped into the ground. He remanifested the red eye as I looked where he was. The Institute of Mages branch that was in Umbra seemed to spontaneously implode, as there were massive crackles of as he forcefully destroyed something inside. I then noticed several bodies were on pikes, having been summoned by the Void King. They were some humans. Who were they? What did he just do?

“Why? Why?!” I cried at him, seeing just how many people he killed in a matter of seconds.

“Not my fault you were born here, so do not blame me for what you did. One can never be too careful with how far an infection can spread. With this, all the things I have influenced are dead and will no longer try to harm you, your family, or friends. I am looking forward to our next meeting.” The Void King answered as he and Mahdi slowly began walking up the staircase through the portal. Just dull thuds echoed from each step as the reality of what he did began hitting me.