The silence of Null Haven didn't just break. It was annihilated.
Koma's eyes snapped open. The shockwave of his Yen tore through the fortress foundations. Violent ripples surged through the five main domains. In the Roundtable area, the massive obsidian slab groaned. The seven siblings usually gathered there for orders, but now the empty seats rattled. The air turned heavy. Sour.
Below, in the residential sector, the foundation shifted. Walls cracked. The echoes of the eldest's resurfacing howled through the halls. Even in the service quarters, the lackeys didn't stand a chance. Guards and maids were thrown to their knees. The sheer weight of the presence made breathing an impossibility.
But the destruction didn't stop at stone walls.
Kova possessed a domain entirely his own. A pocket of the deep Void anchored to reality, yet existing apart. The fifth domain. As Koma woke, the magnitude of his release punctured the veil. Kova's Void shook with the violence of an earthquake. The dark lake of the floor rippled into jagged peaks.
The whiteflame siblings cowered. They trembled as the dark sky of the pocket dimension seemed to collapse. Juno didn't flinch. She stood perfectly still, eyes fixed on her master while the ground fractured beneath her boots. Kova remained equally unmoved on his disc. His expression held only a mild, clinical interest.
"It seems my brother has finally awoken from his 4 day rest," Kova said out loud.
His voice cut through the panic like a blade.
Without another word, Kova vanished. He teleported instantly. The air in his Void domain snapped shut with a thunderous crack. The siblings and the boy with missing fingers were left in a state of absolute confusion. They stared at the empty space where their master stood a mere millisecond before.
In that same heartbeat, Kova appeared on the balcony of the Null Haven.
He perched on the railing. His boots balanced precariously on the thin edge of stone. He looked down at Koa with the cold stillness of a predator. She gasped. Her hands flew to her chest. She nearly fell backward, the sudden intrusion of his presence looming over her like a shroud.
"Welcome home," Kova said. His voice was smooth. Terrifyingly calm. "Youve been away for some time."
Koa gripped the railing. Her breath came in short, panicked bursts. She looked up at him. "Kova? Where did you—"
She didn't finish the question.
Kova reached out and tapped her shoulder with a single, gloved finger. The contact was brief, but the effect was instantaneous. Koa was ripped from the physical world. She spiraled through the veil and into Kova's Void domain. She landed hard on the obsidian floor, surrounded by Juno and the survivors. Her mind reeled from the displacement.
Kova didn't linger to watch her fall.
He teleported again. He appeared in the center of the Clouds where the mist was still thick with Koma's residue. Koma stood at the edge of the domain. His silhouette was a dark tear in the white fog. He didn't turn as Kova arrived, but the air between them grew dense enough to crush bone.
A normal person would've been turned to ash. Even siblings like Kana, Koa, and Kaola couldn't stand here. Their bodies would've failed them within the radius of that released Yen. To remain, Kova had to actively match the crushing intensity. A dual pressure warped the very light around them.
"Brother," Koma said. His voice was a low rumble. "When I woke up I felt you in the Void. You got here instantly. Your speed is mesmerizing."
Koma turned his head slightly. He acknowledged the one person whose power could breathe the same air as his own. A rare moment of respect. Koma was the storm. Kova was the lightning moving through it. Two monoliths of power, consciously suppressing their overwhelming Yen just so the Haven could remain standing.
"The world needed to settle," Koma continued, looking back at the horizon. "What is the state of things, Kova? I feel the absence of the others. The scent of the hunt has grown cold in these halls."
Kova stood beside him, comfortable within the crushing pressure.
"The chase has moved south. Kaola and the twins have proven to be... less than efficient. Kota is learning to hide, and the girl with him is keeping him tethered to the world. I have been molding our new assets in the dark while you dreamt."
Koma's eyes glowed with a dull, predatory light.
"Efficiency is a requirement, not a suggestion. If they cannot bring him to me, I will level the forest decimating everything in it including those 3 then find kota in the ash."
Kova knew what that meant. A localized catastrophe. The manifestation of that terrifying crown. A weapon of total erasure. Kova chuckled. The sound was a dry, hollow rattle in his chest. He imagined the sky folding inward like a closing wound.
"There isnt a need for you to leave the haven just yet," Kova said. A thin smile played on his lips. "If they fail to retrieve him all is fine. I think you would love to fight him when he reaches the pinnacle of strength anyway."
Kova looked at him firmly. The cataclysm wasn't needed. Not yet. Koma remained silent, the gears of his malice turning as he considered the prospect of a worthy kill.
Meanwhile, Koa struggled on the obsidian floor. The violet atmosphere pressed against her lungs. The teleportation had been violent. She stayed on her knees, hands trembling.
"Stand up," Juno commanded. Her voice was a freezing blade.
Koa looked up. Fear turned into defensive arrogance. "Dont speak to me in that tone," Koa snapped. "I am Kovas sister and essentially rank over you."
Juno turned to her slowly. Her eyes held a look of murderous intent.
"This is not the kingdom of Aetheron or the Null Haven. Your bloodline doesn't exist here. In my masters domain you are simply a girl stripped of her name and status. You are nothing here. I can kill you and my master wouldn't care. Neither would your dear brother Koma."
Koa stared in stunned silence. The weight of the threat sank in. Here, in the dark, she was truly alone.