15% is what I thought
The city was still in a state of frightened silence, but the immediate danger had passed. Null had carried Sooji's comatose body all the way to a secure medical facility, his companions, Kai and Ashley, exhausted and bruised, following close behind. The once vibrant girl now lay on a sterile white bed, hooked up to monitors that hummed with a quiet, persistent rhythm. Her light was gone, her body a fragile shell, and the sight of her was a physical pain in Null's chest.
He stood over her, his hands balled into fists, his knuckles white. The hollowness he felt was more suffocating than any of the shadows he had summoned. His mind was consumed with a single, brutal thought: this wasn't her fault. This wasn't her fight. She wasn't made to be in this situation; she was just a woman who served coffee. Why did it have to come to this?
"We need to go back," Null said, his voice a low, gravelly whisper. "They're kidnapping people. We can't let them."
"Back where, Null?" Ashley's voice was raw with fatigue. "Back to the chaos? Look at us. We're hurt. Sooji..." She couldn't finish the sentence.
"Null, they're not wrong." Fang, his tiny draconic form perched on the headboard of the bed, looked at Null with a profound seriousness. "That was a test, a distraction. And we walked right into it. They wanted to draw you out. We fell for it."
Null ignored him, his eyes fixed on the door. "We have to find them. The ones who are taking the Prime Stones. The ones who did this to Sooji."
"And then what?" Fang's voice rose, losing its softness and taking on a sharp, scolding tone. "You think you can just march back out there and 'win' with more anger? Your rage gave them exactly what they wanted, Null! You're a child, and you're letting your temper drive you into a war you don't even begin to understand!"
Null flinched. The words hit him hard, cutting through his grief and his fury. "Don't you dare say that. You weren't there! You didn't feel it!"
"I don't have to feel it to see it! You're 16 years old, null!" Fang chirped, zipping in front of his face. "You should be at home, laying down and watching TV, not fighting for something that barely concerns you!"
"Barely concerns me?!" Null's voice cracked. The pain was more prominent than the rage now. "They just put Sooji in a coma! We lost! I lost! How can you say this doesn't concern me?"
"Because you are not grown!" Fang shrieked, his tiny body vibrating with a fierce intensity. "You think this is all about power? About revenge? This isn't a game. This is real war, and you just got a taste of what it will cost you. The Unwritten King's power is a burden, not a tool for a child's temper tantrum. It's a weight that will crush you unless you learn to control your own emotions first!"
The words finally struck home. Null looked from Fang to Kai and Ashley. They were exhausted, injured, and afraid. Sooji was out of the fight, her fate unknown. He had pushed them too hard, too fast, and for what? To be humiliated and have his friend pay the price.
Null's shoulders slumped. The shadows he had been fighting to suppress around him receded completely. "You're right," he whispered, the words tasting like ash in his mouth. "I can't stop it. Not like this. I can't protect anyone if I keep rushing into every trap."
He reached out, his hand trembling, and gently took Sooji's hand in his. He was an Unwritten King, but for now, he was just a kid, with the heavy weight of a war he was not ready to fight pressing down on his shoulders. He was an Unwritten King, but at this moment, he was just a boy, grieving.
A few moments later
The clinic room was silent, the only sound the steady beep of the monitors and the faint hum of the air conditioning. Null still knelt at Sooji's bedside, his head bowed, holding her hand as if it were a fragile lifeline. Ashley had excused herself, her face streaked with tears, unable to bear the weight of the moment. Kai, a few feet away, stood leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, his gaze fixed on Null. He knew this wasn't the time for platitudes. The anger and the fear he had felt during the attack had now been replaced by a heavy, profound sadness.
After what felt like an eternity, Kai pushed himself off the wall and walked slowly to Null's side. He didn't speak right away, just stood there, a silent, comforting presence.
"They're coming for us, aren't they?" Null's voice was barely a whisper. "The message... the 'harvest.' They're not just fighting a war. They're collecting something."
"Sounds like it," Kai said, his voice quiet. He looked at Sooji, his expression filled with a quiet fury. "I've seen it before. The Stone King's army. They always take something vital from their victims. A resource. A power source. It's what makes them so dangerous."
Null didn't respond, just squeezed Sooji's hand tighter.
Before Null could reply, a soft light filled the corner of the room, and the familiar form of Fang shimmered into view. But this wasn't his usual spiritual dragon form. The light condensed, and standing there was a young man with white hair, bright gold eyes, and a lean, graceful build. He was handsome, almost angelic in his features, with a faint, shimmering aura of draconic energy surrounding him.
"Null," Fang said, his voice no longer a high-pitched chirp but a soft, human tone. He walked toward Null and knelt beside him. "The words I said to you... they were harsh. But they came from a place of fear."
"Fear?" Null asked, his voice flat. "You're a dragon. What could you possibly be afraid of?"
"For you," Fang said, looking at him with an intensity Null had never seen. "I remember things you don't. I'm not an anydayfriend. I was a boss, a guardian of the Wonder World you fell into. When your soul left your body, I was drawn to it. I saw the pure potential, the endless well of power, but I also saw the profound sorrow that had broken you. I gave you a contract, a part of my own essence, to save you. And in doing so, our souls intertwined. I can recall fragments of your past. Your first life. Your pain." Fang took a deep breath, and then the words came out in a rush, a story Null had no idea was his own.
"Your father was Asuka asura, a former military man and a master of martial arts. He was a human who specialized in Air Stone power, a true anomaly. He was known for his mastery of taekwondo, judo, and Muay Thai. But one day, his stone began to darken, corrupted by Umbros, the God of Darkness and Shadows. He was terrified of what he was becoming, but he realized his new power was his only hope to protect everyone from the coming war. He became the first Unwritten King."
Fang paused, looking at the floor. "He left the military and led a large group of people out of the city to a safe location, giving them hope and leading them in a final charge against the Stone King. Your father fought valiantly, but he lost. He died fighting, but not before he cut off the Stone King's left arm. It was a scar, a final act of defiance."
"Your mother was Rin Enatsu, a woman with black hair and blue eyes, and an Elf, an almost extinct race. She was a master of Air Magic and a powerful healer. She was desperate to save your father. She tried to learn ways to bring him back, to do things she knew she couldn't achieve. She had two sons: Horuto and Soren."
"Horuto was your brother," Fang said, and for the first time, Null felt the profound weight of a memory he didn't have. "He was a cheerful child with yellow-golden hair and yellow eyes. He was also an Air Stoner, but his power was corrupted by Asura, the God of Light's brother. He never used his powers for fighting, only to do simple, kind things like making food for the family."
"You were Soren," Fang continued, his voice a low hum. "You were also an Air Stoner, corrupted by Umbros. You were filled with a righteous rage after your parents were killed, but you couldn't find them. You looked for them everywhere. Then, your brother Horuto was killed by a gang. With his dying breath, he transferred his last bit of Asura power to you. It was meant to protect you, but it shattered your mind. The power you used to call Asura... it wasn't the real God of Light. The real Asura was sealed away. The light you saw was just a mere copy of his power, a fragment left behind. After all that pain, you lost your memories. You became Null."
The room was silent again. The story, a painful, brutal history of loss and sorrow, hung in the air like a physical thing. Null looked at his hands, his head swimming with the truth. He wasn't Null. He was Soren, a child of two fallen heroes, a boy who had lost everything before he even knew what he had. The rage he felt now wasn't new. It was a familiar, ancient rage that had been buried deep inside him all along.
Fang knelt, his head bowed. "I am sorry for what you had to go through. But you see now? This isn't a war for you to win with rage. It is a war your family already lost. My fear... was that you would lose it again." He looked up at Null, his golden eyes filled with sympathy. "You are not a king. You are Null. And this time, we have to do it differently."
The weight of Null's burden was suddenly immeasurably heavier. He was not just fighting for himself and his friends; he was fighting for his family's legacy and for a victory his father had died trying to achieve. He looked down at Sooji's face, so peaceful and still, and he knew he had to figure out how to be more than just a King. He had to be a warrior, a strategist, and a man who understood the true cost of war.
End of chapter 42
Welcome back to volume 4 of the codex of realm thank you again for reading I really appreciate it
See you next time