He moved quickly, trying to create distance between himself and the man, but something felt strange… As if his body had become heavier for a moment, as if the very air around him had thickened. It was as if he was bound by a law that hadn't existed just a second ago.
"What…?"
"Everything in this world is governed by laws." The swordsman spoke as he drew his blade from the cage that had just been a bed moments ago. "And I simply decide which laws remain… and which disappear. I am the Thought Slayer."
The air grew heavier and heavier until moving or even breathing became impossible. Fortunately for Nullus, he wasn't the only one frozen—so was the Thought Slayer.
The man seemed to be observing his surroundings with complete focus.
But Nullus was not powerless.
He took a deep breath and activated his ability—Concept Vision.
Words began to flow before his eyes, floating around his opponent like an invisible specter.
Human …→ Pain … Destructive Ambition … Pride in Humanity …
He found no concept indicating that the swordsman, who called himself the Thought Slayer, had a superhuman body. So Nullus quickly redirected his conceptual vision toward the sword.
Sword …→ Sharpness … Hilt … Seal …
That's the secret behind the bed shrinking.
The sword's ability is sealing!
The opponent could alter the nature of anything he struck.
Nullus grasped this truth in an instant, but he had no time to think further because the man was already moving.
There was no time to escape as the swordsman lunged forward. His sword, terrifyingly swift, sliced through the air toward Nullus' right arm.
But Nullus wasn't unarmed.
His eyes locked onto the small metallic edge of the table beside him, and he dived into its concepts:
Metal → Hardness → Resistance.
Then, he amplified resistance to its maximum.
TANG!
The sword struck the edge of the table, but instead of piercing through, it rebounded as if it had collided with an immovable wall. The table itself wasn't particularly strong, but its resistance had been magnified beyond its normal limits—even if just for a moment.
'Just as I suspected… he can only seal what his sword pierces.'
Seizing the opportunity, Nullus leaped back, grabbed a knife, sharpened its edge, and hurled it straight at his attacker.
The swordsman barely dodged in the last moment. But before he could recover, Nullus was already closing the distance.
He appeared behind him in the blink of an eye, his hand reaching for the man's throat—aiming to end the fight in a single move.
But the sword was faster.
Instead of turning or stabbing, the swordsman did something unexpected.
Without warning, he sealed space itself.
"Space: Contraction."
Everything Nullus had traveled vanished in an instant. As if he had never moved at all, he found himself back at his starting point, as though the very universe had decided his journey never happened.
The distance he had covered—had been sealed.
"Damn…" Nullus muttered, quickly stepping back.
The Thought Slayer didn't wait. He charged at Nullus again, his sword swinging in a deadly arc, aiming for his chest this time.
But Nullus was ready.
In the blink of an eye, he picked up a shard of glass from the shattered window and focused on its concepts:
Transparency – Sharpness – Fragility.
Then, he amplified transparency to its absolute limit.
Suddenly… the glass vanished from sight.
But it wasn't truly gone.
It was still there—just so transparent that it had become invisible to the human eye.
With a swift flick of his wrist, Nullus hurled the unseen blade at the mysterious swordsman.
The man never saw it. Never expected it.
The shard sliced through the air—piercing his left shoulder.
He halted, stunned by the pain of a wound he couldn't even see. But before he could react, Nullus made his final move.
He grabbed a small stone from the ground and hurled it straight at his opponent's chest, amplifying weight to its maximum.
The tiny pebble turned into an impossibly heavy mass, something closer to a block of iron.
BOOM!
The rock smashed into the Thought Slayer, sending him staggering backward with tremendous force, crashing into the wall and leaving a deep indentation.
He dropped to one knee, clutching the invisible wound on his shoulder, staring at Nullus with unreadable eyes.
"You're… interesting."
Then, without warning—he disappeared.
Only the cold wind from the shattered window remained, whispering through the room… and the deep unease creeping into Nullus' chest.
That was just a test.
Which meant… an organization knew about him. They were watching.
---
Nullus gasped for breath, his eyes fixed on the empty space where the Thought Slayer had stood moments ago. This hadn't been an assassination attempt. It had been a warning.
His gaze swept the room—the aftermath of battle was clear. His bed, now a collapsed metal cage. The table, still carrying its warped resistance. The broken window. The shards of glass scattered across the floor—some of which were no longer visible due to his own power.
"…They found me."
A chill ran down his spine. He had been cautious for months, constantly on the move, avoiding anything that would draw attention. Yet, they had pinpointed his exact location. How?
He thought back to the night before—that moment when he felt as if he had crossed an unseen threshold. The night something changed within him. When he began seeing the world differently, not just as a collection of objects and materials, but as a living, moldable fabric.
Was that it?
Had his new perception sent out some kind of disturbance? Like a beacon of light in the darkness, revealing his location to those with the right eyes?
His jaw clenched. That possibility was too real to ignore. He knew there were individuals within the organization who could sense anomalies in energy flows. If they had been tracking him all this time, waiting for the moment he revealed himself…
Then another thought, far worse, hit him.
If they were watching him… then they might have been watching Celine too.
"Shit…"
He didn't know how much they linked her to him, but if they had gathered intel on him, they would have noticed his frequent encounters with her.
And if they saw him as a threat…
They could use her against him.
He moved immediately. There was no time to waste.
Jumping through the broken window, he landed lightly on the wet ground below. The streets were empty, neon lights reflecting off the rain-slick pavement. Pulling his coat tight around him, he disappeared into the shadows—heading toward the one place where he might find answers.
Or another threat.
He had to find Celine.
Before they did.