The instant Leo accepted the duel, his storage room door burst open. But this time, it didn't reveal a single destination. The portal was a vortex of blinding golden light, an open wound in reality that pulled the air from his office. The holographic map on his smartphone showed a "STARTING POINT" icon flashing directly inside the portal.
He had no time to hesitate. With a final glance at his messy office, Leo got on his scooter, feeling the comforting protection of his new suit, and accelerated into the light.
The sensation was like plunging into ice water. Sound vanished, gravity seemed to twist, and for a moment, he felt like he was being torn into a thousand pieces. When his vision cleared, he was in a place that defied description.
The "Null Point" wasn't a place; it was an absence. He was on a floating crystal platform in the middle of an absolute void, dotted with fragments of other realities that drifted by like wreckage from a cosmic shipwreck: a wooden door floating to nowhere, a piece of cobblestone street with a flickering lamp post, a cloud of glass butterflies that turned to dust when they touched the edge of his "space."
A few meters away, on an identical platform, Kael stood next to his own scooter. It was a sleek, aerodynamic machine, matte black, that floated silently above the crystal. It looked like a shark next to Leo's dolphin. Kael looked at Leo, his ice-blue eyes gleaming with superiority.
In the center of the space between them, a pedestal of light materialized. Upon it, inside a shimmering, spherical containment field, rested the [Heart of a Dying Star].
It didn't look like a heart. It was a small sphere of liquid darkness, the size of a fist, with filaments of white and red light writhing inside it, like lightning trapped in a bottle. It emitted an aura of immense power and profound sadness. The timer on Leo's map continued its countdown: 59:12.
A neutral, disembodied voice echoed through the Null Point.
"The item is ready for pickup. The duel begins on first contact. Good luck, couriers."
Kael didn't wait. The instant the voice finished, his scooter shot forward with a silent, devastating speed. Leo reacted a second later, accelerating his own scooter, its electric motor whining in protest.
Kael got there first. His gloved hand passed through the containment field and grabbed the Star's Heart. The force field dissipated, and the timer at the top of Leo's map began to flash red, the countdown accelerating.
"Item has been collected. Core stability time is decreasing."
The holographic map for both couriers updated, showing a path of solid light snaking through the void. Kael was already speeding down the path, his red dot pulling away from Leo's blue one.
Leo grabbed a special containment container that materialized on his scooter—an unexpected perk of the system for dangerous items—and secured the Star's Heart. The container instantly grew cold, its surface frosting over. He accelerated, following Kael's light trail.
The race was frustratingly one-sided. The path was a highway of light that twisted and turned at impossible angles, but it was a straight shot. A test of pure speed. And Kael's scooter was simply superior. On every straightaway, a distância entre os seus pontos no radar aumentava. Leo could see Kael's silhouette in the distance, a black speck shrinking against the chaos of broken realities.
He was losing. And losing badly.
You're chaotic. Use that, Yuki's voice echoed in his mind.
Desperate, Leo looked at the holographic map. Kael was following the main path, the most obvious and safest one. But the map didn't just show the path. It showed the terrain. It showed the floating debris of other realities. And some of that debris formed... shortcuts. Unofficial, dangerous, and unstable paths.
He saw one. A cluster of asteroid rocks and metal ruins that formed a makeshift bridge across a wide curve in the main path. It was a risky shortcut. If he miscalculated a jump, he'd fall into the void. But it could save him almost a minute.
Kael would never risk it. His efficiency wouldn't allow it. He would stick to the tried and true path.
Leo made a decision. He couldn't beat Kael at his own game. He had to play his.
With a sharp turn, he veered off the path of light, his scooter jumping onto the first floating asteroid. The wheels screeched against the uneven rock. His radar showed Kael's red dot continuing on the main path, unaware of Leo's maneuver.
For a moment, Leo felt a surge of triumph. But when he looked ahead at his makeshift path, his stomach twisted into a knot. The next "step" in his shortcut wasn't a rock. It was the rusted, broken hull of an ancient spaceship, and from its torn frame, something was watching him.