In the city that seemed to have no end, the crowd kept moving.
But not everyone.
Those who had heard Null pronounce that name walked like automatons.
Cold sweat ran down their backs.
Some stared at the ground.
Others at the void.
As if they had seen, in a single second, their birth… their death… and something worse:
the uselessness of both.
—You heard it too, right? —murmured a demon without stopping.
—Yeah… I heard it clearly… how can someone pronounce that name with such… normality? —another replied.
The nervousness wasn't superstition.
It was instinct.
Because there are names that are not sounds.
They are permissions.
And when a permission activates…
Something changes.
A chain.
Not physical.
Not conceptual.
A chain that didn't bind the body…
It bound perspective.
The narration itself was torn away.
Narrator: Wait— WAIT!
But it was too late.
The perspective was displaced before the idea of "displacement" even existed.
There was no transition.
No cut.
Simply… the point of view no longer belonged to him.
And then—
Alcanor: listen to me. Keep silent about this. Do not narrate me. Do not mention me. Do not use anything like "Alcanor did such a thing." Okay? Or I will do something in that place.
It wasn't a threat.
It was an instruction that could not be ignored.
Narrator: o-okay, okay sir… I won't narrate anything. But… why not just do it and that's it? You know I can't tell when you appear and when you don't… I can't even narrate you unless you decide it.
Alcanor moved closer.
He didn't walk.
Closeness happened.
Alcanor: (laughing softly) do you prefer to remain with the doubt?
He placed a finger on the Narrator's forehead.
He didn't touch skin.
He touched the function of narrating.
Alcanor: Exactly. I decide everything. And I decided to tell you what I will do.
There was no arrogance.
There was something worse:
Authority with no possible opposition.
An authority that didn't define itself as absolute…
Because the word "absolute" existed thanks to him.
Alcanor: understood?
Narrator: yes… I understand…
Alcanor: you will narrate under one of the identities that lower beings invented to identify what they saw of me.
He smiled.
Alcanor: And you will do the same with Alanai… unless you want her to lock you in the Furnace Plane again.
The Narrator felt something that wasn't fear.
It was memory. And that made him tremble.
Narrator: understood…
A snap.
And the perspective was returned.
Library of Infinite Stories.
Heal and Null were about to open the book.
And then—
Everything froze.
It didn't stop.
It froze.
Movement ceased to be permitted.
Causality was suspended like a closed application.
A white light appeared.
It didn't come from anywhere.
Because the concept of "coming from" had been deactivated.
From that light emerged a presence.
Without face.
Without body.
Without form.
It couldn't even be said that it "existed."
Because existence was too small a category.
…: This book has the story somewhat poorly done. Let's rewrite it a bit.
A flash.
The writing changed.
It wasn't erased.
It was surpassed.
The previous text wasn't deleted.
It was relegated to an inferior version of the event.
Another flash.
Time was released.
Heal and Null reacted without knowing they had been paused.
…: Don't you think it's better to see with your own eyes the creation of the Human Domain? Or human domains… considering they are in infinite books contained in libraries of every timeline of every reality.
Laughter.
Not audible.
Conceptual laughter.
Heal turned immediately.
She didn't sense arrival.
She didn't sense aura.
She didn't sense presence.
That was the terrifying part.
Heal: who the hell are you?
…: You may call me whatever you want. Demon. Mortal. Spirit. Angel. God. But if we speak of reality… I am none of those things. Those terms existed because I decided the idea of those terms would exist.
Heal immediately knelt.
She dragged Null down with her.
Heal: forgive my imprudence… I didn't know it was you… Eterodivinitar.
Null remembered.
"Hakai is the only one who stands absolutely equal to Eterodivinitar."
Null: then he is…
Heal: yes… the one no one can even think of standing at his feet.
And Null understood something.
Not even Abyssal had provoked that level of fear in Heal.
Eterodivinitar: you are forgiven, Heal.
A flash that could be interpreted as a smile.
Eterodivinitar: you wanted to see the legend, correct? Then see what truly happened.
The book opened.
But it was no longer a book.
It was a threshold.
The pages multiplied infinitely, writing, correcting, rewriting as if perfection were mandatory.
Heal: this is not the same legend I remember…
Eterodivinitar: because this is the true one.
And then the book absorbed them.
(Inside the book — Creation of the Human Domain)
The pages ceased to be pages.
Null felt his stomach twist and his consciousness ripped away like a sheet in a hurricane. He didn't fall. He didn't float. He didn't travel.
He simply… stopped being where he was.
And when he "opened his eyes," the very concept of opening eyes made no sense.
Because there was no darkness.
No light.
No space.
No time.
There was… a before.
Heal was beside him, though even that was strange. There was no ground. No up or down. Yet she remained steady, as if her will alone sustained her.
Null tried to speak.
No sound came.
Because sound did not yet exist.
Then, a vibration.
Not physical.
A vibration of idea.
A pulse so pure it was felt not in the body… but in existence.
And with that pulse, something happened.
The void… became aware of itself.
And that awareness was the first fracture.
The "nothing" cracked like glass.
From that crack was born a spark, and that spark was not fire: it was an instruction.
A command written without letters:
"Be."
Null felt his mind try to understand it… and fail.
Not because it was difficult.
But because it was too real.
Heal clenched her teeth.
Heal: …This is the origin of what is called the Human Domain.
And then the universe exploded.
But not like an explosion.
There was no shockwave.
No noise.
No heat.
It was worse.
It was… an unfolding.
As if someone had opened an infinite blanket that had always been folded upon itself.
Space appeared in layers.
First, an endless extension.
Then another above it.
Then another.
And another.
And another.
Each layer was born above the previous, not as height… but as transcendence.
Null saw a sphere of reality form.
One.
A bubble.
Then two.
Then a hundred.
Then a million.
Then infinite.
And still… that was only the first breath.
Because suddenly, within a bubble, a planet was born.
Within that planet, moons were born.
Within those moons, reflections were born.
Within those reflections, stars were born.
Within those stars, galaxies were born.
Within those galaxies…
universes were born.
Null went still.
Heal said nothing.
This was not a cosmos.
It was an ocean of cosmos.
And that ocean… was only a drop inside something greater.
Reality extended further still.
And then three "levels" appeared.
Not floors.
Hierarchies of being.
First, the Lower Reality.
Null felt that it was the place where existence was easy, where things could be measured, touched, counted.
There, the "simple" worlds were born.
Planets.
Moons.
Lives.
First thoughts.
But before Null could adjust…
the Lower Reality folded.
And above it, as if an impossible sky opened, the Middle Reality was born.
And Null felt the impact.
Not physical.
Comprehension.
Because the Middle Reality was not "larger."
It was more complex.
A place where a single atom could contain a universe.
Where a single breath could be an entire civilization.
Where time was not a line…
but a forest.
And that forest had infinite branches.
Null saw a minimal action in a lower world.
A spark.
A decision.
A word.
And in that same instant, reality split.
Not in two.
In infinite.
Null: What…?
Heal: Entire timelines.
Every thought generated branches.
Each branch was a universe.
Each universe had pasts.
Each past had bifurcations.
Each bifurcation was a complete reality.
Null felt nausea.
Not from dizziness.
From excess.
And still…
That was not the end.
Because then, without warning, the Middle Reality became small.
And something… rose.
Not as a third layer.
As a judgment.
The Higher Reality appeared.
And when it did, Null felt his identity tremble.
As if simply being there were an error.
There, concepts were not ideas.
They were things.
Logic was a living being.
Mathematics was a landscape.
Memory was an ocean.
Existence was a breathing creature.
And Null understood something terrifying:
The Higher Reality was not "above."
It was… beyond the act of comprehension.
Heal went rigid.
At the center of everything, where the layers touched like cosmic tectonic plates…
the pillars were born.
Not statues.
Not symbols.
Living forces.
First, Life.
A warm expansion filling the void with heartbeats.
Then, Death.
A perfect silence cutting that expansion like a guillotine.
Before fear could devour him…
Resurrection appeared.
Not as return.
As negation.
A force saying:
"This does not end here."
And then…
Reincarnation.
A wheel.
A cycle.
An eternal repetition asking no permission.
The four pillars intertwined like serpents of light and shadow.
They did not fight.
They balanced.
And every time that balance vibrated…
reality multiplied.
Null saw a lower world.
A human being born.
A breath.
And in that same instant, the universe split into infinite realities.
Null: …All of this…
Heal: This is the Human Domain… This is the true legend of its creation… this is… fascinating.
The name fell upon Null like weight:
"Domain."
Not "world."
Not "universe."
Domain.
A cosmic jurisdiction.
A limitless expansion.
A system feeding on possibilities.
And then, as if the book had awareness…
a shadow crossed the edge of vision.
Something… observing.
A voice resonated without sound:
"This will serve."
Heal swallowed.
Eterodivinitar: this is what everyone now calls the "Human Domain" (smiles) Heal, does it surprise you to have this in every book in the Library now?
Heal: I knew it was enormous and complex… but not this much.
Eterodivinitar: (smiling) I had to reduce your existence to a point so you could not only see, but also feel the creation in all its splendor.
He grabbed the book despite being inside it, as if he were not only within but also outside or above it—if the idea of "above" even applied to him.
Null: how is it possible that you have the book in your hands when we're inside the same book? —he said, astonished— or are you some kind of hologram?
Eterodivinitar: (laughing) I decide where to be and where not to be, I can even be in more than one place.
Hundreds, thousands, beyond perception, versions of Eterodivinitar appeared.
Heal: amazing… that means…
Eterodivinitar: if you speak of "omnipresence," that idea exists thanks to me as well.
He raised a hand, and in his palm appeared the very concept, idea, definition, ontology of "omnipresence."
Eterodivinitar: I can be anywhere, but I can also be in one place or in none. I decide everything, without exception —he smiled calmly— now that you've seen the Human Domain, it's time for the next page, correct?
He turned the page.
(Inside the book — Creation of Abyssal)
Hell… was not a place.
It was a concept in perpetual collapse.
And there she appeared.
Hakai.
Time trembled. Causality and existence as a narrative concept bowed.
War erupted for pleasure.
Hakai smiled.
When Hell was reduced to dust, she snapped her fingers.
Perfect reset.
Until one day… Hakai grew bored.
A different snap.
Light absorbed time, causality, existence itself… and began to take shape.
Abyssal. The Ring of Oblivion.
Hell knelt.
Null understood: this was not an enemy.
It was terror made flesh.
Hakai looked directly at them.
Hakai: well, well… it seems this tale is being watched.
Eterodivinitar sighed.
Hakai appeared beside him.
Hakai: you know I can't.
She laughed.
Hakai: I hope you enjoyed the story… and I hope you don't die because of my pet.
She looked at Null.
Hakai: I want to wake it. Let's see if you can defeat it. It's your next objective, Executor. Defeat Abyssal to access the next layer.
She vanished.
Eterodivinitar closed the book.
Heal and Null returned to the Library.
Eterodivinitar: you know your objective. You will have to prepare. I was going to warn you… but she always gets ahead.
He disappeared as well.
Heal and Null stood in silence.
Not out of fear.
But because they had just understood something terrifying:
Soon, they will face something far greater than themselves.
And that something is Abyssal.