Chapter 1: The World That Ended
The sky fractured like glass. Light bled from the cracks, turning day into chaos. People screamed as the ground rippled, cities folded into dust, and the air itself began to hum with static.
Kael Ardent stood in the middle of the street, watching the world break apart. His phone vibrated violently in his hand. The screen flashed with a single message.
[Ethereal Network: Initialization Complete.]
[Synchronizing Soul Signature—Kael Ardent.]
A pulse struck his chest. Pain exploded through every vein as the world dissolved into light. His body disintegrated, his mind stretched beyond comprehension, and then—silence.
When he opened his eyes, he was standing in an endless void. Floating before him was a glowing sphere of blue and silver light, beating like a heart.
[Welcome to the Soul Domain.]
[Initializing Genesis Sequence… Error detected.]
A deep crack spread through the glowing sphere. Kael reached out instinctively, and the moment his fingers touched it, the light turned black.
[System Error: Genesis Core Fragment Found.]
[Warning—Unregistered Authority Detected.]
The void trembled. Fragments of worlds flashed around him—mountains, seas, burning cities, and endless night. They collided and merged into a barren landscape beneath his feet.
The system voice returned, colder, almost sentient.
[Soul Domain: Activated.]
[Title Granted: The Broken Sovereign.]
[Genesis Core—Bound.]
Kael dropped to one knee, gasping. A flood of memories and information surged into his mind: laws, structures, energy systems—everything needed to create and command life itself.
He looked up at the sky of his empty world, a lifeless gray expanse stretching into infinity.
"Am I dead?" he whispered.
[No.]
[You have been chosen.]
The black light of the Genesis Core pulsed again, casting his shadow across the barren earth.
[Build. Conquer. Devour. Evolve.]
[This is your Dominion.]
Kael clenched his fists. The world had ended. But inside this empty domain, he was alive—and for the first time, in control.
[Genesis Dominion—Initialization Complete.]
The dark core floated into his chest, merging with his heartbeat. The ground trembled, and in the distance, the first stone of his empire rose from the dust.