Zane lounged lazily on a gilded obsidian throne, his legs thrown over the side as he popped a strange, glowing berry into his mouth. The taste was somewhere between burnt cinnamon and regret.
He winced. "Ugh... tastes like trauma."
All around him, strange beings—some with horns, others with wings, a few with eyes in places no eyes should ever be—were kneeling. Some offered food, others chanted what he was sure were praise hymns, and one was even sketching a lifelike statue of him... shirtless. With six-pack abs.
Zane blinked. "Okay... that’s weird."
He looked at the pile of berries in a glowing golden bowl next to him, then glanced toward the huge, rune-etched doors of the palace. "Who knew that by making one overgrown fire-puncher disappear, you’d be worshipped as a god?"
He crunched on another berry. "And I didn’t even kill the guy. Just blinked him somewhere else."
On his shoulder, Link—miniature, smug, and currently wearing a tiny laurel crown someone had given him—stretched. "Well, technically, you did make him disappear in front of an audience. To them, that’s peak god energy."
"Maybe I should’ve charged entry," Zane muttered.
A ghostly shimmer pulsed near his head as Nyx emerged, arms crossed. "Let me get this straight: we came to the Realm of Origin, barely survived its entry trial, absorbed a broken cosmic key that unlocked the Law of Null, and now you’re... what, royalty?"
"Correction," Link smirked, polishing his tiny crown. "He’s not just royalty. He’s the ’Eternal Void Sovereign’ according to the weirdo with seven mouths."
"I’m not using that title," Zane said flatly.
"Too late," Nyx said. "They already carved it into the palace walls."
Zane sighed and stood from the throne, stretching his arms. "I really need to figure out how to leave this place."
He looked around. The palace was magnificent. Blackened gold adorned the pillars, and a deep purple carpet led out the door. The air was thick with reverence, but Zane felt like a kid trapped in a cosmic kindergarten play.
"Any signs from the System?" he asked.
> [System Notification: Teleportation coordinates currently locked. Realm transition requires external stabilization.]
Zane grunted. "So in plain words, we’re stuck."
"On the bright side," Link grinned, "at least you’ve got groupies."
Zane rolled his eyes. "Groupies that eat rocks and worship meteor showers."
A knock came at the grand doors.
An elder being, wrapped in glowing red cloth with six shadowed attendants, bowed deeply before him. "Great One... the offerings from the outer dominions have arrived. Do you wish to bless them with your shadow?"
Zane gave a long blink. "I’m sorry, what now?"
Nyx facepalmed. Link burst out laughing.
"I swear," Zane muttered, "next time I see the System, I’m deleting it."