Chapter 11 – The Empty Pen
In the void beyond stars, where no story dared tread, a pen floated.
It had no ink.
Because it wrote in memory.
It had no tip.
Because it etched in reality.
And once, a hand—not divine, not mortal, but something beyond—used it to write the first line of the cosmos:
> "Let there be a Crown."
But that line was erased.
Ripped from history.
Because what followed would've unmade everything.
The Hollow Author had once held the Pen.
Now, it wanted it back.
---
At the Heart of the Battle
Kaian stood beneath a sky that bled sideways.
The fifth ring behind him—now shattered into orbiting fragments—began forming something new. A sixth shape, not circular, but jagged.
It wasn't a ring.
It was a glyph.
A symbol of something that had never existed before:
Anti-Origin.
Beside him, the Godkiller stared into the growing rift.
"They're trying to give it form," he murmured.
Kaian nodded. "Once it has a shape, it becomes part of the system. Then it wins."
"So what do we do?"
"We give it a shape we choose."
---
Somewhere Else Entirely…
The Watchers panicked.
Scrolls burst into flame. Timelines unraveled. Alternate futures collided like broken reflections.
One by one, the Observers fell silent.
Except one.
A figure in white and red robes, face stitched shut with golden threads, raised a hand and whispered:
> "I remember the line that was erased…"
> "Let there be a Crown."
And the world stilled.
---
Back on the Field
Kaian's Crown pulsed.
Suddenly, the Hollow Author stopped.
It had no face. No body. But Kaian could feel it pause.
Because someone had spoken its lost line.
A narrative key.
Kaian's eyes widened. "It's reacting."
The Pen—long hidden—fell from the void, plummeting like a comet wrapped in fate.
Kaian caught it.
System prompt flashed:
> [You have obtained: The Empty Pen]
[Item Class: EX – Beyond System Comprehension]
[Ability: Rewrite cause and effect. If you understand it, you can change it.]
He looked at the boy beside him.
The Godkiller smiled wider than ever. "So... are you finally going to write your own story?"
Kaian held the Pen.
"No," he said. "I'm going to finish the one they were too afraid to tell."
---
End of Chapter 11