The Naughtrealm appeared to be a flat disk with ruined medieval towns and crumbled cities. Some spots must once have been lush forests and magnificent clearings, with beautiful waterfalls flowing into small seas, but all the Echos discovered were remnants of a once-beautiful dimension.

Most Rifts were similar to the Naughtrealm, at least on the inside. Their insides were simple structures, such as the valley within the prehistoric Rift. However, the prehistoric valley was surrounded by a mountain range that couldn’t be crossed, whereas the edges of the Naughtrealm were an endless cliff.

David deployed some Echos to travel beyond the cliff, but they didn’t discover anything and returned once they began to show the first signs of disintegrating.

It wasn’t particularly difficult to learn all about the Naughtrealm. With dozens of Echos that acted as drones, gathering intelligence in all directions, David managed to map the enemy territory, the enemy’s strength, and anomalies fairly quickly.

The Naughtrealm couldn’t be larger than 25,000 square kilometers, which was less than he had expected. However, it was filled with corruption and Voidlings in the thousands. Sure, most were weak and couldn’t be considered a threat to his life, but the same couldn’t be said for the others. What if thousands of Saplings and Fragments were to descend upon the Earthen Union today? David shuddered as he imagined the few nations that had survived after struggling through the integration ceasing to be—devoured by the Saplings that grew stronger with every bit of life they consumed.

Something had to keep the Naughtrealm alive. Then again… is it plausible to call it ‘alive’ in the first place? David had no idea, but he doubted the Naughtrealm could maintain itself. The nothingness and Nihilum permeating every inch of the realm should have devoured it already.

Even so, his reconnaissance units didn’t discover a Rift Core or anything like it.

All reconnaissance units except for one made it back to him. He absorbed the Blood and Vitae that formed and protected them and grimaced at the loss of the Echos that had disintegrated.

As unfortunate as the loss of pure Blood and traces of Vitae was, David learned something through the information forwarded to [Bloodlife Echo], which made the expense worthwhile.

It was not enough, though. David needed more intelligence, and he formed new Echos once he’d digested the information.

The first three days in the Naughtrealm were spent sending avian-shaped Echos through the space of nothingness. Not only did they double- and triple-check the information gathered by the first reconnaissance units, but they also absorbed the nothingness and Nihilum in the different regions of the Void’s dimension.

David didn’t move much through the realm, nor did he hunt often. He reorganized all information entering his mind, devised several plans to move ahead once he was certain about the enemy forces, and analyzed the Nihilum and nothingness the Echos had absorbed.

All reconnaissance units deployed to the center of the Naughtrealm disintegrated, resulting in a loss of Vitae and pure Blood, but the other Echos more than made up for the loss of Vitae.

The Echos circling the outer areas absorbed less Nihilum but more nothingness. However, they encountered more Saplings than the Echos moving through the middle regions,

David mused.

As some Echos closed in on the inner area and the core region of the Naughtrealm, the intensity of Nihilum skyrocketed, as did the power of the Voidlings the Echos encountered. The outer area didn’t house any Fragments, and there weren’t many of them in the middle region either. However, they numbered in the hundreds in the inner area.

The core region was where David wanted to go, but he was certain to encounter powerful Fragments and maybe even Voidre over there.

He had a rough understanding of the Naughtrealm’s terrain, the enemy’s power level, and the like. However, he barely knew anything about the core region.

It didn’t make any sense, as not even the Echos formed with more than 20 pure Blood droplets and a thick coat of Vitae survived long enough in the core region to forward usable information.

Something disintegrated the Echos beforehand, and he wanted to know what it was.

Logic told him to stay away from the core region—at least for the time being. And it made sense. He might be able to defeat a few stronger Fragments now that his Vitae increased steadily, empowering him in a way his other stats never did, but he needed more to prevail. Furthermore, the intelligence at his disposal shouldn’t go to waste.

The first step of his plan was to move 100 kilometers east, into the outer area. Remnants of a mid-sized city lay there in shambles, offering him enough places to hide. David didn’t expect to have to hide, but a few days of intelligence gathering weren’t nearly enough to understand the Naughrealm. What if Voidre and powerful Fragments on the cusp of evolving suddenly began patrolling the outer area? He had to be careful. He was all by himself against an army of the Void, after all.

David moved fast and unseen. He discovered a lone Sapling on the way and cleaved through it. The Serpent Fang, coated in Vitae, worked wonders. He collected a small Maelstrom as the Voidling disintegrated. Next, he moved onward and reached the city ruins in less than half an hour. He slowed as he closed in on the city and circulated a trace of pure Blood through his eyes. [True Sight] jumped into action, revealing all he needed to know: dozens of life signals. Probably close to 100.

Perfect.

He entered the city and released one of his smaller Echos. It fluttered through the air, located the first group of Saplings near a crossroad a few hundred meters from David, and waited for the command. He skulked closer to the Voidlings; all that separated them was a quick spurt.

David was ready, grasping the Obsidian Blade in its elongated form in his right hand as he released the Vitae that had camouflaged the small Echo.

The Saplings responded even faster than expected. They leaped to their feet as a bright source of life and energy appeared out of nowhere. It was nearby and lured the Voidlings further east. The fastest Saplings propelled toward the life source that was eaten away by raw Nihilum—and so did David.

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The cobbled street beneath him crumbled as he burst into a sprint. He reached the slowest Sapling and watched it scramble to its feet to follow the source of life like the others had, then beheaded it with a swift slash. The Voidling didn’t even know what had happened when it started to disintegrate. David pushed forward and followed the Voidlings, otherworldly speed filling his limbs as he caught up with the next ones. He applied more Vitae to the edge of his soulbound blade and slashed left, even though it wasn’t necessary.

The second Voidling fell to his blade, and the third followed shortly as David redirected his momentum to stab a nearby Sapling in the back. A surge of Vitae burst from the Obsidian Blade as he missed the Sapling’s Maelstrom by a finger’s width—and it devoured the Maelstrom near-instantaneously.

That was almost too easy. David snickered, moving onward with a smile.

He killed three more Saplings before the Echo disintegrated. The excited Voidlings slowed and growled at each other, as if one of them were to blame for the raw Nihilum’s destructive power. David met the sharp gaze of an odd pair as they turned, but never slowed. If anything, more power sloshed toward his lower body, further amplifying his superior speed.

His legs felt like they were burning with power, even though no Skill was active. He wasn’t even circulating pure Blood through his body. He relied on his raw physical strength and Vitae’s blade augmentation to kill the Saplings. That was all he needed, from the looks of it.

Only three Voidlings remained when their counterattack began—if one could even call it that.

David pierced the skull of the closest Sapling as it leaped into his range. He closed in as the second one attacked, dematerialized the Obsidian Blade, manifested it in his left hand in its smaller form, and rammed it into the Voidling’s chest, piercing its Maelstrom with deadly precision.

The last was also the fastest, and its claws were only millimeters from reaching David as he sidestepped with ease. His soulbound weapon expanded, and more Vitae burst from its blade as he executed a light horizontal slash, severing the Void Barrier, bones, and Maelstrom in one go.

The Maelstrom didn’t even clatter to the ground as the Vitae devoured it at once, resulting in utter silence as the battle ended.

David took a deep breath, his eyes narrowing as he looked down at his body. He felt stronger than before. Faster.

But his stats hadn’t changed a bit—other than Vitae, of course.

[Vitae Nihilum]: [10.01]

So, that’s how it is? David grinned in realization and moved onward.

***

It was hard to tell the time. The first few days hadn’t been a problem, as his inner clock worked wonders, but once the Source’s production of Origin Essence slowed, everything changed.

There was no day or night in the Naughrealm. Everything was just… dark. David could still see through the darkness, however. That was eerie—and something he’d rather not have experienced. Especially with creatures of utter darkness looming everywhere, and raw Nihilum trying to consume him at all times.

He’d slept only once since he had entered the Naughtrealm, and that had been a challenge in and of itself, as he had to stop circulating Vitae through his body to rest properly. David closed his pores to raw Nihilum, which wasn’t a perfect solution to the problem, though it helped. He had to loosen the restraints on Vitae to sleep peacefully.

Under normal circumstances, he would never have done that, knowing Vitae would devour everything near him if he wasn’t paying attention, but the Naughtrealm didn’t have anything David wanted to protect from Vitae’s greed. If anything, he’d be happy if Vitae consumed it all. There was no need to restrain his powers in a place like that, so he unleashed them.

After sleeping once, David was fully invigorated and ready to move from preying upon the Saplings in the outer area to hunting stronger Saplings and average-strength Fragments in the middle grounds. No more than a week could have elapsed according to his calculations, but slightly more than a thousand Voidlings had already been killed and consumed, their hard work pushing his accumulation of Vitae to new heights.

The Voidlings will no longer bother the Earthen Union if I keep going like that, David thought, releasing the first Lightning Rend after the first battle with the stronger Fragments. The pristine crescent blade pierced the unstable Void Barrier as he ducked underneath a bladed arm, and he thrust forward, applying [Herald’s Blessing] briefly for a quick burst of speed and power.

Serpent Fang pierced through the opening in the Void Barrier and severed skin, flesh, and bones before it came to a screeching halt. Vitae did the rest.

No System message popped up as the Fragment died—David hadn’t received any since the first time—but he knew the Fragment was dead as it collapsed to the ground. He cast [Vital Weaving] on the corpse, wove its fleeting lifeforce into the weave, and retracted the river of Vitae before it could consume the Fragment’s lifeforce.

The difference between fighting several hundred Saplings and fighting some average-strength Fragments was drastic. Saplings couldn’t even dream of reaching him at this point. He dominated them easily and squashed them like ants. Fragments, on the other hand, were faster and more adept at using Nihilum. They were almost as fast, as strong, and as durable as David. Maybe they would have been faster before he arrived in the Naughtrealm, but that was no longer the case.

David was certain he should have ranked up a few times already. At the very least, Herald of Origin should have received a rank-up. His Source should have expanded as well. But not even his Skills ranked up. Even modifying his Sparks didn’t change his status, which was odd, to say the least.

Still, his power increased drastically—much faster than he could have hoped to grow outside the Naughtrealm.

It was also fun to watch the Voidlings rely on their powers. Sure, they were fast, strong, and rather durable, but they relied too much on their Void Barrier. It was clear as day and night that they didn’t expect all too much from David. At first, at least.

The Voidlings spent a long time, presumably days, and sacrificed more than two dozen Fragments before they realized that the anomaly in the Naughtrealm had to be taken seriously.

They must have noticed something. Or perhaps something had changed since he had entered the Naughtrealm. Regardless, the situation had barely changed. They may take him seriously now, but it was too late. He was stronger than ever. He felt more agile, powerful, and like no Gold Ranked monster could harm him any longer—even though his statistics hadn’t changed.

Nothing had changed except for the amassed Vitae.

[Vitae Nihilum]: [27.58]

As his strength increased, David focused more on his research into the Fissure and the Void’s power. Not that his research ever ended, but it grew more intense as time passed. After all, Vitae appeared to be much more than just the perfect counter to Nihilum. It was a power feared by the cosmos—something that fueled him with power and the means to combine the strongest of the cosmos and the Fissure.

He activated Divine Compass. Was it the ninth or tenth time he’d activated the Intent since entering the Naughtrealm? David couldn’t quite remember, but he knew where the arrows would point even before Divine Compass had fully materialized: to the center of the Naughtrealm.

Why? Because the central region contained the strongest enemies? Because the owner of the voice was there? Because that was where he had to go to return to the Earthen Union?