Pralaya found himself adrift once again in the endless expanse of the Void Sea. The same ink-black ocean without waves, without light, without life. But this time, the dark figure that had haunted his visions was nowhere to be seen. Only silence greeted him—pure and profound, pressing against his ears like a deafening vacuum.
He walked. Or at least, it felt like walking. The movement was strange here, like his body wasn't fully his. Minutes passed like years. Or maybe years passed in minutes. Time had no place in the void. It was just him—and the endless sea of nothing.
Then, a sensation crept over him—not physical, but existential. Like something heavy was suspended above his soul. He instinctively looked up. His breath hitched.
It wasn't a star. It wasn't a sun. It wasn't even a shape. It was like a black hole, suspended in the skyless sky of the Void Sea. Yet unlike a black hole, it didn't consume—it simply was. A constant presence. Silent. Ominous. Absolute.
Pralaya's right hand rose without his consent. Not in fear. Not in awe. But in resonance. As if the motion had been written into his very essence.
The black hole condensed. It didn't shrink—it compressed. Infinite nothingness pulled itself inward as it spiraled forward toward Pralaya's hand. The instant it touched him, he felt it:
Nothing.
Not pain. Not power. Just... nothingness.
The absence of everything. Not a void—but the essence that defined a void.
It surged through his hand and dove into his heart like a spear of ink through glass.
His body convulsed. Then shattered.
Not physically, but metaphysically. Every cell. Every atom. Every molecule.
Broken down. Dismantled.
Then rebuilt.
Again.
And again.
---
Meanwhile, in the real world…
Michael leaned back in his chair, deep in thought. Arun stood nearby, pacing, his brow furrowed.
"It makes no sense," Arun said. "He awakened, didn't he? But he has no cores."
Michael nodded slowly. "None of the three—no Mortal Core, no Earthly Core, no Heavenly Core. Nothing."
"That's impossible," Arun muttered. "Every Śūnyavāda forms those cores when karmic energy awakens. It's foundational."
"Exactly," Michael said. "The three cores are the conduits for karmic flow. The Mortal Core rests in the heart and governs the physical body. The Earthly Core in the stomach binds one to worldly energy. The Heavenly Core, in the head, connects one to spiritual insight and cosmic will. Without them…" he paused, searching for the right phrase.
"He's like an uninsulated conduit in a lightning storm," Michael finally said. "Energy surges through, but there's no structure—no grounding. No system to regulate or evolve."
"Then how is he even alive?" Arun asked, eyes narrowing.
Before Michael could answer, a surge of karmic pressure erupted from Pralaya's body.
The entire sanctum trembled. The walls groaned as if something ancient was stirring.
"What in the world…" Arun staggered back.
Michael's eyes widened. "So much karmic energy. And it's not even stabilized."
Pralaya's body glowed, waves of translucent energy rolling off him like heatwaves. But then, the color changed—deepening into a sinister purple laced with threads of obsidian black.
Michael raised his hand. The space around Pralaya bent as seven glowing stars formed a rotating sigil, encircling him like a halo.
"Celestial Arrest: Halo of Binding Stars," Michael whispered.
The stars pulsed once—and everything froze. Time halted around Pralaya like ice over fire.
"That should keep him contained until it's over," Michael said, his voice grim.
Arun stared at Pralaya, whose body remained perfectly still within the starlight prison. "Metamorphosis?" he asked. "But that's impossible. A Śūnyavāda must complete all seven cycles of both the Mortal and Earthly Cores before even beginning a Metamorphosis. And he doesn't even have a core!"
Michael's face was contemplative. "It's not quite Metamorphosis… but it's something close. Something… older. Rarer. Maybe even… primordial."
---
Back in the Void Sea…
Pralaya gasped as his body reformed. There was no pain anymore. Only… completion.
Like something had always been missing—and now it was back. Fitting perfectly. As though a puzzle piece he never knew existed had found its place.
Then, without warning, the black hole within him exited, rising slowly into the sky and returning to its place above.
From the sea below, something else emerged. Slow. Monolithic.
A single core.
But it wasn't Mortal. Or Earthly. Or Heavenly.
It was darker than shadow. Like an endless abyss had taken shape. The water around it rippled—not from motion, but from presence.
Pralaya stepped toward it. Without hesitation, he placed his hands upon it.
And the voices came.
A thousand of them. No. A million. Yet somehow, they all spoke in harmony.
> "Pralaya… you must remember who you truly are."
He staggered back, heart thundering. Confusion wracked his mind, but before he could ask anything, a shape rose from the sea—opposite the core.
The dark figure.
But this time, it was different. It had form. Skin. Limbs. But the face remained veiled in shadow, black mist clinging to its head like smoke.
It smiled. Not warmly. But knowingly.
"You're not ready yet," it said, its voice like a whisper in the void. "The time will come. For now… you must survive."
Then, like wind scattering smoke, it vanished.
---
Back in reality.
Pralaya's eyes shot open.
He gasped, air rushing into his lungs like he'd been drowning. His body convulsed once, then stilled. The stars around him faded.
Michael and Arun stared in stunned silence.
Michael stepped forward and placed a hand over Pralaya's chest. His brows furrowed. "It's changed."
"What do you mean?" Arun asked.
Michael didn't look away from Pralaya.
"He has a core now. But it isn't the usual ones, Not Mortal. Not Earthly. Not Heavenly."
"Then what?" Arun asked quietly.
Michael stood straight and whispered, almost reverently, "A Void Core. A core of nothingness. I've never seen one before, I have only heard about them in Ancient text,according to the ancient text the beings that possesses void cores are usually Śūnyayoma but not just any Śūnyayoma, a Sovereign Śūnyayoma".
Arun's expression darkened. "What kind of being is this boy?"
Michael turned toward him, his voice calm but heavy.
"i don't know what he is but i do know this much, he is the solution to our long standing problem."