Chapter 88: : Nullroot Rising
đ Chapter 88
đ Scene 1: Dead Orbit
Far beyond the planetary grid, beyond the reach of satellites and Krono wavefields, lies the Dead Orbitâa vast expanse of frozen silence. The stars are dimmer here, the void heavier.
Zeron and Kael exit a Krono Jump Gate and arrive in the decaying remains of an ancient Sentinel Stationâabandoned, unpowered, floating like a grave.
Their mission is simple: reach the central control chamber and investigate the coordinates Dextra left behind.
But nothing here is simple.
Zeron's Astrael Vortan immediately begins to shudder.
Kael scans the area.
"This whole station⊠it's made of reverse-Krono. It's draining us."
Inside the walls, something movesâshadows with no form, flickering in and out of existence.
đ§Ź Scene 2: Nullroot
Deep in the station, sealed beneath thirty Chrono-locks, a chamber opens by itself.
Floating in a dark biomechanical womb is Nullrootâa being made not of matter, but of anti-Krono, a reversal of energy and logic, of memory and self.
It stirs for the first time in centuries.
Nullroot's body is featureless, humanoid but unstable. It whispers in paradoxes:
"I am the beginning. I am the erasure."
A pulse of anti-Krono blasts through the station. Astrael Vortan screams in Zeron's mind. Kael's armor short-circuits.
Zeron drops to one knee. His skin begins to burn backwardâmoments of his life unraveling.
He sees his mother aliveâthen dead again. His first fightâthen it's undone. Zui laughingâthen vanishing.
"This thing is... deleting my memories," Zeron chokes.
đ§ Scene 3: Zake's Discovery
Meanwhile, back on the surfaceâ
Zake, driven by a strange dream, enters a hidden archive beneath the Guild Hall. His fingerprint activates a genetic vault.
Inside, he finds a preserved holotape of their parents.
Their father, once a Guildmaster, is seen holding a strange device.
"Zeron... will awaken the Purple Core. If you're watching this, it's too late to stop what's coming."
Zake watches in silence as his mother's voice follows:
"Zake, your role is the key. You are the catalystânot the wielder."
Before he can understand more, alarms go off. The Memory Security Division is on his tail.
He escapes using his own mechaâEclipse Runnerânow showing signs of a Krono mutation.
đ§© Scene 4: Zui's Tower
Zui is building something in the ruins of Sector Nine.
Alone, surrounded by corrupted Mechas and derelict AI, she stands atop a spiraling structure made of black steel and Krono remnants.
She's fusing her memories into the material.
"One tower for each lie. One tier for each truth."
The tower is pulsing, almost alive.
She whispers to herself:
"Brother... you will come here. You will remember."
From the shadows, a dark-robed figure appearsâApostle IV: Veilborn.
He bows.
"My Lady of the Net. The Entity has awoken. Will you kneel?"
Zui turns slowly, her eyes now half-gold, half-shadow.
"I will make the Entity kneel."
âïž Scene 5: The Fight for Memory
Back in the Dead Orbitâ
Zeron pushes through the Krono inversion. His body is breaking, but Astrael Vortan speaks through his pain:
"I have remembered what I am."
The armor evolves. The crystal core opens. Purple veins of Krono begin to leak.
Zeron screamsânot in agony, but in release.
The Vortan Protocol activates.
A massive blade formsâa Chrono Scythe forged from his own erased memories.
Kael shouts from behind:
"Zeron, this is suicide!"
Zeron charges Nullroot, slashing with the Scythe.
Each strike doesn't hurt Nullrootâit restores time instead.
The broken station reassembles around them, events reverse, and the anti-Krono begins to collapse under the pressure of restored history.
Nullroot lashes out.
Zeron is thrown into a fracture of space.
The last thing he sees before blacking out is a young girlâwearing a flower pin, standing on a floating bridge of starlight.
đź Preview â Chapter 89: The Girl from Yesterday
Zeron wakes up in a fragment world created by Nullrootâwhere time flows backward.He meets a mysterious girl who claims to be a "Loopghost."Zake begins his solo mission to track down the Living Archive.Zui's tower reaches completionâand sends a pulse to every Mecha driver on the planet.The Resistance prepares for the Siege of Chronar Core.