273THE ANTI-META FIELD BLACKOUT
Damen smashed his fist into the ground beneath the shattered altar.
The stone gave way immediately.
To his surprise, the floor collapsed inward—revealing a hidden basement below. Dim light spilled upward, and within it… there were movements.
There were people inside the basement.
They scrambled out, shielding their eyes from the bright light.
"Who the hell are these people?" Damen asked.
"They're former Syndic members," Liorea replied. "Imprisoned by the Priest—for disobedience, or for something as simple as wanting to leave."
Damen's jaw tightened.
Hundreds of drones poured out from Liorea's spatial storage, descending into the chamber. Restraints were cut. Prisoners were lifted, stabilized, and evacuated.
By then, the Priest had retreated back to the Syndic lines.
Force fields snapped into place once more—denser, tighter. This time, the Priest stood safely behind them.
"I didn't expect you to be this troublesome," the Priest sneered at Damen. "But there is always a way to deal with your kind."
Thornrose stepped forward, his eyes sharp.
"He's a close-range combatant," Thornrose commanded. "Do not engage directly. Maintain distance. Kill him from range."
"Yes!" the Priest screamed. "You're dead now!"
A violent wave of compressed air tore across the battlefield.
"Sirocco's Vengeance."
The mirror image of Damen unleashed the technique in full force.
Damen planted his feet and raised his arms. Wind blades slammed into him, carving the ground, shredding stone and steel—but he didn't retreat.
He could have dodged.
But behind him were the prisoners.So, he endured the blade.
Then a familiar voice spoke.
"Thank you… for saving us."
Damen turned…. He recognized her instantly.
"Nullrose," he said.
Nullrose was one of the Syndic members who tried to kill him before. He had defeated her in that battle—and instead of seeking revenge, she had sworn to leave the Syndic of Fracture for good.
Only now did Damen understand.
Nullrose hadn't left.
She and the others who had planned to quit the killing profession after that fight—they planned to walk away while they still could.
But the Priest of Syndic didn't let them go.
Instead, they were dragged beneath the altar, imprisoned in the dungeon below the altar, the very place where loyalty and obedience were preached.
Damen's jaw tightened.
The Syndic of Fracture didn't just punish betrayal… It buried it.
Nullrose stepped forward, her composure calm despite the chaos.
"Let me return the favor for saving us," she said to Damen. "Let me rebalance this fight."
The air shifted.
A crushing pressure spread outward—silentlyand absolute.
The Syndic's shield formation shattered like glass.
Energy vanished from their hands. Their auras collapsed and powers blinked out—one after another.
"What's happening to our powers?" they screamed in confusion.
Even the mirror image froze, his powers was gone.
"What—what did you do?!" the Priest screamed.
Nullrose smiled faintly.
"It's my anti-meta field," she said. "Have you forgotten?"
With a single step forward, she expanded it fully.Meta powers spread across the battlefield died….
… All of them.
"…Huh," Damen laughed. "Guess you're all powerless now."
He lunged.
"No—this can't be happening!" the Priest shrieked, frantically opening the Death Note.
He must salvage the situation with the Death Note. There must be a way to do so.
His hands trembled. "What do I write?!"
"Kill Nullrose!" Thornrose shouted.
The idea snapped into place.
"Yes—yes!" the Priest cried. "I can't kill you with it… but I can kill her!"
He scribbled hastily.
Kill Nullros—
Nullrose gasped.
She collapsed to her knees, clutching her chest as agony ripped through her.
"So… it still reaches me eventually," she whispered weakly. "Seems I can't escape the Death Note after all…"
"No," Damen said quietly.
He moved.
In a blur, he crossed the distance, seized the Priest by the collar, and ripped the Death Note from his hands.
"Not if I have something to say about it."
He slammed the book open and violently scratched a line straight through the glowing words.
"Kill Nullrose."
The letters distorted…. Flickered….And began to break.
Nullrose suddenly gasped, her breathing evening out.Medics rushed to her side, stabilizers and injectors already in hand. They worked quickly, and efficiently…. saving her life.
She would live.
On the far end of the battlefield, the Priest fled.
So did the remaining members of the Syndic of Fracture.
The war, for now, is over.
Even the mirror image collapsed inward, shedding its false form and reverting to its original state. Damen grabs it immediately.
Damen didn't chase the priest and the Syndic of Fracture members.
Instead, he turned back toward Liorea.
By then, Liorea had already dismissed Steel Valkyrie, folding the massive mecha back into her personal space as if it had never existed.
"You're really going to let them go?" Liorea asked.
Damen exhaled and handed her the Death Note.
"Let them," he said quietly. "That stupid book already stripped me of everything. And besides—we saved everyone we came here to save."
Liorea frowned as she opened the Death Note, studying its pages with a technician's curiosity and a soldier's caution.
"How do I even use this damn book?" she muttered.
"Write on it," Damen said. "That's what I did earlier."
Liorea snorted and casually flipped the Death Note into her personal space.
The world suddenly lurched.
Reality folded inward.
In a blink, everyone vanished.
They reappeared in the abandoned church—the same ruined structure they had passed through before entering the Temple of Fracture.
The Priest and the Syndic were gone.
Only Damen, Liorea, and the rescued prisoners remained.
"…What just happened?" Damen asked slowly.
Liorea froze.
Her eyes unfocused, her consciousness plunging inward—into her space.
Several seconds passed.
When she snapped back, she sucked in a sharp breath.
"You'll never guess what just happened," she said.
"Sis, are you alright?" Kail asked, his hologram flickering into existence beside her.
"You're not going to believe this," Liorea said, her voice equal parts disbelief and excitement. "The Death Note—no, the entire Temple of Fracture—has merged with my special space."
"…What?" Damen stared at her. "Is that a good thing?"
Liorea shook her head, then grinned.
"I don't know yet," she admitted. "But I'll find out once I explore it."
Her eyes gleamed.
"There could be new possibilities," she said softly. "New environments. New abilities."
The abandoned church stood silent around them.
Suddenly, a scream cut through the silence.
"What happened to my powers?!"
"Why can't I feel them?!"
It came from one of the rescued prisoners—a woman clutching her arms as if something had been torn out of her chest…. She's lost her power.
Damen reacted on instinct. He flexed his fingers and reached inward, trying to form a shield.
There was nothing.
"Damn it," Damen growled. "She's right. Nullrose's anti-meta field is still active."
Liorea stopped mid-step. "That's not possible. Nullrose is unconscious. If she's in a coma, her power shouldn't—"
They reached the medical platform.
Nullrose lay pale and motionless with android nurses moving with mechanical precision around her body. Cables slid into place. Diagnostic lights pulsed red.
"What's her condition?" Damen asked.
"The patient has suffered severe neural trauma," one android nurse replied. "Immediate life support is required."
Before Damen could respond, Liorea opened her space.
A cylindrical life-support tank unfolded into existence, humming softly. The nurses transferred Nullrose inside, sealing her within liquid suspension.
Her breathing stabilized and her heart slowed.
Yet outside the tank—Nothing changed.
The anti-meta field was still active.
Then Damen frowned.
"…Liorea."
She looked at him.
"How did you summon that?" he asked slowly. "Your space powers. You used them inside the anti-meta field."
Liorea blinked.
Only now did she seem to notice it.
"I…" She flexed her hand, instinctively opening her space again. She was unaffected by the anti-meta field.
"I don't know," she said, unease creeping into her voice. "It didn't resist me. It's like… the field doesn't recognize my power as meta."
Damen's eyes narrowed.
They both looked at Nullrose.
Nullrose was unconscious alright… but her anti-meta field still pulsed…. steadily and constantly and independent of her will.
Whatever Nullrose had become…her power no longer needed her awake to exist.
And whatever Liorea had become…. She was standing outside the rules now.
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