Lilith took him to the third basement floor.
The place was colder, and the lighting was dim. The corridors were relatively narrow, with walls made of heavy gray metal that reflected the echo of their monotonous metallic footsteps. On both sides of the corridor were large metal doors carrying numbers and warnings, with the faint hum of surveillance devices emanating from behind them.
"This department is dedicated to testing and experiments," Lilith said calmly as she walked ahead of him. "Today, we will test your ability in a simple way."
Kaito did not comment. He was observing everything. The atmosphere here differed from the upper floors. The scent of fear was stronger, as if the air itself was heavy and saturated with the smell of metal rust and chemical coldness.
Lilith stopped in front of a large metal door carrying the number 37. She inserted a card and placed her hand on the recognition device. The door opened with a low mechanical sound.
The room inside was spacious and illuminated by cold white lights that stung the eyes. In the center, there was an area surrounded by thick glass walls. Inside it stood a monster.
Kaito stood before the glass and looked at it intently.
The monster was not large. It was about two meters tall. Its body was very thin, as if the skin were stuck to the bones. It was a pale gray color, as if it had lost all color from its body. Its head was tilted slightly forward, and its eyes were closed. From its slightly open mouth came a continuous low whispering sound, as if it were repeating something to itself in a vicious cycle of panic.
"This is a minor Silence Monster," Lilith said in a quiet voice. "He transformed only four days ago. He was a university student suffering from severe social anxiety. After being alone for a long time, his fear of silence and isolation burst open, and he transformed."
Kaito noticed the details. The monster's skin was trembling slightly with a clear hatred for any vibration, its ears were unnaturally large, catching the slightest sound, and its fingers were long and thin, ending in small claws.
"He is relatively weak," Lilith continued. "But he is dangerous in enclosed spaces. His ability is called the Zone of Silence. Within a certain circle around him, all sound disappears. You cannot speak, and you cannot hear your heart beating. Many lose their minds after only a few minutes."
She looked at Kaito.
"I want to see how you deal with him."
Lilith opened the glass door. The monster emerged slowly, its head tilted, and its low whisper gradually increasing like the hissing of snakes.
Kaito stood in his place without moving.
When the monster approached within ten meters, the ability began to activate. The air around Kaito became… different. There was no sound. Even the sound of the monster's footsteps suddenly vanished. The world became completely silent in a suffocating way, as if time had frozen.
Kaito felt a strange pressure on his ears, as if something were trying to pull the sound from inside his head and turn it into a physical void. But he smiled a slight smile.
"Is this all you have?"
At that moment, the Limitless Void opened.
It wasn't an explosion or a flash. It was something quieter and more terrifying.
Around Kaito, a nearly invisible circular area appeared, about five meters in diameter. Inside this circle, everything disappeared.
The silence the monster was imposing suddenly collapsed.
Sound returned all at once—the sound of Kaito's footsteps, the sound of his breathing, the hum of distant devices—it returned like a sudden slap to reality before being swallowed by Kaito's own void. Then… everything stopped again. But this time, the silence was different. It was an absolute, cold silence, as if the world itself had ceased to exist inside that circle.
The monster stopped suddenly.
Its head trembled violently. It opened its eyes wide. It was trying to re-impose the Zone of Silence, but it couldn't. Its ability collided with the "Limitless Void" and shattered like broken glass. The monster, which represented isolation, shrank into itself like a terrified child; it had found something more lonely than its own silence... it found nothingness.
Kaito raised his hand slowly.
At that moment, the void extended slightly forward. The monster tried to retreat, but it couldn't, as if gravity itself had vanished from beneath its feet. Its body began to tremble even more violently. The whisper it was emitting disappeared completely. Even the movement of its fingers stopped entirely in place.
Lilith, who was standing outside the circle, watched the scene in complete silence.
Her emerald eyes did not move away from Kaito for a single moment. Thin golden circles appeared in her eyes for a few short seconds, attempting to analyze this anomaly, then disappeared. Her face showed no clear expression, but Kaito felt that she was… confused. Not with fear, but a deep confusion toward a being that did not submit to her laws.
The employees watching from behind the thick glass began to whisper in muffled dread. One of them took a step back, feeling the pressure of the aura that began to shake the white lights in the room.
Kaito closed his hand slowly.
The void contracted and disappeared.
The monster fell to its knees, then to the floor. It was still alive, but it was trembling as if it had seen something beyond the comprehension of monsters and humans.
"Interesting," Kaito said quietly, looking at his hand. "His ability relied on imposing silence. As for my ability… it negates everything. Even the very concept of silence itself."
He looked at Lilith.
"Did I confuse you?"
Lilith did not respond immediately.
She stood silent for several seconds, then smiled a very cold little smile, with a hint of hidden challenge in it.
"You are more interesting than I expected, Kaito Sorin."
Her voice was calm as usual, but Kaito felt there was a deeper layer behind it. A layer of caution… or intense interest that resembled a hunter's interest in prey.
"Limitless Void," she whispered to herself in a very low voice that no one but her heard. "Something that does not depend on fear… and cannot be bound by chains."
She looked at him again, and the mystery in her eyes became clearer.
"The test is over. You succeeded… in a way I did not expect."
Kaito gave a side smile.
"It seems you are beginning to understand why I am called the Disconnected King, the strongest in his world."
Lilith did not respond. She only signaled to the employees to take the monster out, then looked at Kaito once more. In her eyes, there was something new. Not admiration… but a deep curiosity, mixed with something resembling a warning.
Questions for the Readers😎:
1) Kaito said his ability cancels even the "concept of silence." Do you think the Infinite Void could cancel Lilith's "Chains of Control" if they were to clash?🤔
2) Golden circles appeared in Lilith's eyes while observing Kaito. Is it just an analytical ability, or is Lilith hiding a monster inside her as well?😶
3) The monster trembled because it found "Nothingness." In your opinion, what did the monster see inside Kaito's void that made it collapse like that?🤐
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