Eldritch Assassin: Reincarnated With An SSS-Rank Devouring System
Chapter 86: Nullborn (I)

Chapter 86: Nullborn (I)

[System Update: New Entity Detected – Origin Unknown.

Designation: Nullborn Corruption Fragment. Level: Lvl 31 Half-Step Primal Adept.

Threat Level: High.

Behavior: Hostile]

Kael’s vision cleared just in time to see the mist ripple unnaturally.

A tear formed—like a gash in space itself—oozing violet tendrils and black ichor. From within, the Nullborn Fragment slithered forward. Not walked. Slithered. Its form was humanoid, but wrong—disjointed joints, skin like cracked obsidian veined with pulsing crimson.

It had no face. Just a single eye where its chest should be.

That eye opened—and reality trembled.

[Warning: Null Qi Detected. Corruptive Energy incompatible with standard Primal Pathways. Devourer Bloodline – Partial Resistance Applied.]

Kael’s Eldritch Reversal still surged through him, the seconds counting down like a heartbeat in his skull.

15...

14...

He didn’t wait.

Abyssal Fang still in hand, he blurred forward, shadows lashing in his wake.

The Nullborn tilted its head once, unnaturally far. Then it moved.

Fast.

Too fast for something broken.

Its claws flashed, clashing with Kael’s blade, and the impact rang like two bells screaming at each other. Kael skidded back, boots digging trenches into the cracked stone. His body protested—every nerve fraying.

[Eldritch Reversal – 13 seconds remaining.

Buff Retained: +30% Strength, Dexterity, Mental Cognition]

The creature didn’t pause. It lunged again, claw sweeping wide. Kael ducked under, spun, then slashed upward—Abyssal Fang carving a gash across the creature’s side. But there was no blood.

Just void.

The wound hissed, closing over with black tendrils.

[System Scan Failed: Entity Composition Unstable.

Vital Signs: Null.]

Kael leapt back, chest heaving.

This wasn’t just another trial construct. This was something else. Something alive—or close to it.

The Nullborn raised both arms.

A pulse of corruption burst from its core, shattering the air. The ground buckled, and Kael’s knees nearly gave way.

[Warning: Corruption Pulse.

Effect: Mental Disruption + Confusion Chance 30%. Devourer Bloodline – Suppressing.]

Kael’s vision blurred. For half a second, he wasn’t standing on the pagoda floor.

He was falling through darkness that had no end. Faces twisted in agony loomed around him, mouthless, screaming in silence. Limbs reaching, clawing at his skin, whispering truths that didn’t exist.

Kael gritted his teeth and roared.

His mental core flared, the memory of Mira’s final smile flashing through the haze. His feet slammed back onto solid ground as the illusion cracked like glass.

Snap.

Blood dripped from his nose. He hadn’t even realized it had started bleeding. His knees wobbled, and his grip on Abyssal Fang weakened.

Seven seconds left.

The Nullborn hissed, no mouth, yet the sound made his ears ring. It moved again, teleporting-no, slipping—across the ground like a smear of shadow. The eye in its chest pulsed once.

A spike of pressure slammed into Kael’s chest.

Not Qi. Something else.

[Eldritch Reversal – 6 seconds remaining.]

He twisted his body mid-stagger and hurled a shadowed dagger formed from his leftover Primal Essence. It struck the Nullborn’s leg, only for the limb to bend unnaturally, detaching at the joint. The detached leg walked toward Kael like a spider, claws clicking on stone.

"What the hell..." Kael growled, swiping it with his blade.

The limb vanished into smoke.

The Nullborn reassembled, tilting its head in mock curiosity.

Then it moved again.

Too fast.

Kael couldn’t block—he ducked, barely, and the claw scraped across his shoulder. Armor cracked. Pain lanced down his arm. He retaliated with a low sweep, catching the creature’s ribs.

Black blood sprayed, sizzling as it hit the ground.

[Eldritch Reversal – 3 seconds.]

Kael pivoted, drawing on every bit of movement technique he had. Phantom Steps left a brief afterimage as he darted around the creature’s flank. A downward slash—

Blocked.

The Nullborn’s arm shifted mid-strike, catching Abyssal Fang in a clawed grip. Its eye flared.

Kael’s mind reeled.

He staggered back, knees hitting stone.

[Eldritch Reversal – 1 second.]

Then—

Nothing.

The boost faded.

His body, already battered, sagged slightly.

His vision tunneled. His breath grew shallow.

But the Nullborn... paused.

It tilted its head. Confused?

Maybe it sensed the power leaving Kael. Maybe it enjoyed the weakness.

Kael raised his blade anyway, face pale, muscles trembling. He couldn’t feel three fingers on his left hand. Blood ran freely down his back.

The silence stretched.

Then the Nullborn raised both hands again—and plunged them into the ground.

A tremor.

Cracks spiderwebbed across the floor, forming a rune circle glowing with violet light. Pulses of dark qi surged from the lines—unstable, violent, ancient.

Kael stumbled backward. "It’s... summoning?"

[Warning: Ritual Detected.

Effect: Domain Shift Imminent.]

From the cracks, twisted vines of corruption burst forth. Not real vines—qi made solid, forming tendrils that lashed toward Kael like living whips.

He rolled.

One tendril slammed the ground behind him, leaving a smoking crater.

He rolled again—this time toward the Nullborn.

If it completed that ritual, he was dead.

His blade flared with dark energy. Not his Primal Qi—his own blood essence. Burned. Offered.

A suicidal move.

But necessary.

Abyssal Fang hummed, drinking in his pain.

Kael slashed upward in a desperate arc, aiming for the eye.

The Nullborn caught the blade—

And screamed.

The eye flared. Steam burst from the socket. Its grip faltered.

Kael drove the blade deeper.

"Shatter!"

A pulse erupted from Abyssal Fang—his last burst of force.

The creature staggered back, eye ruptured, ichor splashing like acid. Kael’s body was thrown clear by the shockwave, rolling across the ground like a ragdoll.

His arm dangled uselessly. Dislocated? Broken?

Didn’t matter.

He coughed blood, rolled to one knee.

The summoning ritual flickered, now unstable. The vines thrashed wildly, losing cohesion.

The Nullborn staggered.

Still alive. Still dangerous.

But no longer calm.

It roared, a void-shriek that made Kael’s ears bleed, and rushed forward in a berserk charge.

Kael had nothing left.

No energy. No boosts. No fancy techniques.

Just a broken blade and his stubbornness.

He gritted his teeth, braced his feet, and met the charge.

Their bodies collided.

Kael’s shoulder slammed into the Nullborn’s torso, both of them tumbling across the stone. He stabbed blindly, felt the blade hit something soft.

The creature screeched again and clawed his side.

Kael headbutted it.

Once. Twice. Three times.

His vision blurred.

His heartbeat slowed. But the creature twitched less.

His blade had pierced something vital—if it even had vitals.

Kael collapsed next to it, gasping.

The Nullborn twitched again... then began absorbing gloomy qi tendrils from the surroundings.

[System Ping: Unique Trait Activation – Devourer Corruption: 0.10%

(Corruption Exposure Detected. Trait progression active. Mutation risk at 15%+.)]

Kael’s eye twitched.

He didn’t ask for this. Didn’t unlock it. But the system didn’t lie. Something inside him was shifting. Small, almost nothing... but it was there now. Crawling at the edge of his soul like a worm burrowing beneath skin.

He forced himself up with one arm, the other still limp.

The Nullborn wasn’t dead.

It breathed—or something like it. Black vapors hissed in and out of the eye socket like dying embers struggling for oxygen. It didn’t bleed like normal enemies. Didn’t die like them either. But it was weakened. The berserk charge had cost it something too.

And now it was... feeding?

Kael’s eyes narrowed.

The tendrils leaking from the failed ritual were getting pulled back. Slowly. Like snakes returning to their nest. But they didn’t return to the cracked ritual circle.

They fed the Nullborn.

[System Alert: Corrupt Entity Regenerating – Null Qi Absorption Detected.

Warning: Prolonged Exposure will accelerate the Devourer Corruption rate.]

Kael’s breath hitched. He tried to move but failed. His knee gave out.

"Damn it..."

He slammed his palm to the floor, forcing himself upright. His blade arm still worked. That’s all he needed.

His vision flickered again. The world shifted—colors dulling, shadows growing teeth. His mind warred with itself, and for a second, he wasn’t sure which Kael he was.

Was he the one standing?

Or the one already broken?

He bit his tongue—hard. Blood filled his mouth, grounding him.

His body hurt. Every breath was fire. But he moved.

Step by step.

The Nullborn’s body twitched, eye flaring dimly. It noticed him.

Not a roar this time.

A low sound. Like gurgling sludge being stirred.

Kael raised Abyssal Fang.

He’d lost too much blood. His limbs trembled. But if that thing fully absorbed the corrupted qi, the fight would start all over again—except this time, he’d have nothing.

He charged.

Or something close to it. A stumbling lunge.

The Nullborn raised one arm, still healing. It tried to swipe.

Kael ducked—barely.

His blade sliced through more tendrils before they could coil into the creature’s body. The qi howled, resisting the cut like living flesh. But Abyssal Fang drank it in. The dark weapon hissed, absorbing the corrupted essence like a leech starved for poison.

[Weapon Assimilation: +Corrupt Qi Essence (1%) stored.]

Kael didn’t stop. He hacked again, driven not by power, but desperation. Each strike ripped away a little more of the energy feeding the Nullborn.

But he could feel it too.

Each burst of Null Qi that Abyssal Fang absorbed bled into his grip. And into him.