The forest had fallen silent.
Not the peaceful silence of a calm night.
This was the silence of fear.
The trees no longer moved.
The insects no longer sang.
Even the wind seemed to avoid the area surrounding Emil and the creature before him.
The Void Wraith hovered in the darkness, its crimson eyes burning with endless hostility.
Emil stood with his sword raised.
His breathing was steady.
His body was injured.
His strength was fading.
But the golden light surrounding his blade continued to shine.
The only light in a world swallowed by darkness.
---
The Void Wraith moved first.
It disappeared.
Not with speed.
Not with movement.
It simply vanished from existence.
Emil's Sun Eyes were still unavailable, leaving him dependent on his enhanced senses.
He listened.
The faintest distortion in the air.
A shift in the surrounding energy.
Behind him.
"Too slow."
Emil immediately activated Sun Step.
His body moved sideways as a claw of darkness sliced through the space where his head had been.
The attack missed by a fraction.
The ground beneath him cracked.
Cold Void energy spread outward, turning the grass black.
Emil landed several meters away, his expression serious.
This creature was different from every opponent he had faced.
The spirit beast relied on instinct.
The Void Wraith relied on something much worse.
Intelligence.
---
The Wraith floated toward him.
Its body twisted unnaturally, becoming a mass of shadows before forming back into a humanoid shape.
A whisper echoed.
"You are weak..."
Emil froze.
The voice wasn't coming from outside.
It was inside his mind.
"A blind child..."
"Abandoned by everyone..."
"Even your own village wanted you dead..."
His grip tightened around his sword.
The Wraith wasn't attacking his body.
It was attacking his heart.
"You will never become a god."
"You will never change anything."
For a moment...
Emil remembered the cliff.
The villagers' hatred.
The feeling of being thrown away like something worthless.
His body trembled.
Then—
A warm sensation spread from his chest.
The Sun God Fragment.
The golden energy inside him pushed back against the darkness.
Emil took a deep breath.
"No."
His voice was quiet.
But firm.
"I was weak."
"I was abandoned."
"I was powerless."
The golden light around his sword grew brighter.
"But that was before."
The Wraith's whispers became louder.
"You are still the same child."
Emil raised his blade.
"Maybe."
"Maybe I am."
"But even a weak person can choose to stand."
---
The Void Wraith attacked.
This time, Emil didn't dodge.
He moved forward.
Sun Step!
His body flashed through the darkness.
The Wraith's claws passed behind him.
At the same moment—
Sun First!
His sword struck directly into the creature's chest.
Golden energy exploded.
The Wraith screamed.
A sound that wasn't a roar...
but thousands of voices crying out together.
Its body distorted violently.
The place where the sword touched began burning away.
Emil's eyes widened.
"It works."
The Void Wraith retreated.
For the first time, fear appeared within its crimson eyes.
---
Ding!
[Analysis complete.]
[Void Wraith weakness confirmed.]
[Sun Energy causes severe damage to Void-based entities.]
---
Emil smiled slightly.
"So the sun really is your enemy."
The Wraith answered with rage.
The darkness around it expanded.
The entire forest shook.
A wave of Void energy exploded outward.
Emil immediately raised his sword.
The golden barrier formed by his energy was pushed backward.
His feet dragged across the ground.
"This much power..."
His arms trembled.
The difference between them was still enormous.
The Void Wraith wasn't defeated.
Not yet.
---
The battle continued through the night.
Again and again, Emil attacked.
Again and again, the Wraith regenerated.
A normal weapon would have been useless.
A normal cultivator would have already fallen.
But Emil had something the Wraith didn't expect.
Patience.
And the sun.
Every attack taught him more.
Every exchange revealed another weakness.
The Void Wraith could regenerate in darkness.
But it became slower after receiving Sun Energy.
Its movements became unstable.
Its form became less solid.
Emil waited.
He endured.
He survived.
---
Hours passed.
The eastern sky slowly began to brighten.
The first hint of dawn appeared.
The Void Wraith suddenly stopped.
For the first time, it looked toward the horizon.
Fear.
Real fear.
Filled its eyes.
Emil felt the change immediately.
"The sunrise..."
The Wraith backed away.
The darkness surrounding it weakened.
The endless shadows began disappearing.
The first ray of sunlight entered the forest.
And the Void Wraith screamed.
---
Ding!
[Environmental advantage detected.]
[Sunlight amplification activated.]
[Host's Sun Affinity increased.]
---
Golden light surrounded Emil.
The morning sun poured through the trees.
The Void Wraith attempted to escape.
But Emil was already moving.
This was his chance.
He gathered every remaining bit of energy within his body.
The Energy Core.
The Sun God Breathing Technique.
Everything.
All of it flowed into his sword.
The blade became brighter than ever before.
Not a sword.
A fragment of the sun itself.
Emil stepped forward.
Sun Step.
The world became silent.
Then—
Sun First!
The golden blade pierced through the center of the Void Wraith.
For a moment...
Nothing happened.
Then cracks spread across its shadowy body.
Golden light erupted from within.
The creature released one final scream.
And shattered.
---
The forest became still once more.
Emil stood alone.
His sword lowered.
His breathing heavy.
His entire body ached.
But he was alive.
---
Ding!
[Host has defeated Void Wraith.]
[Experience gained.]
[Level increased.]
[Sun Contribution Points +100.]
[Void Crystal obtained.]
[Title acquired.]
---
New Title
Void Slayer I
Effect:
- Increased resistance against Void Energy.
- Increased damage against Void-based creatures.
---
Emil stared silently.
Then he looked down at the strange crystal resting in his hand.
It was cold.
Dark.
Opposite to everything the Sun represented.
Yet beneath the darkness...
He felt something familiar.
A connection.
"The Void..."
He whispered.
"It isn't just an enemy."
"It's connected to something."
---
Ding!
[Warning.]
[Void Energy contamination detected.]
[Host's body contains traces of Void corruption.]
Emil froze.
"...What?"
A new status appeared.
---
Void Corruption
Progress: 3%
Effect: Unknown
---
The golden warmth inside him immediately reacted.
The Sun God Fragment resisted the corruption.
But it could not erase it completely.
Emil clenched his fist.
He had defeated the darkness.
But a small piece of it remained within him.
---
That night, Emil sat beneath the trees and began cultivating.
The Sun God Breathing Technique circulated through his body.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Pushing back the remaining Void energy.
He understood something now.
The Forbidden Forest was not simply a place filled with monsters.
It was hiding ancient secrets.
The Sun.
The Void.
The Lost Civilization.
Everything was connected.
And somehow...
He was now part of that connection.
---
When the sun rose again, Emil opened his eyes.
His injuries were healing.
His spirit was stronger.
His resolve was unshaken.
The forest had tried to kill him.
The beasts had tried to devour him.
The darkness had tried to consume him.
But he remained standing.
Because he was no longer the abandoned child from Myers Village.
He was Emil Myers.
Bearer of the Sun God Fragment.
And his journey had only begun.