The Tale of the Void Emperor

The darkness that swallowed Athan into nothingness really turned him into literally nothing.

His past, present, and future ceased to exist at that point. Nobody remembers him anymore, and...he found about this at the last moment of his life. He found out this when his half-destroyed soul was being swallowed by the darkness that...Nothing, not even other people's memory of him, would remain. 

When that dispair was replaced by another expression at the last moment, this was his thought.

'...Dying horribly in the first life and even more horribly in the second life?...My whole existence, my entire two lives, my happy moments with Tiana, Avelia, and others, the pain I suffered to get strong, the journey and adventure...All these...just lost their meaning? '

His soul was only half left due to purple power destroying it, and even that was engulfed in this darkness. At that moment, He accepted it.

That's why...the despair that was upon his face at the last moment disappeared. Athan...scattered his own soul. He shattered his soul as it turns into pieces at the last moment. This was an utterly unbelievable thing that one would do. Why would someone shatter their own soul at this moment? 

Athan did it because he understood something from his situation. He was gambling because...He wants to live, and He wants to exist. He wants to...merge into nothingness so that he can exist. At this moment, Athan understood the essence of nothingness. 

' I WILL EXIST, EVEN IN THIS NOTHINGNESS, I WILL EXIST! '

After the darkness devoured Athan's existence, Something happened in this place where there was absolutely nothing.

A dark wisp that had a shining white border lit up in this terrifying expanse of darkness. 

This dark wisp continued to exist in this place where there was nothing present, not even time. 

No one knows how long the time passed since this place didn't have that. This place had its own, altogether different rules. The time of worlds didn't apply here.

The dark wisp was the size of a peanut, but...it was slowly getting bigger. But after becoming the size of a tennis ball, the dark wisp stopped growing. 

After who knows how long, in this darkness where there was absolutely nothing, Shockingly...Two being appeared.

A man and...a beast. This man wore a pure white robe, Just like his long white hair. His face was plain but without any blemish. On the other hand, The beast looked like a pure white tiger with a single horn on its forehead, and It had exquisite and dreamy fur patterns.

A strange phenomenon occurred when this man appeared. A somewhat big amount of darkness around him disappeared and was replaced by pure white cushioning clouds like cotton.

This man was still far away from the dark wisp, but he could clearly sense it when he appeared here.

" Strange. " The man muttered as he started walking towards the dark wisp.

The Tiger's eyes were closed from the start, and it was in a sleeping position, but it still floated behind the man.

The man seemed like he didn't like to float, so he walked on the white cotton-like clouds that were transformed from the darkness around him whenever he moved.

" Shiren, Don't bother with useless things, and let's finish our job. " A lazy voice rang out from the white-horned Tiger.

The man formed a smile that appeared very gentle inherently. It seemed like his usual smile is always like this.

" Lazy fellow, You keep sleeping. I'll finish our job. I'll wake you up when we return. "

The Tiger opened its eyes lazily, " Thanks. I'll take that offer. " 

After that, The Tiger disappeared, and only the man was left.

" Now let's see what just happened here. " muttering this, The man approached the dark wisp.

Due to his natural presence or power that was turning the darkness into white clouds, The darkness around the wisp also disappeared when the man approached it.

But the wisp was fine. It was still the same size and looked like a dark wisp with a white border around it.

Shiren stretched his right hand forward when he neared the wisp as the wisp was pulled towards the man before it rested on the man's right hand.

" looks like a fragment of someone's soul managed to comprehend the essence of $#%@* at the last moment. "

Shiren's pure white eyes with light golden iris flashed for a moment.

His entire presence changed as even more darkness that was far from him turned into white clouds. 

However, this lasted only for a second before he returned to normal. After this, He knew everything about Athan, His first life, How he got the second life, what he experienced, and how he appeared here, and what...he managed to do at the last moment of his life.

" An unfortunate soul, I see. However, this one managed to exist in this place as a fragment of his soul, but...sigh, If he stays like this, he won't get himself together anytime soon even though he managed to grasp a little of #$%@&. "

He was surprised about this occurrence and thought of something as a smile formed on his face.

" Whether due to a coincidence or divine intervention that we met here. I'll give you a push. Since all it requires is a thought from me. though, your journey from now on will certainly not be a pleasant one. "

The man paused here as he remembered Athan's life and spoke with a mischievous smile.

" Wait...Should I really do this? From what I observed in his life, he had suffered a lot. "

The dark wisp became unstable as if it heard things spoken by the man in the white.

" Oh! What a strong instinct to survive and to exist for a mere fragment of the soul...interesting. "

The man waved his left hand and hovered it over the dark wisp as fragments of Athan's soul which he shattered previously, started to appear from the white cotton clouds.

Unlike the dark wisp, these fragments were all pitch black without a white border around them.

" Make no mistake, The main reason to give you this push is not sympathy. But...only because you fascinatingly managed to grasp the essence of $#@% on your own. As a Divine of Sarangna, I felt that I should give you a push so that you may bloom earlier. "

The dark wisp got bigger and bigger after the other fragments merged into it and finally started to take a humanoid shape. 

" Though whether you successfully bloom or not depends on you. "

A pitch-black humanoid soul body with a white border around it finally formed. Athan's soul...was revived.

' I am not dead? But I'm sure I merged into the darkness after I shattered my soul. '

Athan's soul opened his eyes and saw a man with a smile on his face.

" Who are you? " Athan asked with an indifferent expression.

At this moment, The Tiger suddenly appeared and looked at Shiren speechlessly before speaking, " Are you kidding me? How many lives are you going to save and revive after coming down every time? Can't you have some damn pride in your former title? Mr. Divine Destroyer? "

" Sheesh, This one is a bit special. "  Shiren smiled.

" He is indeed special to be able to grasp that a little, but whether he managed to master and fully comprehend it is a different story. "

" Hahaha, To be able to grasp that while being this weak of existence and grasping it at the last moment of his life is very fascinating. Even if I didn't appear here, he would gather himself together after some time. Here, I am just giving him a push. That's all.  "

Athan couldn't hear what they were saying, but he frowned and asked, " Why did you save me? "

Shiren laughed out loud, and this time, Athan could hear this laugh.

" Wasn't expecting that you would question me instead of thanking me. "

Athan shook his head with a grin, " Thanks, but...If you saved me for some kind of purpose, then no thanks. You can kill me again. "

Shiren and the horned tiger were surprised at what Athan said.

" Now, this is strange. Your deepest instinct clearly shows that you want to survive and exists very strongly. " Shiren smiled as if he found something interesting.

Athan nodded, " Indeed I want to, But...not if you want me to do something for saving me. Make no mistake about this, though; This is not pride or anything like that but...my other deepest instinct. Even if you didn't appear, I would eventually form my complete soul after an indefinite amount of time. "

" A cheeky one, aren't you? Hahaha...You are interesting. A considerable change compared to your previous self. " 

" Anyway, Since I, Shiren of The Divine of Sanragna, have decided to do something, then you can't stop it. Your situation and how you managed to grasp that fascinatingly at the last moment of your life were interesting, so...Here you go. "

The man waved his right hand towards Athan, and Athan disappeared.

But the place Athan appeared was another expanse of darkness...to which he was familiar with. After all, His downfall started after he was stuck here.

What will happen to Athan now? He neither has a solid body or special space. His entire existence is kind of different from others. He will have to figure out everything himself and find ways so that he can continue to survive.