The twin moons hung heavy in the sky, casting an icy silver light over the obsidian spires of Voltrax Citadel. Their jagged silhouettes tore through the night like blackened claws, sharp and unforgiving. A bitter wind swept through the broken battlements, carrying with it the acrid scent of burning wood and the unmistakable tang of blood. The citadel, once a proud bastion of the Voltrax bloodline, now stood hollow—a tomb for the legacy of a house betrayed.
Erza Voltrax stood alone atop the highest balcony, the chill seeping through the fabric of his cloak. His eyes, sharp and dark, were fixed on the distant horizon where the imperial banners of the Celestial Concord fluttered like ominous vultures circling their prey. The empire's paranoia had turned its merciless gaze upon his family, and tonight, their doom was being sealed in fire and shadow.
Behind him, the great halls echoed with silence. The laughter, the commands, the proud voices of his kin—all extinguished. The weight of loss settled heavy on his chest. The once-mighty House Voltrax, rulers of the Dark Matter and Voidmass, were no more. Every noble soul—every brother, sister, and loyal vassal—had fallen to the emperor's purge. Only two remained: Erza, the last heir, and his father, Lord Varys Voltrax.
A strange pulse throbbed beneath his skin, something alive and relentless—the Mythic Core hidden deep within his chest. Unlike the known circuits chronicled in ancient tomes, this core held an unfamiliar darkness. It was born not of legend, but of the very void between stars. This unknown power—this Dark Matter Core—was both a weapon and a curse. It pulsed with hungry energy, a gravitational force that tugged at the very fabric of his soul.
Erza's hands clenched into fists as the pull tightened. This was the power the emperor feared. The power that had marked Voltrax for extinction.
Heavy footsteps echoed down the corridor. "Erza," a calm, commanding voice called. His father stepped into the moonlight, the legendary katana Eclipse Fang sheathed at his side. The blade was black as the void itself, swirling with dark energy that seemed to consume the surrounding light.
"We do not have much time," Varys said quietly. His eyes, sharp and unyielding, met Erza's. "The emperor's hunters will be at our gates before dawn. You must master the void inside you—or it will consume you."
Erza swallowed hard, the weight of fate pressing down. "This power... it's different from what I've heard. It feels alive. It's darker, deeper than anything I imagined."
Varys nodded solemnly. "That is the Voidmass—the force that binds the universe itself. Our ancestors wielded it as a weapon and shield, but your core is unique. Perfected by the abyss."
He placed a firm hand on Erza's shoulder. "I survived to teach you control—the balance between destruction and sovereignty. Without discipline, the void will devour you, as it has devoured our house."
Erza's gaze hardened. "Then teach me."
Varys looked skyward, toward the scattered stars that pierced the velvet night. "Gravity is more than a force. It is the foundation of existence. Stars ignite and collapse under its will. Your power is the collapse made manifest. You will bend space and fate itself."
The distant rumble of war drums rolled through the valleys, growing louder with every heartbeat. The imperial army approached with merciless certainty.
Closing his eyes, Erza raised a trembling hand. A small sphere of swirling Voidmass formed above his palm—a miniature black star humming with gravitational force. It bent the moonlight, drawing shadows inward, as if devouring the very air around it.
The air grew heavier, charged with the invisible weight of his legacy.
Behind them, the massive gates groaned as siege engines battered stone and metal. The night erupted with the clash of steel and battle cries.
Varys drew Eclipse Fang, its dark blade shimmering with cosmic power. "Then we fight. Together."
Erza's fist clenched tight around the orb, his mind sharpening with resolve. He was no longer a boy caught in the collapse of a dynasty. He was the last son of Voltrax, a force born from the darkest reaches of space—a force the empire had tried to destroy but could not extinguish.
As the first imperial soldiers breached the walls, Erza stepped forward, ready to wield the void itself against those who sought to bury his legacy. The stars above witnessed the birth of a dark sovereign, rising from ashes and shadows to claim his place among the cosmos.
The empire may have declared House Voltrax extinct.
But the void was eternal.