Absolute Being: I Am Nothing Chapter 33

"Is he dead?"

Valen asked it without realizing his voice had dropped.

Adam glanced back once, lips curling as he turned away. "I wish. He’s just asleep."

He didn’t stop walking.

The seven dukes stood where they were, frozen, staring at the place where Lionhead lay unmoving. The silence wasn’t fear anymore. It was disbelief.

Ironcrest was the first to breathe again. He looked at Rebecca like he was seeing her for the first time. "So this is what the next generation looks like," he said quietly. "Surpassing monsters we thought untouchable."

Rebecca’s eyes snapped to him.

The look alone made Ironcrest stiffen, instincts screaming even though his body hadn’t moved. He swallowed and looked away.

Alex caught it. He let out a soft laugh and stepped beside Ironcrest, tapping his shoulder like they were old friends. "This isn’t a fight you can understand," he said easily. "So go back to your empire problems. And before you ask—no. We’re not helping."

Ironcrest opened his mouth, then closed it.

Alex walked after Adam, who had already formed an apple in his hand and taken a casual bite like nothing worth mentioning had just happened.

Rebecca straightened.

The moment she did, the dukes flinched without thinking. Not one of them spoke. Not one of them held her gaze.

She looked at them, then at the broken ground, the cracked streets, the silence left behind. Her shoulders dropped.

She sighed once.

Then she turned and walked away.

None of them stopped her.

None of them followed.

They just stood there, wondering when the world had shifted—and how they hadn’t felt it happen.

Elsewhere

Bolt was running, pushing himself harder than he ever had. He tried to feel that same wrongness again. That hollow sense he felt around the stranger. That feeling of someone being there and not there at the same time. He chased it until there was nothing left to chase.

He stopped.

Something pressed down on him.

Not empty like before. This one was heavy. Tight. Like standing too close to something that could crush him without touching him.

"What are you doing here," a soft voice said, calm and sweet, "and how did you get here."

Bolt turned.

The woman standing there didn’t need to raise her voice. She didn’t need to move. Dark hair fell loosely. Dark eyes watched him like he was already solved. There was something about her that pulled at him, dragged at his focus, made his chest tighten. Dangerous. Inviting. Wrong.

Bolt opened his mouth to answer.

The moment his eyes locked with hers, his body betrayed him.

Pain ripped through his head.

His knees hit the ground. His hands clawed at nothing as his body convulsed. Blue liquid spilled from his mouth, thick and hot. His blood. His vision shattered into fragments.

He lived.

He died.

He lived again.

Thousands of endings crushed into a single heartbeat. Each one sharp. Each one final.

He gasped, choking, body jerking like it didn’t belong to him anymore.

What kind of luck was this.

First the nothing-man. Now this.

"If you won’t talk," the woman said casually, "then you should stop looking."

She turned like she was done with him.

Bolt forced his voice out. "Wait."

It came out broken.

"I’m looking for someone," he said, each word costing him something. "I ran into you by mistake. He looks almost like you. Similar. But he feels like nothing. Like he’s there and not there at the same time."

The woman stopped.

She tilted her head slightly.

Then she nodded, amused.

"So it’s a he," she said. "I thought it would be a female, like that other one. Guess I was wrong. Looks like it’s not just a girl thing."

She reached up and pulled her hood back.

Pointed ears showed. Her grin widened into something sharp and delighted.

Bolt tried to push himself up. Failed. His body still shook from what she had done to him just by looking.

She looked down at him, eyes bright, excited. Then she glanced in the direction she had been heading before.

"I was planning to have fun here," she said lightly. "Break a few things. Stir people up. Get bored."

She stepped closer.

"But this sounds better."

She crouched slightly, meeting his eyes without touching him.

"Take me to where you met him," she said. "Maybe I’ll help you look."

She laughed, loud and unrestrained, like this was the best thing she had heard in ages.

Bolt swallowed hard.

Every instinct he had screamed at him to run.

But his legs didn’t move.

"Who... who are you," he asked.

Her smile widened even more.

"Kahdijah," she said. "Chaos."

She straightened.

"Kaoryx, if you want the whole thing."

Bolt’s heart pounded.

The name didn’t sound like a name. It sounded like something that shouldn’t exist.

She looked down at him again, eyes glowing with interest.

"You’re fast," she said. "Not enough. But interesting."

She snapped her fingers.

Bolt felt his body loosen. The pressure lifted just enough for him to breathe.

"Get up," she said. "You’re taking me to him."

Bolt forced himself to his feet, still shaking.

"You’re... like him?" he asked carefully.

Kahdijah laughed again. "No. He’s nothing."

She leaned close, voice dropping.

"I’m everything that refuses to behave."

Back to the Imperial Capital

Adam walked beside Rebecca, hands in his pockets, pace easy.

"So," he said after a moment, "how does it feel? I know it’s not the kind of revenge you imagined back then, but—"

"It’s enough," Rebecca cut in. Her voice was calm. Lighter than it had been in years. "What happened today will stay with him. He’ll replay it over and over. Every look. Every stare. The way everyone saw him fall."

Adam glanced at her.

"He can’t die," she continued, a small smile forming. "So that shame? That memory? That’s forever."

Adam chuckled. "That’s cold."

She shrugged. "He taught me how."

Adam laughed properly this time and reached over, ruffling her hair without warning. "Look at you. Kid’s all grown up now."

Rebecca slapped his hand away. "I’m not a kid."

Alex snorted behind them. "You say that like it’s convincing."

Rebecca turned. "You’re not helping."

Alex raised his hands. "Just observing. You handled that better than most people would."

She slowed her steps for a moment. "Better than I thought I would too."

Adam glanced at her again, quieter now. "You okay?"

Rebecca didn’t answer right away.

"I thought I’d feel empty," she said. "Or angry. Or like something was missing. But I don’t. It’s just... quiet."

"That’s closure," Adam said. "Or as close as you’re going to get."

She nodded. "I don’t need him gone. I just needed him small."

Alex smiled. "Mission accomplished."

They walked a bit more in silence.

"You know," Adam said, breaking it, "back then, when I found you, I didn’t think you’d last a week."

Rebecca glanced at him. "You didn’t say that."

"I didn’t need to," Adam replied. "You looked like you were made of glass and knives."

She laughed softly. "Sounds about right."

"You surprised me," Adam said. "Still do."

She rolled her eyes. "You say that like it’s a compliment."

"It is," he replied. "From me, that’s rare."

Alex glanced between them. "This is the part where I remind you both that you’re terrifying in very different ways."

Rebecca smirked. "You’re just jealous."

"Of what?" Alex asked. "Your temper or his ego?"

"Both," Adam and Rebecca said at the same time.

They stopped walking.

Rebecca looked at them, really looked, and for the first time in a long while, her chest didn’t feel tight.

"You know," she said, "if things had gone differently... if I hadn’t met you—"

Adam shook his head. "Don’t do that."

Alex nodded. "Yeah. No what-ifs."

She exhaled. "Fair."

Adam leaned forward slightly. "You still mad at him?"

Rebecca thought about it.

"No," she said. "I’m done being mad. That’s his problem now."

Adam smiled. "Good. Hate takes too much energy."

Alex stretched his arms. "So what’s next, oh terrifying embodiment of death?"

Rebecca raised a brow. "Sleep."

Adam laughed. "Respectable."

"And then?" Alex asked.

She shrugged. "Figure things out. For once, not because someone else forced my hand."

Adam nodded. "That’s the best way to do it."

Rebecca looked at him. "You going to stop calling me a kid now?"

Adam thought about it. "No."

She groaned. "I knew it."

Alex chuckled. "You walked away from a legend today. Let him have his fun."

Rebecca sighed, then smiled. "Fine. Just don’t push it."

Adam raised his hands. "Wouldn’t dream of it."

They started walking again, side by side, the weight of the past finally lighter than it had ever been.

For the first time in a long time, Rebecca wasn’t chasing revenge.

She was just walking forward.