Nick felt like the room became far darker.
There was no way out anymore.
Yet, for some reason, Nick also felt calmer.
His inner conflict had vanished.
Right now, Nick only felt acceptance.
He had jumped into the abyss, and now, he was falling, waiting for the bottom.
There was no way back.
'Maybe it's better this way,' Nick thought as he looked at the wall with melancholy.
He felt like he was saying goodbye to his life.
He was saying goodbye to all his things and experiences.
Then, he took a deep breath.
"Envy didn't lie," Nick said.
"What makes you so certain?" Simon asked calmly.
"He said one more sentence to me. One that I haven't told you about," Nick said.
Simon calmly looked at Nick. "What makes you think that this sentence wasn't also a lie?" he asked.
"Because he spoke the truth," Nick said calmly.
Then, Nick looked at Simon.
"He said that I have the power of an Eternal."
Simon furrowed his brows.
"And which Eternal would that be?" he asked.
"The Null," Nick said.
At this moment, Nick felt like he had been freed.
He had done it.
He had done the right thing.
The appearance of Crimson Fungus City shot through Nick's mind.
The picture was filled with contrast.
There was so much suffering, but Nick also had many people that he called friends.
Almost all of them were in Dark Dream.
"You have the power of the Null?" Simon asked with a raised eyebrow.
Nick nodded.
"Show me," Simon said calmly.
"I can't," Nick said.
Simon raised an eyebrow, showing his skepticism.
Nick sighed.
"My physical power increases by a factor of five, but only as long as no human or Specter can perceive me."
A light appeared in Simon's eyes.
"When did you get that power?" he asked.
"I woke up in the Dregs without any memories when I was ten," Nick said.
"I don't have any family, and I don't remember anything from before I was ten."
"One of the Experts in the city suspected that my family and I have met the Null. The Null killed my family. This experience was probably so bad that my brain shut down and deleted all the memories from that day."
"And since all my memories of the Null are gone, I don't know anything about it, which means that the Null doesn't need to kill me," Nick explained.
Simon looked at Nick for a while.
It seemed like Simon was evaluating something.
"I believe you," Simon said calmly.
Nick was surprised that Simon believed him this easily.
"Surprised?" Simon asked.
Nick nodded.
"It's because you're not the first one."
"Huh?" Nick uttered in confusion.
"There was someone with the Null's power before you," Simon said.
"You're not the first person that has received the Null's power."
Nick just looked at Simon with shock.
"There was one other person," Simon said. "She was an orphan in a different city, and she went through something very similar."
"Was?" Nick asked.
Simon nodded. "She became a Zephyx Extractor and died while hunting a Specter. I think she was either a John or a Veteran. One of the two."
"We only learned about her power after she died. For obvious reasons, her Manufacturer kept her powers secret while she was alive."
"But when she died, they used the knowledge of her power and her corpse as a way to make some money, which was how we found out about her."
Nick looked at Simon with interest.
He had never expected that there had been someone else who had received the Null's power.
"How did she evolve her power?" Nick asked in interest.
Simon scratched the side of his head.
"Now that I think about it, she was a Veteran, based on how her power evolved," he said.
"According to the Manufacturer's information, she could imitate the colors of her surroundings. If she remained stationary, it would be extremely difficult to see her."
"Additionally, her attacks created sparks whenever they hit an enemy. The sparks increased the damage of her attacks and also confused the enemy. As far as I remember, she used sniper rifles."
Nick furrowed his brows.
"That's strange," he said. "Using a sniper rifle shouldn't take advantage of her power since our ability only increases our physical strength."
"It doesn't?" Simon asked with furrowed brows.
Nick shook his head. "It's only our physical strength, not our Zephyx."
A moment later, Nick pulled out one of the spears on his back.
"That's why I use throwing spears."
Simon looked with interest at Nick.
"How did you evolve your power?" he asked.
The next moment, Nick turned translucent as he became fog.
Simon furrowed his brows while looking at Nick.
"Your current evolution is not the most useful," he said.
Nick turned back.
"But," Simon added. "It has a great potential for evolution, and your two abilities have a high level of compatibility."
"While the current effect of your ability isn't the best, it acts as a foundation for your future."
Nick became quite interested in what Simon was saying.
After all, this was a Protector who was telling Nick about how he should increase his power.
But then, Nick remembered something.
He most likely wouldn't survive the day.
In the end, Nick only took a shaky breath.
Simon could see Nick's reaction and a small glimmer appeared in his eyes.
"You assume we will kill you," he commented.
Nick took another deep breath and nodded.
"Why?" Simon asked.
"I've seen how powerful people view the world," Nick said calmly. "Rich people only want more money from the poor people. Powerful people want to consume the power of the weak people."
"Envy is interested in my power. If I die, Envy won't attack the city."
"With my death, thousands of lives will be saved."
"No one would exchange a city full of people for a single level two Extractor," Nick said.
Simon looked into Nick's eyes.
He saw hopelessness and acceptance in them.
Simon closed his eyes.
"You're right," he said as he stood up.
Nick's heart rate increased.
"Killing you might save the entire city. You're right when you said that," Simon said.
"However, you were wrong with one thing."
Nick looked at Simon with confusion and a bit of hope.
"We're not going to kill you," he said.
Nick took a deep breath.
"You're going to kill yourself."
