Codex Null: Simulation Through Madness

At the center of the hall, a scarf floated above a raised platform, suspended in the air like an offering on an altar. Noel's expression briefly twisted into greed the instant he laid eyes on it — his instincts screamed that this was no ordinary relic. It was likely a sixth-ranked one… perhaps even among the finest that existed.

But that flicker of greed quickly hardened into a grave look, for this place screamed danger at a level he had never felt before.

He glanced behind him, already considering retreat, only to find the door gone. The way back had vanished.

Even so, Noel did not lose his composure as he calmly assessed the situation. But then, without warning, he felt his consciousness slipping. Darkness swallowed him whole…

And before long, he found himself standing in an endless void, staring at another version of himself — only this one's eyes glowed with deep amethyst instead of gray.

'Some kind of mind space?' Noel wondered, as he looked at the expressionless copy in front of him, sensing its strength and realizing it was an exact copy of himself.

"If it's this much, then it's manageable," Noel muttered with a grin.

The confidence that had faltered for a moment when he entered the last trial returned even stronger as he faced an exact duplicate. To him, there was no way anything could truly replicate his brilliance. No matter how similar in appearance the copy was, it would never reach him — the Original.

And when he saw the copy use the Destruction Law to manifest a sword and launch an attack, that belief only grew firmer.

Noel responded in kind, conjuring a simple sword. His blade cut through the copy's sword without even wavering, forcing it to defend desperately against his strike.

The battle didn't last long. Noel, unscathed, beheaded the copy with ease.

But instead of being released from the void, two more appeared before him.

Noel's smile didn't falter. He had already noticed something — his Law power seemed to have no limit in this place. Many moves he had only theorized about until now suddenly became possible.

So this time, without testing, he went all out, killing both copies in even shorter time.

Then came four. Eight. Sixteen. Thirty-two. Sixty-four.

Noel killed wave after wave without stopping.

But when the number of copies in front of him exceeded a hundred, even he began to feel strained. Yet instead of backing down, Noel, who already felt himself becoming far stronger than when he first entered the battle, didn't mind the strain and only pushed himself harder.

The eternal goal was to surpass himself — to become stronger.

And here, every second gave him the chance to grow, to endure, to face as many waves as the trial could throw at him.

Once again, time passed. Injuries piled on Noel's body, blood marking his skin, yet he remained steadfast, unyielding. When the number finally exceeded a thousand and he still managed to cut them down… a change at last appeared.

This time, instead of another flood of countless copies, a single figure emerged.

It was only one, yet the sight of the scarf wrapped around its hand made Noel's expression harden more than ever.

He instinctively knew this was the final test, and he was determined to come on top.

Noel attacked first. The copy, instead of wielding the destruction law, simply threw a punch from afar — his attack vanished on the spot.

It punched a second time, and the world itself seemed to distort.

The dark world lost even more of its fading color, and Noel felt himself turning blind, his limbs growing heavy and limp.

In a rush, he wrapped himself in his destruction law, and the effect weakened enough for him to press forward.

He unleashed everything he had — every technique he knew, even the ones he had forged here in the heat of battle.

But even then, bringing this copy down proved far more difficult than any before.

In this stalemate, time dragged on.

Noel tried adjusting his attacks, yet everything turned futile against someone who could negate anything that came near.

And so, Noel tried another move.

He cast out a massive net woven with compressed Destruction Law filaments, its strands hissing with ruin, while from his foot he shot an arrow made of the same law, aimed at his copy's blindside.

This time, he finally saw an effect.

A small injury — barely a cut. But it was enough. Enough to tip the scales in his favor.

And so it was.

Before long, Noel managed to overwhelm the copy and tear himself free from the special space.

The floor beneath him was soaked in blood, his own injuries from the battle reflected onto his body here. Yet he didn't grimace, not even slightly. He simply walked forward, step by step, until he reached the relic — the scarf suspended before him — and took it in his hand.

Its radiating power coursed into him, and his lips curved in a smile as certainty struck him.

It was truly at the Imperial rank.

Noel didn't hesitate. He immediately tried to make the relic recognize him as its master. There was no resistance, no sense of incompatibility. Everything went smoothly, and he absorbed the relic into his Soul Zone, satisfaction flashing across his face.

But that satisfaction lasted only a moment.

Because then he felt it.

The scarf was not a normal relic… but a parasitic one.

His chest tightened in panic, yet he didn't stop. He immediately tried to force it out of his Soul Zone, to end things before the relic entrenched itself within him. But no matter how hard he tried, nothing worked… and his expression grew darker by the second.

He struggled like that for some time before finally accepting the truth.

It was beyond him. Beyond his current ability.

At the very least, he would need someone with his father's level to help him remove it.

Noel quickly turned his head, checking if the gate had reappeared so he could return. Time pressed heavily on him, and he needed to resolve this before it was too late.