White light devoured everything.

Northern materialized within his Soul Forge, Kryos's lifeless body cradled in his arms. The gray vastness trembled around him, forcing his gaze to sweep the space.

"What is going on?"

[WARNING: Soul Forge experiencing unprecedented strain]

[Origin-level essence detected]

[Initiating emergency stabilization protocols]

[A large amount of an unprecedented and divine existence has been noticed]

[The force is spreading…]

[Soul Forge is evolving]

Northern frowned. He knew immediately.

'My soul is reacting to the return of Chaos…'

[To put it better: Daemon of Form is attempting to tame Chaos]

Northern felt the urge to laugh, but the trembling intensified. The growing tremors threatened to tear the very space apart.

"Isn't that endearing?"

[Indeed. However, I am not the one who wants an Origin to become his Echo]

"Hey! You suggested it!"

[Well said. SUGGESTED]

Silent disbelief settled over Northern.

"Nice one… you one-dimensional lodestar."

Northern laid Kryos down gently on the fractured ground. The Origin of Madness looked almost peaceful in death, his expression frozen between terror and relief.

"Anyway, Echonize him."

[Acknowledged]

[Echo creation requires complete soul absorption]

[Warning: This will fundamentally alter Soul Forge structure]

Northern fell silent for a moment. But the return of Chaos would certainly change everything regardless.

"Do it."

The moment Northern spoke, Kryos's body began dissolving—not into nothingness, but into pure white essence. Streams of power spiraled upward like ribbons of liquid light, Chaos swirling among them in violent, beautiful patterns of primordial entropy.

The Soul Forge responded.

The gray vastness beneath Northern's feet fractured further. But it didn't separate or collapse. Instead, it transformed.

Ice erupted from the fissures, spreading in crystalline waves that raced across the infinite expanse. Within seconds, the ground had become frozen tundra, permafrost stretching as far as Northern could see. Snow began falling from a sky that moments ago hadn't existed, each flake perfect and eternal.

Northern watched in awe as a mountain rose in the distance—a glacial titan of blue-white ice piercing through clouds still forming. Its peaks glittered with ancient frost, and auroras danced around its summit in impossible colors.

The transformation didn't stop.

The ground trembled again. To the east, ice gave way to volcanic rock. Obsidian plains cracked open, revealing veins of molten light beneath. A massive red mine erupted from the earth, its entrance yawning wide like a wound in reality itself. The glow from within pulsed with heat and promise, casting crimson shadows across the frozen landscape.

Beyond the glacial mountain, impossibly far yet somehow visible, a volcano took shape. Its caldera blazed with primordial fire, lava flowing in rivers that somehow never reached the ice, yet their heat could be felt even here. Ash and embers drifted upward, mingling with falling snow in a dance of opposing elements.

Three distinct terrains—ice, earth, fire—separated by vast distances yet flowing together in impossible harmony. This was how it existed in the Limitless Void.

Northern's face froze with half-formed laughter.

"It's even better. Feels more… real!"

The Soul Forge had evolved from a gray void into a living world.

[Soul Forge expansion complete]

[New specifications:]

[▸ Size: Tier 2 (50km²)]

[▸ Terrain: Tripartite Domain (Glacial North, Volcanic South, Crimson Depths)]

[▸ Time Flow: 1 second = 15 seconds]

[▸ Echoes: 1 stored]

Northern's attention snapped back to the center, where Kryos's essence had condensed into a single point of brilliant white light—pulsing, writhing, alive with power that threatened to tear space itself.

The essence coalesced, pulling inward with terrible force. Northern felt his soul resonate with the process, the Daemon of Form reaching out with invisible threads to weave the Origin back together—not as he was, but as something new.

Something bound.

[Beginning Echo Formation]

[Warning: Origin-level soul detected]

[Chaos essence integration at 47%... 68%... 89%...]

[Stabilization processing…]

Northern gritted his teeth as he felt the strain. His soul was literally trying to contain and reshape an Origin—a being that had existed for eons, born by one of the Divinities of this Realm in its beginning. An offspring of the Mourgens.

[Chaos essence integration complete]

[You can use Chaos Essence]

[A secondary Essence Pool has been created]

[Soul absorption: 75%]

[Echo Formation: Success]

[Name: Kryos, Origin of Madness]

[Classification: Origin-rank Echo]

[Abilities: All original powers retained + Chaos Authority (Contained)]

[Loyalty: unknown]

The white light exploded outward, then collapsed back into a single point before expanding once more—this time taking shape.

A figure materialized where the essence had been.

Kryos stood there, different. His form was identical to what it had been in life—the same build, the same features—but his presence had fundamentally changed. His hollow eyes now swirled with patterns of pure Chaos, gold and purple and impossible colors that shifted moment to moment.

"Kryos?"

The eyes didn't blink. He just stood there, staring at Northern.

A small frown creased Northern's face.

"Aoi?"

[Special Notes: First Origin-rank Echo in recorded history. Chaos integration unstable. Cannot be summoned in external reality.]

[The Echo Kryos is entering enforced hibernation.]

Northern's confusion flickered.

"What? Why is it like that?"

[Due to the large difference between Soul Ranks, the Echo Kryos is clashing with your soul. If this continues, it will cause a fractured soul and may slowly kill you. Thus Echo Kryos was forced into hibernation until your soul has grown]

Northern sucked his teeth painfully.

"Damn. I'm tired of being limited. Just when I thought I was powerful."

[You are powerful]

[Your standards… they just happen to be quite… high]

Northern sighed and shook his head.

"You can't blame me. As a Nomad, I was taught how to kill a monster by a monster, and I ended up killing that monster and his master. To think that simple issue would escalate into all of this. Somehow, I feel… targeted?"

Northern frowned slightly, thinking back on the memories. He tilted his head.

"Aoi. What do you think about Fate? Do you believe in it?"

[Invalid Request, Command not recognized]

"How convenient for you."

He exhaled.

"Aoi, what happened to all the monsters, people, everyone I've ever killed?"

[The Memory of Chaos remembers all. The Memory of Formless also remembers all.]

Northern smiled.

[Soul numbers are being recorded at the moment]

[In the meantime…]

Northern's eyes flared.

"Yeah. I'm needed outside."

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