They had left Hornstead behind two days ago.
The goats were still arguing about cheese-related war crimes, Ezekiel had been given the honorary title of "Hornless Hero of the Hill," and Frederick was still carrying the experimental Harmony Horn (which he now treated like an emotional support weapon).
But Void wasn't laughing anymore.
They had barely crossed the hills before the skies started to feel heavier, like someone had painted pressure over the clouds.
"The Heart's waking up," Void said.
"You keep saying that like we're supposed to know what it means," Frederick replied, slightly winded. "What heart? Like, the planet has a cardiovascular system?"
"In a way, yes," Void said. "The Heart is the first pulse of this continent. It's not a metaphor. It's alive."
⸻
When Void destroyed the original world realm in the First Battle, fragments of the old world were scattered across what would eventually become EXrczate. One of them—the Heart—landed deep underground and began pulsing. Not as a power source.
But as a beacon.
"What's it calling?" Ezekiel asked.
Void didn't answer.
He just stopped walking and stared at the horizon.
Something was moving beneath the soil. He could feel the vibrations through the laws.
⸻
They Reach the Outer Circle
Frederick pulled out the copy of the map Ezekiel's father had once marked. It wasn't just marking the mysterious plane. It was also hovering near an area labeled "The Circle of Roots."
A forgotten crater, never explored, considered cursed because every expedition that entered… vanished.
"We're going there," Void said.
"Of course we are," Ezekiel mumbled.
⸻
At the Circle of Roots
The crater was wide and unnatural. Nothing grew inside it. Not even bacteria. The air shimmered faintly like it was being bent by laws.
At the center, a low humming. Constant. Deep. Like a voice that couldn't speak, only resonate.
Void stepped to the edge.
"It's been calling me since I landed on this continent."
"And what are you going to do?" Frederick asked.
"Answer."
Then Void jumped.
⸻
Inside the Heart Chamber
Void fell through layers of nothingness before landing softly on a solid floor made of memory-infused crystal.
Every step echoed—actual voices.
Not from people, but from the laws themselves.
Destruction. Creation. Balance. Echoing out in broken fragments.
And in the center was a core. Beating like a heart.
Grey. Veined. Alive.
Void touched it.
"You shouldn't exist," he whispered. "I destroyed you."
The Heart pulsed.
And then it responded.
Not in words, but in a memory.
⸻
Flash Memory: The Day the World Was Broken
Void saw himself. Not his current form—but an earlier one. When he had torn apart the original realm in search of the truth behind creation. When he chose destruction as a path because he didn't believe anything could be made without ruin.
But this fragment—the Heart—had survived.
And now, it wanted to grow.
It didn't want revenge.
It wanted to live.
⸻
Back Outside
Frederick and Ezekiel waited.
Then the ground shook.
Void walked out of the crater calmly.
"We're changing the plan," he said.
"What plan?" Ezekiel asked.
"We're going to help the Heart become a new law."
"A new what?"
"A law that lives. Not one that rules."
He paused, looking at the sky again.
"But we're not the only ones who heard it. The gods and demons… they're on their way."