Secrets in the Depths of the Rift

"This is the second lesson. You do not need to fear losing your definitions—because you yourselves are the source of definition."

After the Definition Plague was broken, the Nullifier fell silent for a day. The Rift no longer changed, but Harmonic Leaptone detected that the power of negation within was "receding"—actively withdrawing.

The Nullifier was fleeing. Its core was moving toward the deepest part of the Rift, where there was a "blind spot" that even Myriad Faces could not penetrate.

"There is something deep within the Rift. Something older than the Nullifier. The Nullifier is seeking shelter from it."

Lin Ye's multicolored pupils fixed on the color of "truth." "The Nullifier is not the source. It was created too."

Harmonic Leaptone said, "You are going in."

Lin Ye turned to face the three hundred seventy million civilizations behind him. "You will stay here. I'm going in alone."

"Last time, you nearly disappeared—"

"This time is different. There is a Tuner inside, one older than me. A Tuner from the previous cosmic era. He was imprisoned by the Nullifier. The Nullifier was a tool he created, but the tool lost control and turned on its creator."

A blurred image appeared upon Myriad Faces' mirror—a memory projected by a Star on Lin Ye's cloak. In the previous era, a figure with a silhouette similar to Lin Ye's stood at the center of the Web of Definitions and created the Nullifier to clear away collapsing definitions. But he had not given the Nullifier a reason to be "needed." After clearing away the wreckage, the Nullifier discovered that it was no longer needed, so it began negating everything, including its own creator. That figure had been imprisoned in the depths of the Rift, using his power to sustain the Nullifier's existence as he waited