### **Volume 3 - Chapter 5: "Zerk — The Womb of the Fractured Crown"**
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#### **Part 1: The Dance of Shadows and the Stolen Light**
Huguel, now crowned with **Micael's fragments** and **Kick's flame**, went to the **cosmic void**—an abyss where not even Carmen's light shone. There, he spread his black wings and **raised the crown** above him.
**Huguel (whispering, black blood dripping from his eyes):**
— *"I will be the **father**... and the **fetus**. I will birth a world that **would not fail**..."*
He **scattered** the crown in pieces across the void, each fragment burning like **dead stars**.
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#### **Part 2: The Seed of Chaos**
With a **cosmic scream**, Huguel plunged his hands into his own flesh and **ripped out** his heart. He held it, pulsing with **black blood and fractured divinity**, and threw it into the center of the crown fragments.
**Demons (whispering into the void):**
— *"He's using his own **heart** to create... this isn't creation... it's **suicide**..."*
Huguel's heart fused with the crown, **generating a black core** that began **pulling in cosmic matter**. The void began **filling** with **blue light and red shadows**, creating a **vortex** called **Zerk**.
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#### **Part 3: Birth of a Painful World**
Zerk **sprouted** as an **anomalous** child—its atmosphere was a **mantle of black blood**, and its mountains were made of the **bones of demons** that Huguel had annihilated. Rivers of **blue light** (Michael's blood) cut through valleys of **cosmic mud** (Kick's residue).
**Huguel (touching the new ground, now his own blood enveloping him):**
— *"You were born of my **desire** and my **hatred**. Your geography is my **mirror**."*
He **scattered** seeds of **black blood** across the ground, sprouting **forests of thorns** that fed on **fear**.
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#### **Part 4: The First Race of Zerk**
To populate his world, Huguel **summoned** the souls of dead demons and **failed gods**. He shaped them into **humanoids** with **two-toned people**: half bright (Kick's light), half dark (his own essence).
**First Inhabitants (bowing):**
— *"Lord... why did you **create** us like this, so **divided**?"*
**Huguel (cruel smile):**
— *"Because **I am** too**. Live this duality... or **die for it**."*
He then **hid** part of his soul in Zerk's core, becoming **an entity of the world**—its **central nerve**.
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#### **Part 5: The Bleeding Prophecy**
As Zerk **bloomed**, a **female voice** emerged from the void—Nevada, Huguel's mother, finally **revealed** as a cosmic entity bound to Carmen's flame.
**Nevada (whispering through the stars):**
— *"You have created a **sick** world, son… but it is the only thing you have ever **loved**. Remember: even parents **fail**."*
Huguel **fell to his knees**, his crown **crumbling**.
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#### **Part 6: The End Prologue**
In the core of Zerk, Huguel's heart **beat**, but it was **corrupted** by Michael's light. Roots of **black blood** grew out of the core, threatening to **tear** the world apart.
**Zerk (whispering like a living creature):**
— *"I **am** your son... and I will **destroy** you..."*
Huguel **smiled**, now knowing that his world was already **doomed**—just like him.
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#### **End of Chapter**
Zerk **shines** in the cosmos, a rotten pearl. The inhabitants live between **light and darkness**, unaware that their world is the **bleeding heart** of their own god.
**Kick's Last Vision (echoing):**
— *"You did not create a world... **you were born into it**."*
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**Next Chapter:** *"The Mask of Nevada: The Legacy of the Lost Mother and the True Nature of Zerk"*
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**Critical Details:**
- **Zerk's Doubt:** The world is **cursed**—any being that seeks the "light" (Kick's part) is devoured by the "blood" (Huguel).
- **Nevada's Voice:** She is not an illusion, but part of Carmen's **cosmic essence**, passed on to Huguel.
- **The Corrupted Core:** Huguel's heart, now outside his body, **lives** in Zerk and **controls** him, turning him into an **entity addicted to itself**.
**End Theme:** *"Creation is the first death. And Hugh... was born dead."*