Twelve hours wasn’t enough.
It was never going to be enough. But it was what they had.
Draven woke to the sound of breathing. Not his. Not anyone on the team. The floor. Still breathing. In and out. Slow and rhythmic like a sleeping giant.
His body felt like it had been beaten with hamrs. Every muscle ached. His mana channels were raw — thin lines of fire running through his chest and arms where he’d forced too much power through damaged pathways. His core sat heavy and wrong in his chest. Not broken. But close.
He sat up. Slow. Everything protested.
The others were stirring. Kai looked worse than Draven felt. His shoulder was wrapped in torn cloth — Elara’s work. The bandage was already stained red. Marcus moved like an old man. Vera’s hands shook when she reached for her canteen.
Only Elara looked recovered. The rger with her reflection had done sothing. Her mana signature was brighter. Steadier. Like she’d found a missing piece of herself and slotted it back into place.
"How are we looking?" Draven asked.
Astrid checked the team thodically. Professor mode. Clinical. Detached. Better than dwelling on having no reflection. "Kai’s at forty percent. Maybe. The ribs haven’t healed properly. Marcus is the sa. Vera’s at fifty — she recovered faster. Lyra’s..." She looked at the assassin. "Sixty. She’s used to fighting injured."
"Seraphina?"
"Fifty. The ice burns are manageable. She can fight."
"You?"
Astrid hesitated. "Seventy. Physically. ntally..." She didn’t finish.
"Elara?"
"Eighty-five," Elara said calmly. "The rger was... restorative."
Draven did the math. Half the team was barely functional. The other half wasn’t much better. And they were about to fight an S-Rank guardian designed specifically to kill anyone who reached it.
Twenty percent survival odds.
Maybe thirty if they were lucky.
[You know you can turn back,] the System said. [The ergency beacon. Call for extraction. Live to fight another day.]
And let the Crown Prince win?
[Better than dying.]
Debatable.
[You’re insane.]
We’ve established this.
[Just checking. Wanted to make sure the brain damage from Floor Six wasn’t permanent.]
Draven stood. His legs held. Barely. "We go in thirty minutes. Eat. Drink. Check your gear. This is the last floor."
Nobody cheered. Nobody joked. They just nodded and started preparing.
Because they all knew the truth.
They were probably going to die down there.
But they were going anyway.
The archway to Floor Seven was larger than the others.
Twice as wide. Three tis as tall. The stone was black — not the black glass of Floor Six, but genuine obsidian. Polished. Reflecting nothing. Light hit it and died.
More Velthari script ran along the fra. Elara read it aloud.
"Here lies the Final Seal. Beyond this threshold, the Abyss waits. The Guardian stands eternal. Only the worthy may pass. Only the void-touched may claim. The price will be paid. There is no rcy here."
"Cheerful," Marcus said.
"Very," Kai agreed. His voice was tight with pain.
Draven stepped forward. His hand touched the archway. Cold. So cold it burned. Frost ford on his fingertips instantly.
The stone pulsed. Once. Like a heartbeat.
Then the archway opened.
Not a door swinging. Not a portal forming. The space between the arch just... wasn’t anymore. One mont solid black stone. The next, a passage leading down. Steep stairs carved from the sa obsidian. No light below. Just darkness.
Deep darkness. The kind that felt solid. The kind that pressed against your eyes.
"Last chance," Draven said. "Anyone who wants to stay, I won’t judge."
Nobody moved.
"Idiots," Draven muttered.
"Pot, kettle," Astrid said.
"Fair."
He descended.
The stairs went down for a long ti.
Longer than Floor Six. Longer than anything should go. The temperature kept dropping. Draven’s breath ca out white. Frost ford on the walls. On the ceiling. On his sword hilt.
His Danger Sense scread. Had been screaming since he’d touched the archway. A constant pressure against the back of his skull. Danger. Threat. Death.
Helpful.
The mana in the air changed as they descended. Thicker. Heavier. Wrong. It pressed against Draven’s skin like a physical weight. Each breath tasted of copper and ash.
The void-touched mark in his core reacted. Pulled. Like a compass needle finding north. The Core was close. Very close.
[Your mana is destabilizing,] the System warned. [The Core’s presence is interfering with your natural flow. This is going to get ssy.]
Define ssy.
[Best case? Your core hurts. Worst case? It ruptures and you die screaming. Sowhere in the middle? You pass out from mana shock and wake up dead.]
Love your optimism.
[I try.]
The stairs ended.
Floor Seven.
Draven stepped off the last stair and stopped. His brain couldn’t process what he was seeing.
The chamber was massive. Easily a hundred feet tall. Two hundred feet across. Maybe more. The walls curved up and inward like the inside of a do. All obsidian. All perfectly smooth.
And in the center, suspended in midair, was the Abyss Core.
It looked like a heart.
Not taphorically. Literally. A heart. Black and pulsing. Veins of dark energy radiated from it in all directions, connecting to the walls, the floor, the ceiling. Each pulse sent ripples through the air. Visible distortions. Reality bending around concentrated power.
The Core was the size of a house. And it was alive. Breathing. Beating. Waiting.
Draven’s void-touched mana reacted imdiately. His core scread. Pain exploded through his chest. He gasped. Dropped to one knee.
[Told you it would be ssy!] the System said, almost panicked. [Your mana is trying to connect with the Core! Don’t let it! Not yet! You’re not strong enough!]
Draven forced his mana back. Clamped down hard. The pain eased. Slightly.
"Draven!" Seraphina was beside him. Her hand on his shoulder. Cold. Grounding.
"I’m fine," he lied. "The Core is... reacting to ."
"Can you stand?"
"Yes."
He stood. Barely. His core still throbbed in his chest. Wrong. Hungry. Reaching toward the massive heart in the center of the chamber.
The rest of the team filed in behind him. All of them stared at the Core. Transfixed. Horrified.
"That’s the Abyss Core," Elara said quietly. "The thing that consud an entire civilization."
"It’s beautiful," Vera whispered.
"It’s terrifying," Marcus countered.
Both were right.
Kai stepped forward. His sword drawn. "Where’s the guardian? The Velthari said—"
The Core pulsed. Bright. Blinding.
And the guardian appeared.
It didn’t walk into the chamber. It ford from the darkness.
Shadow coalescing into matter. Obsidian bleeding from the walls and pooling on the floor. The shape took form slowly. Deliberately.
Humanoid. Tall. Eight feet at least. Armored in black plate that looked grown rather than forged. No face. Just a smooth obsidian mask where a head should be. Two points of white light where eyes would be.
It held a sword. Massive. As tall as Draven. Single-edged. Wickedly curved.
The guardian’s mana signature hit Draven like a physical force.
S-Rank.
Pure. Concentrated. Overwhelming.
[Guardian detected,] the System said unnecessarily. [Classification: Eternal Sentinel. Rank: S-Low Stage. Purpose: Eliminate all intruders. Weakness: Unknown. Strength: Everything. Good fucking luck.]
The guardian moved.
Fast.
One mont standing still. The next, in front of Kai. The sword ca down. WHOOSH.
Kai blocked. Barely.
CLANG!
The force of the blow drove him into the floor. Stone cracked. Kai’s legs buckled. His sword arm shook.
The guardian didn’t stop. It swung again. Horizontal. Kai rolled. The blade passed inches over his head.
WHOOOM!
The air split. A shockwave rippled outward. Draven felt it from thirty feet away.
"SPREAD OUT!" Draven shouted.
The team scattered. Marcus and Vera went left. Seraphina and Lyra right. Elara hung back. Astrid moved to support Kai.
The guardian tracked Kai. Only Kai. Like it had decided he was the priority target.
Why Kai?
[Protagonist energy,] the System said. [The guardian is programd to identify and eliminate the greatest threat. In the original novel, that would be Kai. It’s still reading him as the primary target.]
That’s actually helpful.
[Don’t get used to it.]
Kai scrambled back. The guardian advanced. thodical. Inevitable. Its sword traced an arc through the air. Kai blocked again.
CLANG!
Sparks flew. Kai’s sword cracked. Not broke. But close.
"Kai’s not going to last!" Marcus shouted. He hurled a [Stone Lance] at the guardian.
The spell hit. The guardian didn’t flinch. The stone shattered against its armor like water against a cliff.
"Shit!"
Seraphina cast [Ice Prison]. Walls of ice erupted around the guardian. Thick. Dense. Compressed to the hardness of steel.
The guardian swung its sword. Once.
CRACK.
The ice exploded. Shards flew everywhere. Seraphina threw up a barrier. Shards pinged off it. ting ting ting.
"It’s too strong!" she said. Stating the obvious.
Draven moved. Void Step. He blinked behind the guardian. [Void Palm Strike] already charged. He thrust his palm at the guardian’s back.
The guardian spun.
Fast.
Its sword ca up. Blocked the strike. Palm against blade.
Void energy t S-Rank steel.
BOOM!
Draven flew backward. Hit the wall. Hard. His back scread. His vision blurred.
The guardian didn’t pursue. It turned back to Kai.
Single-minded. Efficient. Terrifying.
Kai stood his ground. His sword raised. His stance perfect despite the broken ribs, the bleeding shoulder, the exhaustion.
Stubborn idiot protagonist.
"KAI, MOVE!" Astrid shouted.
The guardian swung. A massive overhead chop. Execution style.
Kai blocked with both hands on his blade. Braced.
CLANG!
The sound was deafening. Kai’s sword shattered. CRACK. The blade broke in two. The guardian’s strike continued. Slowed. But not stopped.
It hit Kai’s shoulder. Hard.
CRUNCH.
Bone broke. Kai scread. Dropped to his knees. His left arm hung useless.
The guardian raised its sword again.
"NO!" Elara’s voice rang out. Clear. Commanding.
[Holy Lance].
A spear of pure light ford above her. Blazing. Brilliant. She thrust her hands forward. The lance shot across the chamber.
WHOOOM!
It hit the guardian dead center in the chest.
The guardian staggered. Actually staggered. The light burned against its armor. Smoke rose. The obsidian cracked.
For a mont, everyone stared.
It could be hurt.
The guardian looked at Elara. Those white points of light in its mask focused. Assessed.
Then it changed targets.
It moved toward her. Faster than before. Sword raised.
"ELARA!" Marcus shouted.
Draven was already moving. Void Step. Void Step. Twice in three seconds. His channels scread. He appeared between the guardian and Elara.
[Void Convergence].
He channeled everything he had. Every drop of mana. Every scrap of power. His core burned. His channels tore. Blood poured from his nose.
The void energy ford. Compressed. A sphere of absolute darkness in his hands.
He threw it.
The guardian swung.
Sword t sphere.
BOOM.
The explosion ripped through the chamber. Force. Light. Darkness. Sound. All of it colliding in a space too small to contain it.
Draven flew backward. Again. Hit the floor. Rolled. Stopped against the wall.
He couldn’t move. His body was done. Finished. His mana core felt like shattered glass. Empty. Broken.
The smoke cleared.
The guardian stood. Unhard. Not even scratched.
Its sword was intact. Its armor whole. The crack Elara had made was already healing. Obsidian flowing like water. Sealing. Reforming.
[You did zero damage,] the System said quietly. [It’s S-Rank. You’re A-Rank. The gap is too wide. You can’t hurt it. None of you can.]
Then what do we do?
[Die, probably. Or run. The beacon—]
Shut up about the beacon.
[You’re going to die.]
Maybe. But not yet.
Draven tried to stand. His legs didn’t respond. Everything was numb. Empty. Used up.
The guardian turned. Assessed the room. Eight targets. All injured. All barely standing.
It chose.
Lyra.
It moved toward her. Sword raised.
Lyra was fast. She shadow-stepped. The guardian followed. Matched her speed. Anticipated her movent.
Its sword ca down.
Lyra blocked with both daggers crossed. CLANG. The force drove her into the floor. Her knees buckled. Her daggers cracked.
"LYRA!" Draven tried to stand. Couldn’t. "SOONE—"
Astrid moved. [Arcane Barrier]. A wall of pure mana appeared between Lyra and the guardian.
The guardian’s sword hit it.
CRACK.
The barrier shattered instantly. But it bought ti. Half a second.
Lyra rolled. The guardian’s sword hit empty stone. CRASH. A crater ford.
"We can’t win!" Vera shouted. "We need to retreat!"
"There’s nowhere to retreat TO!" Marcus countered.
Seraphina cast again. [Ice Bind]. Chains of ice wrapped around the guardian’s legs. Thick. Strong.
The guardian flexed. The chains shattered. CRACK CRACK CRACK.
It didn’t even slow down.
"This is impossible," Kai said. He was still on his knees. His arm useless. His sword broken. "We can’t beat it."
"Then we improvise," Draven said. His voice was weak. He forced himself to his feet. Barely. He swayed. His vision swam.
"How?" Astrid demanded. "It’s immune to magic! It’s faster than us! It’s stronger than us! What exactly are we supposed to improvise?"
Draven looked at the Abyss Core. Still pulsing. Still beating. Still connected to the guardian through those dark veins of energy.
It’s drawing power from the Core, he realized. The guardian isn’t independent. It’s a construct. A puppet. The Core is controlling it.
[Correct,] the System confird. [The guardian is a mana construct powered by the Core. As long as the Core feeds it, the guardian is effectively invincible. You’d need to sever the connection.]
How?
[Cut the veins. The energy threads connecting them. But they’re made of concentrated Abyss energy. Touching them would probably kill you. And even if you managed to cut them, the guardian would just reconnect. Unless...]
Unless what?
[Unless you absorbed the Core first. If the Core bonded to you, it couldn’t power the guardian anymore. The construct would collapse.]
And the odds of successfully absorbing an S-Rank artifact while actively dying?
[Five percent. Maybe ten if you’re lucky.]
Better than twenty percent of winning a straight fight.
[You’ll die.]
Probably. But at least it’s a plan.
Draven looked at his team. All of them were fighting. Barely. Desperately. The guardian had switched targets again. It was attacking Marcus now. Marcus blocked with earth armor. The armor cracked. The guardian’s sword went through like paper.
Marcus fell. Blood pooled beneath him.
"MARCUS!" Vera scread.
They were losing. Badly. Another minute and the guardian would kill them all.
No choice.
"EVERYONE FALL BACK!" Draven shouted. "TO THE WALLS! NOW!"
"WHAT?" Astrid looked at him. "What are you—"
"JUST DO IT!"
The team retreated. Scrambling. Bleeding. Broken. They reached the walls. The guardian paused. Assessing. Deciding which target to pursue.
Draven stepped forward. Into the center of the chamber. Toward the Core.
The guardian’s attention snapped to him. Those white points of light focused. Locked on.
It moved. Toward him. Sword raised.
Draven didn’t run. He walked. Straight toward the Core. Each step was agony. His body scread. His mana core was empty. Shattered. Useless.
But his void-touched mark pulled. Hungry. Desperate. Reaching.
The guardian closed the distance. Five feet. Four. Three.
It swung.
Draven didn’t dodge.
CRACK.
The protection charm activated. The one Elise had given him. The final failsafe. A barrier of light ford. The guardian’s sword hit it.
BOOM.
The barrier shattered. The charm dissolved into dust.
But it bought ti. Two seconds.
Draven lunged. Threw himself forward. His hand reached out.
He touched the Core.
The world scread.
Pain. Absolute. Total. Consuming. Every nerve in his body fired at once. His mana core exploded. Not taphorically. Actually exploded. The damaged channels couldn’t handle the influx. They ruptured. Tore. Blood vessels burst. His heart stopped.
He was dying.
The void-touched mark in his chest flared. Bright. Brighter than the Core. Brighter than anything.
And the Core recognized it.
[CONNECTION ESTABLISHED,] the System said. Its voice distorted. Staticky. [ABYSS CORE ATTEMPTING BOND. HOST COMPATIBILITY: 87%. ANALYZING...]
[WARNING: HOST MANA CORE DESTROYED. PHYSICAL FORM FAILING. CONSCIOUSNESS FADING. RECOMND IMDIATE—]
Draven’s vision went black.
He was still conscious. Barely. But he couldn’t see. Couldn’t feel. Couldn’t breathe.
The Core pulsed. Once. Twice. Three tis.
And sothing else spoke.
Not the System. Sothing older. Deeper. Ancient.
[VOID-TOUCHED HUMAN. YOU DARE CLAIM ?]
The voice was everywhere. Nowhere. Inside his head. Outside reality.
Yes, Draven thought. Or tried to. He wasn’t sure if he was still capable of thought.
[THE PRICE MUST BE PAID. ALL WHO CLAIM THE ABYSS GIVE SOTHING IN RETURN. WHAT WILL YOU OFFER?]
What do you want?
[EVERYTHING. YOUR POWER. YOUR MORIES. YOUR IDENTITY. YOUR HUMANITY. I WILL CONSU ALL OF YOU AND REMAKE YOU IN MY IMAGE. THAT IS THE PRICE.]
No.
[THEN YOU WILL DIE. HERE. NOW. THE GUARDIAN WILL DESTROY YOUR CORPSE AND FEAST ON YOUR COMPANIONS.]
Draven’s consciousness flickered. Fading. He was seconds from death. His body was already gone. Only his mind remained. And barely.
I’ll give you a different price, he thought.
[YOU BARGAIN WITH THE ABYSS?]
Yes.
[FOOLISH. BUT AMUSING. SPEAK YOUR OFFER.]
Take my fear. My doubt. My hesitation. The parts of that hold back. That second-guess. That make weak. Take those. Leave everything else.
[YOU OFFER YOUR WEAKNESS IN EXCHANGE FOR POWER?]
Yes.
[ACCEPTED.]
The Core pulsed. One final ti.
And Draven felt sothing rip from his chest. Not physical. Not his body. Sothing deeper. A piece of himself. The part that hesitated. The part that doubted. The part that was afraid.
Gone.
Taken.
Consud.
In its place, the Core flowed. Dark energy poured into the void where his mana core had been. Filled it. Rebuilt it. Reford it.
Not A-Rank anymore.
Sothing else. Sothing new.
His heart started. Thump. Blood flowed. His lungs filled. He gasped. His eyes opened.
Draven stood. In the center of the chamber. His hand still on the Core. But the Core was... changing. Shrinking. Flowing into him through his palm like water being absorbed by a sponge.
The veins of dark energy connecting the Core to the walls faded. Dissolved. The guardian flickered. Stuttered. Its form destabilized.
It looked at Draven. Those white lights dimd. Flickered.
Then it collapsed. Obsidian crumbled into dust. The massive sword clattered to the floor and dissolved.
Gone.
The Core finished absorbing. The chamber went dark. No more pulsing light. No more beating heart suspended in midair.
Just Draven. Standing. Alone.
His chest felt different. Heavy. Full. Wrong and right simultaneously.
[DING!]
[ABYSS CORE ABSORBED.]
[MANA CORE RECONSTRUCTED.]
[NEW RANK: S-RANK LOW STAGE.]
[SKILLS GAINED: Abyss Dominion, Void Reconstruction, Dark Heart]
[WARNING: PERSONALITY ALTERATION DETECTED. "FEAR" PARATER REMOVED. "HESITATION" PARATER REMOVED. "DOUBT" PARATER REMOVED.]
[You... you’re different,] the System said quietly. [I can feel it. Sothing’s missing.]
Draven looked at his hands. They weren’t shaking. They should be. He’d just died. He’d just absorbed an S-Rank artifact. He’d just paid a price he didn’t fully understand.
But he felt... calm. Steady. Certain.
No fear. No doubt. No hesitation.
Just clarity.
"I’m fine," he said. His voice was different. Steadier. Colder.
"DRAVEN!" Seraphina ran toward him. She looked terrified. Relieved. Confused.
The others followed. All of them staring. All of them seeing sothing in him that had changed.
Astrid reached him first. Her hand on his shoulder. "Are you...?"
"I’m fine," Draven repeated. "The Core is absorbed. The guardian is dead. Floor Seven is clear."
"You died," Kai said. His voice was shaking. "Your heart stopped. I felt it through the Harem Bond. You died."
"I got better."
"That’s not how that works!"
"It is now."
Draven looked at them. His team. His people. They looked broken. Bleeding. Barely standing.
But alive.
"We need to get out of here," Draven said. "The dungeon is clearing. Extraction will be waiting."
"What about you?" Elara asked. Her eyes were sharp. Assessing. "You’ve changed. I can feel it in your mana. You’re not the sa."
"I’m better," Draven said. And believed it.
No fear. No doubt. No hesitation.
Just power. Pure and absolute.
[You paid with part of yourself,] the System said quietly. [The part that made you human. Was it worth it?]
Draven looked at his team. Alive. Safe. Protected.
Yes, he thought. It was worth it.
[I hope you’re right. Because you can’t get it back. What’s taken by the Abyss stays taken. You’re sothing different now. Not quite human. Not quite monster. Sothing in between.]
I can live with that.
[Can you?]
The stairs appeared. Leading up. Out. To the surface. To the light.
Draven walked toward them.
Behind him, his team followed.
And the Abyss Core pulsed once in his chest. Satisfied. Fed. Waiting.
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