They traveled for days—or what felt like days. Time had no mercy in the Abyss. No sky. No sun. Only the slow pulsing of the walls, as if the Abyss itself had a heartbeat... and they were walking into its heart.
Taren spoke little. Kael spoke less.
But both could feel it: the pull.
A gravity not of flesh or mass—but of memory. Guilt. Truth.
> [Approaching: Ninth Rift]
[Warning: Soul Stability Required – 75% Minimum]
Current: 76%
Kael felt the shift before he saw it.
The path ahead didn't descend into the Ninth Rift—it was torn open, like a wound in the world. Obsidian pillars jutted from the edges, circling a massive void. Floating fragments of stone hovered around it, each one glowing faintly with symbols Kael couldn't read—but understood.
They weren't just ruins.
They were reminders.
Of what once lived here.
> "This place isn't dead," Taren muttered. "It's sleeping."
Kael nodded. "And we're walking into its dream."
---
As they stepped onto the first floating platform, the world twisted.
Kael gasped—not from pain, but from sudden clarity. Memories that weren't his came rushing in: images of ancient wars, of gods bound in chains made from time itself, of a throne built from dying stars.
At the center of it all: The Origin Gate.
It wasn't a door—it was a mouth. A portal with teeth. Waiting to open.
Suddenly—
> [Entity Detected: Forgotten Sentinel – Class V]
"Bound to protect the Origin Gate. Will not permit passage."
A shape descended from above—massive, metallic, and humanoid. Its body was made of silver and black stone, its face featureless but for a vertical crack glowing violet. In its hands, a blade longer than a tower.
> "You carry the Mark," the Sentinel spoke.
"You are not yet worthy."
Kael readied his blade. "Then test me."
---
The fight was not like the others.
This was not a beast of the Abyss.
This was a relic of something far older.
The Sentinel moved with grace, each strike filled with divine purpose. Kael dodged, but barely. Taren hurled cursed flames—but they fizzled on impact.
Kael was forced to use it.
> [Abyssal Form – Rank I: Activated]
His body shifted—veins of light burst through his skin, eyes glowing fully violet. His blade pulsed and extended into a jagged scythe.
Time slowed.
He struck.
Once.
Twice.
A third time.
The Sentinel staggered—but didn't fall.
> "You are not a god," it said.
"But you were made to become one."
With its final strength, the Sentinel drove its blade into the ground—and opened the Gate.
---
> [Trial Passed: Origin Gate Access Granted]
[Warning: Memory Overload Imminent]
"Do not look back."
Kael stepped forward, eyes locked on the swirling void ahead.
Beyond the Gate was something not even the Abyss dared claim.
A memory waiting to be remembered.
A truth waiting to be owned.
And in the very center... a woman in gold armor sat bound in chains of light.
Her eyes opened.
> "Kael... it's me."
> "It's Lyria."
---