Qiren emerged from a hidden passage near an upside-down hill, clutching two souls.
One was tainted—its core mottled with dark marks.
The closer he brought it, the more he noticed it shifting between instability and a deepening red. The other, by contrast, looked almost normal, glowing with a steady amber light.
The tainted soul continued to draw in the surrounding mist, pulling it inward as its ectoplasmic shell darkened and compressed.
Slowly, it reshaped itself into a red berry marked with dark-blue ringed spots. Charred branches sprouted from its stem as the transformation progressed.
Qiren watched until the mist vanished completely.
Blackened vines wrapped tightly around a white, melon-sized berry—far larger than a standard Cursed Berry fragment, its color scheme drastically inverted.
Heat radiated from it. The charred vines glowed faintly with embers, and the surface lit from within, vaguely painting the shadow of a jawless skull covered in writhing caterpillars.
"This little pit stop was more enlightening than I thought it'd be," he said with a smile, sensing hellfire unmistakably coursing inside the transfigured soul.
Rin-Tal's hatred had fused into it, giving rise to a new curse.
He turned back toward the cave, wings fluttering as he stared at the entrance."I somehow made an unintentional gateway. Isn't that amazing?"
"By simply following the design from a soul-transfer circle, I created a better Cursed Berry Vessel—and accidentally opened a gate for demons to walk through. I can't even imagine how many miles away they were."
He recalled the dozen or so islands he'd flown past. The summoned demons might not have even reached the second island before being pulled in—first Rin-Tal, then the others.
"Now that I think about it… that alone is impressive," he murmured. "Doesn't that mean I've figured out teleportation? If only it worked on demons I already had contracts with."
He brought the amber soul close and swallowed it first.
Warmth spread through him as hope flowed back into his body. He conjured his ash scroll, his interface unfolding before him.
Applicable Curses & Blessings:
Unnamed Bad Luck Spirit Curse (Truly Fragmented)
Despair: 13
Hope: 2.3
Fear: 0.6
Pain: 0.1
30 Years of Life Experience
(Certain emotions, conditions, knowledge, experiences, spirits, blessings, or curses may be transferred.)
Treasures:
Six Rings of Misfortune (Tier 1 – Cursed Objects)
Demonic Parchment Ash-Strip (Tier 1 – Hellish Object)
Twisted Fruit of Rage (Tier 2 – Cursed Object)
Dao Authorities: Contract Manifesting, Mortal-Grade Occultism
Authority: Contract Manifesting
By fully merging the rare residual ash granted by the hellish object Demonic Parchment Ash-Strip into your Azure Flames Dao, you have been acknowledged by the Endless Nether Abyss.
Authority: Mortal-Grade Occultism
A heightened state of mastery granted by the broken authority of the newly born Shamanic Dao within you, over low-grade shamanic arts—granting exceptional success in curses, blessings, hexes, and ritual workings.
…
Demonic Vessel Imparting (Incomplete)
By fusing a revised Bad Luck Cleansing ritual with the Imparting Rite, you have created a unique demonic art capable of manipulating and binding spirits and curses directly to your soul.
Sub-Rituals:
Cursed Berry Vessel
Using Demonic Vessel Imparting and Cursed Berry fragments, you may craft vessels to house spirits of misfortune.
Abyssal Rift
An unstable ability allowing short-term portals to an object or location using an existing contract or anchor. Requires a sacrificial rite and invocation of the target's name.
Titles:
Dark Embryo
Bearer of the Blue Sea & Azure Flames
Emotional Balance:
Despair: 13 | Hope: 2.3 | Fear: 0.6 | Pain: 0.1
Physical Attributes:
Strength: 34
Speed: 13
Agility: 16
Negative Karma: 0.0
Refinement Qi: 0.0
Refinement Realm: Middle Stage / Beginner
"Abyssal Rift…" Qiren murmured as he flew toward the amethyst summit, ready to resume his path.
"This would've been incredibly useful back home. With enough contracts, I could transport items instantly."
"If I wanted to move contraband unnoticed, this would be perfect. Of course, it has other uses—but that's the only one that wouldn't have governments trying to turn me into a war machine."
…Though, he admitted, if the compensation was good enough, maybe that wouldn't be so bad.
His thoughts drifted to the juvenile demons who had emerged after Rin-Tal's fall.
If this really is the Underworld, he wondered, does that mean demons can break into the real world? He'd heard rumors—whispers of influential figures summoning demons, forging contracts for money, power, or fame.
It didn't seem far-fetched anymore.
He had become a demon himself. He already knew how to form contracts. And if that was only the beginning, then there was no telling what fully grown demons were capable of.
Maybe they've mastered Abyssal Rifts, he thought. Maybe they can respond to summons… or force their way through.
A slow smile crept across his face.
If that's possible…
I wouldn't mind testing my limits with a backward summoning formation.
Maybe even getting a little revenge on my ex-wife—once I figure out how to leave.
He paused mid-flight.
"…Is that petty?"
Whoosh—
"I'll need to figure out how to leave first," he muttered. "I need an anchor. A stable connection to Earth. I can't use a contract like I did with Rin-Tal."
"But as long as there's a chance, I won't give up until I know it's truly hopeless."
Let's start with the Azure Pit—the First Layer of the Abyss.
He consumed the amber soul fully: 0.6 Qi, 1.3 Negative Karma, and 0.7 remaining Hope absorbed. The Fruit of Rage, however, he kept close, cradled in one arm for future use.
He glided past trees and falling rocks, crossing the entire island. Seven hours passed before he realized it.
RUMBLE.
KRA—KAAABOOM!
The storm intensified as Qiren reached the center of the archipelago. Dozens of obsidian-and-gold bridges converged there, packed with hundreds of juvenile demons.
Red-, blue-, and white-skinned demons wielded hellfire. Some looked like living orbs of flame—bodies composed almost entirely of Crimson Hellfire.
Black-skinned, ghoulish insects and humanoids were wreathed in emerald underworld flames.
Poisonous and venomous insects flew or crawled, bearing violet flames and black fire.
Then there were skeletal beings—closer to undead than demons. Spike-plated frames, exposed bone wrapped in white flame. He didn't need to see the Key of Bones in action to understand their origin.
To the west, fish-man demons with catfish, mud carp, and piranha heads trudged forward, limbs coated in murky Dao—water and mud instead of flame.
Above, purple bat-winged demons with massive black horns raced through the sky, bodies etched with wind-swirled grooves. They moved so fast he could barely track them.
Thud. Thud.
To the south, bull-headed giants led herds of their kind, carrying clubs and the corpses of red-skinned juveniles.
To the east, a pale demoness caught his eye.
A pinkish flame trailed her spaded tail.
She walked with an elegant sway, and among them all she looked the most mature—so much so that Qiren doubted she belonged to this batch at all.
For a moment, he wondered if she was an old vixen, stranded in the past, only now taking her chance to descend.
The tiger pelts stitched into a crude dress only deepened his suspicion. So there really were adult demons hiding in the wild, he thought.
If some of my shell brethren found places to hole up before the island toppled… would they have been stranded for years, waiting for a new wave of hatchlings?
The logistics slipped from his mind as he kept watching her.
He couldn't help it.
She was tall—striking—with long, straight hair and full, rosy lips. Her hips were wide, built to support the massive tail swaying behind her with effortless balance.
Whatever she was, she didn't belong among the newly born.
Her gaze swept the crowd—then locked onto him midair. She smirked and raised a crude bow in playful challenge.
Come closer.
Qiren laughed. "Maybe my future love life won't be so bad~"
He descended toward the central platform where all thirteen bridges met—a colossal arena of dried molten rock, its center a vast opening spiraling downward.
This was the Azure Pit.
Floating paths corkscrewed into the depths, suspended above the Endless Blue Sea, which churned below in waterfalls of steam and fire.
Qiren dove straight down the center.
Winged demons followed suit, while land-bound ones cursed and climbed, battling steam surges and boiling mist. The bones of unfortunate hatchlings drifted through the falling streams, threatening footing and balance for those who survived—like wrath-bound ghosts haunting the living.
This was the Abyss.
If you couldn't survive, you were left behind.
Above him, the pale demoness didn't bother with the stairs. She leapt, snagged a winged demon with a vine-rope, and rode its flight downward.
Others followed, adapting quickly.
Minotaurs leapt entire rotations.
Mantis demons bounded across paths.
Imps scrambled with manic agility.
Qiren smiled as Azure Flames lit his descent.
This was where the strong rose.
And the weak were consumed.