It had happened ten days prior.
Ten days before they reached the 250th Plateau.
With Akronis, Allan had visited the 127th Plateau, of the Undead Land biome. He had come at the advice of Rakna who had once been told about it by Kaelith.
To boot, the very maker of the Undead Legion dominating these Plateaus, Koden, had personally agreed to receive the Ichubyr as a favor for his fellow Myth Council member.
Allan happily agreed to go since Rakna had taken a trip to the 146th at the same time, where an old serpent Local who could help Pronos evolve further was to be found.
As such, he came to this wilted, yet strangely entrancing land. The air and environment in itself looked as if put through a filter. There was a dark shade of green superimposing everything in sight.
The acidic rain that would occasionally fall was even more so; a bright neon green. The soil was not fertile, yet undead plants thrived. The truth of the matter was, the antithesis of Life Energy, Death Energy so to speak, permeated the land.
It was a place where the undead felt at home. Even the lesser ones forgot their urges to consume the living at times. The ambient energy was all they needed.
"The classification of vampires is sometimes unclear," the elder lich had commented, welcoming his guest into his city-sized castle. "Are they undead? Or different creatures altogether? Recently, the truth revealed by your comrade has enlightened me."
Koden led Allan to the depths of his territory whilst explaining. "I have realized that undeath has nothing to do with vampires. Wendigos and Ghouls as well. In reality, undead creatures receive on occasion the privilege of becoming one of them."
"The Abyss Supper, I have decided to call it," the skeleton said humorously. "That day, as the boy was devoured by beasts attracted to his scent, the World changed. It was a tragedy so foul that it created the concept of those three races."
"Thus, undead, with their propensity to eat flesh, drink blood, devour bones… form a direct path of communion with the World, to be part of that Supper through space and time. In a way… you could say the Three are a product of faith; a religion dedicated to that one boy. One that fights to deny the Holy, and its salvation which it deems an insult."
Koden had laughed at his own words.
"Considering this, I changed my mind. Initially, my idea would have been to simply toss you into a concentrated bath of blood. Some fresh, some not. Of course, you would have had to drink it."
Allan had grimaced.
"Haha, yes. Very human reaction," Koden chortled. "But now… I'm going to do that, and one more thing. You and I; we shall inaugurate the greatest communion ceremony of the Abyssal Ones. The question is… can you handle it?"
He almost was not able to.
The lich's idea had been somewhat unhinged. His inauguration was an experiment; one in which he threw a vampire into a vacuum drained of atoms and energy. Then, he would cast a cruel and powerful curse of hunger and thirst onto the subject.
A design to commune with the boy who suffered in emptiness itself.
However, not many would be able to last even a minute. This ritual demanded one to surpass all limits. Hours of grit, at the very least, were necessary. If one failed to maintain their sanity, the ceremony would collapse.
Allan endured… for two days straight.
Koden's phylactery almost collapsed from emotional stress. Truly. For a moment, he believed the blond had died and that the Beast Emperor would be coming for his life.
But the Ichubyr didn't lose his mind.
And as soon as he came out of that torture, Koden gave him a feast. He pulled out one of his most precious corpses; a Demi-God once killed inside the Celestial Plateau, ejected by the System, as a dead man no longer warranted its attention. He had managed to get his hands on it first.
Divinity stimulated an Ichubyr's appetite more than anything in the world. And liberated from the curses, Allan feasted. By the time he finished, there was nothing left.
No flesh, blood, or bones.
Watching this… Koden felt fright. As the young man impassively wiped his bloody mouth with an almost innocent expression of frustration, he genuinely was terrified by his strength of will.
As for the results of the experiment… it scrolled down Allan's vision.
❮ ◈ ❯
Your Path is being dangerously stimulated!
Your Race is being dangerously stimulated!
Your soul is shaking!
Your mind is shaking!
---
You have gained an Excelled Skill; Vision of Emptiness!
You have gained an Excelled Skill; Mind of Emptiness!
You have gained— gained— gain—g—
ı̸µ̷˘̷ ̴"̸"̵Ø̶ˆ̷˘̴¿̶¿̵˘̶≥̶ ̵¥̷«̶°̸¿̵¿̵
---
Rebooting… Rolling Back… Resuming…
---
You have gained the Title; O̸n̶e̵ ̶W̸h̴o̶ ̵H̴a̸s̴ ̵S̴e̷e̴n̶!
You have gained the Ultimate Excelled Skill; Counter Spirit of Emptiness!
You have gained the Title; Kindred of The Abyss!
---
Your Path, AbyssMonk, has evolved into Abyssal Hermit!
Your Path Skill, Monk's Mantra, has evolved into Hermit's Mantra!
Your Magic, Void, has evolved into AbyssalVoid!
You have gained a new Path Skill; Road of Futility!
You have gained a new Path Skill; Five Banes of Mortality!
You have gained a new Path Skill; AbyssalMeditation!
---
Your Race has evolved into Ichubyr Mir Vapiria!
You have gained the Title; BatKing!
Your Trait, CorpsVapiria, has been updated!
Your Trait, Ichor Predation, has evolved into GodDevourer!
You have gained the Trait; First-Degree Immortality!
---
You have devoured a Demi-God! Your Divinity has grown!
You have devoured the Essence of Hafrel, Descendant of Kali!
You have gained a new Nirvana Skill; Omen of Fell Gods!
---
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
…
You have leveled up!
---
You have gained the Trait, Superior Divinity!
Your Attributes have considerably increased!
---
Congratulations! Through an incredible feat of Fortitude, you have gained a new Ultimate Excelled Skill, Virtue Series; Heracles' Resilience!
---
Congratulations! Through an incredible feat of Temperance, you have gained a new Ultimate Excelled Skill, Virtue Series; Sophrosyne's Resolve!
---
You have gained the Title, World's End Hermit!
❮ ◈ ❯
That day, in the darkness of emptiness, Allan had caught a glimpse of a silhouette. Emancipated, frail, trembling, and in pain, it looked back at him with empty eyes. Yet, those pure white pupils drowned in despair held an unbelievable amount of willpower.
In the end, Allan merely told Koden three words: "I saw him."
* * *
Agrias moved in time to avoid losing his remaining arm. But in his retreat, he dropped the Harpe, only for it to fall in the grip of… something the Téras couldn't believe he was seeing.
Marie looked up with eyes wide open at the back who was shielding her. Her shoulders slumped as relief washed over her, tears spilling even faster.
"This is not funny anymore…" Agrias raised his voice. "Her, and now you… what are you?"
The werebat was no more. It had transformed into something new. Instead of a werebeast, there was a man of imposing stature. He had a sculpted and muscular torso striped with white tattoos over pale skin. His arms and legs were yet covered in black fur and ended in claws. On his back, a singular pair of white wings was unfurled, each larger than he was.
A pair of bat ears stuck out from each side of his head through a straight mane of black hair, long enough to reach his waist. His eyes were polished like mirrors, glowing red.
"I'll admit. You caught me off-guard there," the hybrid opened his mouth, showing his sharp, two pairs of fangs. "You're the first I show this form to. Had it been ten days ago… I'd be dead."
Agrias closed his mouth and silently stared at his target. "Why…" He began tentatively. "Can I feel the touch of the Abyss on you?" He inquired. "I was sure you were nothing more than a fledgling a moment ago… yet, I now feel as much kinship with you as I do with my brethren."
Allan lifted his chin and scoffed. "Now, that's an insult I don't need to hear. You guys are leeches who think they understand their origins. I saw it; the cruelty of Meuro," he said somberly. "For a brief second, I met eyes with that 'boy'. He looked back at me… and he blessed me."
Agrias' eyes widened. "You…"
"So, don't you dare comparing me to you," the Ichubyr snarled. "Your Empress did not overcome the Emptiness. She was chosen and she yielded. That boy… he did not surrender. It is because he resisted that he died, not the opposite. He refused to become a tool for a monster that insatiably refused to be satisfied."
The Abyss Ruler's compound eyes flickered in shock. "Hah…" He let out a chuckle. "Haha… This is hilarious!" He covered his face with his hand. "Hahahaha!"
Allan silently narrowed his eyes.
"To think… our cousin's closest friend… would become our arbiter," he cackled. "One who is akin to us, but spurns us," he added and clutched his cloak, ripping it apart and throwing it away. "I'll give you that, friend; we are unsatisfied. The Abyss bestowed upon us eats for eternity because it delights in consumption but never finds satisfaction in it. It is shameful and pathetic."
The vampire raised an eyebrow.
"But is it really that evil?" Agrias followed up. "I don't find it immoral to seek out the fulfillment of one's primal desires. Our Empress passed down this obsession to us… and I do not blame her in the slightest. But what about you?!" He laughed. "You wield Void! You touched the Abyss! Are you truly satisfied?"
Allan's gaze was clear as he responded, "Void is not Emptiness. My path knows itself and others. The Void is stationary: it does not seek out something to devour; those who seek it are the ones devoured. It is a solitary entity of stability. It is permanency, satisfied to be where they are…" He glanced at Marie with a snort. "With what they have."
He clenched his fist and stared at the Ki warping the air around it. "If you don't understand that, then…" An oppressive force descended and erased all light and air for a split second.
"[Vajra of Hollow Perfection – Abyssal Void.]"
Agrias immediately felt the difference as he witnessed the Ichubyr's Internal Art.
"In the past eight days, I've been trying to restrain my changed element. My regular Vajra is hard enough to control as it is. But 'his' blessing… makes it unending," he uttered.
"Hahaha… is that so?" The Téras chuckled and once again summoned the white wooden spear he had used earlier. He spun the weapon with both hands and Allan stepped forward.
"Marie. Something is trapping us here. Run away and try to get help," he instructed softly and the lamia nodded, wiping her tears and summoning a new snake to carry her. "And you," the Ichubyr waved his fingers toward himself. "Come on, take the first shot. I won't even move."
Dark red dots flashed in the depths of his eyes.
"I'll show you what the Void can do when it tames the Abyss."