The fissures tore wider.
Crimson light bled from the cracks, searing across the stone like veins. The air grew heavy, sharp with the stench of metal and rot. My chest burned with every breath, like the air itself was poison.
Then something crawled out.
Not a beast. Not a man. Not anything the realms had words for.
Its body was smoke wrapped around bone, its face a smear of shifting mouths, each one muttering nonsense in voices that weren't its own. Its hands dragged claws across the ground, leaving lines that hissed and smoked.
It looked at me.
And every mouth smiled.
✦
The Inkblade trembled in my grip, shadows writhing wildly.
"…yes… yes… finally… a true shadow… let me taste it… let me devour it… and we will become what even gods fear…"
I tightened my grip, blood slicking my hand.
Not yet.
Not unless I had no other choice.
Because I already knew—if I let the blade drink too deep, it wouldn't stop.
Not with this. Not ever.
✦
The thing slithered forward, mouths whispering louder.
Some spoke in voices of people I'd lost.Others in voices I'd never heard before.One in a voice that sounded like mine.
"Ishaan," it whispered from a dozen mouths at once.
My stomach clenched.
Arjun's ember pulsed faintly in my arms, its light shivering against the Abyss's presence. He murmured weakly, "…don't… listen…"
I nodded once. "I know."
But knowing didn't stop the whispers from crawling under my skin.
✦
The creature lunged.
Faster than the knights. Faster than the Murim duelists.
A blur of smoke and claws, its mouths howling in broken laughter.
I barely twisted aside, shadows flaring to intercept. The Inkblade screamed against its form, sparks of black and crimson flying as shadow met shadow.
Pain ripped across my chest, claws tearing flesh. I staggered back, blood spilling hot.
The Inkblade hissed like it was laughing.
"…too strong… too pure… only I can match it…"
I ignored it, tightening my stance, raising the blade again.
Because if the Abyss wanted me as prey, it was going to choke on the taste.
✦
The creature slashed again, its claws splitting into dozens mid-strike. I ducked, shadows lashing out in return, tearing through one of its mouths. It shrieked, voices overlapping into a distorted scream.
But instead of falling back, it laughed.
A dozen mouths opening, howling in delight.
As if pain was joy.
My skin crawled.
It wasn't just hunting me.
It was enjoying me.
✦
The system's voice cracked through, faint but sharp.
[ Abyssal entity identified. ][ Classification: Unbound Fragment. ][ Warning: Standard survival protocols ineffective. ]
I spat blood. "Yeah, no kidding."
The Inkblade pulsed violently, shadows crawling up my arm, almost to my shoulder.
"…cut deeper… feed me and I will cut its core… you cannot win clean…"
I clenched my jaw.
Because the worst part was—it wasn't lying.
✦
The entity lunged again, faster this time, mouths snapping inches from my face. I slammed the Inkblade upward, shadows exploding, cutting through its torso. Smoke and bone scattered.
For a heartbeat, I thought I'd killed it.
Then the pieces reformed.
Its mouths stretched wider, laughing in perfect mimicry of my own voice.
"You can't kill what isn't written."
My blood ran cold.
That wasn't an echo.
That was the Abyss speaking.
And it knew me.
✦
I stumbled back, chest heaving, blood soaking my shirt. Arjun's ember flickered violently in my arms, its light shrinking as if the Abyss was trying to smother it.
"No," I muttered, pressing him closer. "You're staying."
The entity crawled closer, smoke hissing, mouths dripping laughter.
The Inkblade whispered again, louder, desperate.
"…give me this… just this one… let me devour and I will silence every mouth…"
I raised the blade, shadows writhing, my arm trembling under its weight.
The Abyss surged forward.
And I roared back.
The Abyss surged.
Smoke and bone blurred into claws, every mouth shrieking laughter that wasn't laughter. The ground split under its weight, crimson light spilling upward.
I met it head-on.
Shadows exploded from the Inkblade, slamming into its torso. Bone shattered, smoke scattered. For a heartbeat, its form dissolved—
Then reformed.
Every mouth stretched wider.
"You can't cut what isn't written."
The words rang in my skull like truth.
But I refused to believe them.
✦
The Inkblade hissed, ecstatic.
"…yes… more… strike deeper, fracture harder… let me drink the unwritten and I will make it scream for real…"
I staggered back, chest burning, blood pouring from fresh cuts. My ribs screamed with every breath.
The Abyss came again.
Its claws split into dozens mid-strike, each one reaching for my throat, my chest, the ember-light in my arms.
"No!"
I twisted, slamming the Inkblade upward. Shadows carved arcs through the air, intercepting half the claws. The others slashed across my side, tearing flesh, spraying blood.
Pain flared white. My vision blurred.
But Arjun's ember pulsed faintly, steady.
Alive.
Depending on me.
✦
The system's voice crackled through the chaos.
[ Warning: Abyssal entity adapting. ][ Standard attacks ineffective. ][ Recommendation: Core severance required. ]
Core?
Where the hell was a core in that?
The creature laughed, mouths stretching in grotesque delight.
"Looking for it? You won't find it. Because you shouldn't be able to."
I grit my teeth.
If I couldn't find it… then I'd make one.
✦
I lunged, shadows surging, the Inkblade screaming with every strike. I cut through bone, through smoke, through whispers. The entity shrieked, dissolving again, then reformed, laughing louder.
"You can't erase the Abyss."
"Watch me!" I roared, slamming the blade straight through its center.
Shadows burst outward, devouring smoke, crushing bone. The Inkblade howled in delight, drinking the fragments.
The creature convulsed, mouths howling in dozens of voices at once—some human, some not, some mine.
For the first time, it staggered.
And in that flicker, I saw it.
A spark.
A faint crimson glow, buried deep in its shifting form.
Its core.
✦
The Inkblade screamed inside me.
"…yes… yes! There it is! Give me everything and I will split it open! Let me drink it and I will silence gods!"
Shadows wrapped higher around my arm, nearly to my throat. My grip trembled.
It was right there.
If I gave the blade what it wanted, I could end this.
But at what cost?
I looked down.
Arjun's ember-light flickered faintly, his broken voice whispering, "…don't… lose yourself…"
I shut my eyes for a heartbeat.
Then opened them.
And smiled.
"Not today."
✦
I tightened my grip on the Inkblade, forcing the shadows back down my arm.
The weapon shrieked in fury, but I ignored it.
This wasn't its victory.
It was mine.
I lunged again, shadows flaring—not surrender, not devouring, just mine to command.
The blade struck true, piercing the crimson spark.
The Abyss screamed, mouths shattering into static, its smoke unraveling.
The core cracked.
And the entity exploded.
✦
Silence followed.
The smoke dissipated, crimson fissures dimming, the air clearing of whispers.
I stood shaking, blood soaking my chest, ribs broken, arms trembling.
But alive.
And so was Arjun.
His ember pulsed faintly against me, steady, as if approving.
The system's voice bled through the silence.
[ Abyssal entity eliminated. ][ Achievement: Survivor of the First Hunt. ][ Reward: Trait unlocked – Fracture Sense. ]
Fracture Sense?
The words burned across my vision.
[ You can now sense unstable threads within realms. ]
A bitter laugh cracked from my throat.
Of course.
The Script gave me a tool.
Because it wanted me to keep going.
✦
The Inkblade sulked in my hand, shadows writhing angrily.
"…weak… pathetic… you could have devoured it all…"
"Yeah," I muttered, limping forward. "But then it wouldn't have been me."
The blade hissed, but I didn't care.
Because for the first time, I'd cut an Abyss-born.
And survived.
✦
I looked up at the sky.
The storm of gods was gone, but I felt them.
Watching.
Silent.
I raised the Inkblade in one hand, Arjun's ember pressed to my chest with the other, and whispered to the unseen eyes:
"Keep watching. I'll break your script again."