THE BLACK THORN CODEX
Episode 55 — The Abyss of Selerion
Date: November 18, 2023 — Time: 6:47 AM
Clarisse felt her heart clench. She exchanged one last look with Léandre. In their eyes, there was neither fear nor doubt: only the certainty that they had no other choice.
Hand in hand, they launched themselves toward the fracture, while behind them, the city trembled with the first echoes of the invasion.
The fall was endless. Léandre and Clarisse slid through the fracture, the air roaring around them, until the ground gave way completely. They landed in a liquid abyss, a black ocean where gravity seemed reversed, where the sky and the ground merged into endless chaos. Luminescent bubbles burst as they passed, releasing the muffled howls of creatures lost for centuries.
Their ragged breathing mingled with that of this world. The water wasn't water: it burned, bit, but didn't consume. Selerion was alive, attentive, and he weighed on them.
Above, a flying sorcerer emerged from the shadows, his membranous wings spread like a cloud of darkness. His laughter echoed in the chasm, amplified by the liquid walls:
"Welcome to my domain... You will never leave."
The sorcerer slapped the water with his hand, and a current of pressure propelled them deeper. Clarisse felt her fusion with Borax vibrate violently. A new warmth rose in her veins. Leander, sensing the same energy, understood: Borax wasn't far away, multiplying from his monastery in Japan in 2023 to join them here, in this hellish past.
"Now, my children..." Borax whispered through them.
Their bodies rose then, floating in this chasm, their energies mingled. They could feel fire, ice, lightning, and the very matter of the volcano within them. The mixed martial arts they knew mingled with impossible movements, fluid and deadly.
The sorcerer attacked. His fingers transformed into blades of liquid ice, striking with inhuman speed. Leander parried with his lightning, transforming the strikes into arcs of electrified energy that sliced through the air. Clarisse, at the same time, projected a column of volcanic fire that erupted from the chasm, enveloping the sorcerer in an explosion of black and orange light.
The sorcerer burst, but reformed instantly, leaving behind a trail of purple blood and toxic smoke. He then summoned shadow clones, hundreds of moving figures with red eyes. They pounced on them like a swarm.
Thanks to Borax, Leander and Clarisse separated in an aerial dance, flying and dodging with supernatural precision. Every blow they landed was a fusion of their powers: fire and ice, lightning and thunder, sudden appearances and disappearances that left the clones bewildered.
"We have to get back up!" Leander shouted.
"Not until we understand... their strength!" Clarisse replied.
They watched Selerion's sorcerers: every movement was a blend of magic and martial discipline. Lightning struck before their eyes could even follow. Fire and ice transformed into sharp weapons. Mental power twisted the water around them, creating moving walls.
The battle escalated to unimaginable proportions: each attack created waves in the chasm, each impact illuminating the depths with an unearthly glow. Leander and Clarisse realized that to survive, they had to learn to use all their powers simultaneously, not one after the other.
"Borax, guide us!" Clarisse yelled.
The monk's voice echoed like a drum in their minds:
"Merge your souls, feel Selerion, and let your bodies act on their own."
A new energy surged forth. They moved with inhuman speed, striking, dodging, disappearing, and then reappearing. The chief sorcerer howled in rage, his clones disintegrating under the combined might of the two heroes.
For the first time since their arrival, they knew they could stand up to Selerion. But the abyss itself seemed to be watching them, ready to test their limits again and again.