The battle with that hunk of metal had left him broken, but he almost felt proud for outsmarting it. Proud enough to pat himself on the shoulder. He exhaled through his teeth. Who was he kidding—he knew he had just gotten lucky.
And that strange burst of power he had felt… without it, he would have been—no. Just imagining it sent a shiver down his back.
'Let's get the hell out of this place.'
That was something he agreed with. This place was nothing but a curse. It had nearly killed him twice, more than his own family ever had.
But something caught his eye. At the far end, the trapdoor was still open, and for a moment he thought someone was calling him.
He froze, turning around.
"What do you think is in there?"
'Who cares, let's leave.'
"No, idiot. Think about it. They all went down there and came back super fast… and we didn't find anything besides that shard, right?"
Silence stretched for a moment.
'Meaning either they couldn't get through… or there's nothing down there.'
"Yeah."
The egg in his pocket stirred, faint vibrations brushing against his side. A pale glow seeped through the fabric, tugging him forward. His jaw tightened.
'I think every door we opened today led to something terrible… and now that I think about it, not one door actually led us out of this well.'
He chuckled under his breath. "Yeah?"
'I mean, let's go. There's no way it can get worse, right? We saw a scary knight, people with weird abilities. Whatever is down there has to be scarier than those.'
"You've got a good point there too."
'Don't I always?' The voice sounded slightly offended.
He stepped forward and looked down. The sight instantly made his head spin. A spiral staircase sank so deep he could barely see the end. He raised the glowing egg and started walking.
He knew he could see in the dark, but he'd be a fool not to use the light the place itself had given him. If it was guarded this tightly, there was no way anyone would harm him while he carried the egg. Hopefully.
Not to mention, his body still hurt, and the last thing he needed was one misstep sending him tumbling—along with his revenge.
The deeper he went, the more pressure he felt. Each step was like someone piling stones across his shoulders.
He stopped to catch his breath before going farther, letting out a long, irritated sigh.
"This stupid thing better be worth it."
'Yeah, who the hell builds something this deep?'
"Yeah… fifteen hundred, to be exact."
'You counted the entire thing? Lame.'
"Shut up. I was bored."
In front of him loomed a massive door. Black, featureless, yet marked by two things—on one side, a small hole the size of the egg; on the other, an imprint of a hand.
He hesitated. Today hadn't been his lucky day. He stared down at the egg.
"I risked my life for this stupid thing, and it only brought me bad luck."
He sighed, then set the egg in its place. Before putting his palm on the imprint, he glanced at the stairs behind him.
"Yeah, not happening."
He had come too far to turn back. Fifteen hundred steps? Not a chance, and he doubted he could climb them even if he tried.
More importantly, he wasn't about to leave empty-handed. Whatever waited behind that door was going to be his.
He placed his hand on the imprint—it was a perfect fit—and a moment later felt a sharp pinch, like a needle pressing into his fingers. Not a good way to gain his trust. Like any normal person whose hand was stuck to a door, he panicked and struggled, yet he couldn't pull away.
"This is the last time I trust a door with a handprint."
'You stupid idiot, you've killed us.' The voice sounded far more dramatic than the situation deserved.
"Wait, shut up."
He realized he felt no pain. In fact, he felt completely fine.
He looked up at the door with wide eyes as it lit with a crimson glow, spiraling across the gate until his hand and the egg were linked by a single line.
When the marking finally dimmed, his hand tore free. He staggered back, snatched the egg, and put distance between himself and the door.
'From now on we don't open any more doors.'
"Yeah, I agree."
He stared at the sight, mouth half-open, almost amazed. On the door, the crimson lines shaped into a pair of serpent's eyes.
"Is it me, or are those eyes staring at us?"
The egg started to react in his palm. He glanced down as faint cracks spread across the shell, followed by a burst of light that nearly blinded him.
He squinted. "What now…"
'Awwww, we're going to mommy and daddy.'
"What?"
When his vision cleared, a small snake coiled in his hand—its back a deep red, its belly pure white. With its tiny upturned nose, it looked almost too cute.
'You know, being a parent's too difficult. Let's eat it. Lunchtime.'
"Shut it. That's not food."
The inner voice sighed with disappointment. 'You're no fun.'
He rubbed the sides of its cheeks. It opened its eyes and leaned into the touch.
"You know, I take it back. For you, I'd do this a hundred times over."
'Oh my god, you're so cute I could eat you up. Literally'
He paused, thinking about that phrase. He had heard it before—whenever a newborn was shown around the clan, women would pinch their cheeks and say those words. Except no one had ever said it to him.
Now that he thought about it, the first face he had ever seen after being born was the housekeeper's.
The snake let out a tiny yawn—almost too cute, almost enough to make him forget his terrible life. Then it coiled into a ball and fell asleep.
He gently slipped her into his pocket and walked through the suspicious-looking door.
Instantly, the chamber lit, torches flaring to life in a straight line, as if welcoming him in.
"Finally, someone appreciating me."
That made him feel slightly calmer. On both sides of the hall stretched the bodies of two serpents. It was obvious which was male and which was female. He wasn't sure how he knew, since they both looked the same, but somehow, he could just tell.
The right side was the female, and the left the male. Their bodies lit with a crimson glow as he passed, almost like a guide. At the very end, the two serpents met, coiling around each other into a single pillar, like lovers meeting at last.
When he approached, the pillar's pattern came alive. Instead of feeling threatened, his chest tightened, as though he could sense their sadness… their loss.
They slithered toward him and tapped gently where he had placed the baby snake, one after the other. Then their mouths opened, revealing two daggers.
The sight carved a wide smile across his face. After what the universe had put him through, seeing those daggers made him feel almost alive again.
They looked as if they had been torn from the serpents' very bodies. Magnificent. One was dark red with black edges. The other was black with a deep red edge—mirrors of each other, inverted and opposed.
He stared at them with wide eyes, until something familiar appeared front of his eyes.
"What do we have here…"
[Title Granted: King of the Abyss]
[Core Status: Dormant]
[Passive Acquired: Limitless]
[Restriction: Shard Consumption — Prohibited]
[Soul Fragments: 0/100]
'It's like last time.'
"Yeah… but something's different about this one."
He reached for the text, only for his hand to pass through. His gaze shifted toward the daggers instead. Slowly, he reached out and took hold of them.
[Item Acquired: Lovers' Oath — Twin Daggers]
[State: Dormant → Active on Wield]
[Condition: Bound as One — cannot be wielded separately]
[Rule: If one breaks, the other shatters. If one strikes, the other must follow. A single blow is always two.]
[Passive Unlocked: Bonded Fate]
Passives (bonded):
• Selene (Right Hand) — Wounds opened by her blade will never close unless answered by her twin. Flesh cut by Selene bleeds endlessly until struck by Erevos.
• Erevos (Left Hand) — His blade feeds on the wielder's blood, shaping it to will. Each strike can infuse the wound with venom or restoration—whatever the wielder demands.
Two lovers torn apart in death, bound again in steel. They strike as one, or not at all.
Once he gripped them, another sharp pinch ran through his hand.
[Item Acquired: Lovers' Oath — Twin Daggers has been activated]
The serpents slithered around him, almost dancing, then faded into a series of shifting drawings before vanishing into the air, as if moving on after completing their duty.
"Don't worry. I will take care of your child."