Atop the Peak of Eternal Shadow, the Abyss of the Void stood as the most terrifying of the Four Cursed Lands in all the Azure Sky Realm.
It was a place more commonly known as the Necropolis of Gods.
For eons, countless warriors had vanished into its depths, and not a single soul had ever returned - including four legendary masters whose might had once rivaled the Heavenly Sovereigns of old.
Right now, standing at the very precipice of that bottomless chasm, was a black-haired youth with unnaturally dark eyes: Kaelen Voss. His charcoal-colored robes were sodden with blood, and his body was a roadmap of deep, jagged gashes. He stood in a heavy silence, a crimson pool already widening beneath his boots.
His chest heaved violently, each ragged breath a desperate gamble for survival. Kaelen's muscles spasmed from sheer exhaustion; the fact that he remained upright was nothing short of a miracle.
Yet, his eyes remained cold and steady - twin steel blades flashing with the feral intensity of a cornered wolf. A corner of his mouth twitched, curling into a grimace of absolute, unmitigated disdain.
Before him, a dark sea of people ebbed and flowed, cutting off any hope of retreat.
"Kaelen Voss, you are cornered! Repent now and hand over the Seraphic Shell of Decay! Do so, and we might show mercy and allow you to live!" one warrior roared.
"Today, we enact vengeance in the name of the heavens and excise this plague! Surrender the Shell and you will earn a swift death. Refuse, and you will feel the bite of a thousand blades tearing through your heart!"
"Kaelen! Stop being stubborn! Surrendering the artifact is your only path to salvation. You are unworthy of wielding such a holy relic!"
Wave after wave of shouts erupted from the crowd, every mouth overflowing with platitudes of justice and righteousness.
Any bystander would have been paralyzed by the sight - this wall of humanity was composed of the leaders of the Realm's most powerful clans. There were Great Masters, and even forgotten elders who hadn't stepped foot outside their fortresses in decades.
Every single person present possessed the power to shake entire regions with a flick of their wrist.
Justice? Righteousness? Kaelen thought, the metallic tang of blood coating his tongue.
A pack of hyenas dressed in the robes of sages. You want the Shell? You want the power that will char your filthy souls to ash?
He glanced down into the bottomless black of the Abyss of the Void, then back at his persecutors. His gaze betrayed no fear - only pure, glacial hatred.
All these "mighty" figures, capable of challenging the gods themselves, had gathered here for a single youth pushed to the brink. Specifically, they were here for the Seraphic Shell of Decay in his hand - the holiest and most terrifying object in the entire Azure Sky Realm.
Closing in slowly, the crowd spat out more threats that echoed off the jagged rocks. But as the radiance of the artifact finally became visible, the shouting died down.
They froze, once again mesmerized by that irresistible treasure. After three full days of relentless hunting and bloodshed, they couldn't wait to finally harvest the fruits of their cruelty.
"You want it... you want this... Seraphic Shell of Decay?"
Kaelen Voss let out a cold laugh - a sound completely devoid of mirth.
As he slowly raised his right hand, a green, jade-like shell appeared in his palm, emitting a faint, hypnotic glow. The moment the artifact pulsed, time seemed to grind to a halt. The attackers stared intensely at the emerald light, their eyes shimmering with naked, unadulterated greed.
To Kaelen, these men whose names struck terror into the furthest corners of the world now seemed small, filthy, and pathetic. He slowly looked up.
Though cornered and battered, his pupils still burned with arrogance and mockery. Deep within them lurked a hatred so dense it felt physical.
"My Master dedicated his entire life to saving this miserable world," Kaelen rasped, blood trickling down his chin. "He saved countless lives without seeking profit or fame. But you... you members of the so-called 'Righteous Sects'... you murdered him seven years ago simply because he possessed this Shell."
His voice dropped an octave, turning into a dark, guttural growl.
"I hate... I hate myself for being so useless. For failing to slaughter every single one of you over these last seven years... for failing to wipe your shitty, 'just' clans off the face of the earth!"
Every word was saturated with deep-seated bitterness.
Though seven years had passed since the tragedy, the memory of his Master's death still cut him like a razor, causing hot tears to mingle with the blood on his cheeks.
Master... I failed you, the thought flickered through his mind. But if I'm going to burn in this abyss, they won't get what they came for.
Kaelen Voss didn't know who his parents were. His Master had found him when he was only a few days old.
It had been the middle of spring - clouds drifting lazily across the sky, the wind gentle, and the mountain streams crystal clear. His Master had named him Kaelen, hoping his heart would remain untainted and soft like the blue of the sky and transparent like the mountain depths. He had wanted the boy to inherit the art of healing, saving others with a soul free from corruption.
No matter how hopeless a case seemed, his Master could heal any disease or wound. It was all thanks to the Seraphic Shell of Decay hidden within his body.
Although its name inspired dread and suggested an inevitable end, his Master believed that medicine and poison shared the same source. He never used its destructive power; instead, he used alchemy to extract and purify the Shell's energy, creating holy elixirs that saved millions.
His Master had passed all that knowledge to Kaelen, but seven years ago, for some unknown reason, word of the Shell's power spread through the land like a plague.
Surrounded, his Master had handed the artifact to Kaelen and ordered him to flee. Shortly after, he died at the hands of the Great Sects.
When Kaelen learned of the death of the only person close to him, he cried for three days and three nights. In that moment, the seed of hatred took root deep in his heart.
He abandoned the path of a healer. Instead of purifying the Shell's power, he let its poison flow through his own veins. Revenge became his only god.
After seven years, he had mastered the art of delivering death.
In less than ten days, his toxic power had spread across thousands of miles, killing countless enemies and sowing paralyzing fear throughout the Azure Sky Realm. It was this very demonstration of power that had drawn out the strongest and greediest clan leaders, leading to this final chase at the edge of the world.
Kaelen swept his gaze over the assembly with icy contempt and erupted into a short, manic laugh. As the echo died down and his eyes turned colder than death itself, he roared right into the faces of his tormentors:
"You sons of bitches want my Seraphic Shell of Decay? You. All. Can. Only. DREAM!!"
Before anyone could react, Kaelen moved with violent speed. He raised his hand and shoved the Shell into his mouth.
With one powerful gulp, he forced it down his throat, letting the artifact travel straight to his stomach, uniting with his body one last time.
"What... what are you doing?!"
"He actually did it... he swallowed the Seraphic Shell of Decay!"
"Kaelen Voss! Do you crave death that much?!"
"It doesn't matter! Kill him! Rip open his belly and tear the Shell from his guts!"
The crowd went feral.
The attackers expected the artifact's potent poison to instantly tear the boy's body apart from the inside, but to their horror, Kaelen didn't drop dead. Instead, a faint, pulsing green light began to radiate from beneath his skin, and the wounds on his body stopped bleeding, as if time itself were slowing down around them.
"Kill him now!" one of the Clan Elders shrieked, a note of panic finally creeping into his voice. "If the Shell synchronizes with his body, we're all dead!"
With a mighty roar, a dozen people from the front row lunged at Kaelen simultaneously, drawing weapons that shimmered with concentrated energy.
Seeing the incoming blades and the faces of the people he hated more than anything, Kaelen Voss began to laugh. It was a weak, dry laugh, punctuated by wheezing, but it remained utterly arrogant.
"I don't have the strength left to send you to hell with my own hands..." he wheezed, taking one final step back. "But don't flatter yourselves by thinking you can kill me! You miserable trash aren't worthy of this Shell, and you're certainly not worthy of taking my life. If I am to die, it will be by my own hand! Hahahaha!"
Just as the first blade was about to sever his throat, Kaelen used the last spark of energy in his body and threw himself off the ledge.
"Stop him!!!" the leader of the mob bellowed, desperately reaching out.
A dozen hands tried to grab his robes, but their fingers closed only on empty air. They could only watch as Kaelen's mangled body fell helplessly into the bottomless void.
The Abyss of the Void... a perfect place for my grave, Kaelen thought, feeling the rush of air tear at his clothes.
Nothing holds me anymore. I have no ties to this filthy world... Unfortunately... I didn't manage to fully avenge Master... or find those who abandoned me.
With the last of his strength, Kaelen tightened his grip on the silver pendant hanging around his neck. It was the only thing he'd had on him when his Master found him as an infant.
The wind whistled in his ears, drowning out the furious screams from above. He slowly closed his eyes and let the darkness of the Abyss swallow him whole.
At that exact moment, the silver pendant erupted with a blinding white light, consuming the entire Abyss of the Void in its radiance.