Using his wind magic with the help of Ceil, Ajax gathered all the scattered crystals into his dimensional ring. With that task completed, he ventured deeper into the forest. As he walked, Ajax used his barrier control to create an armor that covered his entire body, specifically designed to erase his presence from the world. This made him invisible to the naked eye, undetectable by scent, and fully blended into the atmosphere around him. The armor cloaked him from head to toe, allowing him to move undetected.
As he continued deeper into the forest, the trees grew taller with each step. Eventually, Ajax came across a group of monsters sleeping on a hill. He approached them cautiously, but as he moved closer, he accidentally stepped on a wooden branch, creating a sharp cracking sound.
The noise immediately alerted a nearby monster, which opened its eyes to investigate. Before it could react, Ajax swiftly appeared in front of it and delivered a powerful punch, smashing its head into the ground and shattering it into pieces, as if a cake had been dropped.
However, the sound of the monster's head being crushed woke up the entire group of monsters in the area.
As the remaining monsters turned to see who had attacked, Ajax quickly realized he couldn't afford to make the same mistake again. He swiftly stored the decapitated monster in his storage ring and advanced toward another, standing right in front of it. The creature didn't even react, confirming that Ajax's barrier armor was effectively concealing him. Without hesitation, he applied blood magic to his sword, slicing off the monster's head and draining its blood before it could touch the ground. He stored the body in his ring and moved on, silently and efficiently killing every monster in the area like a seasoned assassin.
Despite his success, Ajax wasn't satisfied. He continued deeper into the forest, encountering larger monsters along the way, just as his sister had warned. But the challenge wasn't enough for him; he craved more. His curiosity grew stronger, pushing him further into the forest until he finally emerged on the other side.
What greeted him was a vast, endless expanse of green and dark grassland. No matter which direction he looked, all he could see was a sea of grass, rustling in the breeze. The stillness around him was eerie, with only the sound of swaying grass breaking the silence. Remembering his sister's warning, Ajax hesitated, but his curiosity won out. Though he was a powerful vampire, his human heart couldn't resist the urge to explore the forbidden area.
As Ajax ventured into the grassland, he grew tired of the monotonous landscape, so he spread his wings and took to the sky. From above, the view didn't change—just endless grass stretching out in every direction. He wondered why his sister had been so adamant about avoiding this place. It seemed empty, devoid of any life.
Just as he was about to turn back, Ajax spotted movement below. Two massive, hellish monsters emerged from the tall grass. He immediately flew down to confront them, swiftly decapitating one of the beasts. But as he attacked, the other monster noticed his wings, which were unprotected and exposed. It retaliated with a fireball, hitting the tip of Ajax's left wing and burning it.
Now, Ajax—who had felt nearly invincible since entering the forest—finally sensed a real challenge. A grin spread across his face as the prospect of fun and danger excited him. Deciding to shed his wings for now, he moved with lightning speed, appearing right in front of the creature that had singed his wing. In one swift motion, he killed it, and then stored its body in his ring before heading off in search of more monsters.
As he ventured further, Ajax encountered a vast sea of monsters, all of them resembling the two-headed hellhounds he had fought earlier. But there was a disturbing difference—some monsters had blue eyes, like the one he had slain, while others had completely black eyes. As he watched, a black-eyed monster bit into a blue-eyed one, turning it into another black-eyed creature. It was like watching a zombie virus spread.
Without hesitation, Ajax summoned a fireball, obliterating the entire group of monsters in one fell swoop. When he moved in to check the aftermath, he noticed that the bodies weren't completely destroyed by the nuclear fireball. Not wasting any time, he quickly stored all the remains in his ring.
As he continued to explore, Ajax came across something unexpected in the middle of the grassland—a portal, or perhaps a dimensional crack, emanating a deeply unsettling feeling. Curious, he approached it, and before Ceil could warn him, he was sucked in, teleported to a barren land shrouded in fog, with little to no sunlight breaking through.
As Ajax wandered this eerie place, he stumbled upon a monstrous creature, ten times larger than an elephant and bigger than a whale. The sheer size of it made his heart race. Ceil's voice echoed in his mind, urgently commanding, "Ajax, run! You can't defeat this monster!"
But Ajax was already running, fully aware of the danger. As he fled, he nearly tripped over something—an enormous eggshell, broken open, the size of a small building. His blood ran cold as he realized where he was. Taking to the air, he soared upward to get a better view and was met with a shocking sight: he was in the middle of a massive monster nest, with both open and unhatched eggs scattered around.
As he took it all in, Ceil's voice confirmed his worst fears. "Ajax, you are in the Abyss."