Chapter 11: Echoes of the Abyss
Shen Liang knelt on the cavern's cracked floor, his breath ragged as the runes around him dimmed. The Abyssal Tyrant was sealed, but the battle had drained him beyond his limits. His limbs felt like lead, his mind teetering on the edge of collapse.
[System Notification: Bonus Reward Claimed – Abyssal Fragment Acquired]
His vision blurred as the system's message appeared, but he forced himself to focus. He had survived, but he was far from safe. The cavern walls trembled, the remnants of the Tyrant's presence still poisoning the air.
A low hum resonated from the abyssal seal. Shen Liang felt an unnatural pull—something within the void was calling to him. He staggered forward, unable to resist. The golden runes pulsed in warning, but it was too late. His fingers brushed against the glowing remnants of the Tyrant's power, and a jolt of energy surged through him.
Pain.
Blinding, searing pain erupted in his soul. The system screamed warnings, but Shen Liang could barely comprehend them.
[Warning: Unstable Essence Absorption Detected!] [New Ability Acquired – Abyssal Grasp]
His body convulsed as dark veins spread across his arm, the power burning into his core. The Tyrant's last remnants had not been destroyed—they had been absorbed.
Shen Liang collapsed, the abyss whispering into his mind.
The world around him twisted.
He found himself in an endless void, shadows writhing and coiling like living things. His body felt weightless, untethered from reality. A deep voice resonated through the emptiness, neither fully human nor entirely monstrous.
"You have taken what was never meant to be yours."
Shen Liang clenched his fists. "Then take it back."
Laughter echoed, a dreadful, ancient sound. "It does not work that way. You are now bound to the abyss. Your fate is no longer your own."
A thousand eyes opened in the darkness, staring, watching. Shen Liang felt his sanity teetering on the brink.
[System Alert: Soul Integrity at 62%]
He gritted his teeth. "Then I'll carve my own fate. I always have."
A swirling mass of darkness lunged for him. Instinct took over. His newly gained Abyssal Grasp flared to life, tendrils of void energy lashing out. The shadows recoiled, hissing in rage.
The void shifted. Testing him.
Time lost meaning. Minutes, hours—he couldn't tell. The abyss threw visions at him. A thousand versions of himself, each falling, failing, dying in different ways. He saw futures where the abyss consumed him, where he became the very monster he had sealed.
But in each vision, one thing remained the same—his defiance.
Shen Liang roared, pushing back against the nightmare. His Abyssal Grasp grew stronger, solidifying his control over the foreign power. The shadows shrieked, retreating, acknowledging him.
Then, silence.
The void shattered.
Shen Liang gasped, finding himself back in the cavern. The runes had dimmed, the seal stable. But something was different. He could feel the abyss within him now, a presence lurking in his soul.
[System Notification: Abyssal Affinity Increased – Warning: Side Effects Unknown]
He clenched his fists, steadying his breath. This power was dangerous. Unstable. But it was his.
A sound echoed through the cavern entrance—footsteps. Someone was coming.
His trial was far from over.