The abyss rumbled beneath Cain's feet as the massive creature stepped forward, the mist curling around its form like a living shroud. The other creatures—the twisted, elongated things that had pursued him—fell back, shifting uneasily, their heads twitching toward the new arrival. Even they knew what had come was beyond them.
The towering figure was not like the others. It was larger, its body fused with the very stone and ruins of the abyss, its limbs thick and gnarled like the roots of a dead tree. Its skin—or what little remained of it—was stretched over raw muscle and bone, its jagged spine protruding unnaturally. From its back, several bony protrusions jutted outward, as if remnants of something once greater. Its face was the worst of all—a hollowed-out skull, its eye sockets black voids filled with flickering, ember-like light.
Cain felt its gaze settle on him.
A crushing weight bore down on his chest, heavier than any force he had ever known. It wasn't physical—it was presence, something deeper than fear, something that reached into his mind and pulled.
His vision flickered.
A glimpse of something vast. Endless darkness stretching beyond the ruins, pulsing veins of molten gold twisting through shattered bones of something ancient, something long dead but never truly gone. A hunger so deep it had no beginning, no end.
The Devourer.
Cain's mind snapped back into place with a sharp gasp, his knees nearly buckling beneath him. His body burned with the lingering remnants of whatever he had just seen. He clenched his fists, his breath ragged but steady.
The Hollow Watcher had not moved, its glowing blue gaze locked on the beast.
"The Forgotten Ones do not remember themselves," it said. "But they remember hunger."
The Devourer's jaw cracked open wider than should have been possible, revealing rows of uneven, jagged teeth. A hollow sound emanated from its throat—a noise that was neither a growl nor a roar, but something worse.
A call.
The mist stirred violently. The ruins trembled. The other creatures twitched, their heads snapping in unnatural directions.
Then they charged.
Cain moved. His body reacted before his thoughts could catch up, his Titan Core flaring to life once more, sending power surging through his veins. The metal rod in his grip vibrated with the energy coursing through him, its edges glowing faintly as the force extended into it, making it something more than just rusted iron.
The first creature lunged from the side, its elongated claws slashing toward his throat. Cain ducked low, twisting his body with inhuman speed, his weapon arcing upward to meet the beast's jaw. The impact sent a shockwave rippling through the air, the creature's skull shattering on contact.
But there was no time to stop.
Another horror lunged from behind, its body writhing as it twisted through the mist. Cain shifted his weight, sidestepping just as its claws scraped against the stone where he had been standing. He retaliated instantly, driving his makeshift weapon into its gut, the energy within him igniting on impact. The creature convulsed, its entire form burning from the inside out before collapsing into dust.
Still more came.
Cain's muscles screamed in protest, his body pushing beyond its limits with each strike, each movement sharper, faster, but at a cost. The Titan Core was feeding him power, but he could feel the drain. His heartbeat pounded too fast, his breath growing ragged with each passing second. He was burning through his own time, his own existence.
But he couldn't stop now.
The Devourer moved.
Cain barely had time to react before the massive creature's limb swung toward him, a blur of grotesque flesh and bone. He threw himself to the side just as the force crashed into the ruins, sending debris and dust flying in every direction.
The Hollow Watcher stepped forward at last.
With deliberate slowness, it raised its arm, fingers curling as glyphs of blue energy flared to life around its form. The very air hummed, as if reality itself was shifting under its influence.
The Devourer hesitated.
For the first time, its hollow gaze shifted from Cain to the Hollow Watcher. A recognition. A memory. A fear.
Cain saw the shift in power, the way the monstrous thing hesitated, the way the other creatures twitched uncertainly.
The Hollow Watcher turned its head toward Cain.
"You are not ready to fight this."
Cain clenched his jaw. "Then what am I supposed to do?"
The Hollow Watcher extended its hand toward the ground. A faint glow pulsed from beneath the stone, the outline of something buried, waiting.
"Run."
The moment the word left its mouth, the ground shattered beneath Cain's feet.
The abyss swallowed him whole.
The ruins collapsed, stone and debris crashing down as he plummeted into the depths. Dust filled his lungs, his arms flailing as the world above disappeared. He reached for something, anything, but there was nothing but open space, nothing but darkness.
And then—impact.
Pain lanced through his body as he crashed onto something hard, his ribs rattling from the force. He coughed, blinking rapidly as he struggled to sit up. The air was different here.
It was colder.
He pushed himself onto his elbows, glancing upward. Above him, the battlefield still raged—he could see glimpses of the Devourer's massive form, see the glow of the Hollow Watcher's power clashing against the mist. The sounds of combat echoed down the chasm, distorted, unreal.
He was in another part of the ruins.
But something was wrong.
Cain turned his head. The space around him was too quiet, the mist settled rather than shifting like before. The ruins here were older, even more eroded, almost as if time had forgotten them entirely. There was no sound, no movement. Only the weight of silence.
And yet, he was not alone.
From the darkness, something stirred.
Not a creature. Not a beast.
A presence.
A cold, vast awareness settled upon him, brushing against the edges of his mind. Unlike the Devourer, unlike the creatures above, this thing was not hunting him.
It was waiting.
Cain exhaled slowly, forcing himself to his feet despite the pain still radiating through his limbs. The Titan Core pulsed in his chest, as if sensing something familiar in this place.
A whisper, barely audible, brushed against his thoughts.
"You have come far, little vessel."
Cain's breath hitched. His pulse quickened.
The darkness ahead shifted, unveiling a faint glow—not the sickly light of the abyss, nor the cold blue of the Hollow Watcher's energy.
This was different.
Golden.
A slow, rhythmic thrum resonated through the ground, like the pulse of something alive, something ancient.
Cain stepped forward.
His journey wasn't over.
It had only just begun.