They thought they'd grown used to the Abyss's cruelty.Thought it had exhausted the ways it could torment them.They were wrong.
The path that unfurled beneath Raen's boots seemed no different at first — a ribbon of shadow solid enough to carry them, curling lazily through vast open dark. But only a few steps in, he noticed Hollowfang's ears flattening. Its lips peeled back, exposing gums in a snarl that wasn't meant for battle. It was discomfort. Pain.
A breath later, the air hit Raen's lungs.It wasn't hot. It wasn't cold.It was… biting. Tiny knives that skittered down his throat and settled in his chest with malicious glee.
He coughed. A shallow, wracking sound that did nothing to clear it. Ember Vow hunched forward beside him, one hand braced on her knee, breath coming in short gasps. Tiny drops of dark red spattered the ground.
"Poison," she rasped. Her pupils were tiny pinpricks now, almost vanished in pale irises. "It's lacing the air. A test that doesn't care what name we wear."
Raen's own vision swam. Each inhale was thinner than the last.Behind them, Despair Maw let out a low, rattling groan. The inside of its jaws glistened with an unnatural sheen, as if the flesh was beginning to slough.
[System Notice: Local Atmospheric Integrity Breached]
[Warning: Corrosive Miasma Detected — Nullifies Standard Regeneration]
His hand flew to Ember Vow's shoulder. "We keep moving. It's always forward with this place."
Hollowfang whined — a pathetic, choking sound that he'd never heard from the beast. When it turned its head toward him, Raen saw the fur on one side was singed down to raw skin, slick and weeping.
Something in him snapped.
He forced his feet forward, guiding Ember Vow with him. Each step was harder. The path seemed to flex slightly under their weight, eager to buckle and send them tumbling into the nothing below. Hollowfang stayed so close its flank brushed Raen's thigh, head low, breath shallow. Despair Maw dragged itself behind, vast body leaving streaks of seared tissue on the path.
It wasn't just the pain. It was the weight. The Abyss had never pressed down like this before. Now it clung to their shoulders, whispering that it would be easier to lie down. To stop. To let it digest them slowly, like it had done to thousands of would-be sovereigns before.
Ember Vow stumbled again. This time she nearly went over the edge. Raen caught her, hauling her back by the waist, pulling her against his side.
Her eyes were feverish. Cracks of faint red spread from the corners, tiny veins bursting under strain. Her mouth moved. He had to lean in to hear her whisper:
"It wants to see if you'd trade them. Leave us to it, save yourself."
Raen's jaw clenched so hard something popped in his temple. "Then it's about to be very disappointed."
He pushed Memoryweaver out in a desperate surge.
It didn't target illusions. Didn't try to rewrite his fears. It simply poured from him like molten light, soaking into Hollowfang's burns, wrapping around Despair Maw's sloughing skin, sliding under Ember Vow's palms where they trembled.
They all staggered as it hit. Even Raen felt the backlash — a cold so deep it made his teeth ache, like each pulse of the ability was scooping marrow straight from his bones.
But it worked. Hollowfang's next breath came easier, a deep lungful that ended in a fierce snarl. Despair Maw let out a croaking laugh, vast mouth cracking in what might have been grotesque relief. Ember Vow blinked, her pupils dilating again, color returning to her lips.
She stared at him, a hundred unspoken things flickering behind her eyes. Then she just pressed her forehead to his, sharing breath that still smelled faintly of blood.
"You'll kill yourself," she whispered.
"Not before I kill whatever this layer thinks it is."
They staggered on. The air didn't clear — it grew thicker. Heavier. A syrup of rot and corrosion that tried to burrow under skin and nest in lungs. Raen felt Memoryweaver faltering. Each pulse grew fainter, smaller. He could still hear the system trying to keep pace, but it sounded far away now, buried under the rasp of his own failing breath.
[System Alert: Host Vital Capacity Falling — Critical Limits Approaching]
[Adaptive Trial Progress: 83% Complete]
83%.Not enough. The path still stretched ahead, veiled by a haze that looked like liquid shadow. He could see shapes moving in it — figures with twisted heads and long clawed hands, wading through the vapor as if it didn't touch them.
Ember Vow's grip on his arm tightened. Her mouth was by his ear now, breath hitching. "If we stop, promise me you'll finish it. Don't let it keep me."
"You're not going to be kept." His voice was little more than gravel. "None of you."
Hollowfang gave a sudden, desperate bark — loud enough to make the figures pause. Then it surged forward. Not a hunt. Not an attack. It simply ran, plunging through the last veil of toxic mist.
Raen didn't think. He grabbed Ember Vow's hand and followed.
Pain was instant. Like inhaling razors dipped in acid. He could feel tiny fissures opening inside him, blood bubbling up behind his ribs. The figures lunged from the mist — grotesque watchers with no eyes, only hollow sockets that wept more of the poison. They clawed at his cloak, at Ember Vow's hair.
Despair Maw crashed through them with a sound like an avalanche, jaws snapping side to side. Each watcher it bit dissolved into a slurry that steamed off the path.
Raen kept running until his knees hit ground that felt… different. Solid. Cold in a clean way, not the festering chill of sickness. The mist peeled back. A thin breeze swept through, smelling of iron and frost.
They collapsed together. Ember Vow lay half-sprawled across his chest, breath wheezing but steady. Hollowfang dropped at his side, tongue lolling, eyes half-closed. Despair Maw circled them once, then simply lay down with a sigh so immense it seemed to empty the air.
Raen closed his eyes. His entire chest burned with each breath, but it was breathable air now. His ribs still ached from Memoryweaver's overuse, tiny fissures in his strength that would take time to heal.
[System Notice: Trial Passed — Adaptive Authority Over Corrosive Miasma Gained]
[New Passive: Toxic Resilience]
[Bond Affinity: Despair Maw + Hollowfang Strengthened]
A faint laugh slipped out of him. It sounded broken. But Ember Vow stirred, lifting her head to press her cheek against his.
"You didn't leave us," she whispered, not quite a question.
"Never," he rasped.
Her smile was fragile, painful. Beautiful. "Then next time… I'll save you first."
They lay there a while longer, just breathing. When they finally rose, it was slow, cautious. Ember Vow's hand found his without needing to look. Hollowfang shook out its shoulders, head held high again. Despair Maw lumbered up with a groan, vast jaws opening in a silent laugh.
The Abyss still waited — darker paths, deeper trials, cruelties more inventive than poison.But they'd proven something to it. And to themselves.
Raen rolled his shoulders, feeling the new power — faint, yet certain — coiled in his blood.
"Come on," he muttered.
Together, they stepped forward. Not stronger because of what the Abyss had done to them — stronger because they'd refused to let it take the only things that mattered.