Aeron stood at the edge of the ruins, gazing into the yawning abyss before him. It wasn't just darkness, it was absence. A void that seemed to swallow sound, light, and even thought. Every instinct screamed at him to turn back. To walk away.
But he had never listened to fear.
"Are we really going down there?" Kael asked, gripping the hilt of his sword. His eyes, sharp and wary, flicked between the abyss and Aeron.
Aeron flexed his fingers, feeling the faint pulse of Nyxus's influence coiling within his core. He had felt something stir within him the last time he'd touched the abyss's presence, and he needed to know what it meant.
"We have no choice," Aeron muttered. "If the artifact we're looking for is down there, then we go."
Kael exhaled, muttering a curse under his breath. "Fine. Just don't blame me if we get swallowed whole."
They secured their gear and began the descent.
The deeper they went, the colder it became. Not the natural cold of night or winter, but a primordial chill that gnawed at their bones, sinking past flesh and into the soul. Aeron clenched his jaw and kept moving, his steps careful but steady.
Then, the whispers began.
Faint at first, mere murmurs in the dark. But as they descended further, the voices grew louder, overlapping into a discordant hum. Some sounded familiar. Others were alien, speaking in tongues he didn't recognize.
Kael stiffened. "Do you hear that?"
Aeron nodded. He had heard them before.
Then, something shifted.
A shadow flickered just beyond his vision, its form twisting and coiling, neither solid nor formless. A presence ancient and hungry.
"Aeron…" The voice slithered through the darkness, its tone knowing, almost… amused.
Aeron's muscles tensed. He didn't recognize it, but something in the way it spoke sent a shiver down his spine.
Kael drew his weapon, scanning the shadows. "I don't like this."
Aeron didn't either. But they had already stepped too far into the unknown.
The abyss had noticed them.
And it was waiting.
---
The air thickened as Aeron and Kael pressed forward, each step dragging them deeper into the abyss. The oppressive darkness seemed to have a presence of its own, coiling around them like unseen tendrils, waiting And watching.
Aeron's fingers twitched as he felt a pulse from deep within his core. Nyxus. The fallen war god stirred within him, reacting to the presence of the abyss as though recognizing something ancient.
"This place… it remembers."
The words weren't spoken aloud, but Aeron felt them resonate through his mind, carried on a whisper of power.
"What do you mean?" he asked, voice low.
Kael glanced at him but said nothing, his grip on his sword tightening. The warrior knew by now when Aeron was speaking to something unseen.
Nyxus's voice was thoughtful. "Something was sealed here long ago… something that should have been forgotten. But it has awakened. And it knows you."
Aeron exhaled slowly. That wasn't reassuring.
Then, the ground beneath them trembled.
Kael cursed and steadied himself. "Tell me that was normal."
Aeron didn't answer. His gaze flickered across the cavern walls, searching for the source of the disturbance. Then—movement.
The shadows shifted unnaturally, forming jagged, humanoid silhouettes. Their bodies flickered in and out of existence, as if they were struggling to stay in reality. But their eyes, if they could be called that burned with a soulless hunger.
Abyssal Wraiths.
Aeron barely had time to react before the first one lunged.
He twisted aside, summoning his blade in a fluid motion. The wraith's form flickered, dispersing like smoke before reforming behind him. Its clawed hand raked forward, barely missing his shoulder.
Kael didn't hesitate his sword slashed through another wraith, but the blade passed harmlessly through its body. "What the hell?!"
Aeron's mind raced. Conventional weapons wouldn't work. These things weren't bound by physical form.
He needed to absorb them.
Instinct took over. Aeron reached into the abyss within himself, calling upon the power that had been growing with every battle. His aura flared,dark and pulsating like a living thing.
The wraiths hesitated.
Then, Aeron lunged.
His blade struck the nearest wraith, but this time, instead of passing through, the creature frozez, as though its very essence was being dragged into his weapon. Aeron felt a surge of power as its form shattered into black mist, absorbed into his core.
A new skill is forming…
The other wraiths screeched.
Kael, still struggling to land a hit, looked over. "What did you just do?!"
Aeron didn't answer, he didn't have time. More wraiths emerged from the abyss, drawn to the energy of the one he had just consumed. The cavern trembled again.
And then, something massive began to stir in the darkness.
The abyss had woken.
---
The cavern trembled once more, this time with a force that nearly knocked Aeron and Kael off their feet. A low, guttural sound echoed through the abyss, a growl, ancient and resonant.
Aeron's grip on his weapon tightened as a wave of abyssal energy surged forward. The wraiths that had lingered in the shadows scattered instantly, dissolving into nothingness as if consumed by the sheer force of the presence awakening beneath them.
Kael took a step back. "Aeron"
"I know," Aeron muttered, his aura pulsing. Something big was coming.
Then, the ground split apart.
Dark tendrils burst from the earth, writhing like living things. The air turned thick with suffocating energy, pressing against Aeron's very soul.
Then it emerged.
A grotesque, towering figure, its body a fusion of obsidian and living shadows—rose from the chasm. Its form pulsed with dark energy, jagged and shifting as if it couldn't maintain a stable shape. But its eyes—glowing pits of crimson void locked onto Aeron with unsettling clarity.
Abyss Devourer – Lv. ???
Aeron's breath caught. No level indicator. That meant one thing, this thing was beyond anything he had faced before.
"Nyxus, what is this?!"
The fallen war god's voice hummed in his mind, a mixture of amusement and warning. "An echo of the abyss itself… a fragment of something far greater. If you cannot handle this, turn back now."
Aeron exhaled sharply. He wasn't about to run.
The Devourer moved faster than something that size should be able to. Its clawed hand lashed forward, and Aeron barely dodged, flipping backward as the ground exploded where he had been standing.
Kael rushed in, his blade igniting with energy, but as he slashed—his attack phased right through the creature.
"Damn it!" Kael cursed, backpedaling as the Devourer's tail smashed into the cavern wall, sending debris flying.
Aeron's mind raced. Physical attacks wouldn't work.
That left only one option.
He reached inward, pulling at the abyssal energy surging through him—the very same power he had absorbed from the wraiths.
Then, his aura shifted.
The black mist that coiled around his body grew denser, darker. A new ability awakened.
[Skill Acquired: Abyssal Rend]
Without hesitation, Aeron launched forward. His blade, now wreathed in abyssal energy, cleaved through the creature's arm. This time—the attack connected.
The Devourer let out a horrifying screech as dark energy crackled through its form, momentarily destabilizing it.
Kael's eyes widened. "What the hell was that?!"
"No time, just keep it distracted!" Aeron commanded.
Kael didn't argue. He launched himself at the creature's flank, forcing it to split its attention while Aeron prepared his next attack.
The battle had just begun.