48. Into The Abyss

Darkness overcame the battlefield. One moment, Micheal and his party were standing in the ravaged landscape, bodies of fallen enemies lying around them. The next, it all disappeared into a void of pure black emptiness.

Micheal's body tensed as the world around him vanished into an endless void.

His heartbeat thundered in his chest.

"What… is this?" Kai's voice echoed through the void, tense and uncertain.

Micheal turned his head, but he couldn't see him. He couldn't see anything. Even the faintest hint of light was absent, as if the entire world had been erased.

He thrashed out blindly, but there was nothing—no sound, no movement, no sensation but the complete emptiness around him.

"Everyone, stay together," Micheal commanded, forcing calm into his voice. He stretched his senses, searching for his team.

A hand brushed his shoulder. "I'm here," Selene said.

""I'm here too," Riven added.

Kai's voice followed, though slightly farther away. "Same."

For a moment, relief settled over them—until a deep, guttural chuckle echoed through the void.

Micheal's pulse spiked. That laugh—it wasn't human.

A crimson glow flickered to life in the distance. Then another. And another.

Hundreds of burning red eyes pierced through the darkness, forming a circle around them. They weren't alone.

The Dreadborn Knights had returned.

But something was wrong. Their once-metallic bodies had become shadows, flickering like living smoke. Their armor was no longer solid but ghostly, shifting between physical form and void-like mist.

"What… what are they?"Selene whispered.

"They've merged with the abyss," Micheal realized. "They aren't just knights anymore. They are the darkness."

The shadows lunged.

---

Micheal barely had time to react. He raised his sword, golden flames igniting along its edge, and slashed at the nearest knight. His blade passed through the creature—but instead of destroying it, the knight reformed instantly, like slicing through water.

His stomach dropped.

"They can't be killed!"Kai shouted, dodging a clawed strike from one of the knights. "They're just… reshaping!"

"They're illusions,"Riven said, gritting his teeth as he threw a dagger, only to watch it sink into nothingness.

Selene swore under her breath. "We can't fight shadows."

The knights advanced, closing in from all sides.

Micheal clenched his jaw. "I think there has to be a way."

If attacking didn't work, then this wasn't a battle of strength—it was a battle of perception.

Then it hit him.

"We need light," he said, his voice steady. "Real light."

Selene, still not visible, cried out, "Then light it up, leader."

Micheal closed his eyes and turned inward. Even in the choking darkness, there was something inside him—a spark, waiting to be nurtured into fire.

And then—fire.

A golden blaze erupted from Micheal's hands, repelling the emptiness away from him. The illumination increased rapidly, driving the darkness away, firming up the Dreadborn Knights.

"There!" Riven thundered, pressing forward. His sword sank into meat this time, cutting through one of the Knights. The creature screamed in a twisted voice before it disappeared.

Kai smiled. "At last." He pressed forward, his spear aglow with energy, eliminating another Knight.

Jade moved with strange precision, her twin blades executing a fatal dance upon the battlefield.

Micheal caught his breath, sensing the strength flowing through him. Yet, something was not right.

The more fire he summoned, the colder the world became outside him.

A balance was shifting.

Then, out of the heart of the void, something began to move.

A great, giant figure loomed over them. The air itself appeared to tremble as it stepped forth.

The true master of the void had arrived.

The figure took shape from the shadows—a giant Knight, larger than the rest, its armor a black midnight obsidian, with spine-tingling glowing runes upon it. This one did not shine like an illusion.

It was most definitely real.

Its voice rumbled like distant thunder.

"You think you understand the dark? Blind mortals."

A deep shock knocked into Micheal, sending him crashing to the ground. His fire weakened for a moment, and the shadow pressed on, hungry to consume them again.

Jade went toward the warlord, moving inhumanly fast, her moves calculated. She struck at its joints, attempting to strike where it was vulnerable—but her blades rebounded off, barely scraping the armor.

Riven muttered. "That beast is not like the rest."

Kai gripped his spear more tightly, his eyes narrowing. "Then we hit harder."

They charged together, attacking from all sides. Selene's daggers, Riven's sword, Kai's spear—all struck home, but the warlord barely seemed to flinch.

Then, it raised its hand.

The battlefield became twisted.

The world bent and folded in on itself. Shadows shifted and stretched in strange ways.

Gravity felt wrong. Micheal's stomach turned as the air around them swirled, pulling them toward the warlord.

It was changing reality.

And it was about to crush them.

Micheal fought against the pull, his flames burning unevenly. He knew what he had to do.

He had to fight back.

His body blazed, golden power running through his veins. The fire intensified, reaching outwards. His flames–which had been golden, now burned with a nearly divine radiance.

He roared, unleashing all of it in one explosive blast.

A pillar of light erupted from him, hitting the warlord, repelling the shadows.

For the first time, the creature staggered.

Jade's eyes widened. "That's not possible."

Micheal panted, his body trembling with the effort of his attack. The warlord was still standing, but the shadows had withdrawn. The battlefield returned to normal space, the crushing darkness withdrawing.

Kai exhaled sharply. "That actually worked?"

Selene smiled grimly. "Looks like we finally found something that scares it."

Micheal didn't wait. He was hungry for more. "Then let's finish this."

"Oh yeaaah!" Kai screamed

The team moved together, attacking in perfect sync.

Riven struck first, prompting the warlord to block. That brief opening was all Kai needed to thrust his spear into its side.

Selene vanished into shadow, only to reappear behind the warlord, her daggers cutting deep.

Jadde both swords slashing through the warlord's helm, revealing a chasm of endless darkness below.

The beast let out a guttural shriek as its form started to come undone, the shadows around it dissolving into nothing.

The battlefield shuddered, and then…

Silence.

The warlord was gone. The Dreadborn Knights had vanished.

And the abyss had finally withdrawn.

---

Micheal stumbled, exhausted. His flames flickered and then died out entirely.

Jade looked at him, her expression unreadable. "That power… You have no idea what you just did, do you?"

Micheal frowned. "I did what I had to."

She shook her head. "That wasn't just fire. That was something else. And if you don't learn to control it…" She left the words hanging.

Selene crossed her arms. "So what now?"

Micheal looked around at his team, his face hardening.

"We move forward. The war isn't over yet."

Kai groaned. "Of course it isn't."

But despite his words, they all knew one thing.

They had survived the abyss.

Which meant that they still had a hope of winning.