Chapter 61: The Abyssal Wastes – A Forgotten Past

The air was thick with a suffocating silence as Jin Shang and his team stepped into the Abyssal Wastes—a place that should not exist.

This land was ancient, a battlefield from the earliest wars, long abandoned and cursed. Nothing lived here.

And yet, something was watching them.

Jin's boots crunched against the dry, cracked ground as he surveyed the blackened landscape. The sky above was locked in eternal twilight, swirling with unnatural mist. Even the air smelled wrong—a mix of decay and something far worse.

"Tch. Creepy place," Kaelros muttered, stretching his neck.

"Stay alert," Jin warned. "If the information is correct, my sister is here."

A heavy silence followed.

They all knew how much this mission meant to him.

But just as they took another step forward—

The Abyssal Gate erupted.

A massive portal tore open the sky, and from within, monstrosities crawled out.

Their forms were grotesque—twisted figures of shadow and flesh, with too many limbs and too many eyes. Some had faces frozen in eternal agony, as if they were once human.

Jin narrowed his eyes.

"These aren't normal creatures."

Kaelros cracked his knuckles, smirking. "Looks like they knew we were coming."

Chris Walker unsheathed his massive blade. "Tch. Annoying. Let's clean this up."

Jin, however, remained silent, his eyes locked on the creatures. Their forms were unnatural, as if they were failed experiments.

Something was wrong.

Regardless, they had no choice but to fight.

The team split up, pushing forward. Kaelros, Park Hae-In, and the others took charge of clearing the gate, while Jin and a few others ventured deeper into the ruins.

The battle began.

Swords clashed, abilities exploded, and the ground trembled under the force of the battle. Jin moved like a phantom, his strikes precise and lethal.

But something felt… off.

As they cut down the creatures, Jin noticed something strange. They were not attacking blindly.

They were stalling.

For what?

Then—he saw it.

A ruined facility, half-buried beneath the wasteland.

The remnants of a forgotten past.

Leaving the rest of his team to clear the gate, Jin and a few others entered the ruins.

Inside, the air was thick with decay. Machines lay in rusted pieces, shattered glass littered the floor, and the walls were lined with strange, unreadable symbols.

A lab.

Jin's heart pounded.

He felt something.

A memory. A whisper of the past.

His team split up to search, they found a lot but thy got nothing suddenly Jin was drawn to a small, dark room at the far end of the corridor.

Something was waiting for him inside. So he ordered his team to go another side for check. After they left, Jin Entered the room.

As he stepped in, his breath caught.

The walls were lined with old photographs. Some were decayed beyond recognition, but one photo—

One photo felt too familiar.

His fingers brushed against it. Why did he recognize these faces?

Then, on a dust-covered table, he saw it.

A helmet.

Something inside him whispered that he shouldn't touch it.

But his body moved on its own.

The moment the helmet clicked into place over his head—

A surge of memories flooded his mind.

His mind was shattered.

Jin saw—

Screams. Fire. Blood.

Children trapped in cold metal cells. Scientists in long coats, their faces devoid of emotion. Experiments. Endless suffering.

And then—

A girl.

She was crying. Reaching for someone.

Reaching for him. She was crying out his name.

The world spun violently as he was dragged into the past.

Jin ripped off the helmet, gasping. His knees buckled, and before he could stop himself, he vomited onto the floor.

His head was pounding, his vision blurring.

This past—

This past was real.

He stumbled backward, trying to collect himself. His eyes darted around the room until they landed on a small, sealed envelope.

With trembling hands, he picked it up and unfolded the fragile paper inside.

Then he noticed something else.

A letter.

Written by a girl.

His hands trembled as he unfolded it.

"To whoever finds this…

I don't know if I'm still alive when you read this, but I want someone to remember me. Someone to know the truth.

I was taken here as a child. They experimented on us. They said we were 'special'—that our blood could open the Abyss.

We were nothing but test subjects. We screamed. We bled. We begged for mercy, but no one came for us.

They broke us. They turned us into something else.

But the worst part?

There was a boy. He was the only light in this nightmare. He protected me, even when he was suffering himself. He promised he would never let me go.

But then…

He was taken away, and I never saw him again.

I don't even know if he's still alive.

If you find this letter… please, don't let our suffering be forgotten.

- Lillian.

Jin's vision blurred.

His hands shook violently.

That name.

That name.

"Lillian…" he whispered.

His head throbbed. Memories—buried, broken, and fragmented—began resurfacing.

A sharp crack echoed in the room.

Jin turned sharply—

There, at the end of the room, was a chamber.

And inside it—

A girl. Her black hair was floating.

Her body was suspended in an abyssal liquid, her eyes closed, her expression peaceful yet haunted.

Before he could react—

Her eyes snapped open.

The glass shattered, and she moved.

She landed a attack without a sound, her body unstable but terrifying.

Then—her aura exploded.

Jin barely had time to dodge before a massive wave of abyssal energy tore through the room.

His heart stopped.

Her power.

It wasn't just abyssal.

It was stronger than his.

"Who are you?" Jin demanded.

She didn't answer.

She attacked.

Their fight was brutal—fists clashing, abyssal energy distorting reality itself. The walls cracked, the floor shattered.

Jin fought hard, but—he couldn't bring himself to kill her.

Something deep inside told him not to hurt her.

Finally, with a well-timed strike, he knocked her down.

She collapsed, breathing heavily.

Jin stood over her, his heart pounding.

Who was she?

Why did she have the same power as him?

Why did she feel so… familiar?

Jin and his team brought her back to headquarters.

Jin sat by her bedside, watching.

His fingers were clenched into fists, his mind a storm of emotions he didn't know how to process.

He had seen too much horror, too much loss.

But nothing—nothing—had ever hit him like this.

The girl before him, resting on the hospital bed, was alive.

Lillian.

Her chest rose and fell steadily, her breathing calm but weak. Even in sleep, she looked exhausted, her pale skin stretched over a fragile frame. The scars on her arms, barely visible under the medical gown, told him everything.

She had suffered.

She had endured.

And somehow—she had survived.

Jin couldn't move. He couldn't breathe.

He wanted to reach out, to touch her hand, to see her memory by his powers

But a part of him was terrified.

What if she is not the person that he was finding ?

What if she is the person that he was finding and also she hated him for abandoning her

A soft groan.

Jin tensed.

Slowly, her eyelids fluttered open.

Golden eyes, once filled with warmth, now clouded with confusion, stared at the ceiling.

She blinked.

Then, her gaze shifted—and landed on him.

For a moment, there was silence.

Jin felt his entire body freeze.

And then—

Her lips parted. A whisper.

"…Where am I?"

Jin swallowed. His voice felt stuck in his throat.

"You're safe," he said, forcing the words out. "You're at the headquarters."

She turned her head slightly, her expression still hazy. Then, she studied him—really looked at him.

And her brows furrowed.

"You…"

Jin felt his heart stop.

Would she recognize him?

Would she remember who he was?

She stared at him, eyes narrowing, confusion giving way to something deeper—something painful.

Then—

She gasped.

Her lips trembled.

And in a broken, fragile voice, she whispered—

"Jin…?"

His breath caught in his throat.

And then—it all came crashing down.

The memories.

The experiments.

The promises.

His eyes filled with tears.

"Lillian…" his voice cracked.

And then—

She broke down.

A sob tore through her body as she threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around him.

Jin barely had time to react before he felt her warmth.

She was real.

She was really here.

Jin's breath shuddered as he pulled her closer, one arm locking around her trembling back, the other cradling the back of her head.

He felt her tears soak his shoulder.

He felt her body shake against his.

And he realized—he was crying too.

"I thought you were dead," she sobbed, her fingers clutching his shirt so tightly her knuckles turned white. "I—I thought you left me! I waited, I waited so long, but you never came!"

Jin's grip tightened.

"I'm sorry," he cried, his voice raw. "I'm so sorry, Lillian."

"I was alone," she cried, pressing her face into his shoulder. "I—I tried to survive, but they—they hurt me, Jin… They hurt me so much…!"

Jin's rage flared.

His vision turned red as images of her suffering flashed through his mind.

He had seen glimpses of it in the lab.

The experiments.

The torture.

The inhuman cruelty she had endured.

He clenched his jaw, swallowing the murderous fury rising in his chest.

Not now.

Right now—she needed her Elder brother.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to speak.

"It's over now," he whispered. "No one will ever hurt you again."

Lillian hiccupped, her arms still wrapped around him like she was afraid he would disappear.

"You promise?"

Jin pressed his forehead against hers, his tears falling freely now.

"I swear it," he vowed. "On everything I have. I won't let anyone take you from me again."

She sniffled, her fingers curling into his shirt.

"I missed you," she whispered.

Jin closed his eyes.

"I missed you too."

And for the first time in what felt like an eternity—

He felt whole again.

The room was quiet.

The only sound was their breathing, their shared pain.

Jin held her, waiting until her sobs quieted.

Then, slowly, she pulled back just enough to look at him.

"You've changed," she said.

Jin huffed out a weak laugh. "Yeah. War does that to people."

She studied his face, her expression unreadable. Then, she reached out—and touched his cheek.

"You look tired," she murmured.

Jin swallowed. "I am."

Lillian's lips trembled, but this time—she smiled.

"You're still my brother, though."

Something inside Jin cracked.

He let out a small breath—a broken laugh, full of relief.

"Yeah," he whispered, his forehead resting against hers. "And you're still my little sister."

Lillian laughed softly, her fingers still gripping his sleeve.

"I can't believe this is real," she admitted.

"Me neither," Jin admitted.

They sat there in silence, just breathing, existing in the moment.

Then—Lillian's eyes darkened.

Her fingers curled.

"Jin…"

Her voice trembled.

Jin immediately knew what was coming.

"What happened to them?" she whispered.

The other children.

The ones from the lab.

Jin exhaled shakily.

"Lillian…"

She shook her head, gripping his sleeve tighter. "Tell me."

Jin's throat felt dry.

He could lie.

He could tell her they escaped. That they were safe.

But—

She deserved the truth.

"They didn't make it," he said softly.

Lillian flinched.

Her body stiffened.

And then—she collapsed against him again, crying.

Jin held her, letting her grieve.

The world had been cruel to them both.

But now—

They had each other.

And this time—

Jin would never let go.