Falling Into a Chasm

"Such a brave soul... I'm liking you more and more!"

A beam of darkness shot out from the statue, striking Vastarael head-on. The force of it was overwhelming. It felt as though his very essence was being pulled apart by the sheer weight of the dark energy. The beam engulfed him entirely, leaving no room for escape.

With a scream of pain, Vastarael was hurled backward, crashing into the cathedral's stone wall with a force that left a massive crack along its surface. His body slammed against the cold stone, his vision blurring as the world spun around him. He barely had time to breathe before he felt an insidious pulling sensation at his soul.

The dark energy, swirling around him like a cloud of predatory intent, formed arms of pure shadow.

Black, souly arms reached out from the wall, their fingers tried to pull him into the fifth mural—the very mural where the goddess was gazing at him with her twisted, sorrowful expression.

"No..."

Vastarael gritted his teeth, feeling the claws of the souls around him gripping his golden soul, not his body. They weren't touching his physical form.

The strength of the grip was unbelievable. He could feel his soul straining as if he were being sucked into oblivion. His body felt weightless, powerless, caught between dimensions. His divine nature was useless here. He couldn't draw runes, couldn't summon his abilities, couldn't even feel the flow of energy within him.

He could only use Sapphire Materialization and his physical capabilities.

Panic surged within him. He couldn't let this happen. Not like this.

But the more he struggled, the stronger the hold became. He was failing. The darkness was swallowing him whole, his essence pulling toward the fifth mural, where the goddess stood in silent, sorrowful contemplation, her gaze locking with his own.

In that moment, his golden eyes flashed with the spark of realization. There was one word he could use.

The Xinoraci Rune.

His lips parted, a breath leaving his chest as he gathered every ounce of strength he could muster, ignoring all his defenses for a split second, which almost cost his life.

Which is why he hated using runes in battle.

He drew the Rune of Destruction, a very powerful rune they cost a lot of energy to summon.

The word shattered the space around him. The moment he finished drawing it, the entire wall exploded outward, the stone cracking and crumbling into dust.

A brilliant flash of light erupted from the point of impact, a violent shockwave of energy that tore through the cathedral like a raging storm.

The soulless arms recoiled in horror, their grip on his soul breaking apart. The darkness shuddered, as though it had been struck by a force far beyond its comprehension. The souls recoiled, scattering into wisps of shadow as the wall collapsed, creating a massive explosion of dust and debris.

Vastarael was thrown back, his body tumbling through the air as the explosion surged around him. The shock of the blast forced his body to land heavily on the stone floor, but he immediately pushed himself up. His golden eyes were glowing with a fierce intensity as he stood tall once more.

He had broken free.

[You drew the Rune of Destruction. It consumed half your essence. Don't use it again or your Omniphage will forcefully consume the dark energy around the cathedral.]

The cold voice of Phaenora echoed in Vastarael's mind and his heart sank. Half his essence. Half.

'What happens if it does?'

There was a moment of silence, the kind that filled the air with an overwhelming tension. Phaenora's presence lingered in the background, her voice tinged with warning.

[Your soul will be tainted and you'll become one of them.]

'I see... then it's time to escape.'

The words left Vastarael's mouth with cold finality. He had just escaped one near-death experience but there was no time to savor the victory. The very energy around him pulsed with dark, suffocating power. The pull of the cathedral's corruption was still strong, wrapping around his soul like a vice, waiting to tear him apart.

His mind raced. There was no room for hesitation. He couldn't let himself fall victim to the darkness, especially when there was so much more at stake.

[What are you—]

The question was cut short as Vastarael's mind clicked into action. He had only one way out.

He didn't waste another moment. In a swift, decisive movement, Vastarael raised his hand toward the floor beneath him. With a single word, he invoked the power of the Rune of Destruction once again.

This time, aiming for the floor itself.

The ground beneath him shattered with a deafening crack. The floor splintered as a vast gaping chasm opened up before him. The stone and marble walls crumbled around the edges, sending dust and debris cascading into the abyss.

The force of the Rune was brutal and relentless, tearing the very foundation of the cathedral apart as the floor collapsed into the basement level, a deep and endless cavern waiting to swallow him whole.

Vastarael's body tumbled downward, falling into the dark abyss. The air rushed past him and his mind flared with a final burst of realization. His essence was waning fast and if he didn't act now, he'd be consumed by the very darkness that threatened him.

He summoned one of the enchantments of his Codex Nineteen Hours in an instant, the Veil of The Ingenious Prince.

As the Veil materialized around him, the space around Vastarael warped. His form shimmered and disappeared, vanishing into the very fabric of reality. His presence was now hidden from all prying eyes, his movements imperceptible. or the next nineteen hours, he would remain unseen by anything in this dark realm.

The fall continued, the air growing heavier with each passing second. He could feel the weight of the energy pressing against his chest, but he knew he couldn't stop. Not yet.

[Vastarael, don't do this. You're playing with fire. The basement level is even more deadly...]

Phaenora's voice was filled with both concern and disbelief. But Vastarael was already too far gone.

He needed something more. He needed to survive.

The darkness around him felt almost tangible, like the walls of the abyss were closing in on him. Energy pulsed all around, calling out to him. His essence, already weakened from his previous usage of the Rune, hungered for something to sustain it.

His gaze swept to the side and with an effortless movement, Vastarael summoned a chunk of pure, brilliant sapphire, as large as a sword. It glowed with an ethereal light as it materialized in his grasp.

It acted as his source of light.

[Veneri, no! You can't! You're already weakened enough!]

Vastarael ignored Phaenora's warning. He couldn't afford to be weak, not now. His fingers clenched around the shard and in a single motion, he brought it close to his chest, summoning the energy that it contained.

The power from the sapphire poured into him like a river of light, drawing the last of his essence from his soul to fuel his next move.

But that wasn't the only thing that began to happen.

As the energy surged through him, something began to change.

He could feel it. Omniphage, his unique passive Tether to consume and absorb energy, was acting in ways he had never experienced before.

At first, it began to feed on the surrounding energy in the atmosphere, which was the natural forces of darkness around him. But then, to his horror, it shifted.

The Omniphage didn't just feed on the external energy anymore. It turned its focus inward, towards him. The energy in his soul was now the target.

[What's happening? Why is it absorbing your Soul Energy?]

Phaenora's voice was filled with alarm, but Vastarael barely had the strength to respond. His entire being was ripping apart from the inside. His golden soul, the very core of his existence, was draining at an alarming rate, like water sucked into a whirlpool.

Was his Omniphage sentient? Did it not understand that absorbing his own soul's energy would be more dangerous than consuming the dark forces around him?

He wasn't a Divine yet!

The thought was chilling and Vastarael could feel the grasp of fear tightening in his chest. Was it aware of his situation?

The sapphire shard in his hand flickered, the blue energy within it dimming as his own essence weakened further.

[Vastarael, you're on the brink! You need to stop this now! If you keep going, you'll—]

Her voice cracked, laced with pure concern. But it was too late.

He was already beyond the point of no return.

His thoughts blurred as Omniphage continued its insidious work. There was only one option left.

Trust his own ability.

With all the strength he could muster, Vastarael collapsed the sapphire shard into blue dust, the energy contained within it being released in a burst of blinding brilliance. He felt his essence slipping away.

And in the last moments before the darkness consumed him entirely, the Veil wrapped tighter around him.

He collapsed.