Chapter 10 – The Abyss Stirs

The tremors grew stronger, sending dust cascading from the ceiling. Kael's grip tightened around his sword, his breath steady despite the weight of exhaustion pressing down on him. Something else was here. Something much worse.

The glow from the Abyssal script flickered violently, as if reacting to the disturbance. The air thickened, turning oppressive—each breath Kael took felt heavier, like the very ruin itself was pressing down on him.

Then, from the darkness ahead, a sound.

A slow, deliberate scraping.

Kael instinctively stepped back, his boots brushing against the dust-covered bones of those who had come before him. His instincts screamed at him to flee, but he didn't. He couldn't. This was what he had come for. Power never came without risk.

The scraping grew louder. Then, a whisper slithered through the ruin.

"Another one…"

Kael's blood turned to ice.

A figure emerged from the darkness, its form twisted and incomplete, like a man whose body had been reshaped into something inhuman. Its limbs were too long, its skin pale and cracked like stone. Black veins pulsed beneath its surface, radiating a dim, eerie glow. It had no eyes, yet Kael could feel its gaze piercing him.

It was no Forsaken. It was something older. Something worse.

The whispers returned, crawling into his skull like a thousand voices speaking at once.

"He walks the path… yet does not understand."

Kael gritted his teeth, shaking off the voices. This was no time to lose focus.

The creature moved.

Too fast.

Kael barely had time to react before it was upon him. He threw himself to the side, feeling a rush of air as the creature's clawed hand slashed past his face, missing by inches. He rolled, twisting his body into a defensive stance, sword raised.

The thing turned its head unnaturally, its jaw cracking open wider than any human's should.

It laughed.

Kael lunged first, closing the distance in an instant. His sword flashed, aiming straight for its chest. A clean kill.

But the moment his blade struck, the creature vanished.

Kael's eyes widened. He spun around—too late.

A clawed hand shot out from behind, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him off the ground.

Kael struggled, his fingers clawing at the creature's grip. His vision blurred as the pressure tightened, his lungs burning for air. His sword slipped from his grasp, clattering against the stone floor.

The creature pulled him closer, its cracked, eyeless face inches from his.

"Not yet," it whispered. "You are not ready."

Then, without warning, it hurled him across the chamber.

Kael's back slammed into the stone wall with enough force to shake the entire room. Pain shot through his body as he crumpled to the ground, gasping for air.

He couldn't move.

His vision darkened. His mind screamed at him to get up, to fight, to survive—

Then the voice returned.

[ Abyssal Pact Detected. ]

Kael's eyes widened.

The system.

[ Near-death conditions met. ]

[ Power may be granted… at a cost. ]

[ Sacrifice required: Humanity. ]

Kael barely had time to process the words before the creature's shadow loomed over him again. Its laughter echoed through the chamber, its clawed hand raised for the final strike.

Kael had seconds. A choice.

His heart pounded. The pain in his chest screamed.

[ Accept the Abyssal Pact? ]

Yes.

Darkness surged.

A new power tore through Kael's body, flooding his veins with something… unnatural. The pain vanished, replaced by something cold, something unrelenting. His breathing steadied, his mind sharpening into terrifying clarity.

His fingers twitched. He could move.

The creature's claws descended—

And Kael caught them.

A twisted grin spread across his face as he crushed the creature's wrist in his grip. The thing let out a distorted screech, but Kael didn't stop. He ripped its arm clean off, black ichor spraying across the floor.

The whispers in his head screamed in approval.

He was stronger.

The creature staggered back, its form flickering like a dying flame.

Kael didn't give it a chance to recover. He surged forward, faster than before, his body moving with unnatural precision. His hand shot out, grabbing the creature by the throat—the same way it had grabbed him.

Its body twisted and fought, but Kael only tightened his grip.

Then, with a final, merciless twist—

He snapped its neck.

The creature collapsed into nothing.

Silence.

Kael stood in the darkness, his breath steady. The whispers still coiled around his mind, but he ignored them. He turned his hand over, studying his fingers. They no longer trembled.

He had changed.

He had sacrificed something.

But he had survived.

And survival was all that mattered.