Chapter 81
Sai's boots **pressed into the fractured stone** of the mountain pass, his steps slow but steady as he led the group forward. The jagged peaks loomed overhead, their craggy faces **scarred by time and battle**, sharp edges cutting into the sky like the broken teeth of some ancient beast.
The wind howled faintly through the ridgeline, carrying with it the **bitter cold of the highlands**, but Sai barely felt it.
Because the **Abyss still clung to him.**
The black mist **curled softly** around his legs, **moving with him**, trailing behind him in a slow, restless coil. It pulsed faintly with his heartbeat—**an extension of him** now, no longer wild or erratic.
No longer a **foreign force.**
It was **his shadow.**
And it would **never leave.**
He didn't have to **summon it** anymore.
It simply **was.**
And even as he walked forward, his mind **focused on the path ahead**, the Abyss was **watching.**
**Listening.**
Waiting.
---
### **The Faint Pulse of Power**
Ezren moved ahead, his dagger **glinting faintly** in the dim light. His golden abyssal eyes flickered **sharp and steady**, his movements **quick and fluid**—silent as a ghost.
He scanned the ridgeline with **careful precision**, tracking every subtle shift in the shadows, every ripple in the mist.
And Sai could **feel** what Ezren was sensing.
Because **he felt it too.**
A faint, distant **pull** in the air.
Not from a **gate.**
Not from the **Abyss itself.**
But from something else.
**Older.**
**Stronger.**
Ezren's voice was low, sharp with caution.
"You feel that?"
Kael's heavy boots **crunched over the broken stone** as he approached from behind, his massive frame casting a **long shadow** over the jagged path.
His greatsword rested loosely across his back, but his hand **never left the hilt.**
His golden eyes **narrowed faintly** as he glanced toward Sai.
"Yeah," Kael muttered. **"I feel it."**
Lena, walking behind them, slowed slightly.
Her steps **softened**, but her hand drifted toward her chakrams, her fingers **curling around the familiar weight.**
She didn't ask what they were sensing.
Because she already **knew.**
Her gaze **flickered briefly** toward Sai, and **her chest tightened faintly** at the sight of him.
At the way the **Abyss clung to his shoulders**, moving with him like a living thing.
At the way he **didn't even notice it anymore.**
Her throat **tightened**, but she said nothing.
She just **kept walking.**
Because no matter how much she **wanted to stop**, to ask him if he was **still himself**—
She knew **she wouldn't get the answer she wanted.**
---
### **The Forgotten Ruins**
The mountain pass **widened** as they moved further in, the narrow trail opening into a broader plateau—a stretch of **flat, broken ground** surrounded by jagged cliffs.
And at the center of the plateau stood the **remnants of a lost city.**
Sai's breath **caught slightly** as he took it in.
The ruins were **ancient**, far older than the dungeons he had seen before. The buildings were **carved from black stone**, etched with faded runes that pulsed faintly with **abyssal fire**, barely clinging to the remnants of their power.
Crumbled towers **jutted toward the sky**, their spires broken and fractured, half-consumed by time.
Massive statues of **forgotten beings** loomed over the crumbling streets, their features **eroded beyond recognition**, their faces blurred by the weight of ages.
And yet—**the power remained.**
Sai could **feel it pulsing** in the stone.
Faint, but still **alive.**
Ezren's golden eyes **flickered sharply** as he scanned the ruins, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his dagger.
"This place is wrong," he murmured softly.
Kael exhaled sharply, his voice low and flat.
"Yeah," he muttered, **rolling his shoulders**. **"I don't like it either."**
But Sai **kept walking.**
His boots pressed into the **blackened earth**, the Abyss **coiling softly** around his ankles, shifting with each step.
And with every heartbeat, he could **feel the city stirring.**
It wasn't alive.
But it wasn't **dead, either.**
It was **waiting.**
Lena's voice was barely above a whisper.
"…What is this place?"
Sai exhaled slowly, his golden eyes **flickering faintly** as he stared at the ruins.
His voice was **low but certain.**
"**A memory.**"
---
### **Echoes of the Past**
As they moved deeper into the ruins, Sai felt the **familiar pull of the Abyss** dragging at the edges of his mind.
But this time—it wasn't trying to **consume him.**
It was **showing him.**
The mist around his boots **swirled softly**, and suddenly—the world **shifted.**
The ruins flickered.
For a moment—**they were whole again.**
Sai's eyes **widened slightly** as the city **came to life** around him.
The broken towers were **restored**, their jagged spires reaching high into the sky. The crumbled streets were **solid once more**, filled with **shadowed figures** moving in the haze of memory.
**Hunters.**
No—not hunters.
**Warriors of the Abyss.**
They **walked the streets**, their eyes burning with golden fire, **clad in abyssal armor**, their forms **blurred by time**.
They moved with **purpose**, their faces **grim and sharp**, carrying blades and staves **etched with runes of power**.
And at the heart of the city—
**The Throne.**
Whole again.
Standing tall and **unbroken**, carved from abyssal stone, its edges sharp and jagged, pulsing faintly with **raw, blackened power.**
Sai's breath **caught.**
Because he knew this place.
He had seen it **in the visions** the Abyss had shown him.
**The First Kingdom.**
Before the Abyss had become a prison.
Before it had become **a curse.**
This was what it **once was.**
A kingdom of power.
A kingdom of **monsters.**
And he could **see himself** standing among them.
A figure with **golden eyes**, draped in black armor, the Abyss **coiling around his limbs** like a living crown.
And he knew.
This was **what he could become.**
If he **let it take him.**
The vision **flickered violently**, the echoes of the past **fading** into nothingness, and Sai found himself **back in the ruins**, standing among the crumbled stone.
But his heart **still pounded.**
Because he knew now.
The **Abyss didn't forget.**
And it didn't forgive.
---
### **The Abyss Stirs Again**
The ground beneath Sai's boots **trembled faintly**, and the black mist around him **thickened.**
Ezren's eyes **narrowed sharply**, his voice low and flat.
"…We need to move."
Kael's grip **tightened around his sword**, his knuckles white.
"Yeah," he muttered darkly. "I don't want to be here any longer than we have to."
But Sai didn't **move.**
His golden abyssal eyes **stared out** over the ruins, watching the distant towers crumbling into the mist.
And he knew.
The **Abyss wasn't done with him.**
Not yet.
Lena slowly **stepped closer**, her voice soft but strained.
"Sai…"
He didn't look at her.
He **kept walking**.
Because he knew **if he stopped now**, he might not be able to keep moving.
And the **Abyss was still watching.**
**Still waiting.**
And **this time—it wouldn't let him go.**
---
### **The Road Ahead**
They left the ruins behind, the crumbled city **fading into the mist**.
But Sai could still **feel it.**
Lingering at the edges of his senses.
And he knew **it was never truly gone.**
Because the **Abyss did not forget.**
And no matter how far he walked, **it would follow him.**
Not as a burden.
Not as a curse.
But as **part of him.**
Forever.