The Black Blade
[System Alert — Final Blow Confirmed.]
[Boss HP: 1%]
The Hollowed Sentinel roared—a sound like screeching iron and dying breath—as it raised its jagged blade in a last, desperate strike. Its movements were slow, broken… but still monstrous. The corrupted greatsword crackled with unstable Void energy, each pulse brighter than the last, as if its core was overloading.
It refused to fall. Even in death, it fought.
Mephisto didn't flinch.
Blood matted his side, his left arm barely responsive, ribs cracked from the last impact. But none of it mattered now. He surged forward—grit in his teeth, the chain dragging behind him like a serpent made of iron and will.
The air distorted around him.
[Passive Effect: Ring of the Hollow Pact Triggered]
[Final Strike Boost — +10% Strength | +10% Critical Damage]
His steps echoed like thunder.
As the Sentinel brought its sword down in a sluggish but deadly arc, Mephisto slipped beneath it—again. Sparks screamed across stone as corrupted steel met the floor. He used the chain as leverage, twisting it around the creature's arm and yanking himself up—ascending the tower of fused flesh and rusted iron.
A guttural growl rattled from the Sentinel's core.
Mephisto landed on its shoulders, dug his heels into exposed bone and steel, and grabbed the jagged edge of its broken helm.
With a primal roar, he tore it open.
Metal screamed. Void energy flared.
What lay beneath was not a face—only a hollow chasm of swirling black, where a single ember flickered like a dying star. The core. The true source.
He didn't hesitate.
"Break."
The word was a curse, a command, and a promise.
He rammed the shard down.
[Critical Strike: Core Penetration]
[Boss HP: 0%]
[Enemy Vanquished — The Hollowed Sentinel (Level 5)]
The Sentinel arched violently, arms flailing as Void essence bled from the wound in a violent eruption. The force threw Mephisto backward, and he landed in a skid across cracked stone, boots dragging.
The colossus let out one final, metallic shriek—a sound of pain, rage, and... freedom.
Then it crumbled.
Piece by piece.
Its armor collapsed like a dying titan, imploding inwards as its limbs snapped at grotesque angles. Darkness hissed from every joint. The helm clanged against the floor and split in two.
Silence followed.
Crushing. Cold. Unnatural.
Mephisto stood, chest heaving.
Then—
[Boss Defeated.]
[Void Essence Absorbed: +20]
[Level Up Available: +3]
[Stat Allocation Unlocked]
[Title Unlocked — "Void Slayer – I"]
[Item Drop: Void Greatblade]
The system's cascade of messages rang in his ears like distant bells. But he wasn't listening.
His eyes had locked onto something else.
The sword.
The Sentinel's blade hadn't vanished with the corpse. It remained embedded in the floor like a cursed monument—still humming with Void energy, like a beast that refused to die.
Alive. Waiting. Watching.
He stepped closer.
The greatblade pulsed.
Not with light, but with hunger.
He reached out.
The moment his fingers brushed the hilt, a jolt surged through his body—cold and electric. Shadows coiled around his arm, threads of black fire spiraling up to his shoulder.
[New Weapon Acquired — "Black Edge: Hollowfang"]
[Type: Void Greatblade]
[Classification: Cursed Armament]
[Requirements: Strength 10 | Void Affinity Detected — Compatible]
[Effect: Absorbs minor Void Essence per kill | Increases damage against Void-corrupted foes | Evolves with user]
The greatblade shifted in his grip.
It was massive, heavier than anything a man should wield. Its edge was serrated like a predator's jaw, its spine forged of blackened bone fused with iron. The hilt was wrapped in what looked like ancient, petrified sinew.
And yet, it fit his hand perfectly.
It felt... familiar.
Not forged for him. But part of him.
The Void inside the blade whispered:
"You are the blade. The blade is you."
He didn't blink. Didn't recoil.
He grinned.
Not out of joy—but because something inside him had changed. As if part of his soul had been tempered alongside the blade. As if the Hollowed Sentinel had only been a door.
And this?
This was the key.
A sound broke the stillness.
A faint laugh—high, soft, feminine.
It echoed through the chamber, laced with mirth and cruelty. Like someone watching from the shadows, entertained by what they saw.
Mephisto turned sharply, blade at the ready.
But no one was there.
Only ruin. Rubble. Smoke.
And that ever-present scent of iron and rot.
Yet the voice lingered. Fleeting. A dream fading on waking breath.
[Corruption Level: 4%]
[New Status: Hallucination Potential — LOW]
His grin deepened—sharper now, colder.
So the Void was already inside. Whispering.
Good.
Let it come.
He lowered the blade.
His body ached—bruises blossoming under cracked ribs, blood dripping from his mouth, bones groaning with each movement.He was wounded. Mortal.
But something else surged stronger than pain.
Purpose.
He stepped away from the corpse of the Sentinel.
The greatblade—Hollowfang—rested against his back, locked into a magnetic clasp that formed the moment the system recognized his compatibility.