Chapter 22: Descent into the Abyss

Seeing Liam going further in, Selene finally stepped forward. Her crimson eyes locked onto his. "That was reckless."

Liam chuckled. "And yet, I'm still standing."

Garret's fists clenched at his sides. The frustration was evident. He had thought, like many others, that no solo player could achieve what Liam had just done. Yet here he was, standing over the remains of a creature that should have wiped him out.

"You knew exactly how to counter it," Selene continued, eyes narrowing. "That wasn't just skill. It was something more."

Liam shrugged. "Let's just say I do my research."

The moment stretched between them before Selene finally sighed. "Fine. But don't think you can hog every world boss to yourself."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Liam said, smirking as he continues to walking toward the depths of the labyrinth. In truth, he had no intention of stopping. The Abyssal Tyrant was only a gatekeeper. The real treasures lay deeper within.

He opened his inventory, eyes scanning the rewards. The Abyssal Core was the true prize, a pulsing, dark mass of concentrated abyssal energy. Items like these were more than just rare; they were legendary. He had no doubt that it would serve as the key to something much greater.

As he moved forward, the labyrinth responded. The walls trembled, shifting unnaturally as if the dungeon itself was aware of what had transpired. The eerie blue torches that lined the corridors flickered and dimmed, casting elongated shadows that moved even when nothing was there.

[Warning: You have entered the Abyssal Depths]

Liam frowned. That wasn't a normal notification. The deeper floors of dungeons usually didn't trigger system alerts like that. This meant one of two things, either-or this place was about to get significantly harder, or he had just unlocked something no one else had ever reached.

Both possibilities intrigued him.

He activated [Shadow Veil], his form blending into the darkness as he proceeded. The air grew colder, and an unnatural stillness settled over the labyrinth. This wasn't the same dungeon he had entered before. It had changed.

A low growl echoed through the corridor. Liam stilled, his grip tightening on his dagger. The sound was guttural, inhuman. Whatever lurked ahead wasn't part of the standard dungeon spawn.

[New Entity Detected: Abyssborn Wraith] [Level: ???]

Liam's heart beat a little faster. A question mark level. That was never a good sign. He had fought higher-level enemies before, but the fact that the system couldn't even display its level meant it was something entirely different, something dangerous.

A wisp of shadow drifted into his peripheral vision. He turned sharply, but there was nothing there. His instincts screamed at him. He activated [Phantom Reaver], creating a shadow clone beside him. If this thing was going to ambush him, it would have to deal with both of them.

The corridor stretched in eerie silence. Then, without warning, the shadows coalesced into a form, tall, faceless, and utterly void of any tangible features. It moved faster than anything Liam had encountered, closing the gap between them in the blink of an eye.

Liam barely had time to react. He twisted, parrying with Midnight Fang, but the moment his blade made contact, a wave of abyssal energy surged through him.

[Warning: Abyssborn Corruption Detected!]

His health plummeted, his screen flashing red. The damage notification didn't even register numbers, it simply stated [Corruption Increasing].

Liam gritted his teeth. This wasn't just a fight. This thing was trying to rewrite the very rules of combat. He activated [Shadowstep], blinking backward to create distance, but the Wraith simply flickered, appearing directly in front of him again.

If dodging wasn't an option, he had to switch tactics. He activated [Shadow Rend], his daggers igniting with dark fire as he struck out. The attack hit, but instead of a damage notification, the wraith's form simply distorted, absorbing the impact as if it were nothing.

"Tch."

Liam was forced back on the defensive, his mind racing. The wraith didn't fight like any other creature he had encountered. It wasn't just reacting, it was adapting, behaving more like a player than a monster.

His vision blurred momentarily. The Corruption debuff was intensifying, and he knew he had only moments before it overwhelmed him. He needed to end this. Fast.

He forced himself to focus. If traditional attacks weren't working, then he needed to change his approach. The wraith wasn't a physical entity. It was abyssal energy given form. That meant only one thing, he needed to disrupt its essence.

Reaching into his inventory, he retrieved the Abyssal Core.

The moment he held it, the wraith hesitated. Its faceless form twitched, as if sensing danger for the first time. Liam's instincts screamed at him, this was his opening.

He activated [Phantom Execution], pouring every ounce of his power into one final strike. The Abyssal Core pulsed in his grip as his daggers slashed forward, cutting through the wraith's shifting form.

For a split second, everything was silent.

Then, the wraith let out a piercing, inhuman shriek. Its body convulsed, twisting unnaturally before it shattered into a vortex of abyssal energy that was sucked into the core in Liam's hand.

[System Notification: You have absorbed the Abyssborn Wraith's essence into the Abyssal Core.]

Liam exhaled sharply, his grip tightening around the now-glowing core. He didn't know what had just happened, but he had a feeling this was something no one else had ever done before.

His health was still dangerously low, and the Corruption debuff lingered, but he had survived. More than that, he had learned something vital.

This dungeon wasn't just a high-level raid. It was something far more dangerous. And whatever lay at its heart was something Velantir wasn't ready for.

Liam smirked. That just made it all the more interesting. He has long been looking for a worthy fight, and now heavens seems to have given him one.

As he stepped forward, deeper into the abyss, the shadows shifted once more.

The real challenge was only beginning.