Chapter 76 – The Unbroken Circle

Rin stood at the edge of the Circular Graveyard, the stench of death hanging heavy in the air like a cloud of decay. His eyes scanned the horizon, and he could see endless rows of graves, each one marked with a single stone slab bearing the name of a soul trapped within the circle. The ground beneath his feet was cracked, dry, and ashen—an eternal graveyard that had seen the deaths of countless beings over the eons. This was not a place of rest. It was a place of perpetual suffering, a realm where the very nature of life and death twisted in a grotesque dance of hopelessness.

The Circular Graveyard, named for the infinite loop it forced upon its inhabitants, was a manifestation of the eternal cycle of life and death. The souls here were condemned to relive their deaths over and over again, locked in an endless loop, their memories shattered and their identities lost to time. There was no release, no freedom. The only certainty was the inevitability of the next death, and the one after that, ad infinitum.

As Rin walked deeper into the Graveyard, he could hear the distant wails of the trapped souls. Their cries were muffled by the oppressive weight of the realm, yet they reached his ears, filling the air with an unbearable sense of sorrow and despair. These were not the mournful sounds of souls passing into the afterlife. No, these were the cries of those who had been denied that peace. Their spirits were stuck in the never-ending cycle of rebirth and death, a purgatory without end.

Each step Rin took felt like it brought him closer to something he could not yet understand, a sensation that gnawed at the very core of his being. He had faced countless trials, but this place—this graveyard—was unlike anything he had encountered before. It was as though the fabric of reality itself was stretched thin, and the weight of the curse upon the souls here had been allowed to manifest physically.

Then, amidst the shifting shadows, he saw something—or rather, someone—a figure standing before him. A solitary presence, dressed in tattered robes, with a face obscured by a hood. The figure's hands were clasped together, and a faint, eerie glow emanated from the area surrounding them, creating an otherworldly aura.

"You are not from this place," the figure spoke, its voice soft yet filled with an undeniable power. It was a voice that seemed to echo within Rin's mind, vibrating through his very bones. "You walk with the weight of death in your heart, yet you seek to escape what you are."

Rin remained silent, his eyes narrowing as he studied the figure. It did not feel like an ordinary soul. There was something more about it, something ancient and knowing.

"I am not bound by the cycle," the figure continued, lowering its hood to reveal a face that was both familiar and alien. The figure's features were eerily pale, with hollow, empty eyes, as though they had seen the end of time itself. It was neither living nor dead but something beyond—an entity that existed outside the realm of mortal understanding. "I was once like you, but I have transcended."

Rin's heart skipped a beat. Could this be one of the few beings who had broken free from the eternal cycle of life and death? Was this what he had come for?

"Who are you?" Rin asked, his voice steady but with an undercurrent of unease. "And what do you know of the cycle that binds us all?"

The figure's eyes gleamed with an almost sadistic knowledge. "I am one who has walked the path you now tread. I know the cycle intimately, for I have lived through it countless times, just as you will unless you make a choice. A choice that will transcend this eternal wheel of rebirth."

Rin's mind reeled. A choice? What kind of choice could possibly break the cycle? Could it be true that there was a way to free himself from this prison that had entangled all living things?

The figure seemed to sense his thoughts, its expression softening with an eerie pity. "You seek vengeance, don't you? You believe that by conquering death, you will have the power to escape the cycle, to transcend it. But you are wrong. Death is not your enemy, Rin Xie. The cycle itself is what traps you."

Rin felt a pang of anger rise within him. He had spent so long carving his path through the endless dance of death, refining his Death Core and sharpening his power. He had fought the heavens, confronted immortals, and broken through the bounds of life itself. Was it all in vain?

"You speak of the cycle as if it's something we can escape," Rin replied, his voice tight. "But it's the only thing that exists. Without it, we would cease to be. And yet, here I am, struggling against it."

The figure nodded, its gaze turning distant. "That is the illusion of the cycle. It presents itself as an unbreakable truth. But it is not. There is a way to step outside the wheel, to sever the chains that bind you to this endless loop."

Rin's breath quickened. The figure's words resonated within him. Could there truly be a way to free himself from the cycle? To transcend death itself and finally break the unbroken circle?

"There is a place," the figure continued, "where even the immortals fear to tread. It is the Underworld of the True Dead, a realm where the finality of death exists in its purest form. It is a place where the souls of the truly dead—those who have transcended all mortal concerns—reside."

Rin's heart thudded in his chest. The Underworld of the True Dead… he had heard of it in legends, a place so dangerous that even the mightiest immortals would not dare to approach it. Was this the key to breaking the cycle once and for all?

"If you wish to escape the wheel," the figure said, its voice dropping to a whisper, "you must enter the Underworld and face what lies beyond. There, you will encounter the True Death—a death not as a weapon or a means to an end, but as an end in itself. You will confront the essence of death and decide whether to transcend it or be consumed by it."

Rin's mind spun. Could he truly face true death? What would that mean for him? Was this the final step in his journey? The idea of embracing oblivion—the very concept that had driven him to seek power—was both terrifying and intoxicating.

"And if I fail?" Rin asked, his voice heavy with doubt.

"If you fail," the figure answered, its gaze darkening, "you will be lost to the Abyss. Your soul will become one with the unbroken circle, trapped in the endless cycle of death and rebirth for all eternity."

The weight of the figure's words pressed down on Rin, suffocating him. Could he take such a risk? To face death itself, not as a tool, but as an existential choice? To transcend all that he had known and become something more—or lose everything he had fought for?

He looked into the figure's hollow eyes, and for the first time, a sense of clarity pierced through the fog of his emotions. This was his moment. His choice. He could no longer run from death, no longer live in the shadows of his past. If he wished to truly break free from the cycle, he would have to face it—not just as a force to be used, but as an inevitable conclusion.

With a deep breath, Rin stepped forward, his heart set with grim determination. "Take me to the Underworld."

The figure's eyes flickered with a strange, knowing gleam. "Then prepare yourself, for once you enter the Underworld of the True Dead, there will be no turning back. You will confront the very essence of what it means to live—and to die."

The world around them began to distort, the graveyard fading into nothingness as the figure raised its hand, opening a portal into the unknown.

Rin stepped into the darkness, his fate sealed, as the unbroken circle of life and death unraveled before him.

To be continued…