chapter 29: the first abyss--the law of facture

In a single moment, everything stood still. No sound, no air, not even a sense of time passing. The abyss into which Xiao had fallen wasn't spatial… it was conceptual. Everything he believed in—gravity, life, pain, heartbeat—vanished, leaving him with one thought:

*"You are alone, in a universe that barely remembers you."*

Xiao stood at the heart of a vast plain of black stone, hazy and indistinct. Broken planets orbited above like shards of a fallen god's memory. The air was thick with raw, unbearable energy. Every step grew heavier, yet every step awakened something within him.

Then... the earth shook.

Silence shattered with a cracking sound. In the distance, a wall of bones began to rise… no, not a wall, but a colossal entity forged from the remains of mythical beasts, wrapped in golden chains that slithered like living things.

From deep within this entity, a voice emerged:

*"Intruder... have you come to shatter the Law of Fracture?"*

A voice that belonged to nothing human. Xiao said nothing. He stepped forward. But his body began to crack… his insides ignited, his eyes clouded with violet light. The cursed blood boiled within him… and a power awakened in his veins he had never known.

Suddenly, a human form appeared before him—an exact replica.

Xiao stared at another Xiao. But this one was cloaked in black flame, a twisted grin on his face.

The other said:

— *"I am you... as you will become if you lose."*

He raised a broken sword—the same one Astaire had given him—and in a warped tone, said:

*"In this world, no one escapes without being broken."*

And the battle erupted.

Light and shadow collided as two Xios clashed. One fought with resolve, the other with madness. Each strike echoed with fragments of memory: his father's death, his mother's scream, Hela's blood, Astaire's smile, Heim's betrayal...

But Xiao realized something:

*This wasn't a test of strength… it was a trial of essence.*

In a pivotal moment, as the other's blade pierced his chest, Xiao screamed and unleashed every drop of blood in his veins. The energy surged in violet and gold. A new tattoo appeared on his chest: a caged eagle, the bars shattered.

The other Xiao collapsed and faded into nothingness—taking the pain with him.

But it wasn't over.

The skeletal entity approached… and bowed.

*"You've broken the Law of Fracture… now you may see the Second Gate."*

Xiao lifted his eyes to the sky and saw a black gate opening. From within, a woman's voice said:

*"If you seek the Core… you must rewrite your fate."*

And there stood Xiao, alone, gazing upward… realizing what lay ahead wasn't just a fight—

*It was an existential reckoning.*

*"There is no road back… and no will to retreat."*