The battlefield was drenched in blood.
What had once been an orderly charge of the Holy Kingdom's finest had turned into a desperate struggle for survival. The valley that was supposed to be their path to victory had become a graveyard.
The abyss was devouring them.
And at the center of it all, Ethan watched.
His abyssal core pulsed, feeding on the despair, the death, the chaos. Every fallen knight, every broken soldier strengthened his domain.
"This is just the beginning," Ethan murmured, his voice like a whisper in the wind.
---
Ravos' Last Stand
The Grand Inquisitor fought with the fury of a man who had nothing left to lose. His golden armor was cracked, his sacred blade dripping with abyssal ichor. Around him, the last remnants of his knights fought and died, their faith burning even as their bodies fell.
"We do not retreat!" Ravos roared, cutting down another abyssal knight. "Hold the line!"
But there was no line left to hold.
Darius loomed before him, his abyss-forged greatsword humming with dark energy. His armor, once shining silver, had long since blackened in the depths of the abyss. His eyes glowed with the same power Ethan wielded.
"You should have never come here, Inquisitor," Darius said, his voice a deep growl.
Ravos lunged, his blade shining like a miniature sun.
Darius met him with a single, crushing strike.
The force of it sent shockwaves through the battlefield. The ground cracked beneath their feet. Soldiers on both sides were flung away by the sheer power of their clash.
The fight was brutal, raw, and unrelenting.
Holy magic clashed with abyssal corruption.
Steel met steel.
And then—
Darius drove his sword through Ravos' chest.
The Grand Inquisitor staggered, his body trembling. He tried to raise his sword again, but his strength failed. Blood poured from his lips.
He fell to his knees.
For the first time in decades, the light in his eyes dimmed.
"You... have no idea... what you've done," Ravos whispered, his voice barely a breath.
Darius twisted the blade.
"I know exactly what I've done."
With a final, agonizing gasp—Grand Inquisitor Ravos fell.
And with him, so did the last hope of the Holy Kingdom's army.
---
Selene Unleashes the Abyss
Across the battlefield, the Radiant Order crumbled.
Selene stood at the heart of it all, her abyssal staff raised high. The very sky above her had darkened, swirling with tendrils of shadow. Abyssal energy pulsed through her veins, and she let it loose.
A wave of black fire erupted from her fingertips, consuming dozens of enemy soldiers in an instant. Their screams filled the air before they were silenced—reduced to nothing but dust.
Priests tried to counter her magic with holy incantations.
They failed.
One by one, they collapsed, their divine protections shattered.
The Holy Kingdom had spent centuries believing that their light was unstoppable.
Selene was proving them wrong.
---
The Holy Kingdom Retreats
General Varkos, once so confident in his army's victory, now stood in horror.
His forces were in ruins.
The abyss had torn through them as if they were nothing. The Grand Inquisitor was dead. The knights were either slaughtered or broken.
This was no longer a battle.
It was annihilation.
"Sound the retreat!" he roared. "Fall back!"
The knights who could still stand turned and ran.
It was a desperate, chaotic retreat. They trampled over their own wounded, their faith forgotten in the face of absolute destruction.
Ethan watched them flee, his abyssal core humming with power.
"Let them go," he said. "Let them take our message back to their kingdom."
He turned his gaze toward the horizon, where the Holy Kingdom lay.
"This is only the beginning."
The abyss had won its first true battle.
But Ethan was not finished.
No, this war had only just begun.
The Holy Kingdom would fall.
It was only a matter of time.
---
Aldric's Choice
As the remnants of the Holy Kingdom's forces retreated, Aldric stood at the entrance of the abyssal citadel.
He had watched everything.
The fall of the Grand Inquisitor. The devastation wrought by Selene. The unstoppable power of Ethan's abyss.
For years, he had believed that light would always triumph over darkness.
But today, he had seen light fail.
His fingers clenched around the hilt of his sword.
"What will you do?" a voice whispered behind him.
Aldric turned.
Ethan stood there, watching him.
"You've seen the truth," Ethan said. "Your kingdom abandoned you. Your faith is a lie. And yet, you still hesitate."
Aldric's heart pounded.
He had fought for the Holy Kingdom his entire life.
But now?
Now, he didn't know who he was anymore.
The abyss was calling to him.
And this time…
He wasn't sure if he wanted to resist.
---
The Abyss Marches Forward
The battlefield still reeked of blood and death.
The last remnants of the Holy Kingdom's army had vanished beyond the horizon, their morale shattered, their faith broken. What was meant to be their glorious crusade had turned into a massacre.
Ethan stood at the heart of the devastation, his abyssal core pulsing with ever-growing power.
The abyss had tasted victory.
And it hungered for more.
---
A Kingdom in Fear
News of the Holy Kingdom's catastrophic defeat spread like wildfire.
The people of Radiantus—the kingdom's capital—gathered in the grand plaza, whispering in hushed, fearful tones.
"The Grand Inquisitor is dead?"
"How could our knights lose?"
"What… what even is this abyss?"
Panic spread through the city like a plague. The church tried to maintain control, but fear had already taken root.
Inside the royal palace, King Alistair sat upon his golden throne, his face twisted in fury.
"How could this happen?" he snarled, slamming his fist against the armrest. "Ravos was the mightiest warrior of our faith! The knights were blessed by the Light itself!"
Before him, General Varkos knelt, trembling. He had barely escaped the battlefield alive.
"It… it was unlike anything we have ever faced, Your Majesty," Varkos stammered. "The abyss was not just darkness—it was alive. It swallowed our magic, our prayers, our very souls. We… we were powerless."
The king's hands tightened into fists.
"Then we must strike back."
He turned to the High Priestess, whose expression was grave.
"We need divine intervention."
The High Priestess nodded solemnly.
"Then we must awaken the Seraphim Knights."
A stunned silence filled the throne room.
The Seraphim Knights were the kingdom's ultimate weapon—warriors blessed with divine power, their bodies and souls reforged into beings of pure holy light.
They had not been summoned in over a century.
But if the abyss had grown strong enough to shatter the Radiant Order… then they had no choice.
The Holy Kingdom would not fall without a fight.
---
The Abyss Expands
While the Holy Kingdom plotted its next move, Ethan's forces grew stronger by the day.
The battlefield had become a breeding ground for the abyss. Dark tendrils spread from the corpses, sinking into the earth, twisting the land itself. The once-green valley was now a desolate wasteland, pulsing with abyssal energy.
Ethan absorbed it all.
With every fallen enemy, his core expanded, evolving into something greater.
Selene knelt before him, her crimson eyes glowing with raw power.
"The corruption is spreading faster than we anticipated," she reported. "Soon, this land will belong to the abyss completely."
Ethan smiled.
"Good."
Darius stepped forward next, his abyssal armor still dripping with divine blood.
"The prisoners?" Ethan asked.
"Most of the knights perished, but we took several priests and templars alive," Darius replied. "Shall we turn them?"
Ethan pondered for a moment.
The abyss had the power to corrupt and transform. But those who resisted?
They would break.
"Give them a choice," Ethan said. "They may kneel… or they may suffer."
Selene smirked.
"They'll kneel."
They always did.
---
Aldric's Decision
Deep within the abyssal citadel, Aldric sat alone.
The weight of everything he had seen—the fall of Ravos, the annihilation of his comrades, the sheer power of the abyss—pressed down on him.
He had spent his life believing in the Light.
But the Light had failed him.
Failed them all.
A figure stepped into the dimly lit chamber.
Ethan.
"You hesitate," Ethan said, studying him.
Aldric remained silent.
"You saw it yourself," Ethan continued. "The Holy Kingdom abandoned you. Your gods remained silent while your brothers and sisters died. Why do you still cling to them?"
Aldric exhaled slowly.
"Because if I let go…" he whispered, "then I don't know who I am anymore."
Ethan stepped closer.
"Then let me show you."
The abyss flickered around Ethan, whispering to Aldric. Promises of strength. Of purpose. Of freedom.
"You were a weapon for them," Ethan said. "Now, you can be a weapon for yourself."
Aldric closed his eyes.
The Light had abandoned him.
The abyss… called to him.
And for the first time—
He listened.
---
The War is Far From Over
The Holy Kingdom would not sit idle.
The Seraphim Knights were coming.
And Ethan was ready.
The abyss had won its first battle.
But the war?
The war was just beginning.
---
End of Chapter 16
The abyss spreads its influence further, while the Holy Kingdom begins preparing its strongest warriors—the Seraphim Knights—for war. Meanwhile, Aldric faces the greatest decision of his life. Will he embrace the abyss and become Ethan's strongest general, or will he cling to the last shreds of his fading faith?
The balance of power is shifting.
And soon…
The world will tremble before the abyss.