The battlefield was silent.
Only the sound of the fire still burning slowly. Burning corpses were scattered. Broken weapons and shattered shields lay meaningless. The wind no longer dared to blow hard. It was as if the world was holding its breath.
Gorath stood in the middle of it all, silent. His breath was slow. Cold. His gaze blankly stared at the cracked sky.
Power flowed through his body—the remains of the souls he had just devoured. But even though his body was full, his heart felt... empty.
He frowned.
Something was wrong.
"Gorath..."
He immediately turned his head.
There was no one.
But the voice was real. Soft, like a whisper that touched directly into his mind. A voice that was familiar, but also unfamiliar.
"You opened it..."
The sky shook.
Instantly, a crack appeared. Thin, like a scratch on glass. But the crack grew, cracked, spreading above Gorath's head.
The world fell silent.
From the crack, light emerged. Not warm light. It was cold. Sharp. Like it penetrated the bones and stabbed straight into the soul.
The crack opened wider. Slowly.
Then something descended.
Not human. Not a demon. Not something that should exist in this world.
The figure was covered in a dull gray robe. There was no face. No footsteps. But the air around it was frozen. It was as if even gravity refused to touch the creature.
Gorath stared at it sharply.
"Are you a creature from the Outer Dimension?" he asked flatly.
There was no answer.
The creature just stared back… or at least, that was what Gorath felt, even though his face was invisible.
Gorath raised his hand. Shadows appeared around him, as usual. They were ready to attack at any moment.
The creature raised a finger.
Instantly, everything disappeared.
The shadows disappeared. The wind stopped. The ground cracked beneath Gorath's feet.
His body was pushed back a step.
He furrowed his brows. "What…?"
The dark energy inside him… shook.
He had never felt this before.
His power was being denied.
His body refused to react.
The creature spoke. Its voice was soft. Deep. Like an echo from the depths of an unexplored abyss.
"You call the Abyss… But you are not its master."
Gorath snorted. "I am destruction. I am no one's slave."
He pressed his feet into the ground, exploding forward. His black claws slashed straight at the creature's chest.
His quickest attack.
Unavoidable.
But…
The creature did not move.
Its claws pierced the cloak. But it was not a body he felt—it was emptiness. Like piercing mist.
Instantly, Gorath's hands froze.
Literally.
Ice spread from his fingertips, up his arms, then to his shoulders.
"Agh!"
He leapt back, burning the ice with black fire from within his body.
His breath hitched. His hands shook.
The creature stood still. Still. Emotionless.
"You stole power that was not yours,"
"And now, the Abyss demands its debt."
The sky rumbled. The rift above their heads opened completely.
From there, voices began to emerge. Not words. But screams. Moans. Cries.
The sound of broken souls.
Gorath looked up. His face was no longer haughty.
His lips tightened. His heart—which was not even beating—trembled with unreasonable pressure.
The creature raised a hand.
Instantly, something pulled from within Gorath's body.
Power.
His dark energy… poured out, drawn by a force he could not fight.
"Stop!" Gorath roared.
He released a burst of shadows from his body, disrupting the air around him. The ground split. The air shook.
But the creature remained motionless.
Instead, it took a step forward. One small step. But the ground beneath his feet instantly turned to ash.
Gorath stepped back.
For the first time... he stepped back.
But before he had moved a meter, the world around him changed.
The sky turned dark purple. The ground turned into a thick black liquid. The bodies disappeared. Only him. And the creature.
"You are in between."
"The boundary between the world and the void."
Gorath tried to attack again. But his body felt heavy. Like it was being held down by the weight of thousands of souls.
"I... will not... lose!" he growled.
But it was just a voice. Just words.
The creature bowed slightly.
And suddenly, he was right in front of Gorath. No movement. No sign.
It just... moved.
The creature's arm touched Gorath's chest.
"Go to sleep, fake summoner."
Then everything disappeared.
Dark.
When Gorath opened his eyes, he didn't know where he was.
The sky above him was… empty.
No stars. No moon. Just nothingness.
He stood. But the ground wasn't ground. It was like a glass floor. Reflective. But it didn't reflect anything.
And in the distance, stood a gate.
A gate that looked like it was made of bone and liquid metal.
From behind the gate… came a voice.
A small laugh. A child.
Then a cry.
Then a whisper:
"Another one is coming…"