Part 1:Grave Echoes
The sky over the Abyss was wrong.
Where once it had bled black and red like an open wound in the heavens, now it pulsed — like a dying heart refusing to still.
The deeper Li Shen walked, the quieter the world became. Not peaceful. Hollow. Like everything that breathed had been swallowed whole and only silence remained, heavy with something unseen.
He didn't tell Yue Ling.
He didn't need her to know.
She would have followed. Or worse, tried to stop him.
No.
This fight… this failure… had to be his alone.
His hands trembled, not from fear, but from a deep gnawing anticipation. The kind that only came when something ancient inside a man woke up and whispered:
"You are prey."
He stood now at the edge of a canyon that carved the land like a scar from the gods. Bone spires jutted from the walls, and down below, rivers of red mist swirled with the moans of the damned.
The Warden waited there.
The same one that had nearly ended him days ago.
Level 120+. Title: Abyss Warden. Soulforger. Eternal Chainbearer.
He was just Level 5 now — the merged systems had given him more power, a bronze-tier reward, enhanced regeneration, and stolen skills from the Chained King — but not enough.
Not for this.
Still, he came.
Because monsters don't retreat. They evolve.
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System Notification:
> [Warning: You are entering a Tier-5 Forbidden Zone.]
[Abyss Sovereign-class threat detected: Abyss Warden.]
[Recommended Action: Immediate retreat.]
> [Override accepted: Continuing forward.]
Li Shen took his first step into the canyon.
The air grew heavy.
Like walking through a tomb carved into the lungs of a titan.
Chains clattered far below, dragging against stone. The sound echoed—metal screaming on bone.
And then… the Warden stepped into view.
Just as before.
Ten feet tall. Wrapped in tattered chains that bled black ichor. His face was a mask of hammered iron, cracked, fused to his skull.
His cleaver scraped behind him. A weapon forged from condemned souls, pulsing with agony.
The Warden raised a hand.
And the canyon trembled.
Chains erupted.
Hundreds of them.From the walls, the sky, from thin air — all of them screaming as if each link held a soul trying to escape.Li Shen dodged right. Then forward.
He twisted mid-air, drawing his halberd and slamming it into the ground.
Boom!
A shockwave shattered the stone, redirecting the chain strikes just inches from his skull.
[Skill Activated: Abyssal Riposte - Tier C]
With a roar, he dashed forward — feet cracking the ground with every step.
His halberd, now fused with the soul of the Chained King, pulsed with crimson runes. It extended as he swung, blurring like a whip.
CLANG!
It met the Warden's cleaver — and for a moment, the sound of their clash echoed across the Abyss like a death knell.
The Warden didn't move.
Didn't flinch.
Then his mask split — revealing hundreds of teeth, serrated and gnashing beneath the metal.
> "You return, worm."
The voice wasn't a sound.
It was a feeling — knives dragging through Li Shen's thoughts.
He pushed back. Spun.
Swung again. And again.
A flurry of slashes, each one backed by supernatural strength.
He used Shadow Step, appearing behind the Warden — then Soul Severance, trying to cleave through the abomination's defenses.
And he landed hits.
Deep ones.
But no blood came out.
Only… chains.
They slithered out from the wounds. And from those chains came… faces.
Tortured. Screaming. Begging.
And they bit into Li Shen's arm.
> [Critical Warning: HP -43%]
[Abyssal Infection Detected!]
[Status Effect: Soul Decay Active. Reducing MP regeneration by 80%.]
Li Shen snarled and wrenched his arm free, flinging the chain-wraiths away.
He triggered Blood Ignition, a technique he shouldn't have used so soon. His own blood evaporated, turning to fuel.
His aura exploded — dark red and black flames spiraled around him.
> [Skill: Blood Ignition (Tier B) Activated.]
[Attack Power +70%. HP drops 2% per second while active.]
He struck again — this time, faster than the eye could follow.
SLASH!
SLASH!
SLASH!
Each blow sent sparks and blood-soul ichor into the air.
But the Warden didn't flinch.
He let the attacks come — his mask grinning wider with each wound.
Then he raised his cleaver… and the air broke.
Literally shattered, like glass — the pressure alone ruptured Li Shen's left lung.
> [HP -27%. You are in critical condition.]
Li Shen tried to counter.
Too slow.
The cleaver came down, splitting the earth. Li Shen dove, but the edge still clipped him — taking half of his left shoulder and collarbone with it.
He screamed.
Blood sprayed across the stone.
> [HP -31%. You are now at 3% HP.]
[Fatal Threshold Reached!]
His vision blurred.
He could feel the world dimming. The system screamed at him — emergency protocols engaging, auto-potions failing to stabilize him.
The Warden walked forward slowly.
Chains dragging behind him.
Like a priest at a funeral.
His own funeral.
Li Shen made one last move.
Not to attack.
To flee.
He plunged his hand into the wound on his chest — forcing a Shadow Key Sigil into his own heart.A gate opened behind him, forged in pain and desperation.
He fell through it.Not running.Retreating.To survive.
He landed on jagged ground. Blood spilled across ancient black stone carved with thousands of names.
Names of the dead.
He had no idea where he was.
But he knew he wasn't alone.
Dozens of red eyes stared from the shadows.
A voice echoed.
> "You have entered the domain of the Pale Reaper Clan… and bled on our altar."
> "Good."
> "You may live."
> "But first, you must die."
To Be Continued…