The night was thick.
The sky hung heavily over the village, the stars dim, the wind strangely silent. This silence
Zaber lay in the village center.
He could not move.
His body felt glued to the ground, his bones foreign, his muscles refusing to obey. His breathing was slow but heavy with burden. His eyes were open—fixed on the sky, but he did not see the stars.
He felt it.
Zaber took the last elixir in his hand while lying there, opened his mouth, and began drinking.
He coughed repeatedly and stood up.
He took the two staffs and touched them to the circle, beginning to channel mana.
In a calm tone:
"The delight of the night sky, the dream of demons
Human fear, the power that bypasses evil and good, the golden bounty of past and future—appear, great soul chain!"
He shouted, took so blood flowing from his nose with his fingers, dripped a few drops onto the circle, and
Touched the tips of the two staffs to the third circle.
The circle glowed.
First—a vibration was felt.
A very light, almost imperceptible tremor coming from underground. The water ring by the well rippled. Fine sand began trickling from between the mud walls.
Then—the circles awakened.
The five circles set around and in the middle of the village activated at once. First, a low, muffled humming was heard. As if sothing huge was breathing underground.
"G’uuuuum..."
The sound grew louder.
As if the circles were responding to each other, black and dark red lines began passing between them. These lines connected underground, slowly forming one massive circular circle.
This was not an ordinary circle.
This was—the devouring center.
On the surface...
The children woke first.
A scream ca from one hut.
"Motherrr...!"
Then another.
"What is happening?!"
The villagers began coming out of their houses. So half-naked, so carrying children, so holding shovels or sticks.
The humming coming from underground was now clearly felt. It resembled a heartbeat. Heavy. Compulsory.
At that mont...
The first soul separated.
A woman froze. Her eyes widened. Her mouth remained open in a scream position, but no sound ca out.
A red-black energy erged from her chest.
It did not resemble smoke. It was—a living thing. It writhed, twisted, and was yanked from the woman’s body.
The woman collapsed to the ground.
"MOTHER!!!"
The little girl ran to her, but at that instant, red-black light was pulled from her as well.
Now panic gripped the village.
"RUN!!! — WHAT IS THIS?! — HELP!!!"
People began running. So toward the village edge, so toward the forest. But no matter where they fled—it was useless.
Because the energy now erged from eyes, mouths, entire bodies.
A man embraced his wife.
"DON’T LET GO!" he shouted.
But the red-black light erged from his wife’s chest, passed into his body, then was pulled from both together.
They collapsed to the ground while embracing each other.
Mothers pressed their children to their chests.
"DON’T LOOK! CLOSE YOUR EYES!"
Children scread. n tried to protect their families. So swung knives at the air, so wept.
But there was no power against souls.
The black energy threads erging from the five circles rose like threads into the air, pulling toward the village center—below where Zaber lay.
Zaber’s body trembled.
He did not scream.
But a muffled, animalistic growl escaped his mouth.
"G’rrr..."
It felt as if hundreds of souls were passing through his body.
He felt each one.
Fear. Panic. Pleading. Hope.
All passed through him.
The souls began gathering at the circle center.
In the village center, on the ground, pink chains appeared. They ford in the air, linking to each other, creating a massive spiral.
The chains clashed as they closed.
"RELEASE US!!! — PLEASE!!! — MY CHILD!!!"
These screams were no longer from mouths.
These were—the screams of the souls.
The chains shortened.
The five circles flashed at once.
Then—everything was pulled.
In an instant.
The village fell silent.
On the ground—only empty huts. Open doors. Items fallen to the ground. Bodies cooling.
At the circle center...
Only the pink chain remained.
The circles vanished.
Zaber looked at the pink chain.
In the village center, suspended between earth and sky, this chain was about ten ters long. It moved slowly as if alive, its links rubbing against each other with a low creaking sound. The pressure radiating from the chain seed to thicken the air, as if even the dust around had settled downward.
Zaber looked around.
Bodies lying on the ground... Everywhere. n, won, children.
Their eyes open, fear frozen on their faces.
Zaber took slow steps toward the chain. Each step felt as if draining strength from his body. Finally, he stopped in front of the chain. He raised his head and stared at it with his eyes.
"Now I need to rge the soul chain with my soul..." he said in a cold tone. "But in my current state, I cannot do it."
X replied inside with a satisfied tone:
"That is correct. If you strain yourself too much, you might die."
Zaber turned back, intending to go drink water. But at that mont, he noticed sothing strange in the chain.
He stopped.
He turned again and examined the chain carefully.
So links of the chain were slowly eroding. As if rotting from within, pink light fragnted and absorbed into the air.
Zaber placed his palm on his face.
"Is it disintegrating...? If it continues at this rate... it will disappear in about three hours. Damn... what should I do?"
X’s voice beca serious:
"Zaber, accept it now. The longer we delay, the weaker the chain becos. I think it lacks an anchor. That is why it is falling apart."
Zaber paced sharply back and forth in agitation. Sotis stopping to look at the chain, then walking again. His breathing was irregular, his heart pounding hard.
He hesitated.
If he accepted it now—it would be like diving into a desert.
If he did not accept it—it would be like throwing a chest full of gold off a cliff.
Zaber remained silent for a while.
Then he decided.
"I will accept it."
He approached the chain and extended his hand.
The mont his palm touched the chain, the chain reacted.
The pink light suddenly ca alive, moving like a snake and entering Zaber’s body.
Zaber smiled, looking at his body.
"Nothing happened...?"
He moved his body, stretching his arms and legs.
"Is it this simple...? What...?"
At that instant, his body began to numb.
Zaber fell to the ground in a bow shape.
His muscles began contracting on their own. His fingers felt as if bending backward. His joints creaked, as if pressure was passing through his bones.
Zaber could only move his eyes.
His jaw clenched involuntarily, his teeth grinding against each other. Saliva flowed from his mouth.
A pain passed through his spine as if sothing was tearing through it. He could not think. His bones trembled under the pressure.
His entire body began shaking.
He instinctively tried to stand. But even his breathing ca in gasps.
He clutched his chest with his hand, squeezing hard. As if he could not breathe.
His heart beat irregularly. Sotis as if stopping, sotis very fast—as if it would beat forever.
The veins in his hands and neck bulged.
Blood slowly flowed from his ears and nose.
At that mont:
Artifact — Abyss Stone Warning Death Risk: 47%
Zaber looked around with his eyes. As if ti had stopped—a second felt like an hour.
He remained in this state for five minutes.
Then his thinking completely shattered.
X shouted sothing. Zaber heard it... but did not understand.
Random mories flashed in his mind. Fast. Chaotic.
He tried to stand.
A muffled gurgling sound ca from his throat. His breathing resembled wheezing.
At that mont, the chain began wrapping around Zaber’s soul.
To consu him... or to rge.
Zaber’s body had beco so sensitive that a light breeze felt freezing, while his own hot breath felt burning.
His pupils contracted.
He tried to crawl—without knowing where he was heading.
Zaber wanted to scream.
Loud enough for the whole world to hear.
But sothing was in his throat. His mouth did not obey.
Blood flowed from his eyes and ears, his face reddened, he crawled on the ground.
Artifact — Abyss Stone Warning Death Level: 70% User, stop imdiately! Dangerous! Dangerous! Dangerous!
The voice rang in his ear.
But Zaber did not understand.
His mind wanted to stop. His body wanted to endure.
Artifact — Abyss Stone Death Level: 77% Abyss Stone’s second ability unlocked Owner’s pressure broken
After a while, Zaber felt a slight relief.
Artifact — Abyss Stone Death Level: Reduced to 47%
At that mont, the chain pierced Zaber’s soul, attempting full rger.
Cracks began appearing on the surface of the Abyss Stone.
Death Level: 50%... 53%... 60%...
Inside, X stood not knowing what to do.
BOOOM
The Abyss Stone shattered.
Dust rose in Zaber’s spiritual world.
His head jerked side to side as if in seizure.
The chain had almost succeeded in rging.
But before that, Zaber would perish.
He clawed the ground with one hand, his own body with the other.
X said in a calm but lancholic tone:
"I enjoyed spending ti with you. If you perish, we both die. Zaber... you have no right to live weakly. Be the strongest."
X spread both arms wide.
In the next mont, his body began disintegrating from arms and legs. These fragnts seed to repair the collapsing spiritual world. The waves like a sea gradually subsided.
Suddenly, pink light erged from Zaber’s body and began rising into the air.
His breathing heavy.
X’s body continued disintegrating, finally reaching his head. His face expressionless, then his head shattered too—the spiritual world restored.
Outside...
The light erging from Zaber’s body illuminated the entire village like a sun in the night. As if it were dayti. This light was visible from afar.
From a distance, the village shone like a sun on the ground. After a while, the light slowly diminished and faded.
Zaber’s body gradually lowered and fell to the ground.
What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comnts. Don’t forget to save it to your power stone and library. 100ps 1 bonus Chapter
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