Chapter 31 – The Abyss Devours Its Own

The abyssal creature screeched, its grotesque form writhing in agony as the darkness consuming it grew stronger. Its once-regenerating body now disintegrated, the corrupted energy fueling it turning against itself.

Ren watched, his smirk widening. This power… It wasn’t just returning. It was evolving.

The moment he had stepped into this ruined future, something had felt… off. The world was drenched in Nyx’s abyssal presence, yet the power flowing through Ren wasn’t resisting it.

It was absorbing it.

Sylas’ voice broke through his thoughts. “Ren, what the hell is happening to you?”

He glanced at them. Their normally sharp, calculating eyes were filled with something that almost resembled fear.

Ren flexed his fingers, watching the tendrils of void energy slither around his arm like hungry serpents. It felt right. It felt powerful.

But more than anything—it felt familiar.

“I’m just taking back what’s mine,” he muttered.

The last remnants of the Abyssal Guardian crumbled into dust. The once-unstoppable monster had been devoured by its own energy.

Sylas narrowed their eyes. “No… You didn’t just kill it. You… consumed it.”

Ren’s smirk didn’t fade. “And?”

Sylas hesitated, then swore under their breath. “Damn it. You don’t get it. That wasn’t normal void energy. It was part of the Abyssal Throne’s corruption. If you absorb too much—”

A pulse of energy rippled through the ruins, cutting them off. Ren’s gaze snapped toward the temple’s entrance.

Something—no, someone—was coming.

And they weren’t alone.

Sylas tensed. “We need to move. Now.”

Ren, however, didn’t budge. Instead, he turned to face the presence.

The air grew colder. The pressure intensified. And then—

A figure stepped through the fog.

Cloaked in midnight-black armor, their very presence seemed to distort reality. Their face was hidden behind an intricate, abyss-forged mask, and in their hand was a blade crackling with abyssal fire.

Ren felt his instincts scream in warning.

Sylas paled. “Shit. That’s not just a scout…”

The figure lifted their weapon, pointing it straight at Ren.

A low, distorted voice rang through the air.

“You bear the mark of the fallen monarch… yet you stand against the Abyss?”

The ground beneath Ren’s feet cracked.

Sylas grabbed his wrist. “Ren. That’s one of the Warden’s lieutenants. We can’t fight them right now—”

Ren pulled away. His smirk remained, but his eyes burned with something darker.

“…You’re mistaken,” he said, taking a step forward.

The armored figure tilted their head. “Oh?”

Ren’s aura flared, shadows spiraling around him like a storm.

“I don’t stand against the Abyss,” he murmured, voice dripping with defiance.

“I am the Abyss.”

BOOM.

The temple shattered as the two forces clashed.