Chapter 42 – Beyond the Abyss

The battlefield shook violently as Harbinger staggered backward, its abyssal form writhing in disbelief. It had bound countless warriors, swallowed empires whole—but never had it been defied like this.

Ren rolled his shoulders, feeling the weight of his newfound power settle within him. The Void Monarch System wasn’t just adapting; it was awakening something deeper.

Something ancient.
Something terrifying.

The whispers in his head grew louder. Shadows coiled at his fingertips, pulsing with a rhythm that wasn’t his own.

For the first time, Ren felt it.

The Abyss feared him.

Harbinger’s twisted voice echoed through the battlefield, laced with fury and desperation.

“You are no Monarch. You are an anomaly.”

Ren tilted his head, smirking. “Then try erasing me.”

The white-haired figure watched with a knowing smile.

“He’s doing it.”

The armored woman at his side crossed her arms. “Perhaps. But he still doesn’t understand.”

The white-haired figure exhaled. “That’s the fun part.”

Their gaze shifted toward the crumbling horizon.

Because far beyond this battlefield, something was stirring.

Something older than Harbinger.

Something that was watching Ren very, very closely.

Harbinger lunged again. This time, it didn’t attack with raw power. It tore open a rift.

Abyssal beasts crawled forth—creatures twisted beyond recognition. Their bodies pulsed with a darkness Ren had never seen before.

Harbinger sneered. “Even if you break my chains, you cannot escape the Abyss.”

Ren exhaled. He didn’t plan to escape.

He raised his hand—and the abyssal mist, once foreign, coiled around his arm like an extension of himself. The beasts hesitated, sensing something wrong.

Harbinger’s eyes widened.

Ren snapped his fingers.

The Abyss turned against its own.

Beasts howled in agony as the mist swallowed them whole, their bodies disintegrating. Harbinger reeled back, its form flickering.

Ren took a step forward.

“Your mistake?” He grinned. “Thinking I was fighting you.”

Harbinger trembled.

Ren clenched his fist. The shadows behind him erupted, forming something massive.

Something monstrous.

A throne.

A throne for a true ruler.

And as Ren stepped toward it, Harbinger knew.

It wasn’t Ren who was losing this battle.

It was the Abyss itself.