“Abyss, Unseen”

Blood pooled black and steaming across the moss-carpeted clearing. The demon beast’s guttural roars rattled the forest canopy, sending birds shrieking into the dawn sky. Its serrated claws gleamed with fresh crimson as it loomed over Kael’s fallen form like an executioner.“Kael-!” Reina screamed, stumbling forward. Her staff trembled in her grip, golden light flickering dimly from its carved tip. Tears blurred her vision; her entire being ached with exhaustion and terror.

Rurik pressed a hand to his chest, blood leaking between thick fingers. His axes hung heavy at his sides. Each breath came in rattling wheezes as he forced himself upright, legs shaking under his squat, sturdy frame.
Kaen groaned weakly from Reina’s lap, his shattered shoulder wrapped in hastily tied linen soaked through with red. His spear lay broken beside them, shaft snapped clean by the creature’s crushing bite.

The demon snarled. Thick black mist curled from its jagged fangs, drifting like oil smoke. Its burning crimson eyes swept across the group with feral glee. Then its gaze locked onto Shin.
Shin stood alone near the clearing’s edge, short sword trembling in his grip. His chest heaved with exhaustion and adrenaline. Blood streaked down from his face from where the beast’s tail had slammed him earlier. Every muscle screamed for rest.
But as that abyss-born gaze met his, something inside him cracked.

“Why… why me…?
Kael groaned, pushed himself onto trembling knees. His longsword dug into the moss for balance as he coughed blood onto his chin.
“Shin…” he rasped, “If you have… anything left… now’s the time.”
The demon roared, obsidian-scaled chest heaving with murderous glee. Then it lunged.
Shin screamed and raised his sword.
The first claw came down like a falling boulder. He sidestepped narrowly-its edge grazing his shoulder. Pain exploded, but he gritted his teeth. He twisted-hips low, blade up, feet digging into mossy ground slick with blood.

The ground trembled with each of the beast’s steps. Shin ducked under another claw and countered, slashing upward. Steel screeched against scale, leaving a glowing gouge. Black ichor hissed where it splashed the moss.

The demon howled in rage. Its tail whipped around.
WHAM!
Shin crossed his blade just in time, but the impact flung him like a ragdoll. He crashed into a tree, bark splintering behind him. His vision spun, a sharp ringing filling his ears.
“Move… get up…!”
He groaned, staggering upright, sword scraping dirt. The beast was charging again- unstoppable, a force of pure violence.
Shin rolled just beneath its snapping jaws. Moss scraped his cheek. He sprang up with a slash.
CLANG! His sword struck the beast’s snout. It reeled back, crimson eyes flashing with fury. But it wasn’t slowing.

Kael dragged himself forward, holding his longsword two-handed despite the shaking in his limbs. He swung down onto the demon’s wrist-bone cracked under the weight of the blow.
But the beast retaliated instantly.
CRACK! A claw smashed onto Kael’s shoulder, slamming him to the earth, a pained grunt escaping his lips.

“Kael-!” Reina screamed. She sobbed, pouring flickering golden light into Kaen’s torn shoulder. “Please… hold on… please don’t die…”
Rurik let out a beastly roar and rushed in.
“YOU WANT DEATH? COME GET IT!”
His axes struck the beast’s chin-thud! Crunch! Scale cracked. Black blood splashed across his chest and beard.
But the beast twisted.
THWACK! The tail caught Rurik mid-roar and hurled him across the clearing. He slammed against a tree and slid down with a groan.

Kaen stirred faintly. “D-Don’t… die guys…”
Reina shook as she held him tighter. “Please… please don’t leave us…”
The demon turned again to Shin. Its mist grew thicker, swirling like smoke from a burning world. Its molten eyes glowed brighter, dripping venom and hatred.
Shin’s legs trembled.
I can’t… let them die…
A deep, pulsing cold spread through his chest. It felt ancient. Bottomless. Like an abyss yawning open within his soul.
A whisper stirred deep inside him. Not in words- but a calling.
The demon lunged.
Shin moved.His body reacted before his mind could think. He ducked beneath its fangs and drove his blade upward with a desperate cry.
Steel met scale. Sparks flew. Black ichor splattered across his face.
The beast reared back, shrieking. Shin twisted the blade and slashed across its throat-fast, brutal, burning.
Still, the demon refused to fall.
Its claws slammed down again.
Shin barely blocked. The impact smashed him into the mud. His blade flew from his grip.

He gasped. Cold seeped deeper into his chest.
“This… this power… is it coming from me?
No… it can’t be…”
He pressed a trembling hand to his chest.
The cold pulsed again-louder. Rhythmic. Like a heartbeat echoing from a place older than memory.
Kael, bloodied and barely upright, raised his sword again. “Shin… finish it…!”
Shin’s fingers curled into the earth. He fragged himself forward. Each movement screamed with pain.
His hand gripped the hilt.
He rose.

The beast let out a guttural snarl and charged again.
This time, Shin met it mid-dash.
“Flash Step-!”

His feet glided with impossible speed. He slipped past the claws, leaving a blur of motion behind.
He slashed-once. Twice. Three times.
His blade danced in arcs of glowing steel.
“Flow Cut!” he shouted.
He carved through the creature’s ribs, the steel gliding like water.
The demon howled and spun.
Its tail came whipping again.
Shin ducked low and launched forward.
His blade flickered with strange red light.
He leapt. A final strike.
“Abyss Fang!” he screamed, not knowing why that name came to him. It just did. Like a whisper buried in his bones.
Steel tore through the demon’s neck. A brilliant arc of light erupted as it passed through flesh and bone.
The creature froze mid-roar. Its body spasmed violently. Black mist poured from its eyes, mouth, and open throat.
Then- crash.

The monster’s roar died in its throat. It stumbled once-then collapsed like a crumbling tower, its body hitting the ground with an earth-shaking thud. Black mist poured from its wounds and mouth, hissing as it met open air.
Shin stood there, unmoving, panting-his arms shaking violently at his sides. His sword slipped from his fingers. His knees buckled.

But for a few stretched seconds… he didn’t fall.
> “What… was that?” he thought. “That strike… that power…”
It hadn’t felt like something he did-more like something inside him unleashed itself. His muscles had moved on their own, faster and cleaner than anything Kael had ever taught him. The light on his blade… that flash of crimson… what was it?
He could still feel it-deep in his chest. A cold hum, faint but steady, like a heartbeat echoing from far below the surface of his skin. Not painful. Just… there.
> “Is this really mine…?”
“No. it can’t be. That wasn’t normal. That… wasn’t human.”
His legs trembled. The cold in his chest throbbed once more.
Kael, still slumped against a rock, watched him through blood-blurred eyes. His sword hung limply in his grasp, and yet his gaze remained razor sharp.

> That wasn’t just adrenaline, he thought. Shin had moved too fast. His blade had glowed. The cut was too deep-clean through scale where even Kael had only scratched.

Reina stared too, wide-eyed, her healing magic flickering faintly across Kaen’s bruised chest. “What… did he just do?” she whispered.
Rurik’s face, bloody and dirt-smeared, twisted in disbelief. “That kid… that weren’t a normal strike…”
They’d all seen it-the flash of red, the unnatural speed, the weight behind Shin’s final blow and all of it when he was also severely injured. But they didn’t speak it aloud. Not yet.
Shin stood swaying on his feet. His chest heaved with exhaustion.
His sword dropped from numb fingers. His knees buckled.

Kael fell with a thud, groaning softly. Rurik stirred, coughing blood. Reina sobbed into Kaen’s shoulder as golden light shimmered weakly between her palms.
Shin’s arms hung limp. Blood dripped slowly from his fingertips.
Even if this power isn’t mine… even if I don’t understand what it is… I’ll still use it-not to destroy… but to protect.
He lifted his head slowly.
Through the swirling mist-between the distant cedars-stood a figure.

A woman. Cloaked in darkness.
Her form was still. Watching. Her crimson eyes flickered beneath her hood.
And then she vanished into the woods like a ghost.
Shin’s heartbeat thundered in his ears.
Who… was that…?
But before he could take a step, the pain caught up.
The forest tilted. His vision narrowed.
And his body collapsed onto the bloodstained moss.
The world fell silent.