Days, maybe even months, had gone by since Kyle and Rita were discarded by Karciel and forced out into the devastating dangers of this cursed realm.
Throughout that time, it had been nothing but harsh, endless suffering.
The cold nights that forced them to snuggle against each other so tightly just to keep warm.
Some days passed without a single drop of food.
Sometimes, they were even haunted by their prey and ultimately almost lost their lives, getting trapped outside the comfort of their cave and forced to sleep in the horrendous weather of the night, even during a blizzard.
Kyle shivered as he snuggled deeper into the fur coat Rita had made for them after killing a Tainted that resembled nothing more than a moving pile of fur.
It was a monster that had almost killed them both.
It wasn’t as powerful as the other Tainted they had encountered, not as terrifying as the Veined Abomination nor any of the other ghastly beasts they had gone up against.
What made it dangerous was its fur-covered body, which strangely concealed its entire being even as it moved through the snow. It took on the complete appearance of its environment, blending into the white wasteland so perfectly that it was almost impossible to tell where the monster ended and the snow began.
It wasn’t merely camouflage.
It was as though the creature itself became part of the blizzard.
Only when it attacked had they been able to spot it.
And by then, it had already been too late to run.
Kyle had gotten his hand bitten down on, the monster’s jaws sinking into his flesh with enough force to nearly rip the limb clean off.
Thankfully, Rita and his summons had reacted quickly, killing the beast before it could do any further damage.
Kyle drew in a long breath and then sighed, rubbing the back of his head as he grunted and continued moving through the thick snow.
Every step sank deep into the frozen ground.
He took a glance at the System and sighed.
[Soul Fragments: 100/100]
[Return to the Floor and Ascend]
After what felt like a month of hell, he had finally filled his Soul to the brim.
He was now no weaker than the ruthless hunter, Karciel.
At least, not physically.
His body was currently at its strongest, honed through weeks of endless survival, constant hunting, and battles against creatures that would have easily slaughtered the Kyle of the past.
But there was still room for his abilities to grow.
[Legion: 10]
Kyle could only imagine how the battle against Karciel would go now that he was physically just as strong, if not stronger.
’With my ten summons, I believe I would be able to take him on... But just in case.’
Kyle sighed, warm air escaping his lips in a pale mist as he finally stopped in his tracks.
Right before him was a point where the snow abruptly stopped.
A large crevice of jagged obsidian rock tore through the earth’s surface, descending into a deep, dark abyss where the light of day could no longer reach.
The black rocks around its edges were sharp and uneven, like the exposed bones of some enormous beast buried beneath the world.
Kyle stared at it for a few seconds before finally moving forward once again, approaching the dark crevice.
As he moved, his mind wandered toward what the next few days would entail for both him and Rita.
After all, since she had also filled her Soul, she had insisted that they return to the cave where they had met Lena and Karciel.
They would confront them.
Or perhaps, more accurately, whatever was left of them.
They would also see if Reed and the others were still alive and well, despite Kyle wanting nothing to do with that last part.
But that was their plan.
And if a confrontation became necessary...
Rita had assured him that they would be able to last long enough.
If not survive.
When he had asked her, "Long enough for what?"
She had given him the simple reply of...
"The horde."
Kyle shivered at the mere idea of whatever Rita was planning.
That was why they had gone their separate ways for today.
"I have something to do along the east side of this place. I will make sure to be back before today ceases."
Those had been her exact words.
Kyle hadn’t argued.
After all, he too had a personal vendetta he wished to complete.
He had something he needed to do.
Something that had been gnawing at the back of his mind ever since the day he had first awakened in this cursed realm.
He hugged his coat warmly around himself.
’After all, that’s why I have come here.’
Kyle stood atop the edge of the large crevice and peered down into the depths of its mouth.
For a moment, he simply stared.
The darkness below seemed almost alive.
Then, without another thought, he skidded down the rocky slope.
His boots struck against the jagged obsidian with a low, crackling sound as he descended, the light of day slowly fading behind him.
The deeper he went, the more the darkness swallowed him.
The faint glow of the sky disappeared.
The sounds of the outside world vanished.
Soon, there was nothing left but the scraping of his boots against stone and the soft sound of his own breathing.
For Kyle, however, seeing in such darkness was hardly an issue.
Thanks to his affinity with the Roach, his eyes had adapted to the darkness far better than those of an ordinary human.
Moving down into such depths therefore had little to no effect on him.
Finally, he reached the bottom.
Or, more appropriately put...
Flat ground.
Kyle glanced around.
His hand slowly tightened around the hilt of his sword as he began moving forward with great caution.
His footsteps became slower.
More deliberate.
After all, he knew what lay deep within the depths of this ancient crevice.
Something far more terrifying than any beast he had ever faced.
Something that, even after everything he had experienced since then, still made his instincts scream at him to turn around and leave.
So he was careful.
Wary, even.
He and Rita had mistakenly stumbled upon this crevice weeks ago when they had been forced to flee from a dangerous Tainted.
Back then, they had plummeted down the horrendous height of the crevice, crashing into the unwelcoming ground below.
And Kyle...
His gaze shifted.
There, among the scattered obsidian rocks, was a broken spiral of black stone that still visibly had dried red blood staining its surface.
That was where he had crashed.
His stomach had been punctured straight through from his back.
Kyle’s eyes narrowed slightly as he continued moving.
He could almost feel the pain again.
The sensation of cold stone against his back.
The warmth of his own blood spilling beneath him.
The helplessness.
The certainty that he was going to die.
He moved through the cave slowly as the memories continued to replay inside his mind.
’I remember staring up at the monster that had been chasing us.’
Kyle’s steps slowed.
’It simply snarled at the mouth of the crevice...’
His eyes moved toward the dark opening far above.
’And then it backed off.’
Why?
That question could only be answered with what lyed in the distance.
Kyle continued forward.
Then, slowly...
He pulled his sword from its scabbard.
A low humming sound reverberated through the cave as the blade was drawn, the strange vibration of the weapon echoing against the obsidian walls.
The sound seemed unnaturally loud in the silence.
Kyle’s gaze immediately locked onto something ahead.
A dried, darkened puddle of blood.
He stopped.
’I was here.’
His fingers tightened around the sword.
’I sat down here... After being pulled from the rock by Rita...’
The memory became clearer.
He could remember Rita’s face.
The fear in her eyes.
The blood.
The pain.
And then...
’We both sat here and stared ahead.’
Ahead...
Kyle’s breath caught.
He slowly raised his head.
His body reacted the same way it had the first time.
Cold... Disgusted... Terrified.
Right there in the distance was the end of the crevice.
And there...
It remained.
The walls were stained black with a shadowy monstrosity that seemed to have grown directly from the darkness itself.
Its body vaguely resembled that of a starfish.
Only this was no harmless creature.
It was an abomination.
A grotesque thing with numerous twisted, ghastly arms stretching across the walls like veins of some spreading disease.
They crawled over the obsidian.
Wrapped around it.
Burrowed into it.
As though the entire cavern had become infected by the creature’s existence.
At the end of each twisted arm was a strange scene.
A scene of heads.
Upon heads.
Countless heads.
The rotting and decaying faces of men and women, their dead eyes staring into nothingness as their flesh hung from their skulls.
Some were little more than bones.
Others still possessed enough flesh to make their former identities recognizable.
But that wasn’t what scared him the most.
No.
It was the sight of his own head.
Hanging from one of the twisted arms of the strange creature.
Kyle’s face.
His eyes.
His mouth.
His dead expression.
His own severed head stared back at him from the wall.
"The same as before."
He swallowed hard as he whispered, his voice sounding unnaturally small within the cavern.
"Have you returned here..."
That voice!
Kyle’s eyes narrowed.
His teeth gritted together as he immediately spun around.
There!
Close by the edge of the crevice stood the back of a man wearing a cracked suit of obsidian armor.
Kyle’s sword immediately rose slightly.
His body tensed.
"Champion of the realm..."
The voice came again, it was slow, ancient and almost... hollow.
"Have you returned here to join your fate on the wall?"
The suit of armor slowly turned.
Kyle’s heart seemed to stop at this.
Even though this was the second time he had witnessed it, the sight still frightened him.
The decayed, half-destroyed face of the man beneath the visor.
The purple, glowing eyes.
The uneven shape of something twisted and malformed inside the armor. It was definitely not human.
Kyle swallowed hard and frowned. The twisted Wall of Fate, the Fallen Undead Knight.
Neither of them was the reason Kyle had returned here.
But...
Kyle’s gaze slowly shifted downward.
A notification was flashing before his eyes.
[You have found a suitable animal to consume]
Kyle’s eyes widened.
His heart began to beat faster.
’He would rather die than let this opportunity slip past him.’