Michael stared blankly at the corpse of the man he had just killed, his expression devoid of emotion despite just killing a man.
After a moment, he crouched beside the lifeless body and moved the man’s cloak aside, revealing his shirtless chest. Inked across his chest was the unmistakable tattoo of a horned skull.
Michael raised a brow as he studied the strange marking. "What is this?" No matter how he looked at it, this man wasn’t someone that worked for the royal family.
His clothing, his strength, it didn’t add up one bit.
"If he wasn’t sent by the royal family, then who is he? And what does he want from me that made him track him down all the way into the second level of the Abyss?"
Despite the questions in his mind, Michael knew he would never get any answers from the dead man. Just then, a strange sensation washed over him again, stronger than all the previous times.
Without wasting any more time, he sent Naga Fangs back into the system’s summoning space and ran down the narrow path in the direction where the sensation felt the strongest.
It didn’t take long before Michael came to a stop, then his eyes widened as he looked up at a massive building that stood right in what he could only assume was the middle of the second level of the Abyss.
The building looked more like an ancient castle that had stood there for thousands of years. Vines covered parts of its walls, and the massive gates at the entrance were sealed shut.
[You have arrived at ????]
"What?" Michael’s eyes went wide for a moment as the system interface suddenly flashed before his vision. "The system does not recognize this building?"
Usually, the default system interface of the Abyss would identify any creature, being, or structure connected to the trials. But this time, it couldn’t recognize the castle at all, which could only mean one thing.
Michael took a step forward, and the strange sensation returned with full force. Whatever he had been sensing since entering the second level of the Abyss was coming from behind those gates.
There was no doubt about it, the answers to his questions was definitely inside that ancient castle.
Michael cautiously stepped forward and approached the towering gates. He placed both hands against them and tried to push them open, but they didn’t even budge an inch, despite his enhanced strength.
[Access will only be granted to the one with the key.]
"With the key?" Michael’s brows jerked slightly. Then he stretched out his hand and summoned the key he had stored in the system’s storage. "The key of Liberation..."
Michael hesitated for a moment before raising the key toward the gates. Before he could touch them, a powerful force pulled the key from his hand, absorbing it into the gates until it disappeared.
The next moment, the giant gates began to tremble with a mechanical creak before slowly sliding open, revealing a massive courtyard filled with dark beasts. Then, one by one, the beasts turned their heads toward Michael with a low, menacing growl.
[Ding! You have awakened the hidden chamber!]
[You have encountered multiple B-tier Abyssal Beasts.]
"B-tier!?"
[Ding! You have unlocked the secret quest (True Origins)]
[Allocated time for completion: 01:00:00]
[Failure to complete in the designated time will result to the deletion of the system and immediate heart stoppage of the host.]
"What?" Michael couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He had unintentionally awakened a hidden chamber and activated a secret quest. And now, if he failed to complete it within the allocated time, not only would his system be permanently deleted, but he would also forfeit his life.
Michael immediately heard growling sounds behind him. He turned around and saw several pairs of eyes approaching from a distance. As they got closer, his eyes shot open in disbelief. New chapters come out on NovelPing first.
Abyssal Jackals, Shadow Panthers, even an Abyssal Tyrant. Abyssal creatures that usually operated on their own in different regions of the Abyss, killed each other over territories, now they were working together.
It seemed as if they had all been drawn to the energy that had escaped from the castle.
"Damn it..." Michael gritted his teeth as he was completely cornered, and now, the only path that remained was the one forward. "Guess I have no choice..."
All the creatures in the courtyard let out a deafening roar before rushing toward Michael with their mouths wide open. At the same time, the Abyssal beasts behind him charged forward, leaving him surrounded on both sides.
Michael stretched out his hand and placed his thumb against his index and middle fingers before flicking them forward.
A sharp beam of light shot out from his hand, cutting straight toward the Abyssal beasts approaching from the front. The next second, everything went silent.
[You have activated the Divine Grade Skill (Celestial Spark)]
Then, a blinding light erupted in a powerful explosion, engulfing the entire courtyard.
Thunder rumbled throughout the skies, and for a brief moment, the entire Abyss turned white, almost as if the world had glitched. Then, just as suddenly, everything returned to its usual dark state.
As the light slowly died down, the Abyssal creatures that had charged at Michael from the front were nowhere to be seen. Their bodies had been completely disintegrated by the explosion. Even the creatures that had attacked him from behind were caught in the blast radius.
Michael slowly lowered his gaze to his palm, unable to believe the power he had just unleashed.
"This is... The Celestial Spark skill?" His hand was still trembling just from the recoil of releasing the skill.
There were no doubts about it, it was truly a Divine Grade Skill, but it didn’t take long before he felt it, the massive drain in his Nature Energy just by firing off the Celestial Spark just once.