Kael stood at the edge of the Silent Lake, his fingers tightly wrapped around the black scale left behind by the First Void Sovereign. Even after the dragon's departure, the scale radiated a faint warmth, pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat.
He slipped it into the inner pocket of his torn jacket.
For now, it would remain a secret.
Lyra watched him quietly.
"You've made your decision."
Kael nodded.
"I need to leave."
"The people above think I'm dead."
"They do."
"And eventually they'll learn they were wrong."
Lyra's silver eyes rested on him for a long moment.
"Revenge can sharpen your blade."
"But if it becomes your destination..."
"...it will also become your cage."
Kael remained silent.
He still remembered Marcus' expression as he pushed him into the Abyss.
The hesitation that never came.
The friendship that never truly existed.
He wasn't ready to forgive.
Perhaps he never would.
But Lyra's words settled somewhere deep inside him.
"My goal isn't revenge."
He finally answered.
"It's to become strong enough that no one can decide my fate again."
A faint smile appeared on Lyra's face.
"Good."
"Never seek strength to stand above others."
"Seek strength so no one can force you to kneel."
She raised her hand.
The calm surface of the lake rippled.
From beneath the water rose a long object wrapped in silver cloth.
It floated gently toward Kael.
"This belonged to someone I once knew."
Kael carefully unwrapped it.
Inside lay a sword.
Its blade was forged from dull black metal that reflected almost no light. Fine silver veins ran from the hilt to the tip like flowing rivers, and strange runes were etched along both edges.
Unlike ordinary weapons, it felt...
Alive.
The System immediately activated.
Artifact Detected
Name: Eclipse
Grade: Unknown
Status: Sealed
Synchronization Required
Kael looked up.
"A sealed artifact?"
Lyra nodded.
"It will grow with its owner."
"It recognizes potential."
"Not power."
Kael slowly gripped the hilt.
The moment he did, the silver veins briefly glowed before fading once more.
The sword had accepted him.
At least for now.
He swung it once.
Despite its length, it felt perfectly balanced.
"This is..."
"It belonged to my student."
Lyra interrupted softly.
"My only student."
Kael noticed the sadness hidden beneath her calm voice.
"What happened to them?"
"They chose a different path."
She looked toward the distant ceiling.
"And one day..."
"I had to kill them."
Silence followed.
Kael didn't ask another question.
Some memories deserved to remain untouched.
Lyra stepped back.
"Our time together ends here."
Kael bowed respectfully.
"Thank you."
She smiled.
"Don't thank me yet."
With a wave of her hand, the tunnel leading upward trembled.
Ancient stone shifted aside, revealing a hidden passage that spiraled toward higher levels of the Abyss.
"This route will take you beyond the Upper Abyss."
"But safety ends after the first mile."
Kael nodded.
"I expected as much."
Before he could take his first step, Lyra spoke again.
"One last lesson."
He turned.
"The System will tempt you."
"It rewards constant evolution."
"It will always offer another path."
"Another shortcut."
"Another sacrifice."
She looked directly into his eyes.
"Remember this."
"The strongest evolution..."
"...is the one you choose."
Not the one the System desires.
Kael committed those words to memory.
Without another word, he entered the hidden passage.
The tunnel climbed steadily upward.
Unlike the caverns below, this passage bore unmistakable signs of ancient construction.
Smooth stone walls.
Broken pillars.
Faded murals depicting enormous battles.
As he walked, Void Insight activated automatically.
Most of the murals had been destroyed by time.
Only fragments remained.
One showed countless races kneeling before a towering figure surrounded by stars.
Another depicted the same figure fighting seven radiant beings whose faces had been deliberately erased.
The final mural was almost completely shattered.
Only a single symbol remained intact.
A throne.
Wrapped in chains.
Kael stopped.
"The same throne..."
Before he could examine it further, a sudden scream echoed through the tunnel ahead.
Human.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
Another scream followed.
Then the clash of steel.
He extinguished his footsteps using Void Step and advanced silently.
The passage opened onto a massive cavern connected to the upper regions of the Abyss.
There, surrounded by shattered wagons and broken supplies, stood five Hunters wearing the crest of the Ravenfall Hunter Association.
Three lay dead.
One elderly man struggled to protect a teenage girl while holding back a pack of monstrous wolves with a bloodstained spear.
The last Hunter had already lost an arm.
Their enemies numbered more than twenty.
Shadow Wolves
Rank: F
Status: Frenzied
Kael frowned.
These weren't Void Beasts.
They were ordinary magical beasts.
Much weaker than anything he had faced below.
Yet the exhausted Hunters were moments away from being overwhelmed.
The old man roared as another wolf lunged toward the girl.
He blocked one.
A second.
Then a third slipped past his guard.
Its jaws opened.
The girl froze in terror.
There wasn't enough time.
Kael moved.
Void Step carried him across the battlefield in a blur.
The nearest wolf never even saw him.
Eclipse flashed once.
Its head slid cleanly from its body.
Before the corpse hit the ground, Kael pivoted.
A second slash.
A third.
Three more wolves collapsed almost simultaneously.
The remaining beasts froze.
The old Hunter stared in disbelief.
"So fast..."
The wolves instinctively formed a circle around the newcomer.
Kael slowly raised Eclipse.
Its black blade reflected the crimson eyes surrounding him.
For the first time since awakening the Infinite Evolution System...
He would fight not to survive.
But to protect someone else.