Chapter 83—The Nether Realm.
Chapter 83—The Nether Realm.
The primordial heat of Floor 5 vanished in a heartbeat, replaced by an absolute, suffocating darkness that felt heavy enough to crush bone.
When the spatial rift of the Floor 5 portal sealed shut behind them, Kaelen’s squad stepped onto a vast, floating road carved from black void stone. High above, there were no suns, moons, or stars—only a swirling vortex of pitch-black nebulae that bled cold purple lightning into the dark sky.
In the distance, colossal obsidian monoliths stood like ancient tomb towers, surrounded by endless seas of dark fog.
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[WORLD SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT!]
FACTION ’SOVEREIGN’ HAS ASCENDED TO FLOOR 6!
ZONE ENTERED: The Nether Realm—The Shadow Abyss
HAZARD RATING: TIER-EX (Absolute Blindness & Soul Decay)
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECT: Nether Chill (Passive Mana Corruption for Unaligned Entities)
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"The dark density here..." Tsubaki whispered, his eyes gleaming with a subtle crimson ring as his shadow-shinobi instincts reacted instantly to the environment. He stepped closer to Kaelen’s flank. "My Lord, the shadow mana on this floor is pure, unrefined origin darkness. It feels alive.""It’s not just alive, Tsubaki," Ren warned, his wrist gauntlet emitting a specialized UV diagnostic beam to slice through the magical pitch-black fog. "The ambient darkness carries a soul-decay curse. Players without high-tier dark resistance or holy insulation suffer permanent stat drain after thirty minutes."Lyra stepped up to Kaelen’s right side, lifting her golden staff high.
HUMMMMMMMM!
A brilliant, radiant sphere of pure solar light expanded around the squad. The divine power, boosted by her sister Elena’s distant blessing, cut through the dark fog like a golden sun, completely neutralizing the soul-decay curse and illuminating the void-stone road for three hundred yards around them.
"Thank you, my light," Kaelen purred softly, his dark-gloved hand gently taking Lyra’s fingers into his grip. He pulled her close against his side, his dark coat rustling gently in the icy void draft.
"Where you walk, Kaelen, the darkness holds no fear for me." Lyra smiled softly, her bright blue eyes shining with absolute trust as she rested her head briefly against his shoulder.
Ren tapped his holographic interface, projecting a map of Floor 6.
"Floor 6 is known as The Shadow Abyss," Ren explained, highlighting three massive subterranean fortresses connected by black chain bridges. "It is ruled by the Shadow Sovereign Alliance—a coalition of ancient Nether Lords and Void monsters. They control the deep abyssal trenches where the floor’s central Waystone is hidden."Tsubaki materialized from the shadows cast by a void-stone pillar, holding a freshly gathered intelligence scroll.
"My Lord," Tsubaki reported crisp and sharp. "The Nether Lords have already received news of Floor 5’s fall. The Arch-Demon of the Abyssal Gate, Lord Malakor the Vile, has deployed thirty thousand Nether-beasts to seal the main pass leading to the Citadel of Shadows."Kaelen didn’t immediately respond to the report.
Deep within his soul, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Heavenly Seals resonated in a powerful, synchronized quadruple pulse.
The golden energy beneath his skin burned with intense heat, locking directly onto a massive, ancient energy signature hidden inside the deepest subterranean vault of the citadel.
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[HEAVENLY SEAL RESONANCE DETECTED!]
CURRENT PROGRESS: [4 / 7 Heavenly Seals]
TARGET DETECTED: Floor 6 — Citadel of Shadows (Subterranean Vault)
DISTANCE TO 5TH HEAVENLY SEAL: Core Chamber.
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A cold, dark smile curved Kaelen’s lips as his dark violet eyes flickered with lethal, golden-ringed authority.
’The 5th Heavenly Seal lies inside the Citadel of Shadows,’ Kaelen thought smoothly, his mind calculating their path with absolute, cold precision. ’Only three seals remain after this. The Holy Grail is drawing closer.’
"Kaelen?" Lyra asked gently, looking up into his face. "What are your orders?""We do not stall for low-tier outposts," Kaelen commanded, his low velvet voice brimming with absolute authority. "We march directly to the Citadel of Shadows."
An hour later, Kaelen’s group stood before the Abyssal Gate—a colossal, hundred-foot archway carved from dark obsidian, guarding the narrow mountain pass leading to the citadel.
Surrounding the gate was a terrifying sea of thirty thousand Nether-beasts—colossal, bone-armored wolves with glowing purple eyes; shadowy gargoyles; and winged void-demons. Floating above the archway was a giant, horn-adorned demon prince wearing heavy, rune-etched shadow plate mail—Lord Malakor the Vile (Level 162 Tier EX).
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[HOSTILE ENTITY SPOTTED!]
TARGET: Lord Malakor the Vile—Arch-Demon of the Abyssal Gate (Level 162 Tier-EX)
ARMY SIZE: 30,000 Nether-beasts (Level 155 - 160)
DEFENSIVE FORMATION: Nether Abyss Array
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"HALT, MORTAL FOOLS!" Malakor’s voice roared across the void, sounding like grinding iron and dark thunder. "You step into Floor 6! Here, darkness is not a spell—it is our domain! Your spatial tricks will find no leverage in an abyss forged from pure void!"
Malakor raised his giant, black two-handed scythe, pointing it directly at Kaelen’s chest.
"Surrender your souls to the Shadow Sovereign Alliance, Kaelen!" Malakor bellowed arrogantly, his purple eyes flashing with feral hunger. "Or my thirty thousand Nether-beasts will tear your flesh to shreds and feed your bones to the void!"
Silence fell over the dark canyon.
Ignis rotated his shoulders with a loud crack while Ren prepared his long-range artillery drones. Tsubaki sank smoothly into the shadow cast by Kaelen’s dark coat, his black katana humming in anticipation.
Kaelen walked calmly to the front of the squad. He looked up at Lord Malakor standing atop the hundred-foot archway as if looking at an insect boasting on a stone wall.
"You claim this darkness as your domain," Kaelen purred softly, his low velvet voice carrying easily across the void, suppressing the roars of the thirty thousand beasts.
He slowly reached down to his waist, his dark-gloved fingers wrapping loosely around the hilt of the Void Blade.
"You do not understand," Kaelen whispered, a dark, chilling smile gracing his lips as he drew the black blade by two inches. Pitch-black spatial fractures flared along the steel, absorbing the local dark mana into an absolute void vortex. "Your darkness is merely the absence of light... My Void is the entity that devours both."
SHING!
Kaelen didn’t wait for the demon army to charge. He swung the Void Blade in a single, effortless horizontal arc.
"Void Art: Absolute Spatial Erasure!"
SKRRRRRRRAASH!
A razor-thin, five-hundred-meter line of pitch-black spatial deletion expanded across the entire Abyssal Gate!
The hundred-foot obsidian archway, the bone armor of thirty thousand Nether-beasts, and the heavy shadow plate mail of the demon prince were cleaved cleanly in half in a fraction of a millisecond!
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[CRITICAL HIT!]
TARGET: The Nether Army & Lord Malakor
DAMAGE DEALT: 22,800,000 (Pure Spatial Eradication)
DEFENSE NEGATED: 100%!
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[BATTALION ELIMINATED!]
CASUALTIES: 30,000 Nether-beasts & Lord Malakor (defeated instantly!)
Path status: unrestricted!
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BOOOOOOM!
Thirty thousand Nether-beasts and the Arch-Demon vanished into white death light simultaneously! The giant hundred-foot obsidian gate exploded into fine black dust, opening the direct road to the Citadel of Shadows!
In less than three seconds, an army designed to hold a fifty-man raid team for days was completely erased from existence.
Kaelen smoothly snapped the Void Blade back into its scabbard.
CLICK.
He stepped over the dusty remains of the gate, taking Lyra’s hand as they walked calmly down the open road, with Tsubaki, Ignis, and Ren following in tight formation.
As Kaelen looked toward the dark gothic spires of the Citadel of Shadows towering ahead, a cold, confident smile curved his lips.
"The gate is open," Kaelen purred softly, his dark voice echoing into the quiet void. "Let us claim the 5th seal."