Chapter 404: The Abyss Rrturns
"D... Damian." Clara stuttered, her body trembling violently as a powerful wave of nausea washed over her.
Her breathing became erratic as she stared blankly at the bloodied figure suspended in the heavens, her mind refusing to accept what her eyes had just witnessed.
If she hadn’t been supported by Corbin’s divine aura, she would have collapsed from the overwhelming shock long ago. The divine energy flowing through her body was the only thing preventing her consciousness from fading as the horrifying image of Damian’s heart being ripped from his chest replayed endlessly in her mind.
But it wasn’t just her.
Even Corbin stared toward the heavens with an ugly expression. Despite everything he had done in an attempt to kill Damian, he would have preferred to see the human prince emerge victorious over the dragon prince.
His jaw clenched so tightly that veins bulged across his forehead as he silently cursed the outcome before him.
"Damn it. And I was actually rooting for him," Corbin muttered beneath the folds of his robes while his golden eyes glowed faintly beneath the scarf concealing his face.
Even someone as detached as he was found himself strangely disappointed. Somewhere along the way, the reckless human prince had earned his respect.
Tears streamed down Linda’s cheeks as she gazed silently into the sky. She remembered the very first time they met, when she had been running for her life from two demons while her own angel had refused to save her. It was the same man who had just lost his heart that stepped forward to fight for her.
Even when Duke Haborym had been moments away from killing Corbin, Damian had once again stood between them. He fought to protect them. He spared all of their lives when he could have easily ended them without consequence.
However, the ones who suffered the greatest pain were the devotees who had just lost their God.
Souvenirs of Love.
Across the world, every blessed pillow bearing the image of a sleeping fox suddenly cracked as countless fine fractures spread across their surfaces.
At that exact moment, every devotee felt an unbearable stabbing pain erupt within their chest. Some collapsed to the ground clutching their hearts while others coughed up mouthfuls of blood, unable to understand why they suddenly felt as though something precious had been ripped away from them. Many broke down in tears without knowing the reason, while children cried uncontrollably as if instinct itself had informed them that someone they deeply cherished had just disappeared forever.
Amid all that chaos Damian laid peacefully within the dark, storm ridden world he had escaped from only moments earlier. Endless black clouds rolled overhead while crimson lightning silently flashed across the horizon.
The crimson eyes of the Abyss stared back at him.
"You lost," the Abyss said.
"I did," Damian replied in an empty voice. "And now you’ll save me, right?"
"Of course. But you lack the Talent Points required to awaken more of my inheritance, and you no longer possess enough Demonic Force to continue fighting. As always, I will ensure the secret of my existence remains hidden while carrying out this task. It will cost you ten Soul Fragments," the Abyss declared. Its voice remained as emotionless as ever.
It expected an outburst or an attempt to bargain. Instead the response it received left even the Abyss stunned.
"Alright," Damian answered calmly.
There wasn’t even the slightest hesitation. He had failed to protect everyone, he had gambled everything and still come up short. If this was the price he needed to pay to save them, then it was his responsibility to pay it.
This was his fault. He simply hadn’t been strong enough.
Losing ten Soul Fragments meant returning to the days when the Abyss held an overwhelming influence over his mind. It meant surrendering part of the freedom he had fought so desperately to reclaim. Unfortunately, that was something he would simply have to endure until he found a way to recover what he had lost.
Pa!
Kaizer’s smile vanished instantly as he felt something clamp around the arm still embedded inside Damian’s chest.
The grip was so monstrously powerful that the bones in his arm began snapping one after another beneath Damian’s fingers.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
Kaizer’s expression immediately changed. Looking up, he found Damian staring directly back at him with pitch black eyes.
It felt as though the man standing before him simply didn’t exist. His senses, which had never once failed him throughout countless battles, suddenly found nothing to grasp. It was as though Damian had become a hole in reality itself.
Pfft!
Blood sprayed everywhere as Kaizer instinctively jerked backward, only to realize that half of his arm had been torn away.
His horrified gaze slowly lowered toward the severed limb still embedded inside Damian’s chest, protruding through his back.
His hand still clutched Damian’s heart. A heart that had already stopped beating.
Without the slightest hesitation, Kaizer swung his remaining arm toward Damian, aiming to crush his skull before whatever had happened could fully unfold.
Damian effortlessly caught it. Then he pulled.
Riiiiip!
Like paper being torn cleanly in half, Kaizer’s second arm was ripped from his body.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Kaizer’s agonized scream echoed across the battlefield, drawing countless stunned gazes toward the heavens as millions witnessed the impossible sight unfolding before their eyes.
The man everyone believed had already been defeated was tearing the Dragon Prince apart with his bare hands.
Disbelief spread across every face watching the battle. Nobody understood what had happened. Moments earlier Damian had been floating lifelessly with his own heart ripped from his chest. Now the tide had reversed so violently that even Kaizer, who had dominated the final exchange, looked utterly helpless.
Unlike Kaizer, however, they were far too distant to notice the countless black cracks spreading beneath Damian’s skin, crawling upward until they reached his jawline.
"Impossible... You are..."
"There will be no escape!" Damian cut him off, his voice raspy and eerily distorted as he snapped his fingers.
Thousands of crimson plates materialized around them with terrifying speed, appearing so rapidly that there was barely enough time to comprehend what was happening before they began locking together.
In less than a second, the countless plates fused into a colossal crimson barrier that hung in the center of the sky like a miniature red sun overlooking the world.
Everything had happened so quickly that almost no one could process what they had just witnessed. One moment Damian had been impaled. The next he had ripped both of Kaizer’s arms from his body before imprisoning the Dragon Prince inside an enormous crimson prison.
Meanwhile, inside the False World, Kaizer remained rooted to the spot, his shocked gaze fixed upon Damian’s figure. For the first time since the battle had begun, genuine fear surfaced within his eyes.
Unlike everyone else Kaizer immediately recognized the entity masquerading as Damian.
"Abyss? How the hell did you get your hands on this inheritance?" Kaizer growled viciously, his voice thick with disbelief.