Layer Two of the Abyss. Vigil's Point.

For the residents of this hellscape, peaceful was a relative term, but the tension had noticeably dialed down. If Makareth wasn't so obsessive about maintaining the protective barrier around the clock, some of the locals might have been stupid enough to wander outside just to see if the coast was clear.

On this particular day, Delilah was pacing outside the meditation chamber, waiting for Orion to finish his grind. Makareth was doing his usual routine, funneling his supernatural energy into the wards like a living battery.

BOOM!

The impact was sudden and visceral. The barrier, usually as solid as bedrock, shuddered violently.

Makareth, who had been daydreaming about logistics for the Godforsaken Land, snapped back to reality instantly. He whipped his head up, scanning the obsidian sky.

There, clinging to the northern quadrant of the energy dome, was a shadow. At first glance, it looked like a bat. A massive, grotesque bat. It wasn't quite as titanic as the previous monster, but it was plenty big enough to ruin everyone's day. Its dead, hollow eyes stared down, fixating on the fresh meat inside the dome.

Then came the sound.

Crrrk-crunch.

It was the sound of the barrier being chewed on.

"Get Hulk. Now!" Makareth screamed at his lieutenant.

At the same time, Makareth frantically logged into the Survivor's Platform, spamming messages like a man possessed.

[Chat: Champions Alliance]

Makareth: @Hulk Quit grinding! Get your ass out here!

Makareth: Another Unhallowed. It's literally eating the shield.

Makareth: If you don't show up in five seconds, your brother and your girlfriend are going to be monster chow.

Orion didn't respond immediately. Instead, the chat lit up with notifications from the rest of the peanut gallery, led by the ever-cynical Leonidas.

Leonidas: You guys pulled a second Unhallowed? Already?

Leonidas: LMAO... why does this make me so happy?

Leonidas: Is this a prank? Or are you actually screwed?

Leonidas was still nursing a bruised ego and a battered body from his own encounter with a Unhallowed. Seeing Makareth and Orion in the weeds leveled the playing field in his mind.

Isabella: Are Abyssal monsters really that broken?

Isabella: Mak, you're nearly an Arch Lord. Can't you handle it?

Isabella knew the stats. Makareth had attuned to a Lord's Stone. In terms of raw power, he was top-tier, potentially the strongest among them in a fair fight.

Kraken: I've got things in my domain—deep sea trenches—that register as Arch Lord level, but they're the size of mountain ranges. One wrong move and they trigger tsunamis.

Kraken: Relative to size, Abyssal monsters are probably worse.

It was rare to see Makareth this rattled. Kraken, while not in the Abyss, understood the concept of "stat checks." Sometimes, it didn't matter how high your level was; if the enemy was a force of nature, you felt powerless.

Leonidas: Heh. Unhalloweds are nightmares. Imagination doesn't do them justice.

Leonidas: Even if you hit Arch Lord, it doesn't matter. You're just a bug to them.

When Makareth didn't clap back, Leonidas turned his crosshairs on the others. He wasn't actually worried about Makareth dying—Orion was there. Even if Orion's avatar got wrecked, he could hold the line. Leonidas knew Orion had an ace up his sleeve.

Makareth's panic wasn't just about the monster; it was about Orion being MIA.

Kraken: So, how big is the boss?

Leonidas: Imagine a skyscraper. Now imagine it wants to eat you.

Kraken: ...Point taken.

Back at Vigil's Point, Makareth's face went pale. The horror in his eyes was absolute.

The bat-like creature was moving, sliding along the curve of the barrier toward the apex of the dome. And as it moved, the truth revealed itself.

It wasn't a bat.

The "bat" was just the head.

Dragging behind it was a body that seemed to have no end. It was a serpent—a colossal, world-ending snake. It was currently wrapping itself around the dome of Vigil's Point, coil after massive coil, tightening its grip like a python strangling a rat. The sheer scale of it blocked out the sky, casting the entire settlement into darkness.

Just looking at it triggered a primal fear debuff. Minds shattered. Knees buckled. The residents of Vigil's Point stared up, paralyzed by the sheer magnitude of death circling above them.

"Don't just stand there! Rally everyone! Dump every ounce of mana you have into the shield!"

Orion's voice thundered in Makareth's ear.

Vigil's Point had a population advantage over the Foundry Citadel—ten times the manpower. If everyone acted as a battery, they could hold the line.

And then, Orion made his entrance.

But his arrival didn't exactly calm the crowd. In fact, it triggered a second wave of screaming.

Inside the barrier, a new monster had appeared.

It was the Abyssal Dreadfin.

It looked like a prehistoric Mosasaur on steroids—a hulking aquatic nightmare with jagged spines running down its back and writhing tentacles whipping around its torso. To the terrified civilians, it looked like they were trapped in a cage with a second boss monster.

"Hold your fire! Don't panic!" Makareth bellowed, his voice amplified by magic. "That's an ally! That is our trump card!"

Makareth forced himself to be the anchor. Once Orion showed up, his anxiety evaporated. He switched into commander mode.

"All combatants Alpha-level and above, get into defensive formation! Reinforce the grid! We hold this ground!"

Orion ignored the chaos on the ground. He had bigger problems. Currently floating in the air in his Abyssal Dreadfin form, his entire focus was locked on the intruder.

A second Unhallowed appearing this soon meant only one thing: a nearby Arch Lord gathering place had fallen. The settlement had been wiped off the map.

It's looking at me.

Orion floated upward, locking eyes with the bat-like snake head hovering just outside the translucent barrier.

The Abyssal Dreadfin form was massive, easily the size of a whale, but compared to the Unhallowed? He was a minnow. The snake was at least ten times his size.

Going outside to melee that thing would be suicide.

Orion knew his role. He wasn't the DPS right now; he was the battery. He drifted to the top of the dome and pressed his massive form against the barrier, channeling his immense reserves of power directly into the shield to counter the snake's crushing pressure.

Down below, the realization hit the crowd. The terrifying aquatic monster was saving them. Panic turned into a roar of approval. Cheers erupted from the streets of Vigil's Point.

Hearing the morale shift, Orion decided to stay airborne. Hovering there, a silent guardian against the darkness, did more for their spirit than standing on the ground ever would.

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