Episode 67: The Eternal Abyss

The rift pulled them down.

Darkness consumed light, sound, and breath. For a moment, there was nothing—no ground, no sky, no self. Then the world jolted back into view.

They landed hard on jagged stone. THUND! Kuro's sword clattered beside him, sparks skittering across the surface. Akira groaned and rolled to his feet, drawing his katana. Reina landed in a crouch, her daggers already spinning in her hands. Elira stumbled, her frostfire wings flickering before disappearing, her hand clutching her chest.

The air felt thick. Heavy. Every breath tasted like ash and iron. Above them was not a sky, but a shifting sea of faces—countless, endless, each one whispering in broken tones. Some laughed. Some cried. Some screamed. All unfinished.

The Eternal Abyss.

Kuro's emberlight gaze scanned the horizon. Floating fragments of shattered realms drifted in the distance, chained together by rivers of molten shadow. The ground beneath them wasn't stone—it was bone, fused into ridges and plains, with skulls half-buried in black ash.

Reina muttered softly, her emerald eyes sharp. "Hell itself."

Akira let out a humorless laugh. "Nah. This place makes hell look friendly."

Elira's violet eyes trembled, fixed on the shifting faces above. "…They're memories. Lives. Everyone who's ever been consumed."

Kuro bent down, lifting his greatsword, its emberlight barely glowing. His shadow crown flickered with unstable sparks, strained by the weight of this place. "…And if we're not careful, we'll be next."

---

The ground shook. GRRRRUMMMM!

A crack split the surface, and a wave of black ichor surged from it, twisting into strange shapes. Figures rose—shadows with stolen faces, each mimicking someone familiar.

Kuro's blood ran cold as he recognized one of them—his mother's face. From Earth.

Another wore the face of his childhood friend. Another, the stern scowl of his old kendo instructor.

Akira tensed as his own family appeared among them—his father's disappointed glare, his younger sister's tear-streaked smile.

Reina froze when a figure in noble armor emerged, the crest of Ashthorne glowing on its chest. Her brother.

And Elira—her breath hitched as her mother's face appeared, smiling with cold cruelty.

The voices overlapped, screaming, whispering, laughing.

"You left us."

"You failed us."

"You should have died."

The shadows lunged.

SLAAAASH! THUND! CRASH!

Kuro swung first, his greatsword cleaving through the apparition of his mother. Black ichor sprayed outward, hissing across the bone ground. But even as the figure fell, it reformed, her face still intact, still whispering.

Elira screamed, frostfire erupting from her palms. KAAASHHH! Her blast froze three shadows, shattering them into shards. But when the ice cleared, the faces were still there, crawling back together.

Akira cut down one after another, his katana flashing in rapid arcs. SHIIIIING-SLAAAASH! But every strike unleashed more voices in his head, each one cutting deeper. His hands trembled.

Reina fought like a storm, her daggers tearing shadows apart. SHHK-SHK-SHK! But when her brother's face looked at her with lifeless eyes, her blades hesitated.

The battlefield was chaos—sounds of silence, screams, and clashing steel, with nothing staying dead and everything feeding the storm.

---

Kuro's system flashed warnings across his vision:

[System Alert: Eternal Abyss, Memory Corruption Level Rising]

[Warning: Anchor Stability 42%]

[Critical: Subject Kuro Jin nearing Identity Split]

He staggered as the faces whispered louder. His mother's face leaned close, whispering in his ear.

"You don't belong here. You're not a hero. You're a mistake."

His grip faltered. The emberlight crown above him flickered violently, sparks raining down.

Elira saw it—the danger in his eyes, the fracture. Her voice cracked as she shouted. "Kuro! Stay with me!"

She rushed to him, frostfire blazing, shielding him from the tide of shadows. Her hand gripped his arm tightly, her violet eyes shining fiercely. "Listen to me. I'm here. This place isn't real. We are real."

Her voice cut through the storm. For a moment, Kuro's emberlight steadied. His greatsword ignited brighter, flames roaring.

He growled, forcing the words out. "No. You're not my mother. You're not my friend. You're nothing."

BOOOOM! He unleashed a sweeping strike, emberlight flames consuming a wave of shadows.

---

But the entity's voice returned, rippling across the battlefield.

"You fight shadows, but every cut deepens your scars. The Abyss is not meant to kill. It is meant to erase. One memory at a time."

The shadows twisted, their forms shifting.

Kuro's mother merged into Elira.

Akira's father melded into Reina.

Reina's brother turned into Akira.

Elira's mother transformed into Kuro.

They weren't just facing ghosts anymore. They were facing each other.

Akira's eyes widened as Reina's replica lunged at him, daggers flashing.

Reina froze as Akira's double slashed at her with a katana.

Elira gasped as Kuro's shadow double loomed before her, emberlight crown burning.

And Kuro—his chest constricted as Elira's false form smiled at him with sorrowful eyes.

"Kuro," the copy whispered. "You'll never save me. You'll only lose me."

He roared, swinging wildly. SLAAAASH! THUND! Sparks erupted as his blade clashed against hers.

Elira screamed, frostfire colliding with his false form. KAAASHHHH-BOOOOM! The ground shook.

Reina's blades sparked against Akira's double. Akira's katana clashed against Reina's version. None of them could tell where the enemy ended and the ally began.

Confusion spread. Trust shattered.

---

Kuro's crown blazed violently, almost consuming him. His voice cut through the chaos. "ENOUGH!"

He slammed his greatsword into the ground. DOOOOM! Emberlight flames erupted, carving a circle around them. Shadows hissed, retreating for a moment.

Kuro stood in the center, blood dripping down his chin, his eyes blazing. His voice echoed across the abyss.

"We are not shadows! We are not chains! We are not yours!"

He turned, locking eyes with each of them. "Akira. Reina. Elira. Anchor yourselves. Say it. Out loud."

Akira gritted his teeth, katana steady. "I'm Akira Daisuke. I'm not a ghost."

Reina snarled, her daggers glowing with shadowlight. "I'm Reina Ashthorne. And I'm done being haunted."

Elira's violet eyes burned, her frostfire wings unfurling. "I'm Elira Valenhart. And I choose my own fate."

Kuro's emberlight crown erupted, stabilizing. His voice was a growl, steady and firm. "And I'm Kuro Jin. The Monarch of Darkness. Not your vessel. Not your curse. Me."

KAAA-BOOOOOOM!

The circle of flame expanded outward, incinerating the false forms, their screams fading into silence.

---

The battlefield quieted again. The faces in the sky stilled, their whispers growing fainter. For the first time, the Abyss hesitated.

But the entity's voice returned, softer now, almost amused.

"…So you anchor yourselves. Impressive. But the Abyss is endless. How long before even anchors rust?"

The ground cracked, revealing another layer beneath—darker, deeper, glowing with veins of crimson light. The pull was irresistible.

Kuro gripped his sword tighter, his body shaking, but his voice steady. "Then we go deeper. Until there's nothing left to hide behind."

Elira's hand found his again. She squeezed, eyes trembling but resolute. "…Together."

Reina rolled her shoulders, smirking through fatigue. "If we're going to hell, we might as well bring the fire."

Akira raised his katana, nodding. "And the steel."

The ground gave way. They fell again, deeper into the Abyss.

---

[To Be Continued...]

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