The abyssal guardian's first step shook the chamber so hard that hairline cracks spiderwebbed through the dais. The suspended sphere above it rippled, black liquid folding over itself like a breathing lung.
Selindra's stance was narrow, blade angled forward, her gray eyes glinting sharp under the glyphlight. Varik shifted a step, his sword held in both hands, shoulders low.
Lucen swallowed, heat crawling under his skin. 'I don't belong in this fight. Not at this level. But if I sit on my ass, I'll die anyway. So—' He flexed his fingers, letting mana flare in his veins. '—I make myself useful.'
The guardian moved.
It didn't rush like the lesser ones. Instead it bent, low and deliberate, and swept its arm across the chamber. The air rippled with the strike, pressure slamming into them like a tidal wave.
Selindra cut through it. Literally. Her blade flashed, and the wave split in two, cascading against the walls harmlessly. Sparks of abyssal energy hissed and sputtered around her boots.
Varik didn't even dodge. He surged forward into the force, sword cutting a line of silver light. The impact when he struck the guardian's arm sent an aftershock that rattled Lucen's bones even from twenty paces away.
The construct reeled, but only slightly.
Lucen lifted a hand. [Shockweave Bolt!]
A lattice of crackling blue mana shot forward, crawling up the guardian's torso. The smell of ozone filled the chamber as arcs danced along its glyphs. The thing paused mid-motion, its joints spasming.
Selindra didn't hesitate. She closed distance instantly, her blade stabbing upward in a precise thrust at the gap Varik had opened. The steel met resistance, then slid in, hissing against corrupted stone.
The guardian roared, a guttural vibration that shook dust loose from the ceiling.
Lucen's system blinked warnings across his vision.
[Structural Weakness Identified.]
[Location: Upper Thoracic Carving.]
His eyes snapped to the glowing runes carved across its chest. One pulsed brighter than the rest, struggling to stay hidden under the shadowy armor.
Lucen's grin sharpened. "Got you."
He sprinted, boots pounding the stone, gathering mana so fast his skin burned. [Piercing Flare!]
A searing white spear burst from his hand, streaking toward the glowing rune. It struck dead center.
The guardian staggered, a crack splintering across its torso, black ichor spilling like tar. Its roar cut off into a low, grinding hiss.
Varik's voice thundered over the noise. "Again, Lucen!"
Lucen gritted his teeth, sweat running down his back. "Working on it!"
The guardian's counterattack came hard, a fist like a falling mountain slamming down. Varik intercepted, blade raised. The collision exploded with force, air whistling as shockwaves ripped outward.
The ground beneath Varik's boots shattered, dust pluming, but he held the strike without budging an inch.
Selindra pivoted low, slicing across the guardian's leg. Her blade traced a line of frost that spread rapidly up the limb, locking the joint in place.
Lucen saw his chance.
He threw both hands forward, screaming mana out through every nerve. [Cataclysm Vector!]
The ground under the guardian erupted, force vectors exploding upward. The creature buckled, dragged off balance, its massive body crashing sideways. The sound of stone splitting echoed through the vault.
Varik didn't waste the opening. He leapt, impossibly high for his bulk, sword raised overhead. When he came down, it was like a meteor had struck. His blade bit deep into the guardian's chest, straight through the rune Lucen had cracked earlier.
The crimson lights in the construct's eyes flickered.
Selindra was already moving, her blade slashing again and again in precise, surgical cuts, widening the fracture across its torso. "Lucen! One more—now!"
Lucen's lungs burned, mana already scraping bottom. His system flashed his reserves:
[Mana: 34 / 168.]
'One more. Gotta make it count.'
He braced his feet, pulled deep, too deep. His vision blurred, but the spell gathered anyway, hotter than fire, brighter than steel. [Ignition Burst!]
Flames roared outward in a wave, slamming directly into the wound Varik and Selindra had carved open. The explosion burned white for a moment before collapsing into hungry orange.
The guardian's roar cracked into static, then silence.
Its body trembled once, twice, then shattered, the stone body collapsing into fragments that dissolved into black mist. The abyssal sphere above it flickered wildly, like a flame in wind, before stabilizing into a slow, steady pulse.
Silence.
Real silence.
Lucen dropped to one knee, chest heaving, sweat pouring down his face. His system pinged.
[Final Guardian Defeated.]
[XP Gained: +18,000.]
[Level Up — 33.]
[Mana Pool Increased: +8.]
[Skill Proficiency Increased: Shockweave Bolt, Cataclysm Vector.]
Lucen wheezed a laugh, pressing the back of his hand to his forehead. "Well. That sucked."
Varik sheathed his sword slowly, his chest barely moving with his breathing, calm as though he hadn't just cleaved apart an abyssal SS-tier guardian. "It's done."
Selindra exhaled, blade lowering. Her eyes flicked briefly to Lucen, not with softness, but with something like recalibration. A weighing.
Lucen caught the look and smirked through his exhaustion. "What? Didn't expect the rookie to keep up?"
Selindra didn't answer, just cleaned her blade on a scrap of cloth before sliding it back into its sheath.
Varik stepped onto the dais, standing directly beneath the relic. The sphere pulsed once, casting shadows across his face.
"Careful," Selindra warned sharply.
He didn't touch it. Not yet. His gaze stayed locked on its surface, watching the way it bent the light, the way it seemed to breathe.
Lucen dragged himself upright, groaning. "So… we grab the evil bowling ball and go home, right?"
Varik's silence stretched long enough that Selindra frowned, stepping closer. "What's wrong?"
He finally answered, voice flat but heavy. "This… isn't dormant. It's waiting."
Lucen raised a brow, brushing soot off his gloves. "Waiting for what?"
The sphere pulsed again, once, twice, like a heartbeat.
And for the first time, Lucen thought he saw something move beneath its liquid surface — not a reflection, not a ripple. Something watching back.
—
The sphere pulsed again, harder this time, and before anyone could move, it dropped from its suspension like gravity had suddenly remembered it.
Lucen's eyes widened. "Oh shi—"
The relic shot forward.
Straight at him.
It wasn't fast like a projectile. It moved like liquid drawn to a drain, curving through the air in a perfect line until it slammed against his chest.
Lucen staggered, back hitting the dais hard. Cold flooded his veins, not the chill of frostspells, but something deeper, alien, like drowning with his eyes open.
"Lucen!" Varik was already moving, sword half-drawn.
Selindra's blade cleared her sheath in a single hiss, her boots ringing against stone as she lunged. "Get it off him!"
Lucen gasped, clutching at his chest. The sphere wasn't on him anymore. It was in him, half sunk into his sternum, black fluid threading out like veins of ink spreading under his skin.
"Not…—" he choked, voice cracking. "It's not—stuck—"
His system flared to life.
[Warning: Abyssal-class anomaly detected.]
[Attempting Sync Override.]
[Error: Compatibility—High.]
Lucen's vision whited out.
Selindra's blade came down. Varik caught her wrist mid-swing, grip iron.
"Move!" she snapped, eyes flashing. "It's corrupting him—!"
"No," Varik said, voice steady, calm in a way that only made her angrier. "Look."
She froze.
Lucen wasn't writhing. He wasn't screaming. His breathing was ragged, sure, but the black veins crawling across his chest weren't spreading anymore. They pulsed, in rhythm with his heartbeat.
Selindra's sword trembled once in her hand. "That's… impossible."
Varik's eyes narrowed, jaw set. "No. It's him."
Lucen let out a broken laugh, head tipping back against the stone. "Oh great. I'm a… a cosmic USB port now. Just what I needed."
The system pinged again.
[Relic Integration: 12%]
[Stability: Fluctuating.]
'Fluctuating? Yeah, no kidding.' His hands shook, not from fear but from the raw current of energy running through them. His fingertips sparked with stray mana, blue and black tangled together.
Selindra stepped back, disbelief sharpening her voice. "He should be ash right now. Or worse. Nothing survives direct contact with abyssal relics. Not even high-rankers."
Varik let go of her wrist, lowering his sword back into its sheath. "He's not nothing."
Lucen barked out another laugh, still wheezing. "Romantic. Save that for when I die, big guy."
[Relic Integration: 19%.]
The veins pulsed brighter, spreading up toward his shoulder, down across his ribs. Lucen clenched his teeth. Heat and ice battled under his skin, each breath scraping like sandpaper.
He looked up at them through the haze, eyes bloodshot but focused. "Okay. Options. One—cut me open. Two—" he coughed, hard, "—wait and see if I explode. Three—"
His system cut in.
[Option Three Detected: Forced Synchronization.]
[Warning: May result in permanent system alteration.]
Lucen blinked. 'That wasn't a joke.'
Selindra's blade was still drawn. Her knuckles were white around the grip. "Varik. If we don't sever this now, it could anchor. Abyssal corruption isn't reversible."
Varik didn't look at her. He looked at Lucen. Only Lucen.
And Lucen understood.
'He's not asking if I'll survive. He's asking if I can control it.'
The system pinged again, insistent.
[Relic Integration: 27%.]
Lucen forced a grin, even as sweat poured down his face. "Guess we're going with option three."
Selindra snapped toward him. "Are you insane? That thing will hollow you out!"
Lucen's grin widened, feral now. "Lady, look at me. You think this system hasn't been trying to kill me since day one? If it wanted me dead, I'd already be a corpse. This—" he jabbed a thumb at his chest, where the veins pulsed like a second heartbeat, "—this is just Tuesday."
Varik's lips twitched, almost a smile. Almost.
Then the relic pulsed harder.
Lucen arched, a cry tearing from his throat as the veins blazed with light. His system screamed warnings.
[Relic Integration: 40%.]
[Overload Threshold Approaching.]