The Warden's corpse lay sprawled across the sundered battlefield, its colossal frame twitching in spasms of decaying shadow. The blackened armor cracked and split, revealing the cursed flesh beneath — rotting and pulsing with a foul, abyssal heartbeat. But that beat faded now, one echo at a time, until silence reigned once more.
Li Shen stood amidst the ruin, bloodied and swaying, his sword planted in the earth to keep him upright. His breath came in ragged gasps, each exhale leaving behind steam in the frozen air. His limbs trembled not from fear, but from exertion — the toll of battle carved deep into muscle and marrow.
But he had done it.
The Abyss Warden, the ancient jailor of the void, had fallen by his hand.
And then came the voice.
Ding.
A low, thunderous chime echoed through his skull — the sound of chains breaking, of doors being unlocked in the farthest reaches of the abyss.
> Quest Update: Sovereign of the Abyss
You have slain the Abyss Warden.
Objective Complete: Defeat the Warden.
New Objective Unlocked: Subjugate the Three Abyssal Thrones.
— Abyssal Throne of Flesh (Unclaimed)
— Abyssal Throne of Shadow (Unclaimed)
— Abyssal Throne of Madness (Unclaimed)
Reward for Completion:
Title – Sovereign of the Abyss
Skill – Abyssal Command: Dominate all beings born of the Abyss.
Weapon – Throat of the Void (Sealed)
Realm Unlock – True Abyssal Core
Li Shen's eyes narrowed, the cold light of realization dawning within them.
The Warden had merely been a gatekeeper — not the king, but the doorman of an empire buried in oblivion.
The Abyss wanted a master.
And now it wanted him.
His knees buckled, the cost of the final blow catching up to him. Blood seeped from wounds that had barely clotted, but before he could collapse, a swirl of violet-black energy surrounded him. The system's healing began — gentle at first, then flooding through his muscles with a burning sensation that forced a groan from his throat.
"Not yet," he muttered, forcing himself upright. "I'm not done."
As the cursed blood of the Warden seeped into the earth, the surroundings began to change. The arena melted away, consumed by waves of howling black fog, until Li Shen stood alone on a massive obsidian platform suspended in the void.
Then the system spoke again, colder this time.
> Abyss Core Awakening…
Access granted: Abyssal Authority Protocol.
Warning: Your soul is not yet worthy. Trial of the Sovereign will now begin.
The ground cracked.
From the darkness below, something vast stirred — a shriek unlike anything mortal, a chorus of ten thousand dead gods screaming in unison. A formless horror erupted from the abyss, a grotesque mass of fanged limbs, pulsing eyes, and oozing tendrils.
The Abyss had spawned a test.
Its name slammed into his mind like thunder.
> [Abyssal Tyrant: Ul'Zeth, Guardian of the Throne of Flesh]
Threat Level: Cataclysmic
Objective: Survive
Li Shen's breath caught as the behemoth rose to full height, towering above him like a mountain of hate. But his sword was already in hand. This was not a battle he could afford to lose.
His feet moved before he could think. His cloak whipped behind him, shredded from the last encounter, and his blood traced fire in the air. The Abyssal Tyrant struck first — a hundred tentacles shot toward him like spears.
Li Shen vanished.
Reappeared midair.
Boom!
He struck downward, cleaving through one of the beast's writhing arms, black ichor exploding into the air. The monster shrieked, the sound rupturing stone and tearing the veil of silence.
The fight began in full.
Li Shen moved like a demon born of battle, his every slash guided by instinct and memory honed through hellish trials. His sword cleaved through limbs, parried crushing blows, and struck into the very core of the behemoth's hateful mass.
But the Tyrant would not fall easily. It regenerated, mutated, adapted — tendrils sprouted blades, eyes formed and fired beams of voidfire, mouths opened and screamed madness.
And then came the whispers.
"Claim the throne…"
"Become one with the abyss…"
He staggered as the voices grew louder, clawing at his sanity. The true trial wasn't just physical — it was a battle for the soul. The Abyss tried to tempt him, to offer power in exchange for surrender.
But Li Shen's resolve was no longer fragile.
He roared back — not with words, but with power.
Black flames erupted from his body, a fusion of his cultivated essence and the cursed void. His sword glowed with abyssal light. His system synced with the dark energy, stabilizing it, controlling it.
[Forbidden Art: Soulbrand Ascension — Activated]
His body split open with runes, veins lit like rivers of magma. Time slowed. Power condensed.
He dove.
Struck.
"Abyssal Severance!"
The blade pierced the Tyrant's core.
A scream.
A thousand screams.
And then silence.
The creature's body erupted in a detonation of gore and shadow that blotted out the platform. When the smoke cleared, only Li Shen stood — drenched in black blood, eyes cold and distant, body trembling but victorious.
The platform quaked.
> Throne of Flesh — Claimed.
A towering obsidian throne rose from the void, crowned with bones and sinew, carved with runes older than time.
Li Shen stood before it, and as he did, the system chimed once more.
> Title Gained: Heir of the First Abyss
Skill Gained: Abyssal Bloodline (Dormant)
Throne Unlocked: Flesh
Abyssal Progression: 1 / 3
Remaining Thrones: Shadow. Madness.
He turned from the throne without sitting.
Not yet.
There were still two more thrones.
But as he walked into the fog again, the shadows bowed in silence.
Li Shen, the heir of the abyss, had begun his reign.