The abyss twisted, its unseen currents threading through the shattered battlefield, responding to Kael in ways it never had before. He felt it—not just as energy, not just as power, but as something alive. Something waiting.
Rhyse stood before him, his stance steady, his Abyssal Flow pulsing in intricate waves around his form. His presence distorted reality, splitting echoes of himself into afterimages—fragments of time layered into the very fabric of their duel. He wasn't fighting conventionally. He was fighting across possibilities, shifting between them before Kael could register the attacks.
And yet—Kael didn't falter.
The Abyss moved with him, reacting to his instincts, adjusting to his momentum like a tide waiting to rise. For the first time, he wasn't just controlling Abyssal Flow. He was synchronizing with it.
Rhyse noticed. His expression remained unreadable, but Kael saw the shift in his energy—saw the small hesitation before his next attack.
"You feel it," Rhyse murmured, his voice resonating through the Flow rather than the air. "The Abyss is responding to you differently now."
Kael exhaled slowly. He didn't need confirmation. He already knew.
And then, without warning, Rhyse fractured the battlefield.
The ruins around them dissolved, replaced by an abyssal plane—an environment where space twisted unpredictably, where time flickered out of sequence. They weren't standing in reality anymore. This was a Flow Realm, a dimension where Abyssal energy dictated its own laws.
Kael adjusted instantly. He shifted his weight, letting his Void Anchor stabilize his presence before the distortion could take hold. Tidal Collapse rippled outward, anchoring his stance, pushing back against the shifting currents.
But Rhyse wasn't waiting.
He moved through the split layers of existence, attacking Kael from multiple angles simultaneously. Echo Genesis unfolded—each strike coming from different points in time, forcing Kael to process more than just physical combat.
Kael reacted without hesitation.
He let the Abyss lead him rather than forcing movement. Void Drift activated, distorting his presence mid-motion. Instead of dodging, he adjusted his resonance, making Rhyse's afterimages miscalculate by the smallest fraction.
The attacks passed through empty space.
For the first time, Rhyse frowned.
"You're adapting." His tone was unreadable—neither praise nor disappointment. "Faster than expected."
Kael didn't answer. He was already moving forward, pressing into the shifting battlefield. His Flow adjusted naturally, shaping around Rhyse's layered techniques rather than resisting them outright.
He could feel it now—the true nature of Abyssal Flow.
It wasn't just about power. It wasn't just about control.
It was about acceptance.
The Abyss didn't obey anyone. It was alive, shifting through unseen threads of existence, waiting for those who could balance with it rather than command it. And in this moment, for the first time, Kael understood.
The Deva watching from the sidelines murmured among themselves, their forms flickering between dimensions. Alyss remained still, her gaze sharp—analyzing, calculating, but not interfering.
Rhyse studied Kael's stance, adjusting his own. The battlefield felt different now. It wasn't just a test anymore. It was a confirmation.
"You are walking toward something irreversible," Rhyse said. He didn't sound like he was warning Kael. He sounded like he was stating fact. "What comes next will define you."
Kael rolled his shoulders, feeling his Abyssal resonance deepen. His Void Anchor was no longer just stabilizing him—it was adjusting the battlefield itself, shaping Flow patterns that had once been beyond his grasp.
He didn't need to speak.
He simply stepped forward.
The battle wasn't over.
His awakening had begun