Mounds of dirt fell off Leo's shoulders as he coughed intermittently, his chest trembling while he struggled to stand. His muscles trembled, his breaths were sharp, and his eyes strained to focus through the mist that clouded his vision.
The beast—Airghoul—did not move. It stood there, cloaked in an aura of toxic shadows, as if it were waiting for something... as if it were giving him one last chance.
The howling wind between the rocks was the only sound filling the Abyss now, the air saturated with the scent of ash and decay.
Leo raised his head slowly. He was still alive, despite the pain ravaging his body. He thought that creature's blow had destroyed him, but he was here... breathing.
"Why?" he asked himself.
Was Airghoul toying with him? Or was it in the nature of beasts here to savor the fear of their prey before finishing them?
His right hand moved unconsciously toward the dagger strapped to his side, his fingers trembling. He could barely grip the hilt.
When his eyes met the glowing eyes of the beast, a bitter feeling of helplessness washed over him.
But he was not the only one watching.
Somewhere far away, a crystalline screen flickered in an underground control room, and a mechanical voice sounded:
"Emergency signal. Sector 731. Unclassified activity detected."
A man in black turned toward the device and pressed the communication button.
"Captain, we received an alert from the Southern Abyss—Demon Continent."
The reply came quickly.
"Demon Continent? Are there any active exploration units there?"
"Negative, sir. No one is authorized to descend into the lower sectors since the last purge operation."
A moment of silence passed, then the command came firmly:
"Trace the signal. And forward the report to Section Four."
In the Abyss, Leo had no idea he was being watched. All he saw was a wicked smile drawn on the monster's face, its spiked tail pounding the ground in a steady rhythm.
He was in a position no one would envy.
He had no strength, no speed, not even proper training. The only thing between him and death... was a desperate will to survive.
But he was no longer the boy who died in the train.
Leo had been buried with the bodies of the passengers in that fiery pit, and what rose today... was something else.
He stood slowly, leaning on a black rock covered in moss.
The tone of the wind changed. As if the Abyss itself held its breath.
Airghoul roared and lunged suddenly—
A superhuman speed swept the void, the monster's body hurtling toward Leo like a falling meteor.
But Leo... saw it.
Not with his eyes, but with something deeper.
A whisper from within:
"Dodge!"
Without thinking, he lowered his body abruptly, and the giant beast passed by him like a black bolt, its claws tearing the air where Leo had been a second ago.
"Hah... hah..." his breaths were ragged, and his heart threatened to explode.
A glance at a nearby rock revealed deep claw marks where the beast had struck.
"If that had hit me... I'd have been shredded."
He turned toward Airghoul, who had halted at the edge of a pit before slowly turning its body to face him again.
Drops of gray saliva dripped from its fangs, and its wide eyes blazed with a strange calm.
Leo knew... he wouldn't survive another lucky escape.
He raised the dagger and took a step forward.
A rusty blade, a trembling hand, and a body covered in scars. But in his eyes now... there was something different.
Something akin to madness.
"Come..." he whispered, his voice calm but filled with fury.
"Come and finish it..."
Airghoul roared again, writhing its body, drawing its shadow like a vortex.
But what the monster didn't expect was that Leo... didn't wait.
He rushed forward, dagger in hand, surpassing fear.
His steps were unstable, but driven by something deeper than training—the instinct to survive.
As he approached, he saw the monster's mouth widen, its claws ready to shred him.
But he ducked, dodged to the side, and rolled on the ground. In a split second, he drove the dagger into Airghoul's left shoulder.
"Kreeeh!" a savage screech echoed across the Abyss's walls.
The dagger pierced only skin, but it hurt the monster.
And in those seconds... the beast hesitated.
Leo didn't run. He didn't scream. He just stood there, dagger covered in black fluids.
"I don't know who I am anymore..." he muttered.
"But if I die here, it won't be because I gave up."
Slowly, he raised his left hand and dragged the dagger's edge across his chest, carving a symbol he didn't understand. Etched in his blood, and for a moment, the whole Abyss trembled.
"Partial Synchronization Activation... Failed."
"First Spectrum Activation... Pending."
Airghoul's eyes widened as if something invisible had surged from within the boy.
Noel Vier... had not opened his eyes yet.
But something... had begun.
A faint sound, barely audible, pulsed in Leo's mind—a strange rhythm, like a second heartbeat awakening within him.
"First Spectrum... Activated."
A transparent notification appeared before his eyes, emerging from nothing:
[Black Lotus System Activated]
User: Noel Vier
Age: 16
Status: Unsynchronized | Unstable
Active Spectrum: First (Abyss)
Basic Stats (Grade F-)
|Strength: F-
| Agility: F-
| Endurance: F-
| Focus: F-
| Spiritual Control: F-
Acquired Skills: [—]
Passive Skills: [Survival Instinct (Dormant)]
His vision trembled for a moment, and the faint light around him shifted into a pale gray hue. He didn't understand the meaning of these numbers, but the sensation felt familiar... like he had lived this moment in a nightmare.
"System? Stats? This... feels like a game..." he muttered.
But there was no time to think.
Airghoul roared again—but this time with hesitation.
As if the beast, despite its savagery, stepped back one step. Its body trembled, its fangs cracked, and its narrow eyes tracked the gray light emerging from the boy's body.
"No... you're not running now..." said Leo, his voice filled with grim sarcasm.
He stepped forward.
With just one step, he felt lighter. His muscles responded differently. No, he wasn't faster or stronger—but he felt in sync.
And with every heartbeat, the system responded:
[Survival Instinct] — Auto-Activated!
In life-threatening situations, Agility and Reaction Speed temporarily increase by 10%
His heart pounded, but he didn't feel fear.
Only... that he was alive.
Airghoul charged, but this time Leo slid beneath its body, twisted at an angle he'd never trained for, and stabbed the dagger again—this time into the rear knee joint of the beast.
"Kraaah!"
The beast staggered, its right leg trembling in the air, black blood spilling to the ground.
Leo retreated, panting, but didn't stop.
A sequence of attacks—not powerful, but precise.
"I don't need to be stronger than you..." he whispered.
"I just need to make you bleed... until you dry out."
And with each strike, the system responded:
[Primitive Skill Acquired: Consecutive Strikes – Level 1]
"Repeated attacks on the same area weaken natural defenses."
Rating: F
Seeing the new notification fueled his determination.
"I can do this... I really can."
But the beast was not finished.
Suddenly, Airghoul's body began to emit smoke, and the ground beneath it quaked.
"Phase Two — Venom Armor."
The black color of its body shifted into a liquid substance, congealing around it like an organic shield. Even its eyes vanished behind a slimy mask.
Leo froze.
"This... isn't fair."
[Warning!]
Beast: Airghoul has entered Phase Two — Threat Level: Fatal | Estimated Grade: C+
The difference between you and the target exceeds F-. Immediate retreat advised.
"Retreat?" Leo stared at the screen in disbelief.
Then at the beast.
Then at his little dagger.
Should he run? Should he obey? Should... he die?
His mind screamed:
"Run!"
But his heart roared something else:
"Fight."
He ran.
Leo didn't stop running toward the old gun he saw glinting among the rubble moments earlier, his heart pounding violently as if his life depended on that weapon. He reached it quickly and grabbed it with a trembling hand, as if fate itself awaited him behind this horrifying, bloody scene.
He slowly raised the gun to examine it, and as he did, his hand felt the cold weight of metal beneath dried blood. But he quickly discovered the chamber was loaded.
He took a deep breath, as if inhaling a dose of hope amid the thick darkness surrounding him.
He looked at Airghoul, still watching him with eyes ablaze with hunger and hatred, and despite the pain tearing through his body, his strength was renewed by a strange feeling of resolve.
He quickly reloaded the gun, his eyes catching the slightest movement of the beast.
He knew this moment could be the last in his life, but surrender was not an option.
He raised the gun toward the monster, and fired a single sharp bullet that tore through the air and struck hard into its shoulder.
The beast screamed—but it did not fall.
It charged again, faster, larger—but it no longer saw a prey.
It saw an opponent... worthy of respect.
(To be continued...)