Chapter 46: HEART OF THE ABYSS
The world around Kaito was light and darkness, the edges of reality distorting as though reality itself was being torn apart.
The Abyss, that stationary form, was now shaking, its tendrils curling up and recoiling as though in fear.
Kaito felt the power within him surge, as though some ancient and primordial thing had awoken from the depths of his soul, stirring his soul and fueling his resolve.
Nyra’s hand was still clutched in his, her fingers cold and trembling. In spite of the shaking, her pulse—though weak—was steady.
The Abyss had come close to shattering her, had come close to claiming her entirely and leaving nothing behind but a shell. But Kaito would not allow it. Not now. Not ever.
"Stay with me, Nyra," he breathed, his voice a strained whisper amidst the cacophonous scream of the darkness. "Don’t let it have you."
She did not respond, but the merest whisper of recognition passed over her face—a flicker at the edge of her eye, a subtle tension in her posture.
The shadow that had taken her previously was still there, creeping over her skin like wisps of smoke, but now it quivered, almost uncertain.
For the first time in what felt like hours, Kaito glimpsed the woman she once was—the strong, confident sister who had never backed away from a fight, who had stood with him in a hundred battles, her scornful laughter ringing out in the face of danger.
The Abyss, however, was far from done.
It had received a taste of the power Kaito had unleashed, and now it sought to consume it, crush it under the heel of its voracious hunger.