Chapter 141 ‒ The Abyssal Echo
Chapter 141 ‒ The Abyssal Echo
The imposter’s body convulsed violently. Its shell and fur dissolved into molten sludge, dripping onto the scorched ground and bubbling into noxious vapor. Scales erupted across its skin in jagged, sickly green ridges. Bones snapped and reformed, limbs contorting and stretching until they resembled twisted branches clawing at the moonless sky.
For a fleeting heartbeat, Milo’s distorted face still clung to the half-formed skull, eyes bulging in silent, grotesque screams. Fingers elongated into hooked claws, scraping furrows into the dirt with a grating, nails-on-bone screech. Acidic saliva dripped in thick ropes, each droplet sizzling holes into the ground, releasing a stench like rotting marshes and burning venom.
Finally, a serpentine tail coiled and lashed behind, flicking up venom that hissed in the air like a living curse.
With a final, violent shudder, the creature stood complete.
Myrrak, the Veiled Fang of the Mire, emerged fully, scales glistening beneath the flickering embers. He reared back and let out a guttural hiss, his slit-pupiled eyes locking onto Tyler with twisted satisfaction.
“Ugh! Damn it! I thought I had you… but I guess you’re not a complete fool after all,” Myrrak spat, venom bubbling between his jagged teeth.
Tyler’s twin swords pulsed, crimson energy humming like a living heartbeat. His eyes narrowed, expression sharpening into a cold predator’s focus.
“Then there is no use holding onto this pathetic disguise,” Myrrak sneered. His torso convulsed, scales flexing and plates shifting into an armoured lattice. Misty venom seeped between his fangs as he hunched forward, claws twitching with lethal promise.
Myrrak lunged.
Tyler sidestepped, blade flashing in a savage arc, severing the sinuous tail at its base. The appendage writhed violently before dissolving into steaming acid, a scream of agony echoing into the night like a dying animal’s wail.
A thunderous roar ripped from Tyler’s throat. Veins beneath his skin glowed molten red as he hurled forward, shoulder lowered, smashing into Myrrak with [Ram]. The ground cratered beneath them, shards of stone blasting outward like shrapnel as Myrrak skidded backward, claws raking trenches in the earth.
A feral scream tore from Tyler’s lips — his muscles swelled as crimson lightning burst around him. [Berserk] activated. The twin swords quivered in his hands, eager and hungry. His heartbeat slammed against his ribs like war drums.
He lunged, blades crossing in a massive X-shaped arc that tore through Myrrak’s torso in a single, blinding heartbeat.
The world froze.
Myrrak’s eyes bulged, a final gurgle trapped in his shredded throat.
Tyler landed behind him, swords outstretched to the sides, shoulders rising and falling in ragged heaves. Silence pressed down, suffocating the broken battlefield.
A thin crack split Myrrak’s chest. Pale green light spilled forth as his scales splintered like scorched parchment. His head lolled backward, laughter bubbling up in gory spurts through his ruined lungs.
“Haha… so this is the end for me… But you’re forgetting something, [Player]…” Myrrak rasped, every syllable clawing against his throat. “I will return… when my time comes… You may stop me again… but how many times can you possibly stop me? Once you return to your precious world… there will be no one left… no one strong enough… to stop me…”
His laughter sputtered, breaking into wet coughs and choking gurgles as his body split apart. Shards of scale and bone drifted into luminous, ash-like particles, fading upward into the dark, starless sky.
---
In the void of Tyler’s mind, he collapsed to his knees, breath trembling and raw. His gaze locked on the ghostly screen hovering before him, replaying Myrrak’s disintegration in excruciating detail.
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His fingers twitched against the void floor, nails scraping tiny lines into the unseen surface. A thin tremor passed through his shoulders, as if his whole spirit might crack under the weight.
Behind him, the other self stood, leaning lazily against an unseen wall. Eyes glowing like two smouldering coals in the blackness, he watched Tyler with a blank, unreadable stare.
The screen flickered, showing Tyler’s form standing still amid the battlefield — swords dripping venomous blood, crimson aura swirling in cold silence.
The other self turned his head slightly, looking from the screen back to Tyler. For a moment, one corner of his lips curved upward, a faint almost-smile that vanished as quickly as it appeared.
Tyler’s breath stuttered, eyes wide and glassy. He staggered to his feet, hand outstretched as if to reach his other self.
“You… you knew,” Tyler rasped. His voice cracked into splinters. “You… saved me…”
The other self watched, head tilting imperceptibly. Then he turned away, melting into the dark fog beyond the screen.
“WAIT! Please!” Tyler lunged forward, fingers stretching desperately.
The other self raised a hand, palm open.
“Enough. Now leave.”
A sharp snap reverberated like a hammer against his skull. An iron door slammed shut between them, and a cyclone of shadows rose, swallowing Tyler in spiralling, crushing darkness.
---
Tyler’s consciousness snapped back into his body like a taut cord recoiling. His vision blurred and burned as bright lines flooded across his sight.
[+35 XP]
[Level Up! Tyler Level 203 → 204]
[Attribute Points: +1]
[Achievement Unlocked: Trials of the Mire]
[Grade: AA]
[Condition: Defeat the Primordial Beast, Myrrak, the Veiled Fang of the Mire]
[Acquired Item: Ancient Bone]
[Acquired Runestone — Camouflage]
[Skill: Disguise → Camouflage]
[User can completely blend into the environment by taking any desired form for 10 seconds. PE Cost: 5]
[Achievement Unlocked: Master of All Trials]
[Grade: S]
[Condition: Defeat all five Primordial Beasts in the world.]
Each notification flickered like a cold star, distant and meaningless.
Tyler stood trembling, swords heavy in his hands, breath ragged. His eyes dimmed into a haunted glow, empty as a void.
None of it mattered. No level up. No skill. No reward.
Only one thought coiled silently through the labyrinth of his mind.
The thing inside my mind… what is it really?
---
As Tyler stood trembling, the heavy silence around him seemed to stretch into eternity. His thoughts coiled and tangled, each breath scraping against the hollow in his ribs.
But a sharp, urgent cry cut through the fog in his mind like a blade.
“[Player]! Whatever ritual Yandeon was performing — it’s nearly complete! You must hurry, now!” Nellisa’s voice rang across the plateau, sharp and trembling.
Tyler’s head snapped up, eyes sharpening as though awakening from a nightmare. “Yes… there’s no time to waste here. I must take down Yandeon first. I can’t allow myself to drown in these thoughts. Not now.”
He called out, voice hoarse but firm, “Nelly! Is everyone… safe? Were there… casualties?”
Nellisa rushed forward, her fingers gripping Tyler’s gauntleted hands with surprising strength. Her golden eyes shimmered with a mixture of relief and sorrow.
“Do not worry, [Player]. Everyone is… alive. Though, there have been… quite a few losses,” she said, her voice quivering for a heartbeat before steadying. “Kragg is heavily wounded. Several mercenaries and Shindo warriors have fallen. But we are still standing — because of you.”
Tyler bowed his head, jaw clenched, words stuck like shards in his throat.
Nellisa tightened her grip, leaning closer. “Listen to me. You cannot afford to drown in grief now. We all stepped onto this battlefield knowing the cost. We are almost done containing the Wandering Ghosts. The main threat is waiting for you. You must finish this — for all of us.”
Tyler drew in a ragged breath, then lifted his gaze to meet hers. His eyes glimmered with a fragile, burning resolve.
“Thank you, Nelly… But now, you and the others must leave. I don’t know how this will end. If something happens to me… I need to know you’re all safe. Please, lead them away from here.”
Nellisa stared at him, her beak parting slightly as if to argue. But then she lowered her head, her feathers ruffling and settling close to her neck.
“Understood… [Player]. Please, return to us alive.” She turned sharply and hurried toward the remaining fighters, her voice rising as she rallied them to retreat.
A heavy tremor pulsed through the ground as Shindeon approached, his towering form casting a molten-red glow against the smouldering haze. His claws clicked, echoing like distant thunder.
“[Player]. I have upheld my end of our pact. Now, it is time for me to reclaim my sanctuary… and perhaps settle some old grievances with that putrid wizard,” Shindeon declared, his voice a resonant, godlike boom that rattled the air.
Tyler turned, sweat trailing down his jaw. “No, Shindeon. You must also leave. Yandeon plans to use your soul as a sacrifice. If I were you, I wouldn’t go anywhere near that magic circle. Please leave… I request you.”
Shindeon snorted, flames flickering between his fangs. “Hmph! At last, you speak with the proper reverence. Very well… I shall grant this request — not from fear, but out of respect for your sincerity. Remember this, mortal.”
The giant spirit turned away, each step sending shockwaves through the ash-strewn field.
Tyler slowly turned back to the darkened horizon, where a pillar of warped energy crackled skyward from Yandeon’s circle. His grip tightened on his swords, each breath drawing a trembling line of resolve across his lungs.
His lips parted, voice low and deadly calm.
“Yandeon… I’m coming.”