After Alex reached the third layer of the Abyss, he didn’t waste a single second.
He and his undead dashed forward, cutting down anything in their path.
The creatures that lurked in the shadows barely had time to react before they were torn apart by Alex’s relentless army.
The deeper he went, the thicker the darkness became, almost as if it had a mind of its own.
Sometimes, Alex felt it clawing at his spirit, trying to seep into his mind.
StOpTryInGYOuCanTWiN—
Before the voice could dig any deeper, Alex closed his eyes and focused.
A pulse of divine energy spread through his body, cleansing his mind from the invasive whispers.
Being the chosen of a god had its perks.
[You have reached the fourth layer of the Abyss.]
Without slowing down, Alex pressed forward.
The abyss was vast, but he moved like a man possessed.
Time lost meaning as he cut through the endless hordes.
An hour later…
[You have reached the fifth layer of the Abyss.]
The pressure intensified with every descent, a constant weight pressing on his shoulders.
It wasn’t just physical, it was mental too.
The feeling of being watched, judged by unseen eyes, never left him.
But Alex didn’t falter.
The monsters in the Abyss weren’t particularly strong, but their numbers were overwhelming.
His undead army slaughtered them by the thousands, leaving trails of bodies in their wake.
The upside? His progress toward his [Undead Lord] advancement task shot up.
[A-Level Advancement Task: Defeat 50,000 monsters with your undead.] (47,261/50,000)
He was close, really close, to evolving his talent, which meant even more power.
And that was always a good thing.
He’d also leveled up several times during his descent.
[You are now Level 865.]
The experience from the abyssal creatures wasn’t massive, but the sheer number of kills made up for it.
Plus, he extracted everything he could from their corpses, gaining thousands of attribute points.
But what mattered most…
[+923 Abyss Fragments.]
With that, his total shot up to 960. He was almost at a thousand.
[These will be useful if you manage to reach the bottom of the Abyss.]
That same panel had appeared before, but now another one popped up right after.
[You cannot reach the bottom without the “Abyss Key,” which can only be obtained using these fragments.]
“Oh,” Now it made sense why the fragments were so important.
Falling into the Abyss wasn’t just about fighting monsters or dealing with the crushing darkness.
It was a trap, if you didn’t gather enough Abyss Fragments, even if you made it to the bottom, you’d be stuck. Forever.
“Lovely,” Alex muttered, scratching his forehead, “Alright, let’s move.”
He gave the order to his undead army, expecting them to charge forward like they always did.
But… something was wrong.
The green glow from their eyes flickered.
“…?”
That had never happened before. His undead always followed his commands without hesitation.
“I SAID MOVE!” he shouted.
At his command, the usual green aura snapped back into place, and the undead surged forward into the next hole.
Alex followed closely, but the uneasy feeling in his chest grew stronger.
His instincts screamed that something was off.
He’d learned to trust those instincts, Kaelios had drilled that into him, and now they were blaring like sirens.
Thud!
Alex landed hard on his feet as he entered the next layer.
[You have reached the sixth layer of the Abyss. This is the final layer before the bottom.]
This was it. The next stop would be the seventh layer, where the [God of the Abyss] resided.
The final battle.
‘Only one more to go,’ Alex thought.
He glanced around, ready for a fight.
But… there was nothing.
No monsters. No shadows moving in the distance. Just silence.
The sixth layer wasn’t even that large.
It felt cramped compared to the previous layers.
“Huh…”Alex walked in one direction, but quickly hit a wall.
He tried another path, another wall.
Frustration bubbled up.
With a flick of his wrist, he unleashed five [Eternal Flames], lighting up the area around him.
And that’s when he realized his instincts were right.
The room was massive, but it wasn’t just an open space.
It was a perfect circle, smooth walls on all sides.
No exits. No other holes to dive into.
Except for one thing: a massive door stood at the far end, easily ten meters tall.
Strange symbols and inscriptions covered its surface, glowing faintly in the darkness.
In the center of the door was a giant lock.
[Creating the “Abyss Key” requires 1000 Abyss Fragments.]
Alex approached the door, and as he did, another panel appeared.
Beep!
[Current Abyss Fragments in possession: 960.]
[You do not have enough Abyss Fragments. Too bad!]
His eyes widened.
“No way. No fucking way.”
He couldn’t be stuck.
There was no chance he was stuck… right?
But the more he looked around, the more it made sense.
The sixth layer wasn’t meant to challenge him with monsters.
It was a trap. A prison for anyone who hadn’t gathered enough Abyss Fragments.
No creatures, no way to fight for more fragments, just endless waiting.
The Abyss wasn’t about being insanely difficult.
It was about making sure you couldn’t escape.
“Shit…”Alex flared his [Wings of Destiny], white and golden feathers glowing in the darkness.
Fly!
He launched himself upward, aiming for the hole he’d entered from.
Flying wasn’t hard, he’d mastered it quickly, and in less than a minute, he was at the ceiling, trying to re-enter the fifth layer.
But as he approached the hole, a dark barrier pulsed, blocking his way.
[In the Abyss, there is no going back.]
Alex gritted his teeth.
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He tried everything afterward: spells, claws, brute force, but nothing worked.
The barrier didn’t even crack.
He was trapped, and he wasn’t about to risk burning through his [Destiny Points] unless it was the absolute last resort.
There had to be another way.
With a deep breath, Alex landed back on the ground and sat down.
He unsummoned his fox spirits, they wouldn’t be much help here anyway.
But when he reached out to unsummon his undead army…
An alarm blared in his mind.
[DO NOT UNSUMMON THEM.]
The warning was loud and insistent.
Alex froze.
“…Alright,” he muttered. “You can stay.”
He ordered the undead to move toward the Abyss Door and attack it.
They obeyed, hacking at the door with their weapons.
Of course, it did nothing.
The door didn’t even scratch.
Ten minutes passed.
Then the voices came back.
YoUcAnTwIn… WHynOtgIVeUpaNdJoInUS?
This time, they were louder, more persistent.
And for the first time… Alex struggled to push them back.
His confidence wavered.
The voices grew stronger, whispering in his mind, wrapping around his thoughts like chains.
Minutes turned into hours.
Alex didn’t know how long he sat there, the voices gnawing at his sanity.
The endless whispering, the feeling of hopelessness creeping in.
But then…
‘Well,’ he sighed, his eyes narrowing. ‘I guess I’ll have to use it.’
It was time.
He didn’t want to since he planned to save it for when the [God of the Abyss] was before him, but there was no choice.
He stood up, summoning the power of [World Cleaver].
If the Abyss wanted to trap him, then he’d carve his way out.