A somewhat stupefied expression formed on his face as he looked at the desperate expression on the girl’s face. However, it did not take long for his vision to be clouded by the black arms pulling on him.
His feet began sinking into the ground like he was in quicksand and at the same he felt a strong pull on his feet, causing him to sink down further. It felt exactly like countless demons attempting to drag him down to hell with him.
And honestly, Kairos felt like that wasn’t too far off.
Yet, at the same time, it would make one wonder why that girl was so desperate to similarly go down with him. Not that he would’ve taken her. For one, he had to go by himself if he wanted to complete his mission. And even if he wanted to bring her along with him, it was already too late.
And so, while wondering about the girl he just saw, everything around him became black.
He began to feel the sensation of freefalling which was rapidly speeding up to a dangerous rate. Yet, at the same time, there was no sound, not even the roaring wind that normally came with moving down that fast.
Kairos took a look around, but nothing changed whatsoever. There was no light, so he could not perceive any perspective. He could’ve been falling in the narrowest tube or a canyon for all he knew.
As he continued downwards, the warning signals in his mind grew stronger and stronger. It felt like blaring alarm bells were ringing throughout his entire body, desperately asking for him to take action. In the end, he decided to trust it, attempting to channel a spell.
However, he quickly found out that he couldn’t actually do anything. After a few minutes, he realized that he was completely immobilized and that even his perception of looking around was a complete illusion.
In other words, he couldn’t do a single thing other than trust whatever the system had prepared for him. It wouldn’t just make him take a teleportation circle that made him fall to his death, right?
Just as he had that thought, he felt an extreme pain course throughout his entire body, while his mobility was restored. Unfortunately because of his future vision, he ended up experiencing it twice, which really shook him up.
He quickly broke out of his daze and tried to get up on his feet, and found, strangely enough, he wasn’t injured in the slightest. It was all phantom pain.
That was when a system notification appeared in front of him.
[Time Left Before Teleportation: 29 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds remaining]
He narrowed his eyes. Now, Kairos was officially in this Abyss realm. And immediately, he felt a sense of weakness spread throughout him once he came to a realization.
He couldn’t see at all.
Although there were tactile sensations telling him that he was indeed standing on the ground, he couldn’t even see himself. Even when it was nighttime at the surface, he could still see as a normal person did in the day, even with just a little bit of moonlight..
In other words, it had to be pitch black, wherever he was.
A deep frown was on his face. He really did not want to traverse through the place blindly, lest he slowly walk into a trap that his future vision couldn’t bail him out of. This naturally meant the only real option he had was to channel the fire spell to make some light.
But that was also shining a spotlight on himself. If there was anything hiding in the darkness, they would all be alerted.
Kairos cursed under his breath before raising his finger into the sky, channeling the fire spell. Though he didn’t like the idea, he also couldn’t think of anything better. It did not take long before a fireball formed above the tip of his finger.
It gradually expanded as he channeled more and more mana into it, and it did end up lighting things up. However, there was just one small issue.
By the time the fireball was over three meters wide, he could only just barely see himself. If he stretched out his hand, he wouldn’t be able to see it. What he could make out was what looked like tiny black flakes all around in the air, something he didn’t actually feel.
Kairos felt a bit of panic settling in.
He had the intention of throwing the fireball, trying to see if he could light the way. But that was when a voice called out to him.
“Hey! Cool it with the goddamn solar flare! What are you? A lighthouse?”
Kairos stopped channeling the fire spell, though the fireball was still at the tip of his finger.
“…I can hardly see without this thing.”
He then heard the sound of someone clicking their tongue.
“Without? How the hell can you see with it?”
After a few seconds of contemplation, Kairos let out a sigh.
“Is there anywhere that’s safe to throw a giant explosion?”
The voice seemed taken aback, as they took quite a while to respond.
“Er… pretty sure anywhere is fine, just don’t throw it at me.”
Following his advice, he threw the fireball into the opposite direction, causing a loud explosion. Kairos could feel the strong wind push into him after releasing it. And right when it did explode, was a very brief moment where he could see somewhat.
He wasn’t able to see the person talking, but what he was able to make out was that on top of this place being dark, the ground was also pitch black as well, almost like it was there to fit the theme.
The voice sucked in a cold breath.
“Fuck, what kinda core allows you to do that? Gah, my eyes…”
Kairos blinked a few times, still confused. As for the voice, it let out a sigh before falling silent for a few seconds. Kairos extended his future vision to two seconds to prepare himself, just in case the voice meant harm.
In that silence, the voice eventually spoke up, with clear confusion.
“Wait… you have black hair? Is that because of one of your cores?”
Kairos blinked a few times.
“Honestly, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
The voice was mumbling something, speaking like a crazy person in denial.
“No… no… that doesn’t make any sense… but..”
Kairos took a deep breath.
“What doesn’t make any sense?”
The voice seemed to break out of his stupor when he heard that.
“Ah, it’s just… I thought of something stupid, even though it isn’t possible. You maintained your skin really nicely though. If it wasn’t for the fact that this is the fourth layer, I might’ve thought that you were actually an Untainted person.”
Kairos’ eyelid twitched.
“And what if I was a living person?”
The voice didn’t respond for a good few moments.
“…Then you must be the luckiest person alive.”
Kairos rolled his eyes.
“And how is that?”
The voice clicked his tongue.
“Are you kidding me? I’m sure you know what kind of things exist around here. Even if you just got here, there’s still the third and second layer. Even the luckiest of the Untainted can at most reach the second layer. The third layer is frankly impossible.”
Kairos smiled bitterly.
“And what if I directly went to this fourth layer, skipping past all three?”
The voice responded after a short moment.
“…Then the Monarch that sent you here probably hates you. An Untainted doesn’t stand a chance in this layer.”
Kairos chuckled.
“In other words, you’re telling me I should be afraid?”
The voice let out a silent curse.
“…Huh. Well, not really.”
Kairos raised an eyebrow.
“Why so?”
The voice sounded helpless.
“If you really are an Untainted, then you’re just dead. There’s no point in worrying over it because that’s just a fact.”
Kairos narrowed his eyes slightly.
“You keep saying Untainted this, Untainted that. What if I become whatever this Tainted is?”
The voice paused for a moment, but was still dismissive.
“You don’t have the experience. You’ll end up dying.”
Kairos smirked.
“Try me.”
The voice was rather surprised by his confidence.
“Hm… it doesn’t sound like you think this is a dream. In fact, you really are taking this really well. Even when I first got here, I wouldn’t be as composed as you. You know what? Fine, I guess at least I’ll be able to see if you’re all bark or not. Hold out your hand.”
Kairos blinked a few times before doing as told. He soon felt a cold spherical object touch his hand. It was actually quite similar to the nature cores, but just a decent amount larger. He felt and moved it around between his fingers. It was smooth and soft to the touch.
“What is this thing?”
The voice cleared its throat.
“Oh yeah, you have no idea what it is. It’s a ball of black blood, which is worth quite a bit, may I add.”
Kairos sighed.
“Ok, so what am I supposed to do with it?”
The voice spoke as though it was obvious.
“Eat it, what else would you do with it?”
Kairos narrowed his eyes.
“Trying to poison me or something?”
The voice seemed offended.
“Here I am giving you an entire damn black ball, which is worth quite a bit by the way, and you don’t even appreciate it. You even go as far as to accuse me? There has to be a limit to how ungrateful someone can be…”
Kairos blinked a few times.
“And what exactly is eating this going to do to me?”
The voice took a deep breath.
“Ok, fair enough, I didn’t explain. I guess you really are new to this place. When a person first has some black blood, it will take over the body. Many different normal functions will cease while your body adapts to it. Generally speaking, your heart will stop… under most circumstances. But it will be replaced by a new black one. It essentially kills your body, but frankly, that’s the only way you’re going to actually survive.”
Kairos frowned. It sounded like there were caveats to whatever this transformation process was. That naturally made him feel apprehensive. But he also remembered how confidently the voice stated it would be for “Untainted” people to live.
From the sound of things, the voice could see clearly, while he couldn’t at all.
It seemed that even if there were side effects, he was forced into doing this unless he wanted to survive for thirty days here blind.
In the end, he decided to increase his future vision all the way to five seconds, straining his mind intensely. Then, he tried to eat the ball of black blood, intending to test it by using the full extent of his future vision.