[Location: The Abyss – Layer 1: The Ash Wastes]

[Time: 4 Days Since The Fall]

Night soon came, and using her flame ability, Isabelle started a campfire

The fire wasn't orange rather, it was a deep, bruising purple, crackling silently in the vacuum of the cave.

Damien sat near the flames, chewing on a strip of tough, rubbery meat. It tasted like battery acid and old pennies, Abyss Stalker jerky.

"Eat slowly, Master," Isabelle cautioned, sitting opposite him. She was sharpening her daggers on a piece of obsidian.

"Your stomach is still adjusting."

Damien swallowed the vile lump. He grimaced, but he didn't throw it up.

"I'm keeping it down," Damien muttered. "That's progress."

It had been four days.

Four days of walking through the grey ash. Four days of Isabelle fighting off monsters while Damien cowered behind rocks.

Four days of breathing through the Contract Gem.

But something was changing.

Damien looked at his hand. The black veins that had threatened to consume him on the first day had receded. His skin was still pale, but it wasn't burning anymore.

[System Status (Offline)]

[Mana: 500 / 120,000]

His mana was barely trickling back, but it was coming back.

The Shadow Dragon bloodline within him was split. The "Dragon" part, the Golden Sovereign wass comatose. It refused to function in this chaotic world.

But the "Shadow" part... the legacy of the Voss Family... was waking up.

'My ancestors were Void Walkers,' Damien thought, clenching his fist.

'They didn't just study the darkness. They lived in it. My body is slowly remembering how to breathe.'

Yes in the abyss, he noticed his shadow mana had begun to transform into the Void, much like what he had experienced with those cultist

'Could be why the original heavenly demon took a fancy to original Damien Voss? Not because of the contract gem ability, but because of his void lineage?'

Thinking of this Damien was shocked

He reached for the Pantheon Sword.

On Day 1, he couldn't lift it. On Day 2, he dragged it. Today, he lifted it.

It was heavy, and the blade was still dull grey, but he could hold it in a guard stance without his arm shaking.

"We need to move," Damien said, using the sword as a cane to stand up.

"The Stalkers are getting bolder. They know we're here."

Isabelle stood up instantly, kicking dirt over the purple fire.

"Which way, Master?"

Damien looked at the desolate horizon. "I don't kn—"

PING.

A sound rang out inside Damien's skull. It was loud, sharp, and digital.

Damien flinched, dropping the sword. He clutched his head.

"Master?" Isabelle stepped forward, alarmed. "Is it the poison?"

"No," Damien gasped, a grin spreading across his face. "It's somethingb ese never mind."

[System Rebooting...]

[Reboot Suceess… Suceccfuly Anylzed laws of the abyss]

Blue windows popped into existence in front of his eyes. They flickered, distorted by the static of the Abyss, but they were legible.

[Welcome Back, User: Damien Voss.]

[Current Location: The Abyss - Layer 1 (The Ash Wastes).]

[Divine Interference: NULLIFIED.]

Damien froze.

Nullified.

For sixteen years, every time he tried to use the System to locate his parents, he got the same error: [Blocked by Divine Interference].

Just like the plot had actively hidden them.

But here?

In the Abyss?

The Gods had no jurisdiction here. The "Golden Cage" of the Academy didn't just lock him in; it locked the very thing called destiny out.

"System!" Damien shouted, his voice echoing in the cave.

"Rerun Search Query! Target: Theron Voss! Target: Elizabeth Voss!"

Isabelle watched him, confused. She couldn't see the screens. She only saw her Master shouting at the air with a desperate, hungry look in his eyes.

[Query Accepted.]

[Scanning localized mana signatures...]

[Scanning...]

A loading bar appeared. It filled slowly.

Damien held his breath. 'Please. Be alive. Please.'

[Scan Complete.]

[Matching Signatures Found: 2.]

Damien's knees gave out. He slid down the wall, staring at the text.

"Found them," he whispered. "I found them."

[Target 1: Theron Voss (Father). Status: Critical.]

[Target 2: Elizabeth Voss (Mother). Status: Stable.]

[Location: The Citadel of the Rotting King.]

[Coordinates: Layer 9 - The Frozen Hell.]

Damien stared at the map that materialized.

It showed the Abyss as an inverted spire, going down nine levels. They were on Level 1. His parents were on Level 9.

"The Rotting King," Damien murmured.

He remembered the giant grey hand that had crushed the Academy. The face that had tried to eat them. That was the Rotting King. A Demi-God level demon.

His parents were most likely being held in his territory.

"Master?" Isabelle knelt beside him. "What do you see?"

Damien projected the map so she could see it. He pointed to the bottom of the spire.

"My parents," Damien said, his voice hardening. "They are here. At the bottom of the world."

He looked at the Pantheon Sword. He looked at his shaking hands.

For the last four days, his goal had been simple: Survive. Find food. Don't freeze.

But now?

The survival horror was over. The mission had begun.

Damien stood up. He grabbed the Pantheon Sword and strapped it to his back. He didn't use it as a cane this time instead he stood on his own two feet.

"We aren't hiding in caves anymore, Isabelle," Damien said.

"We have a goal now!"

He walked to the entrance of the cave and looked out at the infinite grey wasteland.

He looked down, imagining the eight layers of hell waiting beneath his boots.

"Get as strong as possible, as quickly as possible and find our family"

"I'm sure mom would be wondering how far we've grown all these years"

"And who knows, I might have a little sibling by now hahaha!" laughing lightly, Damiens eyes still remained narrowed as his motivation and determination began to rise

Isabelle walked up beside him. Her demonic eyes flared, sensing his resolve. Her horns hummed.

"Layer 9 is a long way down," she noted.

Damien hearing this nodded as he once again wore his silver mask, which was cracked down the middle.

"Then we better start walking."

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