The tall, over five-meter-high stone gate revealed a narrow corridor behind them, filled with statues that looked like knights. Above them were several mural paintings. The first on the right showed what looked like a young girl with black eyes handing a woman with a golden diadem a black flower. The next depicted that same woman, now older, giving a speech to hundreds from a royal balcony. The following four paintings were destroyed. The fifth showed a weak farm boy pointing a purple flower at the queen. This was the last mural; all the others had been destroyed as well.
"Any thoughts?" Ricarda asked after everyone had taken a look at the murals.
Thalion didn’t really have any. The color of the plant reminded him of the light that had annihilated his aura of darkness, but other than that, there wasn’t much to make of it. Only the first image with the girl showed any real facial expression. That made it difficult to draw a clear conclusion, especially with so much missing.
"I don’t know. We need more hints. Everything is so conflicting. On the tablet earlier, it said this was a kingdom of light, but the only light here comes from those purple neon crystals," Pikar muttered, clearly unhappy with what had happened here.
They continued down the corridor while Thalion tested his skills a bit, moving a few dark tendrils around his body. It seemed that only his aura of darkness was affected by the neon light. The corridor opened into a wide staircase leading downward. It felt like they were descending for kilometers, but since they could use their movement skills without alerting anything, it wasn’t a problem.
The stairs ended in a massive chamber. The ceiling was over a hundred meters high, and in the middle stood something that looked like a triangular portal, currently deactivated. The moment they stepped inside, a large stone slab sealed off the exit, and runes began to light up around the portal. When Thalion examined them, they resembled a sacrificial ritual. After three sacrifices, the portal would open, revealing whatever lay beyond.
Pikar and Ricarda spun around when the stairs were blocked by a stone barrier from above, both looking uneasy. Thalion’s gaze shifted upward. On the ceiling, just outside the reach of the neon light, he spotted a female figure. She looked just like the queen from the murals. Time had not been kind to her. Now she resembled more of an alcoholic—skin stretched tightly over bone, with sunken black eyes. The black dress she wore must once have been beautiful, but now it was covered in dust and torn in many places.
When the stone sealed the exit, her head snapped up, locking onto their direction. An identify hit Thalion, and a wide smile spread across her face—far wider than any human should manage.
"She is at D grade..." Ricarda stammered, taking a step back. Pikar did the same.
To be sure what he was facing, Thalion identified the creature hanging above them.
Urnari – Level 182
Well, at least early D-grade. On the positive side, killing her might give him a full level.
Then she released her aura. It was similar to Thalion’s as an Eclipsari, with the key difference that hers could resist the neon light. It wasn’t extinguished—only dimmed. She dropped, and in an instant, landed right in front of Thalion. Much faster than expected. He stepped back as well; that had been too close. The dimmed neon light burned her skin, thin wisps of darkness rising from it.
"This was all created to keep her contained?" Pikar exclaimed in horror.
The neon light made that obvious—but what was the portal for?
"How fortunate. I have tried for so long to open the portal, and now you appear before me as an act of providence," the queen hissed. Her voice sounded like it hadn’t been used in a long time.
"Just out of curiosity—where does the portal lead?" Thalion asked, readying himself to go all out.
"Nothing special. Just a small pocket in space, acting as a prison… but not for much longer," the queen said. This time, Thalion could clearly see the many rows of tiny, sharp teeth.
The queen launched forward so fast that Thalion didn’t even have time to think about dodging—he attacked instead. Darkness gathered around his claws as he thrust them forward. She was quick; realizing he would strike her if she continued, she dissolved into liquid shadow. The surge hit him like a flood. The barrier of darkness that had briefly enclosed him shuddered violently, then collapsed, hurling him against the opposite wall.
The queen reformed, watching him with her head tilted."You should have died from that. Only these unholy walls—and that light—can resist my power in my weakened state."
Thalion didn’t bother explaining anything about his race. He attacked again. If she tried that trick once more, he would use his tendrils to absorb it—hopefully cleansing it like all other matter he turned into darkness. To pressure the D-grade, he activated Shadow Step. Pikar and Ricarda kept their distance, ready to intervene if necessary.
This time, the queen took him seriously. Power erupted from her, her aura swelling until the neon light was almost completely forced back. Darkness gathered before her, forming a wall. Thalion didn’t hesitate. He tore through it, his tendrils feeding on the skill as he passed.
The moment he broke through, a kick slammed into his chest. His skin shattered, and he was sent flying like a cannonball into the opposite wall. The queen appeared before him instantly, darkness shaping into a blade around her hand as she struck for his head.
Thalion twisted aside and unleashed multiple tendrils. She abandoned the attack, flipping backward in two fluid motions. Just as he prepared to pursue, a bolt of black lightning shot from her hand. He barely managed to raise both arms before it struck.
The force was immense. He had to push forward with everything he had just to not get flattened against the wall behind him. The queen was no amateur. Her overall power far exceeded his. Fortunately, she relied more on speed than raw strength. If he could get a solid hold on her, he could tear her apart. And with his affinity for darkness, killing him with skills should be nearly impossible.
She dissolved into liquid shadow again—but this time it expanded, swelling into a surging mass before rushing toward him. Thalion barely dodged, but the dark current curved mid-motion and caught him.
Inside the torrent, he unleashed his tendrils and began to consume. The absorption was far faster than anything he had converted before.
As he devoured more and more, the queen abruptly ended the skill. She seized his leg and slammed him into the ground. Her fingers elongated into claw-like blades of darkness as she followed up.
Thalion’s vision swam. He barely managed to raise his arms. Both claws carved deep into them. He kicked her away just enough to create space—but before he could counterattack, Void-Adaptive Mutation activated.
His vision twisted. His mind plunged into the void.
It felt like being dragged into a black hole, pulled downward with no resistance. The darkness pressed in, suffocating even for him. Then—ripples. Faint disturbances moved through the abyss.
He drifted toward their source.
A battle.
A dark mage clashed with a monstrous entity. The mage was tiny compared to the creature, its features obscured by the dense void. Only the mages silhouette was visible—humanoid, draped in something resembling a dress.
The creature was grotesque. A towering, black giant, its midsection formed of churning clouds. Massive mouths gaped across its head and arms, while jagged spikes protruded from its flesh.
The mage moved with impossible speed, unleashing devastating bolts of black lightning. Each strike sent ripples through the void—echoes of power beyond anything Thalion could comprehend.
Yet the monster endured. The lightning vanished into its body, leaving no mark.
Again and again, the mage struck. Twenty bolts descended in rapid succession—each one swallowed whole.
Then the vision shattered.
Thalion snapped back into his body, a notification flashing before his eyes.
You have gained a Form-Bound Title
Bearer of the Abyssal Carapace
Your flesh is reforged into an abyssal shell, hardening with every injury endured. Physical and elemental attacks are greatly reduced as your body adapts, turning damage into resilience. You can consume ambient darkness to reinforce your carapace, rapidly restoring durability and vitality. Attacks infused with shadow are partially absorbed, feeding your strength instead of harming you. The deeper the darkness around you, the more unbreakable—and monstrous—you become.
Thalion didn’t have much time to read as three spikes of darkness slammed into his chest. Normally, the force would have been enough to tear him open—but this time, nothing of the sort happened. Instead, he only felt the sheer impact, pinning him to the ground for a brief moment. His skin remained completely intact, and he watched as the spikes were fully absorbed into his body.
"Neat!" Thalion grinned, baring his sharp teeth. "Please tell me you have more to donate."
The queen stared at him in shock, and he could feel her fear beginning to rise. Thalion seized the moment, flaring his aura to its fullest as he shot forward. She was still faster, still stronger—but her attacks no longer did any real damage. They pushed him back, nothing more. In the end, they only made him stronger.
He even found time to glance at his status screen. Nothing had changed—except for the new title, marked with the small note Form-Bound. That likely meant its effect applied only to this form, not the others.
And this was what his mutation had given him? A title?
It almost felt too good to be true. This wasn’t some minor upgrade—it made him practically untouchable against most forms of darkness. The queen might have been early D-grade—whether weak or strong for that tier, he couldn’t tell—but in raw power, she still far surpassed him.
Now, though…
She was nothing more than fertilizer.
Welcome to a new week,
and thank you all for the support over the past months :)
I know the story is picking up speed and tension again, but right now it feels like I might need a short break.
I’m not entirely sure yet—maybe I’ll take the next week off, or there might simply be fewer chapters. Nothing is confirmed, and I’ll decide after this week.
Oh, and since I’ve received a few questions about the length: I can’t give an exact number of chapters, but it will be significantly shorter than the first one, which was a special case.