The moment Stephan accepted the System's offer, darkness swallowed him whole.
When he opened his eyes, he was no longer in his room.
"So this is the Abyssal Realm," he muttered under his breath.
Before him stood a colossal gate: a towering arch of black stone fractured by jagged cracks. Crimson veins pulsed faintly across its surface, as if something deep within the stone still lived.
The pillars of the gate rose into the gloom, empty and silent. No guards. No voices. No sign of other Players. Only a shifting curtain of black mist drifting between them.
Stephan stepped forward. His boots scraped over cold stone, worn smooth by countless footsteps that had come before. The air smelled of dust, old ash, and something faintly sour that clung to the back of his throat.
Everything here felt cold, heavy, and ancient. The stillness pressed on him from every side, as if even sound refused to linger.
The Abyssal Realm had nothing to welcome him. Only darkness, silence, and the promise of enemies waiting somewhere beyond the mist.
The ground was scattered with broken weapons and rusted armor, half-buried in dust and black gravel.
Stephan's gaze swept over the debris. Whoever had come before him hadn't made it far.
His chest tightened, but his resolve hardened just as quickly. Whatever lay ahead wouldn't be easy. This was no test run. This was real.
He took another step toward the gate. Then the stone floor ahead of him split apart with a low, grinding crack.The cracked ground split wider. From the darkness below, something huge began to rise: a hulking shape of black flesh streaked with pale ridges, slick as if wet.
Its head turned toward Stephan, revealing no face, only a vertical slit of raw flesh, pulsing faintly with red light. In its hand, it gripped a monstrous mace forged from bone and dark iron, runes twisting along its length.
The creature stood still for a moment, as if tasting the air.
Then the slit widened slightly, exhaling a thin wisp of black mist, and the Gatekeeper of Shattered Oaths stepped forward to claim its first soul.
Ding!
[System Notification]
[Danger Detected]
[Name: Gatekeeper of Shattered Oaths]
[Type: Soul-Eater]
[Rank: E]
[Level: 3]
[Threat: Moderate – drains mana and vitality on contact]
[Special Effect: Consumes fragments of fallen souls to strengthen itself.]
[Objective: Defeat the Gatekeeper to pass through the Abyssal Gate.]
[ Warning: Death is permanent inside the Abyssal Realm.]
[ "A sentinel cursed to feed on the lost; it does not guard the gate, it guards what lies beyond."]
So his first challenge had finally shown itself, blocking the way into the gate. Stephan's lips curled into a smirk.
A Gatekeeper, E Rank, Level 3… one rank above him. It didn't matter.
"Nothing to sweat about," he muttered.
He wasn't here to waste time.
The Gatekeeper lunged forward, its massive mace swinging in a wide, brutal arc. Stephan stared it down, his eyes cold and unblinking.
In his hand, dark energy crackled into shape, his weapon forming out of raw power.
The mace came crashing down with a dull roar of displaced air. Stephan pivoted sharply to the side, boots grinding against the black stone. Dust and shards exploded where the mace struck, spraying across the ground.
Stephan's eyes never left the Gatekeeper.
"Too slow," he whispered, raising his weapon, ready to counter.
The Gatekeeper let out a low, rumbling hiss, the sound more felt than heard, and swung its mace again, the iron-bone head tearing through the air.
Stephan stepped back, the wind from the swing brushing his face. His eyes stayed locked on the creature, cold and calculating.
Another swing, heavier, aiming to crush him into the black stone. Stephan slipped aside, turning his body just enough to let the mace whistle past. Dust and shards exploded again as the weapon struck the ground, but Stephan was already moving.
A third strike came, faster this time, the Gatekeeper's empty slit of an eye burning red. Stephan ducked low, sliding beneath the arc of the mace, his coat trailing behind him like a shadow.
"Is that it?" he murmured, his voice flat. "Try harder."
The Gatekeeper roared, or something close to it, a tremor rippling through its cracked body as it hefted the mace overhead for another crushing blow.
Stephan's eyes narrowed. The swing came crashing down, a blur of iron and bone.
But again, he wasn't there. A single step to the side, effortless, like he'd already seen the strike before it happened. The mace hammered into the ground where he'd stood, splitting the stone into spiderweb cracks.
Dust billowed up around them, hiding them both in swirling black mist and grit. When it cleared, Stephan was standing untouched, dark weapon in hand, breath calm.
The Gatekeeper's crimson eye flickered, as if it couldn't comprehend why it hadn't landed even a single blow.
Stephan tilted his head, a half-smile playing on his lips. "You're big," he said softly. "But you're too damn slow."
DING!
[Temporary Buff Activated]
[Predator's Instinct – Duration: 10 Minutes]
[Tactical foresight and reactive speed enhanced. Pain dampening activated. Muscle control amplified.]
A dark grin spread across Stephan's face.
"Ten minutes?" he murmured, voice edged with amusement. "I only need ten seconds to get you out of my way."
Black aura began to ooze from his body, rolling off him in smoky coils that twisted around his arms and weapon. The cracked stone beneath his boots trembled under the weight of his rising power.
The Gatekeeper tensed, its crimson eye flaring brighter, but it was already too late.
Stephan vanished in a blur of shadow.
A breath later, he was behind the Gatekeeper, dark dagger in hand. Shadows still trailed his movement, breaking apart like torn cloth.
The Gatekeeper started to turn, but Stephan moved faster, impossibly fast. His dagger whipped up, dark energy spiraling around the blade.
Without hesitation, he drove it upward, piercing through the back of its skull with a sharp crunch. The red light in the creature's eye froze, then began to fade, flickering and pulsing like a dying ember.
Stephan ripped the blade free. Black mist sprayed from the wound, evaporating into the air. The Gatekeeper swayed once, the monstrous mace slipping from its fingers. It crashed to the stone with a dull, final thud.
Then the hulking creature toppled forward, lifeless, and the ground trembled under its weight.
Stephan stood over the corpse, breath steady, dark aura still dancing around him like living smoke.
"Too slow," he said softly, almost disappointed, before turning his gaze back to the looming, cracked gate ahead.
DING!
[JUDGEMENT INITIATED]
[Soul Resonance Detected]
[Emotion Match: Grief. Rage. Despair.]
[Corruption Level: HIGH]
[Soul Harvest Option Available]
[ RELEASE ] – Purify the soul; return it to the Abyss cleansed.
[ CONSUME ] – Absorb the power tainted by its sorrow and rage.
[Warning: Consuming corrupted souls may alter your essence.]
Then
[Soul Memory Vision – Toggle On/Off]
[ Gain access to a Soul Eater's final moments, memories, and emotions after defeat.]
[Warning: Viewing corrupted memories may affect mental stability.]
Stephan decided he had no time to peer into the Gatekeeper's broken memories, not like he'd done with other fallen foes.
The draw from the gate itself was stronger now, almost alive, like it called to something deep inside him. It felt like an addict's
craving, cold and impossible to ignore.
He flicked the option off without a second thought.Then his gaze dropped to the crumpled body at his feet.
"Sorry, pal," he muttered, voice low and flat. "But I'm in need of your power."
His eyes darkened, shadows coiling around him.
"Consume."
The Gatekeeper's form cracked, then disintegrated into roiling strands of black energy. Unlike the others he'd devoured, it didn't twist into a human shape. Instead, the darkness swarmed directly into him, sinking beneath his skin like living ink.
Stephan's eyes slid shut, breath catching for a moment.
He felt it: the raw surge of power sinking into bone and blood, the cold pressure curling tight around his heart. The darkness inside him stirred, feeding and growing, just a little stronger.
When he opened his eyes again, they seemed darker than before.
Colder.
He turned toward the colossal gate, its crimson veins still pulsing, still waiting.
And stepped forward.
He walked toward the gate, power radiating in slow, dark waves from his body. Beyond it, danger waited , but to Stephan, danger wasn't something to fear. It was raw material. Something to be broken down, consumed, reforged into a weapon he alone would wield.
This place , the Abyssal Realm - felt like more than a dungeon. It was a gift from Lucidas himself. A forge to burn away weakness and leave behind something divine.
He stopped before the colossal arch, its cracked veins pulsing with crimson light.
"Okay then," he murmured, voice steady, almost amused. "Here I come."
And he stepped inside.
DING!
[Congratulations: You have passed through the Gate of Shattered Oaths]
[You have defeated the guardian of the gate.]
[+1 Soul added]
[Souls collected: 2]
[Soul Energy +20%]
[Welcome to the Abyssal Realm]
[Congratulation]
[New Level Unlocked]
[Level 3]
[E Rank]
A slow smirk spread across Stephan's lips, shadows still curling around him.
"Well then…" he murmured, voice barely louder than the echo of his own footsteps.
"It's time to level up some more."
Without another glance back, he walked deeper into the darkness ahead.