Far from the battlefield, in the core of the Abyss, something stirred.
At the very heart of this cursed land lay the truth of its birth, the Source Stone. It had fallen long ago, a shard of impossible power that not even the Sentinel had sensed when it struck Earth.
Its pale light pulsed faintly, hidden from every eye, yet its presence had once shaken the world. When it fell to Earth, fate itself bent, the planet Awakened before its time.
When Adrian stood before the Awakening crystal, it had stirred again, reaching out, claiming him as its own.
For years, it slumbered, dormant… until it was devoured.
A few days ago, a half-dead beast had crawled across the fractured wastes, its body warped beyond recognition. In desperation, it had consumed that Stone, seeking any source of power to survive.
The moment it touched flesh, it fused into the monster's chest. What was once a broken C-rank husk began to grow.
B-rank, A-rank, then higher. Until, finally, it shed the form of beasts entirely, its body stretching upward into something humanoid.
And it remained there, motionless in the Abyss's depths.
The moment Adrian's Absolute Source Order rang across the battlefield, the Stone pulsed. The resonance woke it from its slumber.
The humanoid monster's eyes snapped open, burning with pale fire. And it began to walk.
...
Back on the battlefield, Adrian advanced on the three staggering A-rank Stonehulks. His manifestation swirled around him, ready to press his command deeper into their cores.
Then, without warning, they froze. Their massive forms went rigid, as if responding to some greater authority.
The hulks stepped aside, clearing a path through the swirling mist. Their defiant roars died to whispers.
A shadow emerged from the deeper Abyss. The ground trembled with each footfall as something massive approached through the pale fog.
"What the hell?" Ironwood muttered, his steel-wrapped fists clenching. The pressure in the air had shifted, grown heavier.
A towering humanoid walked forward, each step cracking the stone beneath its feet. Its pale-grey skin stretched taut over corded muscle, jagged bone plating jutting from its arms and shoulders.
In its chest, pulsing with a steady rhythm like a second heart, burned the Source Stone itself. White-grey light leaked from the fusion point, casting twisted shadows across its form.
Its aura crushed the air around them. Even breathing became difficult.
Kael's face went pale. His spatial mana flickered and dimmed under the oppressive weight.
"S-rank monster," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
The words hit them hard. Thomas's flames guttered low, his newly liquefied mana struggling against the pressure.
Elara's golden light dimmed to barely a spark. "That's impossible. The Abyss has never—"
"When a monster ascends to S-rank, it sheds its beast form," Kael interrupted, his expression grim. "They evolve beyond their origins. What you see isn't a monster anymore."
The creature's burning gaze swept across them, intelligence gleaming in those pale fires. It had transcended its nature entirely.
"It's something else entirely," Kael finished.
The pressure deepened with every second. Thomas gritted his teeth, his flames barely maintaining their form.
Ironwood's steel coating cracked under the strain. "This thing… it's been suppressing the entire region."
Only Adrian stood straight. No suppression touched him, if anything, the energy radiating from the Stone in the creature's chest called to him.
His manifestation responded, growing thicker, more vibrant. The resonance between his power and the embedded Stone was unmistakable.
The creature's gaze locked onto Adrian. Its lips curved into something that might have been a smile.
"You," it spoke, its voice like grinding stone. "You… carry it too. The same breath. The same hunger."
Adrian's eyes narrowed. For the first time, he saw a monster speak!
The creature tilted its head, studying him. "Then only one of us can exist. Either you devour me… or I devour you."
Adrian stepped forward, his manifestation swirling around him.
"Then come and try!"
"I'll take the S-rank. You hold the A-ranks."
Elara's eyes widened, her golden light flickering with maternal terror. "No! Adrian, you can't—"
Thomas roared, his flames snapping around him in desperate arcs. "You retreat! You're more important than any of us!"
Even Kael snapped, spatial energy crackling unstably around his form. "Blackwood, don't be a fool. We will hold it, just run!"
But Adrian's eyes never left the monster, his voice cutting through their protests. "Do you think you can hold this? It's impossible to even run from this."
His manifestation pulsed brighter as the truth settled over them. "If I fail, we all die anyway."
Adrian was right. The three A-rank Stonehulks still flanked the creature, and in this situation, it would be impossible for the others to fight even those lesser titans.
There was no time to argue. The A-rank titans charged at them, their massive forms shaking the fractured ground.
The battlefield erupted once more, stone and steel clashing in desperate symphony.
The S-rank monster also moved, rising into the air. Gravity warped around it in visible distortions, dragging everything in chaotic directions.
It cared nothing for the A-rank monsters caught in its field. Defenders staggered, monsters toppled, even Kael's footing faltered against the crushing force.
Adrian's eyes narrowed, his mana condensing with lethal focus. He activated [Temporal Veil]
The world slowed around him. In a blur of white-grey light, he blinked through collapsing space, streaking upward like a falling star in reverse.
He couldn't let the monster's gravity field affect the entire battlefield. It would affect others.
He appeared before the S-rank monster, his blade of pure Source materializing in his grip. The weapon clashed against its crushing fists with the sound of reality tearing.
The collision split the sky itself. Gravity met Source in equal measure, shockwaves tearing the floating stone spires apart like paper.
Adrian's voice rang with Absolute Source Order. "Submit!"
The monster flinched, its pale veins pulsing violently as the command struck its core. But then its will hardened, the Source Stone in its chest blazing brighter.
Its resonance with the embedded Stone gave it strength enough to defy him. Adrian's jaw clenched as understanding dawned.
"Not yet. My command isn't absolute enough."
The monster's fist came down at him. Adrian's Source blade met it head-on, white-grey energy exploding outward in concentric waves.
Gravity slammed down from above, trying to crush Adrian into the fractured earth. But Adrian's Source surged back, equal and unyielding, pushing against the impossible weight.
For every step the monster pushed forward, Adrian forced it back one step of his own. Neither could gain ground in their deadly dance.
Below, the battlefield fractured into desperate chaos. Thomas and Elara moved in perfect synchronization, their newly liquefied mana blazing like twin suns.
Ironwood's steel-wrapped fists carved deep gouges into the A-rank titans' hides. But the creatures regenerated almost instantly, drawing power from the Abyss itself.
Kael flickered between spatial tears, his movements precise but strained. "Hold the line! Don't let them break through!"
And above, Adrian clashed alone with the impossible. His blade sang through the air, each strike creating ripples in space itself.
The monster's gravity crushed downward in waves. Adrian's Source pushed back with equal force, white-grey mist swirling around them both.
The fractured land broke apart beneath their duel. Floating shards of stone rose into the void as their opposing powers distorted reality itself.
The monster's burning eyes never left Adrian's face. "You feel it, don't you? The Stone calls to you."
Adrian's response was another devastating strike, his blade carving through the creature's shoulder.
"It chose you during your Awakening," the monster continued, "Just as it chose me when I devoured it."
The revelation hit Adrian. He did not know how this stone was on Earth, but he got his affinity because it chose him!
The Source Stone in the creature's chest pulsed in rhythm with his own manifestation.
His mana began to condense harder than ever before. The pressure of the battle, the resonance with the Stone, everything was dragging him closer to the brink.
Closer to his own ascension to S-rank.