The fall was endless.
Aric's stomach lurched as the ground gave way beneath him. One moment he was staring into Kael's wild eyes, fury and sorrow battling inside his chest, and the next the world crumbled, stone and flame collapsing into a maw of darkness.
Air tore past him, whipping his hair into his face, his body weightless yet sinking like a stone. Lira's scream echoed somewhere above him, sharp and piercing, but it was devoured almost instantly by the roaring abyss.
The Sorrow System surged to life.
[Warning: Host falling at terminal velocity. Body integrity—critical risk.][Stabilizing… Attempt Failed.]
Tendrils of violet light writhed around his arms, spiraling against the rushing air like frantic snakes. They clung to him, tried to slow his fall, but the weight of gravity was relentless. His lungs burned from the scream he hadn't realized he was holding.
Not like this.
Aric's teeth ground together. He couldn't die here—not after everything. Not after tasting even the smallest glimpse of strength, of vengeance. If he died now, it would be nothing but another forgotten corpse in the ruins of a world already lost.
The shadows responded to his will—or perhaps his desperation. A cocoon of sorrow burst from his back, spreading like a parachute of pure grief. The air shuddered around it, slowing his descent just enough to keep him from shattering completely when he hit bottom.
Impact came a heartbeat later. Stone cracked beneath him, dust exploding upward. His vision went black, pain lancing through every bone. For a long moment, he lay still, staring up at the thin slice of broken ceiling high above, where firelight still flickered faintly against the darkness.
Then—breathing. Harsh, ragged, but alive.
Aric coughed dust and forced his body upright. His arms trembled under his weight, shadows still twitching around him like dying embers.
The abyss stretched before him, a vast cavern lined with jagged stone and slick with moisture. A faint green glow pulsed from torches embedded along the walls—not flame, not natural light, but something colder, unnatural, as if sorrow itself had been trapped in fire.
And it stank.
The air was heavy, wet, filled with the copper tang of old blood and something fouler—rot, mold, and despair so thick it seemed to cling to his tongue.
"Aric!"
The voice snapped his attention upward. From above, a figure plummeted, hair glinting silver in the sickly green torchlight. His heart leapt to his throat.
"Lira!"
She crashed down near him, rolling with the impact, her blade clattering across stone. She landed hard, but alive, dragging herself upright with a groan. Dust streaked her pale face, but her eyes, silver and unyielding, burned with the same determination he had come to rely on.
"Still breathing?" she rasped, leaning on her sword.
"Barely," Aric muttered. He scanned the cavern again, shadows flickering along the edges. The System pulsed against his chest, not in warning this time, but in hunger.
[Location Identified: The Undercroft][Corruption Index: Overwhelming][Entity Presence: Multiple Hostiles]
The words sent a chill through him. Undercroft. He had heard that name whispered before, in rumors traded among broken survivors. A place beneath the ruined cities where sorrow pooled, festering until it gave birth to things neither human nor demon.
Lira must have read the tension in his face. Her knuckles tightened on her sword. "What lives here?"
Aric opened his mouth, but the answer came not from him, but from the scraping sound that echoed through the cavern.
It was steady, deliberate—claws against stone.
The sound grew louder, closer, until shapes emerged from the gloom. They moved slowly, with a dreadful purpose, dragging chains that scraped sparks from the stone floor.
Aric's breath caught as they came into the torchlight.
Figures. Dozens of them.
Their bodies were twisted, skeletal frames stretched beneath gray, parchment-thin flesh. Their eyes were hollow pits, empty of life, but glowing faintly with sickly blue fire. Their mouths were sewn shut with black thread, flesh puckered and scarred, and yet the air vibrated as if they screamed silently.
Chains hung from their wrists and ankles, dragging across the ground in a terrible rhythm.
Lira's voice dropped to a whisper. "Gods… what are they?"
The Sorrow System whispered back:
[Sorrow Wraiths: Bound souls, remnants of mortals consumed by grief. Neither demon nor human.]
Aric's knees weakened under the oppressive aura. The weight of their presence pressed into his chest, crushing, dragging him toward despair. His mind clouded, thoughts turning heavy and slow.
Lira faltered too, her breath coming ragged. "It feels like… they're feeding on us."
The wraiths staggered closer, chains rattling.
One lunged.
Its chain whipped through the air, striking sparks off stone. Aric moved instinctively, raising his hand. Shadows lashed outward, spearing through the links. The chain shattered. The wraith convulsed violently, its sewn mouth stretching open in a voiceless wail before it dissolved into ash.
The System flared.
[Sorrow Harvested: +120]
The energy coursed through Aric's veins like fire, violet light blazing from his eyes. His pulse raced with the rush of stolen sorrow.
The others reacted at once. Dozens of chains snapped taut as the wraiths rushed forward in unison, a tide of grief and hunger.
"Fight!" Lira shouted, raising her sword. Her blade caught the green firelight, flashing as she cut through the first chain. Sparks exploded, the wraith collapsing in dust at her feet.
But for each one that fell, another surged forward, their despair pressing harder, suffocating. Aric's hands shook, shadows writhing out of control, striking faster and harder, feeding on every ounce of grief.
The Sorrow System thrummed like a heartbeat in his skull. [Harvest Increasing…][Warning: Host Stability Declining.]
The energy was too much. Every scream, every flicker of despair poured into him until his veins burned violet. His vision blurred, his teeth clenched as the shadows threatened to break free entirely.
Lira's voice cut through the haze. "Aric! Don't let it take you!"
He staggered, gripping his skull as the System whispered:
"Yes. Give in. Feed. They are yours."
The cavern trembled, dust raining from the ceiling. The wraiths froze mid-attack, their hollow eyes all turning toward the far end of the cavern.
A roar rose from the depths, vast and terrible.
Not a beast's roar. Not a man's. Something older, deeper, a sound of stone cracking and bones breaking beneath unbearable weight. The air shook with it, torches flickering violently.
The System screamed:
[Overlord Presence Detected: Demon King's Sentinel]
From the shadows at the far wall, something vast stirred.
The cavern shuddered as the Sentinel awoke.
Stone cracked open, splitting in jagged lines as something massive dragged itself free of the abyssal wall. The green torches dimmed, as if afraid of the thing they illuminated, and even the wraiths sank to their knees, chains rattling in a grotesque rhythm of submission.
It was enormous, its form half-concealed by the shadows it exhaled. At first, Aric thought it was a beast, all sinew and muscle, but as it leaned forward, he saw the contours of armor fused into flesh, plates of blackened metal grown like tumors from its shoulders and ribs. Its face—or what remained of one—was a broken mask of bone and steel, a single eye burning crimson in its hollow skull.
Its mouth split open not with lips, but with jagged shards of exposed bone, gnashing together as a guttural rumble shook the cavern.
The System flared.
[Entity Identified: Sentinel of the Demon King][Class: Overlord Spawn][Threat Level: Catastrophic]
Aric's breath caught in his throat. This wasn't like the demons they'd fought above. This was something closer to the King himself, a creature too massive, too ancient, too steeped in despair for mortal hands.
Lira's grip tightened on her sword until her knuckles went white. "We can't fight that," she whispered.
Aric swallowed hard. "Then we run."
The Sentinel moved.
It didn't charge like a beast. It didn't leap or roar. Instead, it raised one vast arm, chains embedded in its flesh rattling loose. With a sound like thunder splitting the world, it slammed its clawed hand into the ground.
The cavern floor buckled. Cracks spiderwebbed outward, stone exploding into dust. Wraiths that stood too close were crushed instantly, their forms scattering like sand.
Aric pulled Lira aside as debris rained down. "Move!"
They darted between shattered rocks, the Sentinel's massive form shaking the cavern with every step. Its chains whipped through the air, gouging furrows into the stone. One missed Aric by a hair's breadth, shattering a pillar where he'd stood.
The System screamed in his skull:
[Survival Probability: 3%][Recommendation: Harvest Despair—Unleash Overdrive]
"No!" Aric roared aloud. "I won't!"
But the Sentinel's roar drowned him out, a sound that cracked the stone and drove knives of pain through his ears. He staggered, clutching his skull as the shadows surged on their own, reaching for the creature with tendrils like spears.
The violet light struck the Sentinel's chest, sinking into its flesh. For a moment, it faltered, its crimson eye dimming. But instead of weakening, it grew brighter, feeding off the sorrow Aric poured into it.
The System spat jagged alerts:
[Warning: Entity absorbing output!][Warning: Host losing control!]
Lira grabbed his arm, shaking him violently. "Aric! Stop! It's feeding on you!"
He ripped his shadows back, chest heaving, sweat pouring down his face. The Sentinel's crimson gaze locked onto him, as if it recognized him not as prey, but as something else entirely—something dangerous.
The chains snapped again, this time not to crush, but to bind.
One wrapped around Aric's leg, yanking him off his feet. Pain lanced through him as the spiked links bit into his flesh, drawing blood. He screamed, shadows flaring wildly.
Lira darted forward, blade flashing. With a cry, she struck the chain, sparks bursting as steel met steel. The chain cracked, loosened, then snapped under the force. Aric tumbled free, scrambling upright.
The Sentinel bellowed, furious now.
"Move!" Aric shouted, dragging Lira with him as they bolted deeper into the cavern.
The walls narrowed, jagged stone tearing at their arms as they ran. Behind them, the Sentinel thundered after them, its bulk smashing aside wraiths and stone alike.
The cavern tilted downward into a slope, and they stumbled, sliding on loose rock. Dust and grit filled Aric's lungs, his heart hammering.
They crashed into a chamber wider than the last, its walls covered in carvings. Symbols, spirals, and runes glowed faintly in the torchlight—words in a language Aric didn't know but felt deep in his bones.
The Sentinel stopped at the entrance, as though barred by the runes. Its crimson eye glared through the gap, and the cavern shook with its fury as it pounded the barrier again and again, unable to pass.
Aric collapsed against the wall, clutching his leg, blood running down his shin. The shadows twitched violently around him, hungry, restless.
Lira knelt beside him, eyes scanning his wound. "We bought ourselves a few breaths, but it won't last."
The System pulsed, quieter now, but insistent.
[Observation: You cannot flee forever.][Solution: Mastery Required.]
Aric pressed his fist against his chest, breathing hard. "I'll master you," he whispered, almost to himself. "I'll master you… or die trying."
The Sentinel's roar answered him, shaking the barrier until the runes cracked, dust spilling from the ceiling.
And in that moment, Aric realized this was no sanctuary. It was a prison.
Something else stirred behind the walls.
Not the Sentinel.
Something deeper. Something older.
And the voice that had haunted him since the beginning echoed once more, smooth and terrible:
"At last, you descend where sorrow was born. Now, Aric… now we see what you truly are."
The runes flared—then shattered.
Darkness surged inward.