She glides to the marble seal.
A pulse of light erupts from her palm as she touches it—
and the entire structure shudders.
The marble splits wider
with a deep, grinding roar.
A staircase spirals downward—
so deep she can't see the bottom.
Darkness swallows the air.
Constant mutters, "That… looks friendly."
Blood Reaper ignites her hand, a black-blue fire swirling around her fingers.
She descends.
One step.
Two.
Three.
Then she closes her fist, extinguishing the flame.
Her eyes glow instead—
white, then red, then purple—
shifting with every pulse of forgotten power inside her.
Ahead of her, the underground corridor splits into three tunnels.
She listens…
The middle one breathes.
The left one hums.
The right one screams.
She smiles.
"Interesting."
She steps deeper.
Joseph and Matthew break through the tree line just in time to see:
– Constant mid-glow, fire curling around him
– Keuirseu half-shifted, snarling on his knees
– A massive ancient temple opening in the ground
Matthew whispers:
"…That's a demon angel."
Joseph: "And that's definitely a demon, demon."
Matthew squints. "And whatever blue-flame guy is—nope. Nope times ten."
Constant, not even looking back:
"I can hear you two idiots."
Joseph freezes.
Matthew mutters, "Aw, crap."
Constant flicks a small wave of heat in their direction.
"You follow her, you burn.
You go down those stairs, you die.
You breathe wrong near Keuirseu, he'll bite your face off."
Keuirseu, voice distorted, hisses,
"He's not wrong—run."
Matthew stiffens, grabs Joseph's jacket and yanks him back.
"Nah. Nope. My face is way too pretty to get bitten off."
Joseph tries not to laugh but fails.
Matthew: "Nope! BYE."
They vanish into the woods as fast as two grown men possibly can.
Blood Reaper steps into the darkness.
The moment her foot touches the stone—
The tunnel SCREAMS.
Not voices.
Not echoes.
The tunnel itself screams—an ancient, grinding sound that rattles the bones of the earth.
Stones shake loose.
Sand rains down.
Cracks split open like veins.
Blood Reaper narrows her eyes and keeps walking.
Behind her—
Keuirseu collapses to his knees, white light flickering violently through his veins as Shadow claws deeper inside his soul.
"Get… OUT—!"
His wings snap between white and black, feathers turning to ash-then-light-then-ash again.
Constant grabs him by the shoulders.
"Breathe, Kei! FIGHT IT!"
Keuirseu roars, fangs lengthening, eyes going void-black—
He grabs Constant by the throat, slamming him into a tree.
Shadow hisses through him:
"He is MINE."
Constant's flames ignite across his whole body.
"THEN COME TAKE ME!"
The forest explodes in light and dark as they clash.
And in the tunnel—
Blood Reaper doesn't look back.
She's already far too deep.
The tunnel narrows into a thin stone walkway suspended above…
Something red.
A river of blood—vast, silent, endless.
It reflects her like a warped mirror.
Blood Reaper's clothing shifts on instinct:
Her armor melts into a new outfit—sleek, darker, ancient, almost priestess-like—woven from shadow and starlight.
She keeps walking until the path ends in a dead-end wall.
Then—
The ground rises beneath her like an elevator.
Up.
Up.
Up.
Into a chamber lit by cold, shifting white flames.
A woman stands near the entrance to the temple aboveground.
A dark cloak with white veining.
Skin pale as moonstone.
Hair styled like it belongs to a century long dead.
Soft pink lips.
Shredded slim wings dragging behind her like torn silk.
She doesn't look up.
She already knows Blood Reaper is there.
"Hello, Reaper," she says, voice smooth as glass.
"Not once have I ever liked you."
Blood Reaper tilts her head. "…Likewise."
Abyss smirks.
"And here I am… choosing your side."
Blood Reaper glances around. No guards. No watchers. Just this strange, ancient being.
Abyss steps closer.
"I am Abyss. If I wished, I would swallow the world whole."
Blood Reaper's expression doesn't change.
"So why don't you?"
Abyss turns her eyes to the carved stone walls.
"Because Earth is unlike every other planet," she whispers.
"Here… she breathes."
Blood Reaper's eyes narrow.
"The planet is alive?"
"Everything on this planet is alive," Abyss answers. "You just never bothered to listen."
She leads Blood Reaper to a vast mural carved into the stone.
Planets.
Stars.
Worlds blooming like flowers.
Two brothers creating universes.
Ancient light and ancient darkness entwined.
Abyss touches the drawings.
"The cosmos stretches far beyond this place. This planet is only one spark in the vast fold. And something is coming—something even I have hesitated to face."
Blood Reaper studies the mural.
Her expression shifts.
Something in it speaks to her power.
To her origin.
Abyss turns to her.
"I have a gift."
Torches flare to life.
A massive cage made of bird-like bones hangs from chains—beautiful, terrifying.
And inside it:
Her molten eyes glare through the bars.
Abyss gestures, unimpressed.
"A thief. I caught her trying to steal sacred scrolls. I don't like thieves."
"It was important," Destiny snaps back. "You had no right—"
Blood Reaper lifts a hand.
The cage cracks open like it was made of paper.
Destiny steps out, stunned.
She stands behind Blood Reaper without a word.
Abyss only grins, pleased.