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author's note: Hello, it's my first time writing. I hope you enjoy my story, and please leave some reviews so I can improve.
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Chapter 4: The Twin Trials of the Abyss
The abyss continued to seem an endless, burning torment , a realm where every moment was forged in pain and every breath tasted of despair. Time had worn on since Jin‑Woo had first stepped out as a Nameless Daemon, and relentless battles had transformed him from a lesser daemon into something far more formidable. Now, at Level 20 and evolved into a Greater Daemon, he roamed these scorched wastes with an aura of absolute dominance and cold calculation.
The infernal landscape around him was a tumult of cracked obsidian, rivers of molten rock, and skies that glowed an ever‐persistent crimson. In this arena of eternal strife, the remnants of his past battles lay scattered—charred bodies, shattered daemonic forms, and, more importantly, the silent testimony of his hard‑won evolution, reflected in the ever‑changing metrics of his system screen.
His eyes, now sharper than ever, scanned the horizon. A subtle disturbance in the swirling miasma of heat and shadow hinted at a new, formidable presence. From behind a spire of smoldering rock, a figure emerged that was unlike the lesser daemons he had so easily extracted before. This was a greater daemon of the Red Lineage. Its very presence radiated a violent aura
A fire so hot erupted from his hands that it disintegratined his summoned shadows and drained his magicules before he could even react.
The red lineage daemon moved with the brutal certainty of an unstoppable force. Its body, a mass of rippling muscle and scales, shimmered with molten red and orange hues. In its outstretched claw, it channeled fire magic the kind of energy that, in concentrated bursts, could incinerate anything in its path. As it advanced, a low hum filled the air, the sound of raw destructive power being primed for release.
Jin‑Woo's analytical mind kicked in immediately. With a practiced flourish, he activated his Analytical Appraisal. In an instant, the tumult of the battlefield slowed, and crisp data overlaid his vision. He could see the enemy's modest yet dangerous stats: substantial health reserves, an imposing supply of magicules, and intrinsic abilities—including an innate nuclear manipulation that allowed it to launch barrage after barrage of devastating energy blasts. The appraisal confirmed his worst fear—the Red Lineage daemon's magic was designed to obliterate not only flesh and bone, but also the very essence of his summoned shadows. Its fiery attacks promised to drain his magicules and force him to fight at a dangerous distance.
In that same split second, as if orchestrated by the abyss itself, another threat made itself known. While Jin‑Woo's eyes were locked on the red threat, an insidious whisper of movement emerged from the periphery. A greater daemon of the Black Lineage—its form cloaked in a mantle of shifting darkness, and its eyes cold and predatory—slipped from the shadows. This assassin was a master of sneak attacks, stealth and precise, deadly strikes. It moved with a silence that belied its lethal intent, waiting for the opportune moment to strike at a distracted foe.
The battlefield instantaneously became a stage for dual combat. Jin‑Woo now faced a dire 1‑vs‑2 scenario. The Red Lineage daemon was already launching its first salvo: a towering beam of black flames shot forth from its outstretched arm, crackling with unbearable heat. The beam surged forward, forcing Jin‑Woo to retreat while simultaneously threatening to disintegrate his precious shadows. His defensive aura flared as the blast hit—a wave of energy that battered both his physical form and his reserves of magicules. The impact threatened to overwhelm his defenses, draining his energy almost as quickly as he had accumulated it in previous battles.
At the same time, the assassin daemon from the Black Lineage struck. It moved like a wraith; just as Jin‑Woo dodged the flames, the stealthy attacker materialized behind him, its claw extending in a swift, surgical arc aimed at his back. A searing pain exploded along his spine as the strike landed—a vicious, unexpected blow that sent him staggering.
The combined assault was nearly overwhelming: the Red Lineage daemon's fire magic forced him to fight from a distance while decimating his shadow soldiers, and the Black Lineage assassin's attack had caught him off‑guard. In that harrowing moment, as darkness pressed in from all sides, every instinct in Jin‑Woo's being screamed to retaliate.
Drawing upon every ounce of his training and evolution, he responded with a series of swift, calculated moves. First, he activated Thought Acceleration. Time stretched out, allowing him to evade through the torrent of enemy's attacks using maneuvers with near‑perfect precision. Every motion, every incoming threat, was recorded and analyzed at breakneck speed. The hiss of energy, the subtle shift of stealth in the air, and the echo of his own rapid heartbeat—all merged into a single, clear directive: survive, adapt, and strike back.
Jin‑Woo shifted his stance and summoned his obsidian dagger—the weapon he had materialized from dark magic in countless prior battles. With a fluid motion, he dodged the lingering remnants of the nuclear blast, its scorched energy still dancing in the air, and focused his gaze on the attacker from the Black Lineage. Relying on his enhanced Analytical Appraisal, he identified the precise point where the assassin's stealth left a vulnerability—a brief opening in its cloak of darkness.
In a burst of speed born from pure determination, Jin‑Woo lunged forward. His dagger flashed through the air in a lethal arc, guided by the combined precision of Parallel Calculation and Future Attack Prediction. The strike was sudden and decisive—a swift, critical hit that aimed directly for the nerve center of the enemy's form. At the same time, his Enhanced Magicule Regeneration healed the drain inflicted by the red daemon's destructive magic. His magicules surged back into him as if drawn by an unseen force, replenishing his energy and allowing him to continue his assault.
The assassin staggered, a guttural cry of pain and shock slipping from its lips, as its form wavered between the physical and the ethereal. Seizing the moment, Jin‑Woo pressed his advantage. He unleashed a devastating counterattack—a precise, brutal flurry of strikes that combined the fluidity of his shadow manipulation with the raw intensity of his Conqueror abilities. His obsidian dagger became an extension of his very will, imbued with hakai each strike measured and honed until the assassin's form began to dissipate into nothingness, consumed by the sheer force of Jin‑Woo's onslaught who's eyes seemed to contain a
Shield/ Cross mix that glowed with a blood red color
But the battle was far from over. The Red Lineage daemon, relentless and unyielding, continued its barrage from afar. Even as Jin‑Woo turned his full attention to the assassin, a new blast tore through the air a vicious, unrelenting beam that threatened to catch him off guard yet again. With grim determination, Jin‑Woo countered by activating his eyes Cr once more. In the space Infront of him his enemy assaults seemed to be destroyed , he had forged a temporary defensive barrier from the ambient destructive capabilities of anos'gaze,a shield that shimmered with an eerie, black and red luminescence. The barrier absorbed the worst of the magic, dissipating the energy in a cascade of sparks , thus preserving his remaining magicules and giving him precious seconds to regain his footing.
The battlefield became a chaotic ballet of destructive energy and strategic counterattacks. The Red Lineage daemon, frustrated by its inability to keep Jin‑Woo at bay, unleashed another, more powerful volley of blasts. These heavier bursts carried such intensity that they shattered the protective shadows Jin‑Woo had summoned earlier. Each blast struck with enough force to drain his reserves and rip his defenses asunder. Yet, even in the face of this overwhelming destructive power, Jin‑Woo did not falter.
Drawing deep from the well of his experience and the vast array of skills he had accumulated over countless battles, he shifted his strategy. He activated Chant Annulment to eliminate any delay in his magic casting, ensuring that every spell or skill was unleashed with instantaneous effect. His eyes narrowed, and his mind—now a nexus of rapidly processed intelligence—focused on disrupting the red daemon's advantage. With a final, defiant roar, he activated Skill Assimilation, drawing on the black flames directed at him. In that critical instant, he transformed a fraction of that destructive power into a potent counterforce—a focused burst that merged with his own energy, an echo of his fire manipulation skills that now carried an extra, repurposed charge of the enemy's magic.
The effect was staggering. The upcoming energy, instead of siphoning his strength, was momentarily turned against the Red Lineage daemon itself. A shockwave rippled through the battlefield, scattering lesser daemons and momentarily stunning the red attacker. Sensing the opening, Jin‑Woo surged forward with renewed vigor. His shadow soldiers, summoned earlier through his perfected Shadow Extraction skill, swarmed around him—a living shield of darkness rallying to his command. Their forms, composed entirely of reclaimed souls, surged in unison, providing cover and assistance as he pressed his counteroffensive.
In a dizzying display of martial skill and raw power, Jin‑Woo unleashed a sequence of attacks. His obsidian dagger danced through the smoky air, its strikes a harmonious blend of precision and brutality. Each blow was augmented by the benefits of Thought Acceleration and Parallel Calculation, reducing the time between enemy moves to a near‑invisible fraction. The daemon from the red Lineage, struggling to recover from his previous blow, now found himself beset by an onslaught that left little time for defense. Jin‑Woo's counterattacks with the help of his shadows were relentless—a volley of savage strikes aimed at severing the dark energy that comprised his enemy's form.
The duel reached a fevered pitch as the Red Lineage daemon, battered by the unexpected reversal of its own power, staggered under the combined weight of his fury and shadow assaults. Its concentration faltered even as it tried to press a final, devastating attack to keep Jin‑Woo at a distance. In that fleeting moment of vulnerability, Jin‑Woo gathered the full force of his Conqueror abilities. With eyes burning with a mixture of defiant rage and unyielding determination, he unleashed a focused burst of energy—a surge that coalesced into a beam of pure power aimed directly at the heart of the red daemon.
This was a spel he created using fire manipulation, utilizing anos'gaze to control the destructive energy of hakai and fuse it with his flames he came up with
". JIO GRAZE !!!!!!!!'
He summoned a large mass of energy, possessing the sun's power, and dropped it down onto a his opponent, evaporating all
The impact was cataclysmic. The attack struck with such devastating precision that the Red Lineage daemon roared in agony as its form began to unravel. Its blasts faltered, its energy scattering into chaotic, unmanageable streams. The heat of the impact was immense; the surrounding landscape trembled under the force of the explosion. In the midst of this calamity, Jin woo looked on with amazement
In the aftermath, the battlefield fell eerily silent. The two greater daemons lay defeated.
one, burned to oblivion , and the other, an echo fading from the night. Jin‑Woo, bloodied yet unbowed, stood in the center of the chaos, his chest heaving as the dark power of destruction within him pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat.
The system's interface flickered to life once more, chronicling the monumental victory and the tremendous surge of experience that followed. His status screen updated with cold, clinical precision:
────────────────────────────
Player Status
Name: (Nameless)
Race: Daemon
Evolution State: greater daemon
Level: 22
────────────────────────────
Attributes:
HP: 9,700 / 12,000
(Phy): 80
(Agl): 52
(Sta): 55%
Magicules (Mana): 26,500 / 60,000
(Int): 42
(Per): 52
(Vit): 52
Resistances/nullifications
Magic Resistance
Demonic/Holy Magic Resistance:
Thermal Fluctuation nullification (acquired)
Intrinsic Skills:
Material Creation
Possess
Shadow Manipulation
Unique Skills:
Shadow Monarch:
- Shadow Extraction
- Shadow Preservation
- Rapid Regeneration & Immunity
- Enhanced Magicule Regeneration
Conqueror:
- Thought Acceleration
- Analytical Appraisal
- Parallel Calculation
- Chant Annulment
- Skill Assimilation
- All of Creation
- Advanced Fire Manipulation:
- Black flames (acquired)
- Stealth
- shadow step (acquired)
- Magic Perception
- Future Attack Prediction
- Charm
- Thought Communication
────────────────────────────
Every number, every stat was a testament to the brutal journey in the abyss—each skirmish had honed his strength, and every fallen foe had added a brick to the fortress of his power. Yet, amid that clinical record, Jin‑Woo's mind stirred with more than just data; it burned with a realization. This was not the end of his trials but only a threshold—a challenge that confirmed his status as a force to be reckoned with. The Red Lineage daemon's fearsome fire magic had nearly drained him, and the stealth of the Black Lineage assassin had tested his perception in ways he had not yet imagined. But now he had not only survived—they had fallen before him.
Standing amidst the smoldering wreckage, Jin‑Woo allowed himself a single moment of quiet triumph. His shadow soldiers circled silently, a dark legion ready to heed his every command. In that haze of fire and residual energy, he acknowledged that despite the overwhelming odds and the lethal precision of his enemies, his evolution was unstoppable.
"…I will continue to grow… every scar, every shard of fallen darkness, will pave the way to my ultimate destiny…ARISE "
With a steely glint in his eye, he gripped his obsidian dagger tighter. The power of the abyss surged anew within him, and even as the oppressive heat of his spell scorched the battlefield , he sensed that far greater challenges lurked ahead. The twin trials of the Red and Black Lineages had revealed the depth of his potential—but they also pointed to a darker, more formidable adversary waiting somewhere within the infernal depths.
Under the relentless blaze of the scarlet sky, the Nameless Greater Daemon stepped forward with renewed resolve. Every breath, every heartbeat, was a promise that he would transcend this crucible of fire and shadow. With his gathered strength, his meticulously honed skills, and the silent support of his shadow army, he would rise unbowed, unyielding, and ever more lethal.
As he vanished into the shifting darkness, the abyss whispered its eternal promise: that no matter the challenges ahead, only the strongest would survive. And Jin‑Woo, carved from pain and relentless ambition, was destined to be the strongest of all.
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A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a review with your thoughts and suggestions so I can continue this journey with you.
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