The abyss roared.
Li Kai sprinted across the fractured ground, the Stabilizer pulsing at his chest with desperate energy. The Seed Core ahead loomed larger with every step, its crystalline body cracking and reforming in a cycle of pulsing, grotesque rebirth. The tendrils around it lashed out, black and violet arcs of corruption striking at the ground, tearing through stone and air alike.
"Cover Kai!" Serin shouted from behind. Her sword flashed with radiant light as she danced between two writhing tendrils, slashing at their joints. Sparks of corrupted energy burst into the air, but the tendrils kept coming, regenerating like a nightmare given form.
Dren hurled a spear of condensed magic at the core. The projectile struck home, burrowing into the pulsing heart—but to their horror, the Seed Core absorbed the attack, its surface rippling like liquid before it grew even brighter.
"It's feeding on energy!" Dren yelled, panic lacing his voice. "The more we hit it, the stronger it gets!"
Li Kai gritted his teeth. He knew. He could feel it.
The Stabilizer, his only trump card, wasn't enough to suppress the sheer vitality of the Seed Core. It was a creature born of broken realms, feeding on the leylines and magic that threaded through this fractured place. Every blow they struck only deepened its roots, made it more aware, more powerful.
But they couldn't retreat now.
Li Kai drew upon his Merchant's Sigil—a system-bound authority that allowed him to bargain not just with people, but with reality itself. His shop interface flickered open before his mind's eye, translucent panels of data shimmering with offers, trades, and options.
[Emergency Purchase Available: Realm-Breaker Contract]Cost: 5000 Spirit CreditsRisk: Fatality chance 75%Effect: Temporarily destabilizes localized reality.
He stared at it for half a second.
No choice.
He slammed his mental confirmation, feeling the System surge in response. His entire body jolted as a wave of heat crashed over him. Threads of gold light wound down his arms, wrapping around his fingers as a small crystalline sigil appeared in his palm.
Serin spotted the glow from across the battlefield. "Kai, what the hell did you just buy!?"
"Something stupid," he muttered, forcing himself forward.
The ground beneath him cracked as another shockwave rippled from the Seed. Jax leapt in front, bracing with his massive tower shield, absorbing the brunt of the blast. His feet dug trenches into the stone, but he held firm.
"I'll hold the line!" Jax bellowed. "Finish the damn thing!"
Li Kai gave him a grateful glance before surging past.
The Seed Core pulsed again, its tendrils multiplying. Blackened roots broke through the ground, tearing up stone and dirt as they coiled toward him. For a heartbeat, Li Kai hesitated—but then Ilya's arrows whistled through the air, slamming into the roots, pinning them long enough for him to dart through.
"You owe me!" Ilya called from her vantage point.
"Drinks on me!" Kai shouted back.
The crystal pulsed again. This time, a voice echoed in his head—not spoken aloud, but pressed into his mind like a dark whisper.
You… dare… break… me…
His heart slammed painfully against his ribs.
The Seed was aware. Fully aware.
Li Kai ground his teeth, raising the Realm-Breaker Sigil high above his head. The stabilizing hum from his artifact fought against the chaotic pulses, holding his body together, but he could feel his skin prickling, his bones shaking. The price of wielding this kind of magic was steep. Too steep.
But this was the only path forward.
"NOW!" Li Kai roared.
He slammed the sigil into the ground at the Seed's base.
The world fractured.
A blinding white fissure tore through the ground, slicing through the dense web of corrupted roots. Space buckled, bending inward, and for the first time, the Seed Core faltered. The swirling tendrils paused mid-swing, spasming like a living organism in shock.
"Keep pushing!" Serin yelled, her sword cleaving through the nearest tendril.
Dren raised his staff and began channeling a long, complex incantation, golden runes swirling around him as he funneled his magic into the rift. Jax rammed his shield into the earth, sending a shockwave through the ground that cracked more of the exposed roots.
Li Kai staggered back, gasping for breath.
The Seed shuddered violently, cracks spiderwebbing across its crystalline body. The dark whispers pressed harder into his mind, turning into a chorus of enraged howls.
This is MY realm… you are intruders… you are NOTHING…
The abyss trembled.
Suddenly, the Seed fought back.
With a sound like splitting mountains, a colossal tendril erupted from the core, sweeping in a massive arc toward the entire team. The air howled as the monstrous appendage smashed through stone, sending boulders the size of buildings hurtling through the air.
Li Kai's heart froze.
"MOVE!"
But it was too late.
The tendril slammed into their position, the force blasting them off their feet. Li Kai felt himself thrown through the air, the Stabilizer flashing red as it barely cushioned the impact. He hit the ground hard, pain lancing through his ribs. For a moment, his vision blurred.
"Kai! Get up!" Serin's voice cut through the haze.
He coughed, spitting blood. His arms trembled as he pushed himself upright. Across the battlefield, Jax was struggling to his feet, battered but alive. Ilya was limping, one arm wrapped around her torso, while Dren was still kneeling, blood dripping from his forehead.
The Seed roared—a soundless pulse that tore through their minds.
Li Kai felt his knees buckle, sweat pouring down his face.
[Warning: Physical strain critical.][Warning: Mental threshold exceeded.]
He gritted his teeth, eyes blazing. "Not yet…"
And then, he saw it.
Behind the Seed Core, at the very heart of the abyssal chamber, the corrupted roots had thinned—revealing a central vein of energy. It pulsed faintly, a weak point amidst the chaos.
"Serin!" Li Kai yelled. "The back! We need to strike the back!"
Serin, bloodied and bruised, flashed him a fierce grin. "Took you long enough to spot it."
Together, they ran.
Serin led the charge, her sword glowing brilliantly as she cleaved through the remaining tendrils. Li Kai followed close behind, channeling what little power remained in the Stabilizer to protect them from the crushing waves of energy.
Behind them, Jax and Dren provided cover, blasting apart the pursuing roots with coordinated strikes. Ilya, despite her injuries, loosed arrows with deadly precision, pinning tendrils to the ground and buying them precious seconds.
As they neared the Seed's rear, Li Kai saw the core's true heart: a pulsing knot of magic, raw and unshielded, exposed where the veins converged.
This was it.
This was where it ended.
Li Kai raised his hand, gathering the last threads of his System energy.
[Activate: System Override Protocol.][Cost: All remaining credits.]
The world around him shifted.
For a single, blinding moment, he felt the weight of the System's authority settle over him—not just as a storekeeper, but as a force of balance. The Stabilizer blazed white, flooding the chamber with cleansing light.
Serin raised her sword, locking eyes with him.
"Together," she whispered.
Li Kai smiled. "Together."
They lunged.
The Seed's heart let out one final pulse, a desperate, furious tremor—but it was too late.
Li Kai drove the System's energy into the exposed core just as Serin's blade struck home. Light and magic surged, racing through the corrupted veins like a tidal wave. The Seed shrieked, a psychic scream that rattled the walls of the abyss.
Then—
With a soundless, shuddering collapse, the Seed Core imploded, folding inward as the stabilizing force consumed it.
For a heartbeat, everything was still.
Then the abyssal chamber crumbled.