Chapter 12: Explores Forbidden Ruins in Sect; Finds a Demon Relic
The moon hung heavy over the Crimson Sun Sect, its pale light slanting through high temple windows and washing the world below in shades of quiet silver. Yet beneath the surface of stillness, the shadows churned—restless, coiling around secrets long buried.
Raiyen stood before the entrance of the ancient ruin hidden beneath the sect's eastern ridge. He'd masked his presence with a shroud of spiritual concealment, a technique woven into the Sinbound System's early rewards. Even the formation elders would sense nothing unless they stood right beside him.
He ran a hand along the stone door. Ancient glyphs, cracked and dulled with age, pulsed faintly beneath his fingers.
> [Hidden Relic Detected: Abyssal Archive – Corrupted Sanctum of the Lost Sovereign.]
> [System Scan: Entry possible. Risk Level: High. Potential Rewards: Forbidden Knowledge, Sin-Encoded Techniques.]
> [Proceed? Y/N]
He didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
The glyphs flared red.
The stone parted with a hiss like a dying beast exhaling its final breath. A wave of cold air struck him—dry, stale, yet laced with energy so old it had weight. It felt like stepping into the lungs of something ancient.
He descended.
The stairwell twisted in unnatural geometry. Walls sloped where they shouldn't. Shadows flickered where no light fell. The deeper he went, the more the oppressive silence pressed into his ears. Even his breath felt stolen.
At the base lay a circular chamber veiled in semi-darkness. The floor was inlaid with broken tiles—each depicting different scenes: a man burning cities with a gaze, a woman whispering to stars that bled, a beast devouring its own cultists while smiling.
Raiyen stepped carefully between the cracked depictions.
At the center of the chamber, atop a dais of blackened bone, floated a crystalline sphere. It pulsed with corrupted Qi—thick and syrupy, like blood congealing on a blade.
> [Artifact Detected: Eye of the Sovereign Sin.]
> [Warning: Extreme Corruption. Potential to unlock advanced Sinbound Functions.]
He approached, and the orb pulsed violently—reacting not in rejection, but in recognition.
He reached for it.
The moment his fingers brushed the surface, the world shattered.
His vision was filled with spiraling fire and screaming voices—images of ancient wars, cities crumbling beneath skies torn by divine betrayal, and at the center of it all: a man in black robes laughing as seven celestial beasts bowed before him.
Raiyen staggered, clutching his head. Blood trickled from his nose.
> [System Sync Initiated.]
> [New Subsystem Unlocked: Abyssal Sin Codex.]
> [New Technique Unsealed: Eyes of Sovereign Insight – Grants limited future sight through Sin resonance.]
> [Sin Points Awarded: Forbidden Curiosity +13, Defiance +10.]
The visions faded.
Raiyen dropped to a knee, heart hammering. It took him several moments to rise again. His gaze was clearer now. Sharper.
There were more doors hidden in the walls of the chamber—seven of them. Each sealed by a different elemental aura, each humming with untold danger.
He memorized their locations.
But one of them—a bronze door cracked ajar—drew him forward. No glyphs guarded it. No Qi pulsed from its seams. And yet, it called to him with a stillness far more dangerous than any roaring flame or wailing spirit.
Raiyen pushed it open.
The space beyond was small. A circular chamber lined with obsidian stone. At the center stood a single pedestal, no taller than his waist, holding a weathered tome wrapped in chains of bone.
No inscription. No protective formation.
Just a presence. Cold. Heavy. Like the breath of something ancient watching him from behind a veil.
> [Unknown Relic Detected.]
> [Unable to fully scan. Fragmented Abyssal Signature.]
> [Name: Null Scripture of the Demon Crown.]
> [Warning: Extreme corruption. Reading will alter the host's Soul Core. System can buffer—up to 42%.]
Raiyen hesitated.
This wasn't a technique scroll or a cultivation relic. It was something older. Something that had survived the collapse of empires and the fall of heaven-killing sects.
He reached out and placed his hand on the cover.
Instantly, the chains of bone crumbled to dust.
The book opened.
A single page.
A single sentence:
"All power is borrowed—from sin, from death, from gods long dead. True monarchs do not ask. They take."
As he read it, something tore inside his chest—then reformed. His Qi twisted violently, a core resonance shift. The Sinbound System flared like a furnace roaring to life.
> [Warning: Host's Soul Core is mutating.]
> [New Sin Trait Awakened: Crown of Heresy – All spiritual suppression effects are weakened by 40%. Sin accumulation is enhanced by 20%. Charisma influence scales with Sin Points.]
> [System Evolution: Tier II Initiation begun.]
Raiyen staggered back, eyes burning with fire not of his own. He could see now—see beyond the veil of Qi. He could feel the thoughts of the ruin itself, pulsing faintly like an old heart.
A whisper rose in his mind, ancient and cruel:
"Rule, or be ruled."
The room began to shake. The stone pedestal cracked. The shadows thickened, rising in jagged shapes.
Time to leave.
Raiyen turned and sprinted from the chamber, shadows screaming behind him. The crystal orb—the Eye of the Sovereign Sin—flared in resonance. As he passed it, it surged into his body, dissolving like vapor.
> [Eye of the Sovereign Sin Integrated.]
> [Passive Buff: Improved Sin Perception.]
> [New Ability: Demon Sight – Detect lies, fear, and spiritual anomalies.]
He burst from the ruin's exit as the stairwell behind him collapsed into choking dust and rubble. Night had fallen entirely, and the sect above still buzzed with distant movement.
But Raiyen's eyes weren't on the stars.
They were glowing faintly now—irises etched with runes only a demon would recognize.
He turned his gaze toward the core sect chambers nestled in the mountainside.
There were more secrets here.
More lies.
More prey.
And now, he had the means to peel back the illusions.
Slowly, he pulled his servant robes tighter around his frame and walked back toward the outer courts, each step resonating with a purpose darker than the last.
The monarch's shadow had begun to stretch—and soon, no one would remember a time before it.