The faint purplish-blue light from the ancient crystal veins guided Lucas deeper underground, leaving behind the pale faces of Lightning Hunter's group. He felt a tremor in the air, not from monsters, but from the crystal energy itself. His Crystal Sense was amplified, allowing him to "hear" the whispers of the stone, stories of a lost civilization and a growing threat.
Lucas stepped into a vast cavern, where colossal crystals sprouted from the floor and ceiling, emitting an ethereal glow. From the center of the cavern, a surge of energy, far more powerful than anything he had ever felt, radiated. It was a Nexus Crystal—a central crystal, the most abundant source of energy, and also where the memories of the Great Collapse were clearest.
He approached, his hand automatically reaching out. The star-shaped scar on Lucas's palm blazed, no longer a deep green or faint purplish-blue, but a mysterious pitch black, like a miniature black hole sucking in light. He felt a powerful urge, an irresistible craving to connect with this crystal.
As Lucas's palm touched the surface of the Nexus Crystal, the world around him dissolved. He was no longer in the cavern. He was floating in a vortex of light and sound.
He saw images clearer than ever before:
The Overlords: Not Abyssal Creatures. They were tall, majestic humanoid beings, glowing all over. They were the rulers of the ancient Crystal civilization. They had created portals between dimensions, to explore the Abyss—the origin of the crystals.
Ambition and Error: Their greed had led them too far. They not only harvested crystals, but also tried to connect deeper with the essence of the Abyss, believing they could control it and turn it into an infinite energy source.
An Unmendable Rift: The Great Collapse was not merely an invasion. It was the consequence of a failed experiment by the Overlords as they tried to merge Crystal energy with the Abyss. The rift between dimensions had opened too wide, unable to close, and Abyssal Creatures poured in.
The Crystal's Curse: The crystals themselves, once a source of life, became gateways for destruction when corrupted. The Obsidian Shards were remnants of that collapse, carrying within them memories of both light and darkness.Lucas felt an immense pain, not his own, but the agony of an entire civilization crumbling. He also sensed an ancient curse that had been placed upon the Obsidian Shards. They were not just tools, but part of a cycle of destruction. They were cursed to attract monsters and destroy everything around them.
As these images faded, Lucas was suddenly pulled back to reality, but not to the quiet cavern.
BOOM! RUMBLE!
The entire cavern shook violently. Cracks appeared on the ceiling and walls. A deafening roar, completely different from any Abyssal Creature he had ever heard, echoed from ahead. The scar on Lucas's hand no longer glowed black; it had turned a fiery red, a color of extreme danger.
"No way!" a faint voice exclaimed. Lucas turned his head. Lightning Hunter and his two remaining Scavengers, though injured, had followed him this far, drawn by the immense energy surge from the Nexus Crystal. They stood there, their eyes wide with horror.
From a colossal fissure that had just appeared on the opposite wall, a grotesque, never-before-seen creature slowly emerged. It was no ordinary monster. It was an Abyssal Chimera, a monstrous mass of flesh and horribly distorted crystal, twice the size of a Husk-Brute. Its body shimmered with corrupted Obsidian Shards, black tentacles intertwined, and its red eyes emitted a destructive energy. It was the result of excessive absorption of corrupted Crystal energy, a byproduct of the Great Collapse.
This Chimera was not only powerful; it was intelligent. Lucas sensed a primal, brutal, yet purposeful thought stream from it. It was searching for the Nexus Crystal, and it sensed Lucas as someone who could interfere.
Worse still, as this Abyssal Chimera appeared, the Obsidian Shards on Lucas's body, as well as those scattered throughout the cavern, suddenly reacted. They began to vibrate violently, and their energy surged chaotically, creating small spatial fissures. Lucas realized: the Chimera's presence was amplifying the curse of the corrupted crystals, making them unstable and even more dangerous.
He not only had to fight a monster but also contend with the energy within his own body.
Lightning Hunter and his companions ran for their lives. They had seen enough. This was something beyond their limits.
Lucas stood alone facing the Abyssal Chimera. He felt its power surge, and the headache returned as the memories of the Great Collapse flooded back. He couldn't let it reach the Nexus Crystal. If it absorbed more energy from there, this entire area, even New Harbor Citadel, would be in danger.
Lucas clenched his palm. He had seen the truth. He was the one carrying the key to the past, and now, perhaps, the future. He couldn't retreat. He would fight, not just to survive, but to protect what remained of this world.