Abysswalker: Rise of the Cosmic Tyrant

The first step felt like betrayal.

Not to anyone else—but to the fragments of his former self. The part of Erevan that still remembered warmth, remembered laughter... remembered love.

Each step down the spiral staircase peeled away another illusion.

There were no walls. Just void. Endless, yawning. Stars hung in the black, but they weren't real. Observers, maybe. Dead gods, maybe. He didn't care.

He walked barefoot now. The Abyss had stripped his boots—said they carried too many attachments.

With every level he descended, memories surfaced. Not in order. Not like a story. They clawed at his mind like ghosts behind mirrors.

His brother, bleeding in his arms.

His mother, face hollowed by fear.

His own voice, once begging the heavens: "Why me?"

There was no answer then. And none now.

[Abysswalker Mental Stability: 91%]

[New Trait Acquired: Emotional Suppression Lv.1]

[You may choose one Thought to discard.]

He halted.

The system wasn't asking for gear or skills now. It wanted something deeper.

Three glowing icons appeared in his vision, each a memory.

1. The warmth of your mother's hand as she tucked you in.

2. The laughter of your first friend.

3. The feeling of guilt when you killed your first man.

Erevan stared.

One was love.

One was joy.

One was humanity.

But guilt... guilt was the chain that held him back.

He reached forward.

Selected Thought: Guilt

The memory faded like mist under sun. Gone. Not buried. Erased.

The next step felt lighter.

"Good," the System whispered. "Now you understand. Monsters cannot hesitate."

He kept descending.

Around him, shadows moved—curious, silent. They didn't attack. They watched.

They sensed it. Something was changing.

Not just in his body.

In his soul.

When he reached the 14th floor, he didn't find monsters.

He found mirrors.

Hundreds.

Each one showed a version of him—smiling, broken, bleeding, laughing, enraged. One was still a boy. One was ancient. One was covered in the blood of thousands.

And at the center stood a tall, cloaked figure—faceless, but familiar.

It spoke in his voice. "This is what remains. Will you accept what you are becoming?"

Erevan looked around, slowly. The versions of him didn't move. Didn't blink.

He stared into the reflection of himself—not as he was, but as he would be.

Eyes like galaxies.

Skin like shadowed stars.

A presence that bent reality.

He didn't speak. Just nodded once.

The mirrors shattered.

All of them.

The figure bowed—and stepped inside him.

[Abysswalker Trait: Identity Fracture - Resolved.]

[New Form Unlocked: Voidborne Core - Dormant]

Erevan exhaled.

No fear. No doubt.

Only clarity.

He turned toward the door at the far end, made not of stone but of collapsed starlight.

He reached out.

It opened not with sound, but with acceptance.

The Abyss had acknowledged him.

And now… it would serve him.

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