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CHAPTER 15 — THE QUEEN OF THE ABYSS RISES
The moment the last portal sealed behind the final variant, the underground chamber shook with a tremor so violent that dust cascaded from the ceiling like gray rain. The multiverse twins—ten Adrians and ten Adrianas—instinctively tightened formation, already knowing what was coming.
A cold wind swept through the chamber.
Then another.
Then a third.
Not normal wind—this one stank of sulfur, regret, and rotting souls. It felt like the breath of something ancient inhaling through the cracks of reality itself.
Adrian's heart slammed in his chest as he turned to Crimson Adriana, whose crimson aura flared like a star on the edge of collapse.
"Tell me that's not what I think it is," Adrian whispered.
Crimson Adriana's eyes narrowed, pupils glowing like blood-soaked glass.
"It's her. She's waking up."
Blue Adrian stepped forward, blue flames rippling beneath his feet like tides. "The Demon Queen?"
Crimson nodded once. "Malraeth. Monarch of the Abyss. Devourer of 10,000 worlds. The one who created the dimensional web beneath our school."
Adrian swallowed. "The school basement is… literally sitting on top of her prison?"
Blue Adrian smirked without humor. "Correction. Was sitting on her prison."
As if in response, the floor beneath them cracked open with a deafening explosion of violet lightning. The chamber spun into a vortex of spiraling runes, glowing symbols, and demonic script that burned itself into the air.
The ground fell away.
Adrian and the variants plummeted.
For a moment, it felt like free-falling through a starless universe—then they landed on solid black stone, smooth like obsidian yet pulsing like flesh. The air shimmered with heat, and towering spires rose above them, each one carved from bone.
They had fallen into the Abyss Realm.
And standing in the distance, growing with every breath, was a monstrosity that defied comprehension.
Her silhouette stretched across the horizon—four twisted wings like torn shadows, spiraling horns, and a body both ethereal and demonic. Her eyes were voids filled with screaming stars.
The Demon Queen, Malraeth, was rising from her throne.
Her voice tore through the air like a thousand echoes screaming at once—
"MY CHILDREN… YOU HAVE RETURNED."
Crimson Adriana stiffened. "She's talking to us."
Adrian blinked. "What?! Why?"
Crimson looked him dead in the eye.
"Because every version of us across the multiverse… is born of her curse."
Blue Adrian stepped forward, fists clenched. "Not all of us followed the curse. Some fought it. Some mastered it. And now we end it."
Malraeth took another colossal step toward them, and the ground rippled like liquid fire. Demons clawed their way from beneath the stone—tall, shadow-skinned creatures with flame-tongued maws and blade-like claws.
Adrian shifted into stance, summoning the darkness he trained so hard to control. "Everyone ready?"
Ten Adrians.
Ten Adrianas.
Twenty variants burning with power that could level civilizations.
As one, they answered—
"READY."
THE FIRST WAVE
The demons charged, dozens at first, then hundreds, forming a writhing, shrieking mass.
Blue Adrian raised his hand. "My turn."
He slammed his palm into the stone.
A tidal wave of blue flames erupted outward, vaporizing the first twenty demons instantly. Crimson Adriana shot upward on wings of blood-red fire, slicing through the swarm with her scythe, leaving trails of crimson lightning behind her.
Adrian rushed forward beside his original twin, Adriana.
"Left flank!" he shouted.
Adriana summoned her spectral chains, launching them like serpents to bind a nine-foot demon and crush its bones in a single jerk.
Adrian leaped off its collapsing body, firing a beam of shadowfire that tore through three more demons in a single streak.
Behind them, another variation—Shadow Adrian, wrapped in black mist—emerged from the darkness of a slain demon and ripped through another with spectral claws.
"Hey originals!" he shouted. "Keep up!"
Adrian rolled his eyes. "Show-off!"
Another variant—Frost Adriana, cloaked in icy silver—froze an entire wave of demons mid-charge and shattered them with a snap of her fingers.
The battlefield became chaos—beautiful, coordinated chaos.
THE SECOND WAVE
Malraeth inhaled deeply, her wings unfolding to their full, horrifying glory. The air turned poisonous, heavy with dread. The demons that emerged next were larger—armored, horned, dripping molten lava from their jaws.
Crimson Adriana snarled. "She's calling her elites."
Adrian cracked his neck. "Good. We need a warm-up."
The elites charged.
Adrian sprinted forward with three other versions of himself—Blue Adrian, Shadow Adrian, and Flame Adrian—each with a different aura.
Together, they slammed into the front line like a meteor impact.
Adrian slid under a molten claw swipe, slicing upward with a blade of pure shadow. Blue Adrian punched a demon so hard it created a shockwave that disintegrated another behind it. Flame Adrian unleashed a spiraling inferno that turned the battlefield into a blazing tornado.
Shadow Adrian emerged from the inferno, decapitating a demon with a single slash.
Meanwhile, Adriana and her variants obliterated the right flank—Crimson ripping through demons with her scythe, Frost freezing entire groups, Thunder Adriana electrocuting rows of enemies with bolts that cracked the sky.
But for every demon destroyed, two more crawled from the ground.
Adrian looked up, panting. "This is endless!"
Crimson Adriana's scythe twirled.
"It won't stop until we strike her."
And then—
Malraeth stepped forward.
THE QUEEN ENTERS THE BATTLEFIELD
The force of her footstep sent shockwaves across the battlefield, sending demons—and several variants—flying like rag dolls.
Adrian barely shielded Adriana before the blast hit.
They crashed into a stone column, dust exploding around them. Adriana coughed blood but dragged herself to her feet.
Malraeth leaned down, her voice echoing in their skulls rather than their ears.
"You carry my mark, children. You cannot escape what you are.
Come to me… become whole."
Her enormous hand reached for them.
Crimson Adriana flew between them and the Queen, scythe raised.
"SHUT UP!"
She slashed.
The blade tore through the demon queen's hand—
—but the wound closed instantly.
Malraeth smiled.
A slow, horrific smile.
"Very well.
Then I shall break you until you obey."
She raised her hand.
The sky cracked open.
A storm of black meteors rained down, each one burning with corrupted souls. The variants scattered, shooting into the air, some shielding the originals, others returning fire with massive blasts of power.
Adrian grabbed Adriana's hand through the chaos.
"We need a plan!"
Adriana's eyes glowed. "We take her down together!"
Crimson Adriana landed beside them, breathing hard. "No. You two need more. She's not fighting seriously yet."
Blue Adrian joined them, wiping blood from his lip.
"We need to merge our power. All twenty of us."
Adrian blinked. "Merge?! Is that even—"
Crimson Adriana smirked.
"Oh, it's possible. Dangerous. Stupid. Probably suicidal."
She raised her scythe.
"But it's the only way to kill a queen."
The ground rumbled again as Malraeth prepared another attack.
Adrian tightened his grip on his sister's hand.
"We do it."
Adriana nodded.
Blue Adrian shouted at the others—
"FORM THE CIRCLE!"
One by one, all twenty variants landed around the originals, forming a massive glowing ring of power as Malraeth's shadow fell over them.
And as the first rays of merging power began to ignite—
Malraeth roared.