Hearing that his master was going to die, Ming froze.
His hands trembled helplessly.
His abyssal form slowly faded, and his body turned back into a human shape—as if his emotions shook his very transformation.
He stared at Lyssar, unable to breathe.
Lyssar looked at him and gave a faint, tired smile.
"Why is your face like that…?" he whispered. "I always wanted to die. I just… never managed to. So at last… I can finally rest."
Ming shook his head, eyes widening in disbelief. "Master, don't say that—"
But Lyssar continued gently, his voice soft like a fading flame.
"Ming… in my entire life, I was never happy. Not even once. A thousand years of loneliness… a thousand years without anyone of my kind."
His fingers brushed Ming's cheek, weak and cold.
"But now… you're here. Someone who carries my blood… my abyssal nature… someone who became like me."
His voice trembled, filled with both sorrow and warmth.
"You are like a son to me now. That loneliness… the weight I carried for centuries… it all faded away the moment you appeared. It's like it never existed."
Ming's throat tightened. The words felt heavier than any blow.
His master had suffered for a thousand years—and now he is going to die
Lyssar slowly exhaled, his voice weakening but still sharp.
"Ming… listen carefully. Don't ever let humans see your abyssal form. They fear what they don't understand. And if they find out you're different… they will treat you exactly like they treated me."
Ming's eyes darkened instantly.
"I'd like them to try," he growled. "If any human dares to touch me… I will kill all of humanity."
Hearing this, Lyssar's lips curved into a small, satisfied smile.
How ironic.
Even on the edge of death, his heart still despised humans to the core.
If he had ever escaped this cave, he would have slaughtered humanity himself.
And now—
he had created someone like him.
Someone half-abyssal.
Someone the world would never accept.
Someone who carried the same hatred… the same loneliness… the same monstrous potential.
Lyssar's eyes dimmed, but the thought warmed him.
Humans will never leave Ming alone. They will fear him. Hunt him. Try to destroy him… just because he is different.
And if that happened…
Ming might truly wipe out humanity in twenty years.
But Lyssar also knew the truth.
Even Ming, with all his talent, is still far too weak.
Supreme realm experts—beings like Lyssar himself—had been sealed away. If someone like him could be suppressed, what could Ming do with his current strength?
Thinking about this, Lyssar's thoughts grew even darker.
Then he finally spoke.
"Ming… listen carefully. I know I have no more than a week left to live. So hear everything I say."
Ming immediately focused.
Even in his confusion, he knew these were his master's last teachings.
Lyssar continued:
"If you ever want to escape the Red Line… it's actually simple."
Ming's eyes widened in disbelief.
"What do you mean? Even I, a commoner, know this place—no one who enters ever comes back. How can it be simple?"
Lyssar nodded weakly.
"Yes, that's what everyone believes. But the truth is different. You just have to dig a tunnel underground and break through the boundary."
Ming blinked.
"That's… all? How is that possible?"
Lyssar smirked.
"It won't work everywhere. There is only one place where the barrier is weak. The place where a huge white snake lives."
Ming nodded slowly but still didn't understand.
"How do you even know an exit exists?"
Lyssar's eyes dimmed as he answered:
"Because this barrier wasn't created by the people of this realm. It was created by beings from another realm. Beings known as… the Shadowborn. They are the ancestors of the Abyssals."
Ming's breath froze.
"The ancestors… of Abyssals? You've actually seen one?"
Lyssar closed his eyes.
"Yes. The last Shadowborn died by my hand. He fell right here… in this cave."
Ming felt chills crawl down his spine.
"And he was the one who worked with humans… to seal me here," Lyssar continued.
"Before he died, he left something behind."
Lyssar reached into the darkness and pulled out a strange stone—pitch black, swallowing all light.
"He protected this stone with his life."
Ming leaned forward, feeling a strange pressure radiating from it.
"What is it…?"
Lyssar shook his head.
"I searched for years. I studied it again and again. But no matter what I tried… I found nothing. For me, it was just a normal stone."
Lyssar stared at it, as if even now it mocked him.
"But the fact that a Shadowborn guarded it… means it is anything but normal."
Lyssar placed the dark stone into Ming's hand.
"This was my final wish," he said softly. "To discover what this thing truly is. But even after a thousand years, I failed. Maybe… you will have better luck. Try to uncover its secret."
Ming nodded and closed his fingers around the stone.
The moment he touched it—
something snapped.
Not in the cave.
Not in the world.
In reality itself.
The sky above him shattered like broken glass.
A pitch-black void swallowed everything, and countless eyes—emotionless—opened around him, staring directly into his soul.
A deep, distorted voice's echoed:
"This character… is not that good."
"What a terrible story."
"This writer doesn't know how to write."
The voices were mocking. Disgusted. Detached from this world, as if they belonged to beings outside the story itself.
Before Ming could even understand—
he was dragged violently out of that space.
Darkness twisted again.
And then he saw another vision—
A man with white hair.
Blind-looking eyes.
A presence so overwhelming it made Ming feel small.
The man stepped toward him and whispered:
"I finally found you."
But again—before Ming could think, he was ripped away.
Suddenly he was back in the cave, sweating, breathing hard, staring at Lyssar.
Ming's voice trembled:
"Master… did you see those eyes?"
Lyssar shook his head.
"No. What did you see?"
"I—I saw…"
Ming tried to speak, but the words died in his throat.
Something—some invisible force—locked his voice.
He couldn't say it.
He was not allowed to say it.
After a moment, he understood.
"I… it's nothing, Master." Ming whispered.
He looked at the stone again, its surface cold and innocent.
"For me… it really is just a simple stone."
But deep in his heart, Ming knew:
That stone was watching him now.