As Jude opened his eyes, he found himself once again standing within the endless shadow realm. The familiar silence greeted him, but something about it felt different, as though the void itself had shifted while he was gone.
The darkness no longer felt calm or still. It moved. Slowly, like a deep ocean without water.
He looked around, expecting to see Morthos, or at least feel that overwhelming presence again, but there was nothing. Only emptiness… and a strange pressure growing from above. Jude raised his head. What he saw made his breath tighten.
The void itself had ignited with black flames, not burning light, but consuming darkness, a fire that did not illuminate but swallowed.
The flames twisted and roared across the sky of nothingness, forming a massive silhouette.
Then it came into full view.
A colossal phoenix, its body forged entirely from those black flames, its wings spreading across the endless space like falling night, its eyes glowing with an ancient, terrible intelligence.
Just one flap of its wings sent violent winds crashing toward Jude, an impossible sensation in a place where wind shouldn't even exist.
His feet almost lifted from the unseen ground, yet he remained still. He refused to step back. He would not give it that satisfaction.
The phoenix's gaze locked directly onto him.
When it spoke, its voice wasn't loud, yet it echoed across the entire realm, vibrating through Jude's bones rather than his ears.
"I am Abaddon, the Shadow Phoenix… one of the Children of Shadow."
Jude immediately froze internally, though his body didn't betray it. He remembered that name.
In his past life, buried in ancient texts his master had once shown him, locked away in forbidden libraries and crumbling ruins, the name Abaddon had been written in fading ink soaked with fear.
A creature of utter destruction, not bound by kingdoms or races, appearing only when ruin followed.
It was said its flames never extinguished. Embreal. A shadow fire that consumed not only matter, but essence itself.
Where Abaddon flew, civilizations burned until only silence remained. Looking up at it now, hearing its voice directly, was like staring at the embodiment of a catastrophe.
Yet Jude did not lower his head. He straightened his posture and spoke, his voice calm, controlled, and steady despite the scale of the being above him.
"I am Jude Avernus, son of Auri Avernus… and contractor of Morthos."
His words echoed slightly through the emptiness. For a moment, Abaddon only stared at him.
Then, to Jude's shock, the gigantic phoenix let out a sound that almost resembled laughter. A deep, rumbling chuckle that shook the void around them.
A beast of destruction… laughing. Jude's brows furrowed slightly, but he said nothing.
The phoenix's blazing eyes narrowed, not with malice, but with interest.
"Even while standing under me, you show no fear,"
Abaddon said, its tone now strangely conversational. "I like you, kid." Its wings slowly folded inward, the black flames calming somewhat.
"When Morthos told me he had chosen a contractor, I thought the old bastard had finally lost his mind."
The phoenix tilted its head slightly, observing Jude as though he were some unusual specimen. Then it spoke again, "I am your guardian."
Jude blinked. His lips parted slightly. "My… guardian?"
Abaddon gave a small, amused scoff. "Yes," it replied. "Each God's contractor is assigned a guardian. A being that protects them, watches over them… and shapes them.
Through me, you will learn everything there is to know about shadow energy." Jude absorbed the words slowly.
A guardian.
Not just a power source. Not just a contract. Someone — something — tied to him directly.
His thoughts raced, but before he could respond, Abaddon suddenly lowered its massive head closer.
Its enormous form still towered over him, a mountain of living shadow flame.
"So…" it said casually, a strange grin forming in its burning features,"I look kinda cool, don't I?"
Jude's expression blanked. The mental image of a legendary beast of destruction, feared across eras, clashed violently with the casual tone it was using now. The contrast nearly made his brain stall.
He finally spoke, carefully. "Will… will the training be done here?" Abaddon's eyes narrowed slightly. "No," it replied.
The word barely left its mouth when Jude's vision suddenly twisted. The shadow realm collapsed around him like folding cloth, and in the next instant, he opened his eyes again — this time on his bed, inside his room in the Outer Estate.
His breathing was steady, but he could still feel the residue of shadow energy crawling faintly along his skin. Then he noticed it. Something was standing in front of him. Abaddon.
But no longer as a towering phoenix. Now it had shrunk to a much smaller size, though still unnatural. A miniature version of its true form, flickering with dark fire.
Jude sat up immediately. "What happened?" he demanded. "Why are you smaller all of a sudden? And what about if someone sees you? I'd be dead." Abaddon rolled its burning eyes.
"Stop shouting into my ears, kid," it said lazily.
The black flames suddenly collapsed inward, thick shadows wrapping around its body like fabric.
The form shifted, twisted, and reshaped. Seconds later, standing where the phoenix had been, was a man — probably in his twenties — with short black hair, calm eyes carrying a faint glow of shadow, and a lazy expression on his face.
He stretched his arms slightly as if testing the form. "This should do," he muttered, clearly proud of himself.
Jude stared at him in disbelief. "Yeah," he said dryly, "if you want both of us killed. What kind of explanation am I supposed to give if they find a random stranger standing in my room?"
Abaddon clicked his tongue. "Relax," he replied. He raised his hand, snapping his fingers once.
Instantly, his body dissolved into flowing shadow and sank into Jude's own shadow on the floor, merging with it like ink in water. His voice echoed faintly from within. "Satisfied?" There was a brief pause. Jude answered, "Yes."
Before he could say anything else, a soft creaking sound came from the door, followed by it slowly opening. Elara stepped inside.