Elias staggered backward, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. The aftermath of the battle against Steve had left more than just physical wounds. His chest burned with a strange heat, not from exhaustion, but something far more sinister — as if Steve's claws had scraped deeper than flesh, touching something ancient buried within him.
The alley behind Whitmoor's abandoned church was soaked in blood. Rain poured from the heavens like judgment, washing away crimson trails but not the weight of what had just occurred. Steve had escaped, wounded but grinning like a beast that knew his prey would soon come to him willingly.
Elias knelt, coughing violently.
"Dammit…" he muttered. "What is happening to me?"
The System pulsed.
> [Warning: Soul Core Instability Detected]
[Activating Abyssal Protocol – Phase I]
[Blood Sin Threshold Reached: +1 Sin Core Unlocked]
A sharp jolt surged through Elias' spine, and for a moment, he couldn't breathe. He collapsed against the wall, his nails digging into the bricks as his veins darkened with shadowy tendrils, like oil leaking beneath his skin.
He screamed, but the rain drowned it out.
---
Across town, in a quiet, dusty room beneath the ruins of the Whitmoor Archives, Mr. Sabastin examined a shattered vial.
"Phase One has begun…" he whispered, eyes wide with a mix of fear and fascination. "The Devil's System is no longer dormant."
Behind him, ancient tomes rustled as if awakened.
"They'll come for him now," he said. "Not just the Council. The Watchers, the Forgotten, maybe even the Abyssals themselves."
He stood, slipping a silver dagger into his coat. "And he has no idea what he truly is."
---
The next morning came with no comfort.
Elias stood shirtless before the cracked mirror in Adam's bathroom. The bite wound on his side, left by Steve, had blackened overnight. Not infected — transformed. Veins around it pulsed unnaturally, like something alive was growing inside.
"Adam," he called weakly.
Adam stepped in with a bowl of warm soup, but froze when he saw Elias.
"Bloody hell… Elias," he whispered. "What the hell is that?"
Elias gripped the edge of the sink. "Steve bit me. Something's changing inside. I can feel it—like something is… speaking to me."
Adam looked terrified but held his ground. "We need to burn it. Cut it out."
"No," Elias growled, eyes glowing faintly. "It's too late for that. This… this is part of me now. The System said something about a Sin Core."
Adam's voice cracked. "You're becoming one of them, Elias."
"No. I'm becoming something else."
Silence hung between them. Elias looked away.
"You should leave," Elias finally said.
"I'm not leaving you, mate. Not when things are finally making sense. You—" Adam hesitated. "You were reborn with something powerful. But you're still you. Aren't you?"
Elias didn't answer.
---
That night, while Adam slept, Elias stood alone at the edge of Whitmoor's ravine — where the old asylum used to sit before it was swallowed by the earth decades ago. The winds howled like mournful spirits.
The System flickered in his vision.
> [Quest Triggered: Face the Echo of the Abyss]
[Reward: Unknown]
[Warning: Death Likelihood – 74%]
"Show me," Elias whispered. "If I'm really meant for something more, stop hiding it."
The earth trembled.
Cracks spread beneath his feet as black mist oozed from the ground. From the mist, a figure emerged — tall, emaciated, and crowned with antlers of shadow. Its eyes were hollow voids, yet its voice echoed inside Elias' skull.
> "You wear the System, yet you do not command it. You carry Sin, but you have not claimed it."
"Who are you?" Elias demanded, fists clenched.
> "I am the echo of what you will become. I am the Remnant of the Abyssal Sovereign — and your final warning."
The creature lunged.
Elias rolled aside just in time as the abyssal being clawed the space where he stood. Without thinking, he raised his hand — and shadows exploded from his palm, coiling around the monster like serpents.
The System blared.
> [Sin Core Activation: Wrath]
[Blood Rite: Chain of Vengeance – Initiated]
Black chains erupted from the ground, binding the echo's limbs. Elias stepped forward, now glowing faintly with dark crimson light.
"You want to warn me?" he said coldly. "Then die with your secrets."
The chains constricted, snapping the creature in half with a horrific screech. The air went still.
> [Quest Complete – Partial Awakening Achieved]
[Skill Gained: Abyssal Domination (Passive)]
Elias collapsed to his knees, breathless, shaking from the power still coursing through him.
---
Later that night, Sabastin poured through a dusty ledger filled with forbidden names and ancient bloodlines. He paused when he saw one name highlighted in blood-red ink.
Elias Black – Host of the Ninth Sin, Vessel of the Fallen Core.
He whispered, "You weren't supposed to awaken this early…"
Behind him, in the shadows, a figure with glowing green eyes emerged.
"Shall we eliminate him?" it hissed.
"No," Sabastin replied. "Not yet. Let the boy taste power. Let him believe he's in control. That's when we strike."
---
Far from Whitmoor, in a stone sanctuary lost to time, a woman in red robes stirred a pool of obsidian water.
She saw Elias' face within.
"Found you…" she whispered. "At last."
A smile touched her lips — dark, knowing, deadly.
"The Reborn has awakened. Let the hunt begin."