---
Her body was a monument of pain.
The Mother of the Abyss stood thirty feet tall, formed from the melted flesh of Chaos Seeds and broken metal plating fused into a feminine silhouette. Her limbs dripped with bone, wire, and soul-ink. Three mouths lined her face — one sobbing, one silent, one smiling.
> "You came," she said through all mouths at once.
"The Dragon Empire couldn't kill me. The Dominion couldn't dissect me. But you… Chaos-born… you might unmake me."
Li Tianming didn't flinch, though every instinct in his body screamed.
The Chaos Eye was wide open — scanning, shifting, straining.
> [Analyzing Entity: Mother of the Abyss]
[Core Type: Hive-Womb Construct]
[Merged Soul Density: 37 Chaos Seeds]
[Trait Level: ??? (Myth-Class – Incomplete)]
[Hostile Status: Dormant.]
[Corruption Risk: High. Chaos Resonance Risk: Severe.]
> "You should've died with the others," Tianming said coldly.
"The Empire abandoned you. The System purged you."
She laughed. Or wept. Or both.
> "Yes. They did. But I survived. Because I remembered."
The air around them warped.
Suddenly, the entire Abyss shifted — walls of bone grinding open, revealing murals painted in dried soul-blood. Moving images of the Collapse — how the Dragon Empire once tried to breed gods from catastrophe.
And how it failed.
Horribly.
Tianming stared as thousands of Chaos Seeds were shown imploding, their minds devoured by the very systems meant to guide them. Children. Soldiers. Entire cities.
> "They tried to delete the truth," the Mother said, "but they couldn't delete me."
She pointed one skeletal finger at Tianming's chest — the Chaos Seal glowed in response.
> "You carry his mark. The First Chaos Lord. But you are not him. Not yet."
He gritted his teeth.
> "I'm not interested in becoming anyone else."
> "Then become yourself," she whispered. "I offer you a memory."
> "A living fragment from the First Collapse. Buried within my core."
She stepped aside.
Behind her… a floating orb pulsed.
Not with light.
With memory.
> [System Alert: Forbidden Echo Detected]
[This is a Chaos Memory Core. Absorption will result in Trait Mutation.]
[Consent Required.]
> [But… there is a cost.]
Tianming narrowed his eyes.
> "What cost?"
The Mother turned, and all three mouths smiled.
> "You must choose: Save the corrupted Seeds — or take the Memory and let them die."
> "You cannot have both."
All around, the fallen Chaos Seeds twitched. Dozens of them. Maybe hundreds. Some still breathed. Some were already shells. Some… whispered his name.
> "Save us…"
> "It hurts…"
> "We remember the fire…"
Tianming felt something churn in his chest — fury? Pity? Or just the pressure of choice?
He turned to the system.
> [Begin Choice Protocol]
▣ Option 1: Purge the Abyss
— Absorb the Memory Core
— Gain: Chaos Trait Mutation
— All remaining Seeds will perish
— Soul Count +43
▣ Option 2: Preserve the Seeds
— Deny the Memory Core
— Attempt Mass Soul Healing (Chance of Failure: 84%)
— Gain +Affinity with Forgotten Chaos Lineage
— No new Traits unlocked
> "You would trade power for compassion?" the Mother asked, amused.
"How noble. How stupid. How human."
Tianming stood silent.
Then stepped toward the Memory Core.
> "I don't need to be noble," he whispered. "I need to win."
He placed his hand on the orb.
> [WARNING – Chaos Mutation Sequence Initiated]
[Mutating Trait: Chaos Eye ➝ Chaos Eye – Origin Layer I]
[New Passive: World-Bleed Vision – Ability to glimpse into layered timelines of the Collapse.]
[Active Skill Unlocked: Soul Mirror – Reflect target's worst future self against them once per day.]
[Mental Damage: Moderate. Core Stability: 58%]
The moment he absorbed it—
The Seeds screamed.
One by one, they ignited — not in fire, but in memories not meant to be remembered. They weren't killed by Tianming — they were overwritten by what he now knew.
And yet…
He saw it all.
— The laboratories of the Dragon Empire
— The secret cloning chambers of the Eagle Dominion
— The first Chaos Lord, chained in a tower of silence
— The death of the world, not by monsters… but by hope
---
When it was over, Tianming fell to one knee, coughing black.
> [Soul Count: 49 / 999999]
[Chaos Eye: Origin Layer I]
[Corruption: 6.6%]
[Chaos Memory Access: Locked Fragment – "The Tower of Chains"]
The Mother of the Abyss faded into dust, her voice echoing one last time.
> "You chose power. Let's see if you survive it."
---
[Elsewhere – Dragon Empire Capital, Obsidian Throne Hall]
A black-robed elder knelt before the Empress of Chains.
> "The Raven Abyss... has awoken."
The Empress didn't blink.
> "And the boy?"
> "He took the Memory."
> "Then prepare the others."
She turned to face her inner court — a line of twelve masked figures.
> "The Chaos Game is no longer a theory. It's begun."
---