Chapter 208 – When the Dark Abyss Takes Form… and Realizes It Underestimated a Sleepwalker and a Cosmic Diva
The Dark Abyss vanished…
Before reappearing and sending Kronn flying like a cannonball.
— **BWOUM!**
It grabbed Kronn's leg mid‑flight, spun him once like an Olympic hammer throw, then—
**BAM!**
Slammed him into the ground, creating an instant crater.
And just for style:
**CRACK!**
A wall of shadow materialized behind Kronn, and the tank crashed into it like a wall decoration.
The Dark Abyss grinned, predatory.
— "Hahahahaha! You are nothing before me.
I am LITERALLY everything."
Seline leapt, landing so hard a mini‑quake shook the zone.
She drew back her fist, sonic waves vibrating around it.
— "ARCASONIC IMPACT!"
Her fist shot forward like a musical meteor.
The Dark Abyss blocked it with one hand, effortlessly, then struck Seline in the stomach.
**BOOM!**
She flew, bounced off two rocks, spun involuntarily.
Kronn pulled his head out of the wall.
— "Oof.
I think I've hit my sleep quota.
Twenty hours a day is solid, though."
Seline landed beside him, braking with her hand on the ground.
Kronn frowned.
— "Don't tell me you're struggling."
Seline wiped the blood from her lip.
— "Absolutely not. Who do you take me for?"
She dodged a shadow spike rising from the ground without even looking.
— "But since he's literally the Dark Abyss…
He can warp reality at will and rewrite the rules.
So… it's annoying."
Kronn nodded.
— "Okay."
He vanished.
A moment later:
**SCHLANK!**
A sword materialized in his hand and struck the Dark Abyss.
The entity blocked, conjuring a black blade of compact shadow.
The clash cracked the zone.
— "Interesting," Kronn said, as if commenting on tea.
The structure vibrated in fear.
Seline raised Arcasonus.
Energy gathered.
The mic transformed into a sword, its blade made of condensed music, melodic runes spiraling around it.
— "Step aside, Kronn."
She attacked.
Dozens of Sonic Blades burst forth, slashing the space.
**CHAK—SHAK—TRING—TRANG—**
The Dark Abyss blocked them all, the air whistling around him.
Then he smiled.
— "Amusing."
Seline narrowed her eyes.
— "Oh?
Let's go, Kronn."
They charged.
They vanished.
Reappeared.
Each strike made the ground quake.
**BOOM — BAM — KRASH — WHOOM —**
Kronn unleashed an uppercut.
**PAF!**
The entity was knocked back.
Seline seized the moment.
**SLASH!**
She cut him in two.
Literally.
The entity stitched itself back together instantly.
— "Huh?!"
Seline smirked, turned her head.
— "I think you—"
**BIM!**
She barely blocked the counterstrike, but the force sent her flying.
Kronn reappeared.
— **BAM!**
The Dark Abyss blocked, but was driven into the ground by sheer brute force.
Seline began to sing.
A gentle melody.
Serene.
Beautiful.
Pure danger.
Reality shifted color.
Kronn felt his strength, speed, perception surge.
The entity felt the opposite.
— "Wait— what is this—"
Invisible waves struck him everywhere.
**PAF—PAF—PAF—PAF—**
He spat black blood.
For the first time.
Then he smiled.
— "Interesting."
Kronn appeared before him, grabbed his face.
— "Go back to sleep."
**KRAAAASH!**
He smashed him into the ground.
The entity screamed—but the scream warped.
Reality folded like crumpled paper.
The ground turned liquid then solid.
The walls flipped.
Time rewound 0.3 seconds before resuming.
The Dark Abyss had bent causality itself, creating a micro‑space to escape the hold.
He reappeared behind Kronn.
**STAB!**
A shadow blade pierced Kronn's back.
Kronn looked at the blade.
Then at the entity.
— "…Okay.
That tickles."
He punched.
**BOOM!**
Reality shattered like glass.
The entity flew, spat more black blood, and finally planted a massive shadow sword into the ground to stop himself.
He grinned.
— "You're pretty strong.
I admit it."
A massive sonic wave struck the back of his head.
**TOOOOONG!**
Seline smiled.
— "And you haven't seen anything yet."
The Dark Abyss turned slowly, eyes wide.
— "…She just hit me with a major C in the head."
Seline raised Arcasonus.
— "Chapter 209?"
Chapter 209 — "When the Dark Abyss Thinks It's a God… and Discovers There's Worse: Seline and Kronn Together"
The Dark Abyss stood still for a few seconds.
Just long enough for the vibration of the C major note in his skull to spread up to the ceiling.
Then he slowly raised his eyes toward Seline.
— "... You hit me. With a note.
ONE. NOTE."
Seline tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
— "I gave you the honor of a clean floor."
— "It was a C."
— "Yes, but for you, I improvise."
Kronn, cracking his neck as he watched the scene, muttered:
— "Personally I just heard BOOOOM."
The Dark Abyss trembled with rage.
Literally.
The Abyss switched to "I'm not joking anymore" mode.
The ground cracked.
The walls turned liquid.
Then solid.
Then… translucent?
The entire zone began to contract like a giant lung.
— "Oh no…" whispered Seline.
— "He's changing phase."
Kronn tilted his head.
— "Phase?"
— "Yes. He's going from 'funny evil boss' to 'I kill you because I've lost my sense of humor.'"
The Abyss burst out in a deep laugh.
— "I am the Abyss.
I am the Rift.
I am the Shadow that swallows all…
And you DARED to ridicule me."
Kronn raised an eyebrow.
— "Dude, I was literally asleep.
She's the one who ridiculed you."
Seline lifted her hand.
— "Correct. I claim it."
The Abyss pointed a finger at her.
— "I will silence you.
Permanently."
Seline inhaled.
— "Ah, the classic 'I will silence you.'
Eight dungeons have tried that line.
None have succeeded yet."
The Abyss raised his arms.
The air grew heavy.
Pure darkness gathered above him, swirling, compressed into a sphere of total nothingness.
— "This is my essence.
My true nature.
The first rift.
The heart of the abyss.
The primordial destruc—"
Kronn:
— "You talk too much."
He vanished.
Reappeared above the sphere.
And struck.
BOOM.
The sphere burst like a cursed soap bubble.
The Abyss stood dumbfounded.
— "... But…
But do you know what that was?!"
Kronn shrugged.
— "A balloon?"
Seline clapped softly.
— "Well done, Kronn.
Perfect timing.
Very educational."
The Abyss exploded inwardly.
— "I WILL KILL YOU!"
Three shadow spears shot from the ground toward Seline.
She turned slightly.
Just enough.
The spears shattered against an invisible sonic barrier.
— "Seriously?
You attack me with that?
I'm Seline.
I defend myself by vocalizing, brother."
She raised Arcasonus.
— "HARMONIA: Supreme Cadence."
A rain of musical patterns appeared in the air, swirling around her.
Golden, vibrating notes.
Kronn folded his arms.
— "What's that?"
— "A buff.
For you."
Kronn glowed faintly.
Then more.
Then a lot.
Then too much.
— "... I think I'm overheating."
— "That's the idea."
Seline released everything.
The air exploded into a harmonic storm that poured onto Kronn.
The Abyss felt space distort around the tank.
— "Wait…
Why is his silhouette…
Becoming blurry?"
Kronn advanced.
Each step fractured the ground.
— "Because now…
He's tuned."
Seline smiled.
— "Kronn…
Show him why you should never be woken up."
Kronn vanished.
A sound shattered the air.
P O U M
The Abyss was hurled into the sky.
Then Kronn reappeared above.
B A M
He slammed him back to the ground.
Then a flurry of blows followed, too fast to be seen.
Space trembled.
Reality rippled.
The Abyss screamed:
— "STOP! I HAVEN'T STARTED MY PHASE 2 YET!"
Kronn grabbed the Abyss by the head.
— "And I'm still sleepy."
KRAAAAAAASH!
The Abyss crashed, pulverizing an entire rocky plateau.
Seline raised Arcasonus, ready.
— "Kronn, step aside.
I'll finish."
She inhaled deeply.
The Abyss screamed:
— "NO!
NOT ANOTHER—"
Seline:
— "HARMONIA: Final Crest."
A sonic line, thin as a sheet of light, sliced through the air…
And everything stopped.
The Abyss froze.
Then split in two.
Then…
BOOM.
He exploded into a rain of dissipated shadow.
Silence.
Kronn sighed.
— "That was intense.
I'm going to sleep."
Seline put her hands on her hips.
— "No.
YOU STAY AWAKE.
At least thirty minutes.
Out of respect."
Kronn:
— "... That's hard."
Chapter 210 – "When Even the Dungeon Understands It Must Respect Seline"
Seline sighed, brushed off her torn outfit, and declared, utterly blasé:
— "I think this time… it's over."
Kronn stretched as if waking from an interrupted nap:
— "I need a really good nap."
— "And I need a boiling bath," replied Seline. "Come on, let's go, I—"
She didn't have time to finish.
Because, of course, the dungeon refused to let her live her life.
A terrifying aura surged.
Cold. Heavy. Oppressive.
The ground groaned, the air vibrated, and even the light hesitated to stay lit.
Even Kronn raised an eyebrow.
Which, for him, meant:
"This is going to be annoying."
The entity had reformed.
Again.
As if saying: "Okay okay, last time was a bug… but now I'm serious."
It grabbed Seline by the face and slammed her into the ground like stamping an official document.
Then it dragged her for hundreds of meters, grabbed her by the ankle, smashed her, and hurled her like an Olympic hammer throw.
Kronn shot forward like an arrow and kicked it, shaking the entire portal…
But the entity blocked with ONE arm, then sent Kronn back.
Not far.
Just enough for him to say:
— "Hm. Annoying."
Seline emerged from the rubble, face bloody, hair a mess.
Expression neutral.
She wiped her cheek.
— "You've pissed me off."
Arcasonus became a slender sword, shining, almost immaterial.
Seline charged.
Blows rained down, fast, precise, lethal.
The entity blocked them all — but it retreated, centimeter by centimeter, as if regretting being born.
Then Seline pivoted, blade forward, and struck.
A perfect blow.
The entity blocked again.
— "Very well… then listen to me sing."
She inhaled deeply.
**Canticle of the Great Silence**
Her voice spread in a silent yet terrifying wave.
The entity's power dissipated instantly, as if the world had just cut its microphone.
Kronn rushed in and sliced the entity into pieces before it realized it was already dead.
Seline landed calmly.
— "That one was really starting to tire me. Always coming back…"
— "Honestly, I'm exhausted just watching him," yawned Kronn.
Seline lifted her eyes toward the unstable portal at the back of the chamber.
— "Well… it's time."
She took Arcasonus.
Turned it into a microphone.
Because of course.
Kronn looked at her, already half-asleep.
— "That's going to destroy the portal, I assume?"
— "Yes. And you, I think you won't be resting yet.
The concert is about to begin."
Kronn opened one eye:
— "…I demand a refund for my life."
**The Invocation of the Divine Concert**
Around Seline, silhouettes of energy appeared.
All created by Harmonia.
All ready to play.
A guitarist with hair made of luminous smoke.
A drummer with four arms of energy.
A pianist whose fingers sparked with every note.
A violinist floating in the air, bow formed of pure aura.
Two ethereal choristers, synchronized like a mirror.
And a spectral DJ with a headset impossible to remove (even he didn't know how he got it).
The whole band climbed onto a gigantic platform…
A concert truck, entirely conjured by Seline.
Spotlights, speakers, aura generators, everything.
Kronn climbed onto the back of the truck, lay down, and said:
— "Wake me if the world explodes."
— "Sure," replied Seline. "Or not."
The truck rolled forward slowly, like in an overly stylish music video.
The band took their places.
Seline inhaled.
Then sang a gentle… yet destructive melody.
Each note cracked the portal further.
Vibrations coursed through the dungeon, walls trembling like leaves.
The truck rolled.
The songs filled the space.
The portal collapsed.
Kronn, eyes closed, commented:
— "Effective. Loud. But effective."
When they reached the exit, Seline leapt from the truck, made a theatrical gesture, and finished:
**Canticle of Silent Nothingness**
A black‑and‑white wave spread, and the portal crumbled like a soggy house of cards.
She saluted the band.
— "Thank you for your service."
The band vanished, the truck too.
Kronn rose with difficulty.
— "Heading home?"
— "Not yet."
A Yin‑Yang symbol appeared on her forehead.
She sat in meditation.
The air around her distorted.
Dark and light energy swirled around her.
— "I must absorb the Yin and Yang present here.
Otherwise someone will try to reopen this portal."
Kronn crouched, utterly blasé.
— "Well… guess I'll sleep standing then."
— "You already do that all the time."
— "Yeah, but now it's official."
Chapter 211 — The Split Sanctuary: The March of Bones
In the split sanctuary, the air vibrated as if someone had forced an entire cemetery to get up and go to work when they were clearly not being paid for it.
Dervan and Veyra kept walking calmly, arms almost relaxed, as if they were on a Sunday stroll.
Behind them, the scattered bones quivered.
Then trembled.
Then… reformed.
But this time, not like dysfunctional zombies.
No.
This time, it looked like they had received a premium update in military coordination.
In front of them, enormous giant skeletons emerged from the mist — massive shields, cracked armor, swords like pylons — the Skeleton Tanks.
Behind: skeletal mages already in a circle, their bony hands crackling with impure energy.
And higher up, in the shadows, thin, sharp, almost liquid silhouettes.
The skeletal assassins.
Dervan exhaled.
— "Looks like they've switched to serious mode."
Veyra nodded.
— "Strange… it feels like they're being guided by someone."
Behind them, the skeletal warriors moved into formation, shields raised, posture perfect.
The mages protected in the center, ready to cast a combined spell.
The Tanks activated their skill:
— "PROVOCATION!"
The cry echoed through the sanctuary.
Dervan raised an eyebrow.
— "Do they really think that's going to work on us?"
Veyra snorted.
— "They think we're idiots."
A skeletal assassin tried to slit Dervan's throat from behind.
Dervan didn't even turn.
He just backhanded.
Crack.
The assassin's skull exploded like an overripe fruit.
— "Missed," he said flatly.
Veyra smiled, hand on her hip.
— "Watch closely, darling… this is how it's done."
She raised her hand.
— "Star-Graviton: Singu-Lure Attraction"
A twisted, dark blue gravitational field appeared in her palm.
A Tank skeleton was ripped from its position like a toy and hurled straight toward her.
At the last moment, her arm blurred.
— "Acceleration — Horizon Throw"
She struck.
The Tank exploded into fragments, reduced to bone confetti.
Dervan raised an eyebrow.
— "Hmm. Still not impressed."
— "Stop being picky, darling," Veyra replied.
Dervan crossed his arms.
— "Want me to show you?"
And he leapt.
The skeletal mages launched a combined attack.
A massive dark fireball shot straight at him.
Dervan stood, unmoving.
The attack vaporized two meters before reaching him.
— "Tch."
An assassin tried to stab him.
Dervan grabbed its skull and shattered it with a knee strike.
Veyra, meanwhile, had already deployed a gravitational field around herself.
The assassins, upon entering it, found themselves:
— unable to move,
— pinned to the ground,
— or flattened like dead leaves.
Explanation:
Her Gravitational Anchor Zone amplified the weight of anything she deemed hostile.
The assassins now literally weighed several tons each.
She snapped her fingers.
— "Celestial Repulsion: Zero Wave"
BOOM.
A gravitational blast shattered them all.
Dervan, meanwhile, plunged into the mass of skeletal warriors and destroyed them without slowing, his hyper-developed senses allowing him to see and anticipate everything.
The mages' magic?
Canceled as he approached.
Like dead sparks.
He leapt, landed in the middle of a group of mages, creating a shock that disjointed them.
Then he jumped again, delivering two simultaneous kicks that reduced two more skeletons to dust.
Veyra, annoyed by the lack of challenge, raised her hands.
— "Gravity: Total Zero Knot."
All gravity in the sanctuary… vanished.
The skeletons floated, panicked, arms flailing.
Dervan, however, stayed on the ground.
— "No thanks. Not for me," he said, canceling gravity on himself.
Veyra smiled, ready to play.
— "Acceleration — Dance of Horizons"
The world around her seemed to stop.
Everything slowed as if she were walking through a frozen painting.
She eliminated the Tanks, the Assassins, the Warriors…
And took the time to sit down, pull out an apple, and eat it calmly.
— "Crunchy."
Then she stood, made a small hop, fixed her hair, and resumed her chrono-assassin stance.
When gravity returned to normal, all the skeletons crashed to the ground like sacks of stones.
Dervan descended slowly, landing with style.
Veyra tossed him the apple.
— "Want the rest?"
He shrugged.
— "Why not."
And took the most blasé bite in history.