Rain returned to Valoria, heavier than before.
The city's lights flickered beneath storm clouds, and the crimson hue that lingered in the sky refused to fade.
Lin Xuan sat inside a derelict chapel at the city's edge.
Broken statues watched him from the shadows — remnants of gods long forgotten.
His daggers rested beside him, faintly reflecting the red glow outside.
He hadn't slept since the Rift.
Not since he heard that name.
"Aldir."
The whisper still echoed in his head, quieter now, but constant — like a pulse he couldn't silence.
[ Passive Synchronization: 81% ]
[ Mental Stability: Declining ]
He closed his eyes, exhaling slowly. "You're not getting inside me."
But even as he said it, something in him answered back.
"You already let me in."
A Visitor in the Dark
The chapel doors creaked.
Someone stepped inside — footsteps soft, deliberate.
Lin Xuan turned, daggers half-drawn, but relaxed slightly when he saw who it was.
Selene.
Her mask was gone for once, revealing pale skin and weary eyes.
"You've been gone three days," she said. "The Guild thinks you're dead."
He said nothing.
She walked closer, stopping a few feet away. "I saw the Rift. You were there, weren't you?"
Lin Xuan nodded once.
"What came out of it?"
He hesitated, then looked up at her. "A god."
Selene's breath caught.
"That's impossible. The Demon Gods were sealed millennia ago."
"Then something broke the seal," Lin Xuan said quietly. "And it knows my name."
She stepped closer. "Lin Xuan… what's happening to you?"
His gaze hardened. "I'm changing. And I don't know if I can stop it."
The Offer
Before she could respond, the temperature dropped.
The candle flames snuffed out.
The air shimmered — and then, he appeared.
Not fully — just a faint silhouette forming from shadow.
"Still denying me, little shadow?"
Selene stumbled back, hand flying to her blade. "What is that?"
Lin Xuan's eyes glowed faintly red. "Aldir."
The voice that followed was calm, patient, terrifyingly human.
"You've done well, Lin Xuan. You've resisted longer than I expected. But resistance is wasted potential."
He extended a hand toward him — through the air, through reality itself.
"Make a pact with me. Accept what you are. In return, I will grant you power enough to erase the Guild, the demons, and even fate itself."
Selene shouted, "Don't listen to him!"
But the whisper that followed drowned her out.
"All you have to do is shed one drop of blood."
The Choice
The System's text warped, glitching between two colors — blue and red.
[ System Override: Abyssal Pact Offer Detected ]
[ Accept Pact? ]
[ YES ] / [ NO ]
Lin Xuan stared at the choices.
His mind spun, his veins burning with the memory of the Rift's power.
He'd felt it — the way the world yielded to that strength.
And he remembered Rei's last words: "Your real enemy is what's inside you."
"If I say no," Lin Xuan whispered, "you'll come again, won't you?"
"Until you understand you were born for this," Aldir replied.
He clenched his fist. Blood dripped from his palm.
Selene's voice cut through the silence. "Lin Xuan, please. Don't do this."
He looked at her — the one person who hadn't turned against him.
And then he smiled faintly.
"I'm not doing it for power."
He pressed his bloodied hand against his chest.
"I'm doing it to control it."
The Pact
The shadows erupted.
The ground cracked, black veins crawling outward in every direction.
A sigil burned beneath Lin Xuan's feet — intricate, ancient, alive.
[ Pact Accepted ]
[ Soul Link Established – Entity: Aldir, the Bound One ]
[ New Passive Unlocked: Blood Pact ]
[ Status: Hybrid Synchronization – 89% ]
The air vibrated.
Aldir's laughter echoed briefly — proud, amused, almost gentle.
"Good. You've taken the first step toward your truth."
And then he was gone.
Aftermath
The world returned to silence.
Selene fell to her knees, staring at him. "What did you do?"
Lin Xuan looked down at his hand.
A faint red mark now burned across the back of it — a sigil shaped like a crescent eye.
"I made sure the Abyss won't control me."
She shook her head. "You've just bound yourself to it."
He turned away.
"Maybe. But at least now I can hear it clearly."
He walked toward the door.
Behind him, Selene whispered, almost too softly to hear:
"And when it tells you to kill me?"
He didn't answer.
Status Panel
Name: Lin Xuan
Level: 28
Profession: Assassin (C-Class)
Talent: SSS – Silent Killer
Passive: Soul Convergence → Blood Pact (Bound – Controlled Link)
Trait: Abyssal Dominion (Stage I)
Skills: [ Dagger Mastery IV ], [ Shadow Manifestation ], [ Abyssal Sense II ], [ Phantom Stride III ]
Hidden Quest: 12 / 100 Perfect Assassinations
Next Evolution: Shadow Reaper (Locked)
Strength: 38
Agility: 42
Perception: 36