Trial of the Abyss: Storm Beyond the Deep
[Next Labyrinth Selected: Oceanic Abyss]
The bright glow of the system window hovered over Grey
Lucas, its runes of light dancing across his reflection in the underwater
labyrinth. He pressed Confirm .
A flash of light swallowed him whole.
The Descent
When the light faded, the ocean shimmered. He found himself
floating in the middle of a vast, endless sea—an expanse of black that seemed
to stretch forever. No land, no horizon, only the deep black void beneath and
an unending sky darkened and reflected faintly on the water. The water churned
violently.
It glowed faintly from deep below, where titanic shapes
drifted in the abyss.
Grey exhaled slowly as he grasped the water and stood atop
it, his body adapting to the new environment. Ekrin formed a thin edging around
his body.
But before he could process the view, movement stirred in
the distance.
Massive creatures broke through the shadows. Towering
Leviathans and Sea Kings rose like mountains come alive—eyes glowing crimson,
their maws jagged like obsidian. Their roars shattered the calm of the deep.
"Great," Grey sighed in sarcasm. "A sea of
monsters. Is this a circus or a bad joke? Well, just my luck."
The first creature lunged. The others followed, waves
shattering into chaos.
Grey's eyes narrowed; wind magic surged beneath his feet.
He shot upward in an instant, bursting above the sea in a
cyclone of air. Blades of wind spiraled from his sword as he dove back down,
slashing through tails and fins with merciless precision. He moved like
lightning—each swing of his blade cutting clean through monstrous flesh.
Heads fell. Blood clouded the sea.
System: "You have leveled up by seven."
Grey landed lightly on the shifting waves, eyes glowing
faintly red as Art's Work activated,
siphoning raw power from the slain beasts into his body.
But before he could steady himself, the sea began to churn.
The water around him twisted violently, rising higher and
higher—until it swallowed him whole.
The Second Wave
"What—?!" Grey gasped, his voice muffled by the
pressure.
He was sinking, deeper and deeper into the abyss. The
current wasn't just dragging him—it was transporting him.
Is this... the next test?
he thought.
He clenched his jaw, focusing. Wind magic formed a
pressurized barrier around his body, reducing the crushing force of the deep.
Streams of Ekrin flowed through his veins, guiding his control of both air and
water.
His red eyes glowed brighter as he slipped into the Zone
State —a world where time slowed, and every vibration, every movement in the
water became visible.
Then he felt it.
A dark presence. Powerful. Intelligent.
From the ruins below, a figure emerged.
Grey froze in horror.
A merman—towering, monstrous, regal. His scales shimmered
like shards of black diamond, and his tail coiled with terrifying grace. His
body was built like living armor—muscular, broad, and covered in clawed
gauntlets of obsidian metal. His long, dark hair floated like smoke in the
water, his golden eyes gleaming with cruel beauty.
A true horror, Grey
thought.
He gestured. "This monster is even bigger than Govark.
If Govark was a sword, he would be this titan's weapon."
The creature smiled, revealing fangs sharp enough to tear
through steel.
"Human... welcome to my domain."
Grey's eyes narrowed.
It can talk.
The merman tilted his head, voice echoing like thunder
through the abyss.
"If that's what you're thinking—yes. I've been waiting
for you. You've come far, human. I should thank you... for coming all this way
to die."
With a flick of his claw, the water itself turned into
blades.
Hundreds of them.
They streaked toward Grey like a storm of glass.
Grey twisted and spun through the onslaught, narrowly
avoiding each one. He could feel the merman's Ekrin rising—dense and violent.
The water trembled under its pressure.
He's fast, Grey
thought, but reckless.
He darted forward, lightning-fast, his sword clashing
against diamond claws. The two warriors danced through the ruins, their impacts
shaking the seabed. Grey's cloak tore, blood drifting from a deep cut on his
arm.
He smirked. "You're not bad."
The merman's expression darkened. "You talk too
much."
Grey suddenly left an opening on his left flank. The merman
lunged, claws swinging in for a killing blow—
"Got you."
Grey unleashed a burst of aura. The explosion of energy sent
the merman hurtling backward into a crumbling tower.
The sea lit up as debris and light filled the depths. Grey
tensed—something massive stirred within the dust.
A blinding slash of condensed water shot from the rubble. It
was too fast to dodge.
Grey parried with Ieva, the impact sending a shockwave
through his arm. His right arm went numb instantly.
The merman emerged, enraged, energy spiraling wildly.
"You dare scar my sea!"
Hundreds of water blades formed again, cutting in every
direction.
Grey growled. "Fine. Let's end this."
He shifted Ieva to his left hand, closed his eyes, and
whispered:
"Skywrath's Will."
He flew through the ruins like a meteor, destroying most of
them as he blitzed by, dodging multiple water cutters and swords.
Runes flared across his skin, glowing with divine light. His
aura surged—wind and lightning fusing together. His hair lifted and glowed with
a hint of gold as the ocean around him began to swirl into a storm.
He vanished.
The sea split apart with a sound like thunder. Grey
reappeared behind the merman, his sword blazing with lightning. He swung
once—clean, unstoppable.
Breaking through the merman's guard, the creature gathered
water around himself in a desperate attack. Noticing this, Grey moved back. The
water around the merman condensed at his claws, pulling in everything around
the area.
Grey quickly shifted the gravity on the attack to slow it
down, and pulled himself close using his gravitational powers, slashing at the
monster once again.
The merman froze. Cracks of light burst across his body
before he disintegrated into the current.
Then Grey used Art's Work
to absorb the merman's power.
System: "You have leveled up by five."
Grey deactivated Storm Will , panting softly to conserve
oxygen. The water stilled once more.
Then, without warning, the sea beneath him fell
away—revealing the third wave.
The Final Boss — The Kraken
The pressure increased tenfold. Grey descended slowly into
total darkness.
He could barely see. Barely breathe.
Then, light.
Not wanting to waste movement, he tried to scout the area
with his seasoned experience of observation.
Huff... Agh.
Massive and alive, it was as if he was looking at a great
wall. A pulsing crimson glow came from behind him—a single, enormous eye
opened—red as a dying star, terror incarnate, a horrific shade visible.
Grey turned, eyes widening.
Before he could react, the creature struck. One tentacle
slammed him downward, crushing him into the seabed. The impact created a crater
the size of a small town.
The second strike followed instantly—but Grey wasn't there.
He teleported, reappearing high above the destruction,
pressure pounding through him, blood dripping from his lips and nose.
Then he saw it. The creature behind him was titanic—its
silhouette stretching endlessly through the abyss. Dozens of tentacles drifted
like mountains in motion, claws scraping against the ocean floor.
[Dredge the Kraken of Atticus Locke.]
"That thing could crush continents," he muttered,
clutching his ribs. "I can't let it see me."
Dredge's tentacles lashed blindly, guided by vibration. Its
echolocation pulsed through the sea.
Grey steadied his breath, compressing his presence.
"This is my chance."
Lightning crackled around his sword. He gathered the
storm—light, wind, and electricity combining into a single, deadly current.
He launched himself downward like a meteor. The Kraken
raised two colossal limbs to block. Grey's lightning split them apart in an
explosion of blue fire.
But the monster's intelligence was unnatural. It began to
follow his blood—tracking every movement through scent and vibration.
Grey's eyes burned crimson. "Then I'll just have to
move faster."
Wind surged. He activated Light Speed and Wind Pressure ,
his form blurring into invisibility. Every slash of his sword tore through
flesh and water alike.
The Kraken's counterstrikes came faster, heavier. The ocean
itself roared in their wake. Each impact sent shockwaves through Grey's body,
but his speed only grew.
Art's Work consumed
the ambient power of the battle, refining it into raw strength. The deeper the
fight, the stronger he became.
But then—the world dimmed.
The water grew colder.
And Grey's vision... vanished.
"What... what is this?"
Everything went black. He tried to blink, but the darkness
stayed. Panic hit him like a wave.
"I can't see... I can't see!"
He felt something invade his thoughts—memories fading, names
dissolving. It wasn't blindness. It was erasure.
Dredge's Authority of Darkness.
Grey's Point of View
Someone's here... no... something. I remember... I was
fighting... what was it?
Pain surged through my chest. My lungs burned. I could feel
my blood drifting through the sea. My instincts screamed that the monster was
still there.
I forced myself calm. Zone State. Focus on sound. Feel, not
see.
The world became vibration and pressure. I could sense every shift in the current, every ripple of
movement.
Tentacles slashed past me. I twisted through them, dodging
by instinct, leaving afterimages of lightning.
Black and gold energy erupted from my body, burning through
the Kraken's corruption. I felt it scream—maybe from pain, maybe surprise that
I could still fight blind.
My heart pounded. "You're not the only one with
Authority."
The water trembled. My aura burst outward in golden arcs,
restoring fragments of memory. The faint echo of Skywrath's voice flickered in
my mind.
You are more than you remember.
I roared, cutting through the dark. My blade sliced through
a dozen tentacles, lightning exploding like stars.
The Kraken bellowed.
Then—new vibrations. Dozens. No, hundreds.
"What the hell—?"
Shapes surrounded me—armored figures, humanoid, made
entirely of liquid metal. Water Knights. The Kraken's army.
They attacked as one, blades flashing like blue fire. I
parried, countered, dodged—but too many struck at once. Cuts tore across my
body.
I fell, sinking toward the seabed, blood trailing upward
like ink.
No... not yet... I can't lose here.
My aura ignited, white-hot. My Ekrin spiraled, merging with
my will. The ground beneath me trembled as I reached into something deeper—the
next plane.
Then I remembered—two selves. The one who fought as Grey
Lucas, and the one who once was the Black Knight. Both merged.
No... I am not two. I am one.
The Awakening
I struck the seabed with my hand. The ground rumbled in
response. My armor manifested, black and gleaming with divine etching. The
Govark Armor had returned.
The Water Knights struck. Their swords clashed against my
armor, sending sparks through the sea. But I no longer felt pain—only power.
"Your blades can't touch me."
I slammed my sword into the seabed. A shockwave of aura and
Ekrin split the ocean floor, sending colossal stone pillars surging upward.
The sea erupted.
We were thrown to the surface—knights, Kraken, and storm all
together.
Grey rose from the waves, black armor gleaming, lightning
dancing along his form.
"You wanted a fight underwater," he growled.
"Now fight me on my turf."
The knights swarmed. Grey dashed through them in blurs of
light, cutting through armor and water alike. He shattered one with a punch,
kicked another skyward, then crushed it back down.
He summoned a vortex of fire—boiling the sea itself—then
struck it with lightning, vaporizing dozens at once.
Only the Kraken remained.
It lunged, roaring, its wounds glowing faint red.
Grey bent the ocean pillars toward it, wrapping the monster
in stone and storm. "Your reign ends here."
He dove, piercing through its core with a final strike as he
blasted it with the black armor's void cannon.
Light exploded. The sea trembled. Then silence.
Aftermath
Grey hovered in the fading light, the ocean now calm as it
began to fall back down. The Govark armor disappeared bit by bit into black
mist. His wounds closed, leaving faint scars.
System: "You have leveled up by ten."
Title Acquired: Conqueror of the Black Sea.
He closed his eyes, feeling the water's quiet hum.
A familiar whisper echoed within his mind—soft, divine, and
proud.
Still standing, my chosen?
Grey smiled faintly. "Barely... but I'm here."
The light from above shimmered through the water, distant
yet welcoming.
"I'm still here," he whispered.
And as the ocean bowed to the storm, Grey Lucas rose—reborn
from the abyss.