Chapter 123: Abyss Fragment

'That thing looks like it could be an Abyss Fragment.'

An object formed when an Abyss Rift was conquered, and at the same time, one that let people with sufficient Soul Essence forcibly break open an Abyss Rift on their own.

Seeing it left Eiros with an uneasy feeling. If nothing else, this all but confirmed it — his System had given him this mission specifically to keep that object out of their hands.

And if it really was an Abyss Fragment, then what was actually inside it was worth questioning.

Eiros felt cold sweat forming on his palms. The air around him seemed to drop a few degrees, his own skin turning cold. He flinched when the woman suddenly died like that, the smile on his face darkening.

They'd genuinely sacrificed her just to test whether it was safe to pass through, or whether some kind of danger was waiting.

Eiros had no idea how many artifacts they actually had. But once he ended up in a real fight with them, that was something he'd need to keep a very close eye on.

Artifacts were the single most unpredictable variable in any fight. And so far, Black Genesis had shown that they either had a huge stockpile of them, or simply weren't holding back on using what they had.

Either way, Eiros pushed the thought aside and forced himself to stay focused. He kept watching what they were doing, starting with how they tested the traps embedded in the room.

Like how even a simple stone, tossed through, triggered a thin flash of red light that shattered it instantly. The trap's speed was terrifying enough that even Eiros himself couldn't track it clearly.

Maybe a Luminous-tier artifact bordering on Radiant? Or perhaps it really was Radiant-tier itself?

Eiros couldn't tell. But his attention stayed locked on the man in the bat mask, curious how they'd get past it. And right then, the man pulled out a special artifact.

'Is that... a glove?' It was unmistakably a glove. As the man slid it onto his hand, his expression sharpened into focus, and suddenly, out of thin air, an object simply appeared.

It was a small syringe. But Eiros's attention wasn't on the syringe itself — his smile turned bitter as his gaze locked onto the glove instead.

'Is that some kind of spatial artifact? An empty space he can use to store small items?'

That was an incredibly rare, incredibly practical kind of artifact. In a fight, something like that would be an enormous advantage, which meant the man could easily be carrying quite a few artifacts in there.

Eiros's odds of winning were shrinking fast. But fortunately, he didn't need to win at all. His only goal was to snatch the Abyss Fragment and run.

So he waited patiently once more. The man poured a heavy stream of Soul Essence into his palm, aimed at the dead woman's body, and hurled the syringe forward.

Whistle—!

It moved with such lethal speed that in less than a second, the syringe buried itself sharply into the back of the woman's neck. Meanwhile, on the wall behind her, one they'd barely even noticed, a scorched hole was visible, proof that the artifact seemed to keep firing as long as something moved within its range.

After that, the man raised his hand. He lifted a single finger, and slowly, the woman's body began to rise.

Whistle! Whistle! Whistle!

Every movement she made triggered the trap again, riddling her body with more and more holes. Blood sprayed across the floor, but since she was already dead, and her body was simply being puppeted, she moved through it smoothly enough.

She crossed through the trap's range and reached the object. Her entire body was riddled with holes by then, her blank expression a horror all its own. Eiros pushed down his nausea, and the instant she returned, the glass case containing the Abyss Fragment clutched in her hand, her body collapsed once more, the moment the man took the object they'd come for.

Now, their mission was a success, and all that was left was to leave this place. Eiros hesitated for a moment, then licked his own lips.

'...I'll be fine, right?'

Seeing the scale of their artifact stockpile left Eiros feeling small, but he moved anyway.

***

"Crimson, we're done here. How about you?" The man in the bat mask reached out to Crimson the moment he'd secured the Abyss Fragment.

He didn't have to wait long before a voice answered.

—Test... test... Aah, good work.

—Aaachk! Damn it! What is this!? Save yourselves! Ack! Help! Over here! Over here! Over here!

It wasn't just Crimson's voice — the call was flooded with a chaotic jumble of countless other voices all tangled together at once.

The man in the bat mask looked utterly confused, unsure what to make of it. But then, Crimson cleared his throat a few times and spoke up, his voice bright and clear.

—Hello? Hello? Aah! Sorry! It's a bit noisy over here, haha. Anyway, I'm handling my part, thanks for all your hard work! And stay alert, okay?

The line cut off immediately.

The man in the bat mask froze in place for a moment, forcing a smile through cold sweat.

"What a monster," he muttered, then glanced at his two remaining companions, ready to move out.

"Let's go...! Watch out!!!"

"Huh?"

The man in the bat mask had no time to react. He froze as his gaze fell on one of his companions behind him, and saw, dropping from the ceiling, a figure shooting downward at incredible speed.

His companion, stunned, tried to turn around, but—

Craaack—!!

Stab!

"Uaagh!?"

Spurt!

His stomach was run through by a massive sword. Crackling red lightning energy danced wildly as the figure appeared out of nowhere, twisting the blade to deepen the wound and finish him off in an instant.

After that, the figure pulled the sword free, and the man he'd impaled crumpled lifelessly to the ground, the life draining out of him almost instantly.

The figure's silhouette then came into clearer view. Dressed casually, like someone on a beach holiday, with striking long white hair, gently curved blue eyes, and a smile that somehow still looked completely relaxed.

"Sorry to interrupt," he said, his hand trembling faintly. After all, this would be Eiros's very first time killing someone, and he didn't have the luxury of dwelling on his own feelings about it.

So he pushed all of that aside, doing his best to stay calm and stay focused on the situation at hand.

Beyond that, this would also mark another first altogether — the moment the White Swan made his debut in front of a higher-ranking member of Black Genesis.