Chapter 27 – The Abyss Remembers
The night was deeper than black.
Ren Yu stood upon the edge of a broken world, where the sky had no stars and the ground no end. The horizon writhed — a sea of ink and whispers, pulsing like a living wound. It wasn't merely darkness that surrounded him, but memory itself — fragmented, suffocating, infinite.
Lira's voice echoed faintly from behind. "Ren… where are we?"
Ren Yu's eyes, now dimly golden, gazed into the abyss. "Between Heaven's shadow and the world's forgotten breath. The Abyss is not a place—it's what remains when truth is denied."
As he spoke, the darkness stirred.
A ripple passed through the void. Shapes emerged—faces, bodies, echoes of people long dead or never born. They were reflections, each one whispering the same question in countless tongues.
"Who are you?"
Ren Yu stepped forward. His aura flickered—faint traces of gold and silver light pushing against the consuming black. "I am what was left behind."
The shadows drew closer. They weren't attacking—just circling, like vultures drawn to a dying flame. One shape separated from the rest, forming into the figure of a man armored in obsidian, with eyes that burned like coals.
The man's voice was low, powerful.
"Ren Yu. Or should I call you by your former name—Ren Tianlong?"
Ren Yu's heart stilled. "You know."
"I remember." The shadow smiled, cruel and wistful. "You were one of us, once. You carried the will of Heaven. You sealed us here—to preserve balance."
The ground trembled.All around them, the sea of shadows rippled like molten night.The dark figure spread his arms, and countless lesser echoes rose in chorus.
"We are the forgotten oaths. The discarded faith. The Abyssal Lords who once knelt before the light you betrayed."
Lira's blade gleamed faintly as she stepped between Ren Yu and the apparition. "You're saying he—sealed you here?"
The figure's voice was sharp as glass."He sealed himself too. The first Ren died with us. His rebirth broke the chains—and now, the Abyss remembers."
The Voice Within
Ren Yu's mind trembled.
Fragments of his previous life began to flash behind his eyes — golden palaces, burning skies, an army kneeling before him. He remembered the moment he raised the Eye against Heaven's corruption, the decision that ended an age of gods.
And he remembered fear.
Not of dying—but of what would come after.The stillness. The silence. The abyss that even he could not control.
That was when he had chosen rebirth — to return as mortal, to live with the burden of his failure and try again.
But now… it was all back.
"Ren Yu," the shadow said, voice almost gentle, "you were a god who chose to bleed. Now you stand between the Heavens and the Abyss once more. Tell me, mortal — which side will you betray this time?"
Ren Yu looked up, his expression calm, eyes reflecting faint light from a world that no longer existed."Neither. I will rewrite both."
Battle of Echoes
The Abyss roared.
The dark figure raised his hand, and the sea of shadows surged forward. Every phantom screamed his name — Ren Tianlong! — as though the weight of his sins had come alive to devour him.
Ren Yu's aura ignited. The Path of Two Suns burst forth — golden flame and silver wind, spinning together in perfect duality. The very air shook under its harmony.
He thrust both palms forward. "Horizon Pulse!"
A wave of light tore through the abyss, scattering shadows like dust. For an instant, the black ocean parted — revealing beneath it a reflection of countless worlds, all chained, all weeping.
Lira darted beside him, her sword radiating frost. She slashed through the specters that reached for Ren Yu's back, each strike guided by instinct more than sight. "There's too many of them!"
"Don't fight them," Ren Yu said. "They're not enemies — they're regrets."
He clenched his fists.The Eye of Stillness flickered open behind him, its rings faintly glowing.
As its light touched the shadows, the phantoms began to dissolve—not destroyed, but remembered. Each whisper faded into silence, each face returned to peace.
But the armored figure—the First Abyssal Lord—did not yield.He stepped through the light, blade of black flame in hand.
"You think memory redeems you?" he roared. "You created us with your truth, and now you would erase us with your mercy?"
Ren Yu met the charge head-on. Their blades — one of fire, one of balance — collided, shaking the void. Sparks turned into galaxies, and each clash echoed through every reflection of existence.
"I don't seek mercy," Ren Yu said. "Only balance."
The First Lord Falls
Their final exchange was blinding.
Ren Yu let the two energies spiral together once more, his voice ringing through the darkness like a calm bell.
"Path of Two Suns — Eternal Horizon."
Gold and silver merged into a single line of light that cleaved through the void. The First Lord's blade shattered. His body cracked with fissures of white brilliance.
But instead of screaming, the shadow laughed — a low, fading sound.
"Still… the same light as before. The same eyes."He sank to one knee, his voice softening."Go then, child of Stillness. But know this—the Abyss does not die. It waits."
He raised his gaze one last time."And it remembers… everything you forget."
His form broke apart into dust and vanished.
After the Battle
The world fell silent once more.
Ren Yu stood amid the dissolving darkness, breathing heavily. His aura flickered, dimming to a faint glow. The Eye closed slowly behind him, leaving only quiet.
Lira stepped to his side, her voice trembling. "He knew you… before you were you."
Ren Yu nodded slowly. "They were the shadows of my first life — the consequences of what I thought was righteousness."
"Then what happens now?"
He looked into the void, where faint lights were beginning to shimmer — stars reforming from the broken fragments of darkness.
"We go deeper," he said. "To the heart of the Abyss. Because somewhere inside it lies the truth Heaven and I both chose to forget."
He took one step forward, and the world shifted beneath him, forming a path of pale light leading downward into the dark.
Lira followed without hesitation.
And as they descended, the stars above flickered once more — not in fear, but in anticipation.