Cold rain fell from the night sky.
Drops struck the pavement like tiny bullets, washing crimson blood into the dark streets.
A man stood in the middle of the alley.
His breathing was uneven. His body was covered in wounds.
Yet his eyes remained calm.
Too calm for someone who was about to die.
Footsteps echoed around him.
More than twenty people surrounded the alley, their weapons aimed directly at him.
Guns.
Blades.
Even crossbows.
It was an execution.
One of the men stepped forward.
"So it's finally over," he said coldly. "The perfect assassin… reduced to this."
The wounded man did not respond.
His name was Kael.
For years, he had worked as the organization's most dangerous weapon. Governments feared him. Criminal syndicates whispered his name like a ghost story.
But tonight…
He had been betrayed.
The people standing around him were the very ones he once called allies.
Kael slowly lifted his head.
"Twenty-three people," he murmured.
The man in front frowned. "What?"
Kael's lips curled slightly.
"You brought twenty-three people to kill one man."
Silence filled the alley.
Even now, at the edge of death, he sounded disappointed.
The leader sneered.
"You should feel honored. No one in history required this much preparation."
Kael laughed softly.
Blood ran down the side of his face.
"So even you were afraid."
That sentence made the leader's expression darken.
"Enough talking."
He raised his hand.
"Kill him."
The moment the command was given, gunshots exploded through the alley.
Bullets tore through Kael's body.
One.
Two.
Five.
Ten.
The world spun as his body collapsed to the ground.
The cold pavement pressed against his cheek.
The rain continued to fall.
His vision slowly faded.
So this is how it ends…
For the first time in years, Kael felt something strange.
Not fear.
Not regret.
Just… emptiness.
But then—
Something impossible happened.
The darkness around him cracked.
A strange voice echoed inside his mind.
A voice that sounded neither human nor machine.
[Detecting compatible soul…]
[Condition: Extreme hostility detected.]
[Condition: Survival instinct confirmed.]
[Candidate accepted.]
Kael's fading consciousness flickered.
What…?
The voice continued.
[Beginning Rebirth Process.]
[Destination World Selected.]
[Ability Granted: Abyss Core.]
For the first time in his life…
Kael felt genuine surprise.
"A… second life?
The voice gave one final response.
[Welcome, Host.]
[You are now…]
[Abyssborn.]
The world shattered.
Darkness swallowed everything.
And somewhere far away…
A baby opened its eyes for the first time.
But those eyes did not belong to a child.
They belonged to a killer who had returned from death.
And the world that awaited him had no idea what had just been born.