The Abyss has no self.
Likewise, it has no emotions, nor can one expect ordinary intelligence from it.
It cannot learn, and it possesses no intellect.
Thus, many people misunderstand; they think that confronting the Abyss is like confronting a beast.
But that is not the case.
While the Abyss itself has no self, the trends and directions of the Abyss are determined by its high priests.
Therefore, the attacks of the Abyss always contain intelligence and planning, and strategy and tactics are sometimes present as well.
One could say that the high priests of the Abyss are its proxies.
And these proxies, Void and Chaos, observed the outside world through the Abyss.
Their memories were hazy, their experiences faded and no longer perceptible, so the actions of Void and Chaos had little basis.
Yet they knew one thing:
That the enemy was outside now, and they must guard against the enemy from the outside.
That the humans in this fortress recently seemed suspicious.
That they needed to keep watch on them and prepare.
Though their purpose did not come to mind, Void and Chaos had no time to think about such things.
They could only follow the path set by the Abyss and the Dark Ram.
Void and Chaos looked at the fortress.
An unnamed, utterly common fortress of the Empire.
There were people inside the fortress.
Descendants of those once created by Void and Chaos and the other two ancient gods of creation, though indirectly the result of their creation.
Filling the fortress, even now they tore down old fortifications, placed cannons, built walls or erected fortifications—these frail humans.
Void and Chaos hated them as they watched.
This hatred had no bottom, nor any ceiling.
Like an infinitely expanding universe, the hatred harbored by Void and Chaos was primal and infinite.
Was it due to instinct?
Or perhaps the command planted by the Dark Ram?
Or maybe the peculiar nature of the Abyss creating hunger?
In any case, there was no difference in the fact that Void and Chaos hated humanity and the world itself.
With boiling eyes of hatred, Void and Chaos turned their gaze beyond the Abyss.
Though they couldn’t see much at once, it was enough.
To monitor humans and observe the movements of the fortress didn’t require too many eyes.
Thus, Void and Chaos thoroughly inspected every corner of the fortress.
It seemed that something was being prepared within the fortress.
Most likely preparations for an expedition to directly attack the Abyss.
The soldiers training hard or placing defensive equipment on the walls made the plan clear.
Though Void and Chaos found the fact rather absurd, they also felt strangely anxious.
This anxiety, closer to irritation, originated not from Void and Chaos but from the Abyss.
Entering what lies within the Abyss is a risky act, but one with great rewards.
Within the Abyss, the priests of the Abyss, including Void and Chaos, grow more powerful and gain a more intense vitality.
Thus, anyone who enters should be killed instantly.
On the other hand, the interior of the Abyss was akin to its womb.
Conversely, it might be possible to harm the Abyss despite defeating it.
Since all that remained in the Abyss was instinct—the survival instinct—Void and Chaos, heavily influenced by the Abyss, felt irritation and anxiety.
This unease brought back a memory to Void and Chaos.
The incident where a single human had decapitated them.
The technique used then, later showcased by those called Possessors, was known as “Star-Splitting.”
Unbeknownst to Void, Chaos, and the Abyss, this technique was one that could sever and destroy divinity itself.
If such a technique capable of severing divinity were used within the Abyss’s womb, the outcome would be obvious.
Void and Chaos thought they should prevent the core group of the expedition from entering the Abyss.
Their sudden disappearance added to the unease.
Among the bustling soldiers on the fortress walls and those hurriedly preparing for the expedition, the group was nowhere to be seen.
Over the weeks of observation, their presence gradually faded.
Thus, the means available to the Abyss were limited.
Though many things didn’t come to mind with their decayed brains, the data was clear.
Void and Chaos transformed the black pool they held in their hands, altering it into something sinister.
Gurrrr…!
The ground trembled, and something emerged above the black pool.
It bloomed like a flower but soon took on sharp angles.
The busy soldiers in the fortress looked up in confusion as the shape became clearer.
It was a fortress.
A fortress mimicking the one before the Abyss, almost perfectly replicated in black.
As the soldiers murmured, weapons sprouted from the black fortress, though no one wielded them. Yet arrows rained down.
Tuuuut-tuuuut!
Huge, living arrows that wriggled descended upon the fortress walls, piercing the soldiers atop.
Panic spread among the soldiers momentarily, but soon they regrouped and armed themselves.
Void and Chaos, satisfied with the sight of their fear, were displeased by the sudden change.
It felt as if they had been waiting for just this moment.
Especially since Aslan’s group was still nowhere to be seen, Void and Chaos glared at the fortress with anxiety, frustration, and irritation.
Reacting to the intense gaze from beyond the Abyss, the fortress grew bustling again.
This bustle soon coalesced into a distinct form.
Soldiers appeared on the walls, drawing bows and nocking arrows.
Above the tall double walls, wizards ascended.
They muttered incantations, weaving magic that flared, froze, and crackled around them.
Soldiers wielding siege weapons aimed them at the Abyss’ fortress.
Inside the fortress, knights and cavalry quickly armored their warhorses, preparing for battle.
At the forefront were the infantry.
Ordinary yet numerous, they filled the gaps across the fortress, faintly facing the Abyss.
Any observer could recognize the signs of an impending full-scale battle.
These signs soon became reality.
Without knowing who fired first, the fortress’s cannons and the Abyss’ counterattacks filled the sky.
“Magicians, deploy defenses!”
The Abyss’ arrows descending from the sky were blocked by hovering shield spells and the artillery fire that pierced the Abyss’ fortress, disappearing uselessly inside.
Simultaneously, the offensive began, and clashes ensued.
Monsters flowed out from the Abyss’ pool.
From creatures resembling those out of stories to nightmarish horrors crawling out of terrible dreams.
The fortress responded with violence to the malevolent emergence spanning the age of myth and humanity.
“Prepare firing! Prepare firing!”
“Aim! Fire!”
“Form the wedge formation!”
“Fire!”
Cannons tilted toward the emerging monsters and discharged heavy arrows that fulfilled their makers’ intent by tearing apart the monsters’ sides, heads, arms, and legs.
Even so, they wouldn’t stop, until cannons spewed flames, and the heavy iron balls finally halted them.
Fearless, the monsters surged toward the fortress walls.
Arrows flew into them, embedding deeply, while infantry on the walls swung axes, striking the heads off climbing monsters.
Despite appearances suggesting disadvantage, the soldiers showed little fear.
Just as Void and Chaos wondered why, the fortress gates suddenly opened amidst the dark tide of monsters and the Abyss’ assault.
“Hold the formation! Pierce them swiftly!”
Beyond the opened gates, a group of mounted humans charged out.
At the forefront was a familiar figure to the Abyss.
Riding a horse, a middle-aged man with a taciturn face held two axes in either hand.
The strongest warrior of the southern continent, Budonggong.
He and the cavalry immediately burst forth like a sharp spear, striking the side of the monster horde.
Kwa-duruk, kwa-jik!
Shattered shadows and darkness collapsed as the Abyss-shaped monsters crumbled onto the ground. The cavalry then turned their horses and returned inside the fortress.
Still, the number of monsters was overwhelming, and the fortress walls seemed unable to hold forever.
It was a seemingly unnecessary skirmish.
An uncharacteristic response from a fortress that had successfully defended against two previous assaults.
Void and Chaos were perplexed.
It seemed as if essential forces were absent. Upon closer inspection, they noticed someone’s absence.
First, the red lightning that swept across the battlefield was missing.
The archer who lethally shot the most dangerous monsters across the battlefield was absent.
The spearman killing enemies with spear and sword in the harshest part of the battlefield was gone.
The unarmed fighter who killed giants and the mighty woman who overturned the battlefield alone were also missing.
Most importantly, Aslan was not there.
The warrior capable of killing even a deity seemed absent from the fortress.
Where had they gone? What plans were they concocting?
Void and Chaos did not know.
Perhaps they had fled.
Just then, somewhere, the Abyss opened.
From the opened Abyss came “foreign matter.”
Seven humans and one Abyss.
*
An opponent whose trustworthiness is uncertain.
If you must devise a plan involving such an opponent, the best method is to assign them a role where their actions can do minimal harm.
What was happening before Aslan’s eyes followed this principle.
A role where some benefit could be gained, yet excessive harm was unlikely.
Aslan entrusted such a role to Lewena, and she carried it out.
At the center of the fortress, the place farthest from the defense lines.
Ee-jee-jik!
Space tore open.
From the rent space flowed black liquid, which formed gaping mouths and lunged forward.
The monsters lunged not out of enmity toward humans but driven by the instinct to survive, opening their mouths to chew and swallow humans.
This instinct was intercepted. A sword swung toward the charging gape.
An old man with green skin cleaved the gape in half with his blade, causing it to collapse to the ground.
Behind him, countless more gapes poured forth, but the Green Ones, led by the old man, hesitated not.
They were guardians and watchers.
Volunteers who offered to help when Aslan’s group sought entry into the Abyss, they were the empire’s finest warriors.
Creatures pouring from the small rift in the Abyss perished under their swords, spears, hammers, shields, and axes.
Meanwhile, the group stood slightly apart, observing the scene.
Fully armed, supplies gathered, and scrolls and emergency items prepared.
At the center of this spectacle stood the Abyss and Lewena.
From Lewena’s shadow, space tore open, revealing a passage into the Abyss.
“It seems nothing more is coming.”
After a long while of tearing apart the Abyss’ creatures, when nothing more emerged from the Abyss, Resham murmured.
Indeed, though the passage to the Abyss remained open, nothing more came out.
Aslan nodded slightly upon seeing this.
“Huh, this actually works.”
Angie chuckled in amazement and suddenly glared at the woman standing atop the torn space.
The woman, Lewena, wore a wry smile.
A bitter smile born from understanding the pain of Aslan’s distrust and recognizing its rationality.
To subdue the Abyss, they had to enter it.
An unknown world unconquered by any human, and simultaneously a divine evil entity with instincts.
The Abyss.
To head inside, they had to touch the Abyss.
Rather than launching a frontal assault from the fortress into the vast expanse of the Abyss,
Opening a localized Abyss and entering through that route was far safer.
Fortunately, a localized Abyss was already open before the group.
“Let’s go.”
Without hesitation, they plunged into the Abyss.
