[You have entered the "Sixth Layer" of the "Forsaken" Realm: The Abyss.]
Sam landed on something solid.
His feet hit the ground, and as he opened his eyes, he was immediately swallowed by darkness.
It wasn’t just dark in the normal sense.
It was absolute, suffocating—an endless black void that stretched out in all directions with no visible end.
Then, without warning...
A voice cut through the silence like a blade.
Sam quickly turned around, eyes narrowing.
Somewhere in that heavy darkness, a crimson gaze had lit up, glowing faintly just ahead of him.
It stared at him through the void, cold and unblinking.
"This won’t do," the voice said.
The faint outline of a foot appeared, and a moment later, it slammed down violently.
A shockwave ripped out from the point of impact, shaking the entire layer.
The ground beneath Sam groaned.
Then, it began to crumble.
He heard the splitting rock before he saw it, fissures appearing under his feet as chunks began to collapse.
"Seriously?" Sam muttered, raising an eyebrow toward the shadowed figure hiding in the dark, "We could’ve just fought, you know—"
"Shut up," the figure interrupted, its voice now sharper, its gaze glowing with deeper fury.
"You do not deserve even a shred of mercy."
The breaking earth responded to those words, and after a few seconds, the ground completely gave out.
Sam didn’t even try to dodge. He didn’t resist.
He just stood there, face blank, as the floor vanished beneath him.
And then, he fell. Deeper. Much deeper.
[Let us meet at the bottom. We’ll settle this once and for all. I’ll bring your dead corpse to them as a trophy.]
[This is only the start for the others, Primordial, yet it seems like it will be your end.]
The glowing panels flickered into view as Sam plunged into the void, their cold words appearing one after another in front of him.
But Sam didn’t react. He wasn’t shaken.
Because deep inside him, a fire had already been lit—a burning force that surged within his soul, refusing to fade.
It was that fire that had brought him this far. It was that fire that kept him going.
[He can’t keep going forever. We’ll get him =).]
He fell and kept falling. Minutes passed, but to Sam, it felt like hours.
Like he was being pulled into the very bottom of the world.
The darkness grew thicker, heavier, colder.
And still, he didn’t care. He let it happen.
Sam slammed into solid ground, landing with force but unharmed.
[You have entered the Sub-Layer.]
Sam’s gaze sharpened.
The sixth [Forsaken Lord] hadn’t even waited.
It had forcibly thrown him into the sub-layer before he had the chance to adjust, to fight through the sixth layer itself, or even level up from defeating monsters.
No time to recover. No time to prepare.
This was intentional. A direct move to deny him any advantage.
[Sixth Sub-Layer: "The Forsaken Abyss"]
[Good luck. You cannot leave this place.]
Sam looked around, though there was nothing to see.
This place was somehow even darker than the layer above.
He couldn’t see anything at all.
"...I guess I move forward?" he muttered.
He half-expected a sudden ambush. A swarm of [Forsaken] rank monsters charging at him.
Or even the sixth [Forsaken Lord] himself to appear out of nowhere and begin the final fight.
But nothing came. It was quiet. Too quiet.
He took a step forward. Still nothing.
Another step. The silence remained.
’The other worlds did it. There has to be something here. This must be possible.’
[So, what are you gonna do now?]
A panel blinked in front of him.
Sam responded by breaking into a run, moving full speed into the darkness without hesitation.
[My abyss traps fools like you in here. And eventually, when they least expect it... haha, I don’t want to ruin the surprise.]
But Sam didn’t stop. His expression didn’t change.
He had gone too far, pushed through too much to be caught in some trap now.
Even if the feeling in his gut told him something was wrong—he still ran.
Seconds passed. Then minutes.
Still, the darkness offered nothing.
The sixth [Forsaken Lord] was watching, Sam could feel it.
Its gaze never left him. It was waiting.
Waiting for him to falter, to slow down, to be caught off guard.
It had said this was only the beginning.
If Sam couldn’t even pass this challenge, if he didn’t have the strength to defeat this Lord and reach the [Universal Stage], then what was the point?
How could he call himself a Primordial?
He didn’t know what that title meant, or who the others like him were.
But even without that knowledge, one thing was clear.
The strength that defined the Primordials wasn’t just power—it was their [Determination].
That was the one thing every enemy he had faced seemed to fear.
[You must have so many questions.]
[We all know about you, yet you seem to know nothing about us, or what awaits you beyond this.]
[If you understood the scale of what you’re attempting to challenge, you’d give up without hesitation.]
Still running. Still pressing forward through the endless black.
The voice continued, but Sam didn’t slow.
[But I can see it in your eyes—that fire. It’s like the others’, but... different.]
[And yet, the thought of you staying alive for even one second longer fills me with more rage than I’ve ever felt.]
That made Sam raise an eyebrow.
The Lord’s voice sounded calm. Composed.
But the words dripped with hatred. It didn’t add up.
[If you believe me to be a challenge, then I wonder what your reaction would be if you ever left the "Lower Realm."]
Minutes turned into hours.
Still, he didn’t tire.
If anything, his crimson gaze burned even brighter with every second that passed.
[The darkness of this sub-layer won’t be enough to stop you.]
[That knowledge alone is what drives your determination.]
Without hesitation, Sam drew his sword from the [Spatial Inventory].
The primordial weapon shimmered faintly in the darkness.
Light began to pulse from his body—different colors from his affinities leaking out, bleeding into the shadows.
The abyss was no longer absolute.
It began to brighten. Bit by bit.
[But I know you won’t give up,] the voice returned, [I know that all too well. Which is why...]
A violent explosion erupted in the distance, making the entire sub-layer tremble.
[...I NEED TO GET RID OF YOU! HERE. AND. NOW!]
Sam’s eyes widened as he suddenly saw it—the crimson gaze, now directly in front of him.
Because of his speed, he couldn’t stop in time.
He was rushing straight into the enemy’s grasp.
And at that moment, the [Forsaken Lord] raised an arm.
Its hand shot out and clamped down around Sam’s neck, halting all his momentum in an instant.
"You are nothing but a pest," the voice growled.
"But you won’t make it past here."
The tone was rough, filled with cruelty.
Then the Lord’s grip began to tighten.
His fingers pressed into Sam’s neck, not injuring his body—but cracking his [Eternal Barrier].
Piece by piece, it began to break.
"Let the final fight of the tutorial begin," the Lord sneered, flashing a demonic grin.
"I’m sure they’ll love watching this."