Chapter 129: Walking Into The Unknown
The cavern felt heavier now, as if the weight of the Abyss itself pressed down on Rui's shoulders with every step he took. The faint blue glow of mana veins along the jagged walls pulsed weakly, casting flickering shadows across the uneven stone ground. Behind him, the skeletal remains of the Abyssal Titan loomed in silence, its colossal ribcage and hollow skull watching him with an eternal, unseeing gaze.
Rui's boots crunched softly over crystallized mana shards scattered across the cavern floor. His silver eyes, still glowing faintly with residual mana threads, remained locked forward. His mind raced, fragments of the Titan's memories still clinging to the edges of his thoughts like stubborn cobwebs.
Memories… he thought, his brows furrowed. I saw its memories. How is that even possible?
The idea itself was absurd. Mana carried intent, force—it was a tool, a language—but never had he heard of it carrying memories, let alone preserving them with such clarity. It felt… ancient. Something far beyond the bounds of anything he had ever known.
As Rui ascended the narrow rock bridge leading back to the airship, the faint sound of its humming engines became clearer. The obsidian hull of the vessel loomed above him, suspended precariously between the jagged edges of the cavern walls. Its polished surface gleamed faintly in the sickly light of the surrounding mana veins.
The airlock hissed as Rui approached, the reinforced boarding ramp descending smoothly to meet him. A faint mist of cold air escaped from the opening, carrying the sterile scent of processed oxygen and engine lubricant. Rui stepped onto the platform, his boots clicking against the metal surface, and as the airlock sealed behind him with a final thud, the oppressive weight of the Abyss outside was replaced by the cold stillness of the ship's interior.
Inside, the hum of mana conduits vibrated softly through the steel walls, casting faint blue reflections along the polished floors. Rui exhaled slowly, his shoulders sagging ever so slightly as he allowed himself to breathe properly for the first time since he had descended into the Titan's cavern.
"Kovar," Rui called out, his voice steady but carrying a faint edge of exhaustion.
From the far end of the observation chamber, the faint glow of crystalline monitors flared brighter as Kovar turned to face him. The scientist's pale eyes, magnified slightly behind the glass dome encasing his skull, scanned Rui carefully. The floating data streams around him pulsed with faint golden light as they adjusted to Rui's presence.
"You're back," Kovar said, his voice sharp and analytical but tinged with something faintly like relief. "Report."
Rui stepped into the center of the command room, the faint silver glow from his eyes casting dim reflections on the nearby panels. He raised his hand, gesturing faintly towards the cavern below.
"There was… a Titan," Rui began, his voice steady despite the weight of the words. "Its remains are ancient, embedded in the cavern walls. But it wasn't just a corpse, Kovar. It was… sealed. Bound by layers of ancient runes and magic."
Kovar's gloved fingers hovered briefly over one of the crystalline monitors, his brows knitting together.
"Sealed? Not slain?"
Rui nodded, his silver eyes narrowing slightly.
"And more than that… I saw something. When I touched its remains, I saw—" He hesitated, his voice catching briefly as he searched for the right words. "I saw its memories. Mana threads carried impressions, images. I witnessed fragments of its final moments."
Kovar froze, his pale fingers tightening faintly around the edge of the control console.
"Memories… preserved in mana threads? Rui, that shouldn't be possible."
"I know," Rui said quietly. "But it happened. I saw a world burning. A Titan walking through storms of mana. And I saw someone—a figure cloaked in light and shadow—binding it with runes, locking it away. The seal wasn't just to stop the Titan… it was to stop something else."
Silence hung heavy in the command room as Kovar processed Rui's words. The faint hum of the ship's mana core filled the empty spaces between their breathing.
Finally, Kovar spoke, his voice low and sharp.
"The Seal Theory… it's real. We've always suspected that something lay at the heart of the Abyss. A purpose, a design. But if what you're saying is true, then the Titan was never the end—it was a gatekeeper. A sentinel."
Rui stepped closer to the central display, his silver eyes locking onto the holographic projection of the Abyss. The glowing web of mana threads stretched deep into the unknown, converging on a single, pulsing point far below them.
"We need to go deeper, Kovar," Rui said firmly. "If the seal is destabilizing—if something is waking up—then we need to see it for ourselves. We need to understand what's happening before it's too late."
Kovar nodded slowly, his pale lips pressed into a thin line as his glass brain dome flickered with streams of cascading data.
"The airship's systems are holding, but the deeper we go, the more volatile the mana saturation will become. Terrain shifts, atmospheric pressure anomalies… it's not going to be stable."
"I understand," Rui said, his voice calm and resolute. "But we have to try."
Kovar adjusted a few settings on the crystalline console, and the airship's engines thrummed softly in response. The ship's stabilizers flared briefly as the hull adjusted its balance.
"I'll recalibrate the mana stabilizers and reinforce the pressure seals," Kovar said. "But, Rui… we're walking into the unknown now. If something happens—if the seal begins to fracture—we may not have time to turn back."
Rui turned his gaze back to the observation window, his silver eyes narrowing as he stared into the infinite darkness of the Abyss.
"Then we won't turn back," Rui said softly. "We'll face whatever waits down there, together."
The ship trembled slightly as the engines began their slow descent. The distant glow of mana veins outside the glass observation window grew fainter, swallowed by the suffocating darkness below.
Rui closed his eyes briefly, centering himself as the weight of the Abyss pressed against his chest. His aura pulsed faintly, threads of silvery light weaving delicately around him before fading into the ambient glow of the control room.
Whatever waits below, Rui thought, his eyes opening slowly, the runes within them glowing with faint brilliance, I will face it.
The descent had begun. And with every meter they sank deeper into the Abyss, the air grew heavier, the silence more deafening, and the presence of something ancient—something waiting—pressed ever closer.
The answers they sought lay ahead, hidden in the deepest shadows of the world.
And Rui would find them.
No matter the cost.