The Abyss

Chapter 13: The Meeting Hall

As Isolde, Luke, Ivan, and Seraphina filed into the packed council chamber, Edward and I silently took two empty chairs at the far end of the grand round table. Ignoring the tense stares of the military representatives, Edward unzipped his supply pack and began rummaging through it.

One of the high-ranking elite representatives frowned, his hand resting on the hilt of his blade. "What do you think you're doing, transfer student?"

"Just watch," I replied smoothly, my voice calm.

Edward pulled his hand out, revealing a simple glass vial attached to a silver chain a necklace holding a swirling, glowing liquid.

Lucas leaned forward, his brow furrowed in confusion. "What are we supposed to do with a necklace?"

"This necklace was given to us by a mysterious benefactor," Edward explained, spinning the vial between his fingers. "He told us that if we ever faced a devastating crisis or ran out of strength during a catastrophe, we should drink this. He promised it would grant us immense power."

Instructor Ronan and Professor Selene’s eyes widened as they suddenly recalled the incident from twenty years ago. "Wait..." Selene gasped. "Do you mean *that* man? The one who rescued you from the Abyssal border?"

"Yes," I confirmed, nodding solemnly.

King Dominic looked intently at the glowing vial. "What exactly happens to someone's mana channels if they consume this potion?"

"Your overall combat capacity will multiply, and you won't have to worry about mana depletion for the duration of the fight," Edward replied.

Isolde crossed her arms, her analytical gaze shifting between the two of us. "And how exactly do you two level-one Voids know so much about advanced alchemical properties?"

"Because we've spent every single night studying ancient potion theory in the academy library," I lied flawlessly. "We've been conducting failed experiments back-to-back. That's why you always see us sleeping at the desks during the day the strain of the failures caught up to us."

Valencia’s eyes lit up with a spark of hope. "So, if we consume this during the upcoming siege, we'll actually have the raw output to contend with higher-tier Abyssal Warriors?"

"Most likely," Edward answered, offering a reassuring smile. "I can't remember the exact baseline the benefactor mentioned, but he guaranteed it provides enough localized density to rival a Level 80 Abyssal Commander."

A collective murmur of relief rippled through the war room. For a military force facing an imminent invasion, the prospect of an emergency level-boosting catalyst was an absolute godsend.

While they discussed the strategic distribution of the fluid, I reached into my bag and pulled out a handful of intricately carved silver trinkets. I passed them down the table, ensuring every member of the Eldrion family, Luke Vale, the instructors, and the student representatives received one.

King Dominic held the small artifact up to the light. "And what are these, Sebastian?"

"Just simple good luck charms," I smiled gently. "A token of gratitude for protecting us."

They nodded appreciatively and put them on, completely unaware of the absolute truth. Those trinkets weren't standard charms; they were high-tier external nodes bound directly to my personal *System*. Each one contained a hidden charge of *Life Revival*. If any of them fell in the upcoming battle, my system would instantly trigger a localized temporal reversal, resurrecting them on the spot. As they fastened the chains around their necks, they felt a subtle, warm surge of ambient energy ripple across their skin, but they dismissed it as a simple baseline reaction to the silver.

Standing up from our chairs, Edward and I bowed politely to the high council. "We should probably head back to the barracks now so we don't disrupt your tactical planning for the Abyssal advance."

"Thank you, boys," Lucas said, offering a firm nod of appreciation. "Get some rest."

The heavy wooden doors clanged shut behind us. As we walked down the empty, stone-carved hallway, a deep, suffocating ache settled into my chest. My heart felt incredibly heavy. Seeing the expressions of absolute dread, exhaustion, and panic on the faces of my parents, my siblings, and my teachers cut through me like a blade. They were terrified, yet they were forcing themselves to stand as a shield for the country.

Edward stopped walking, looking at me with a concerned expression. "Are you okay, Sebastian?"

"No, I'm really not," I confessed, my voice tight as I clenched my fists. "I hate this, Edward. It hurts to stand by and watch my own family suffer through this disaster while I pretend to be helpless. I don't want to just watch anymore."

Edward paused, a sharp glint appearing in his eyes. "What if we go back into that meeting hall right now... but under a total disguise?"

I tilted my head. "A disguise? Why?"

"To give them a real fighting chance," Edward said, a confident grin spreading across his face. "We can teach them how to forge their weapons using their own internal elemental mana. We can show them how to create legendary-tier armaments that can pierce the sky just like we do."

Without a single moment of hesitation, a cold smile broke across my face. "Let's do it."

We ducked into a nearby secluded restroom, locking the main entrance ward. Channeling our advanced **Body Manipulation** and illusion skills, we completely altered our physical dimensions. Our heights increased, our facial structures shifted into sharp, unfamiliar contours, and our clothing morphed into dark, flowing combat cloaks. For our operational aliases, Edward chose the name *Damon*, adopting the persona of a detached, supreme powerhouse.

Once the transformation stabilized, we unsealed the room and blurred back down the hallway, moving like twin shadows.

*Boom!*

We kicked the heavy council doors off their tracks, stepping into the war room. The sudden breach triggered an instant red alert. King Dominic, Instructor Ronan, and the elite guards drew their weapons in a flash, launching a barrage of coordinated, high-tier elemental strikes directly at our heads.

Moving in absolute synchronization, Damon and I raised our hands. With a simple, effortless flick of our wrists, we parried the incoming spells, dissipating the massive concentrated mana waves into harmless ambient sparks within a fraction of a second.

King Dominic took a defensive step back, his sword crackling with gold energy. "Who are you?! How did you bypass the perimeter wards? What do you want?"

"Calm down," I commanded, my voice distorted into a deep, echoing baritone that resonated through the stone walls. "We are not your enemies. We are here to provide you with the strength to survive the convergence."

Dominic’s grip on his hilt didn't waver. "Provide us with strength? How can we blindly trust masked entities we've never seen before?"

Damon took a step forward, his eyes flashing a dangerous violet hue. "Because your current arsenal is pathetic. Your weapons are fundamentally weak."

Lucas’s face flushed with anger at the insult. "What did you just say? Our weapons are forged from pure diamond-alloy metal! Why would you call them weak?"

"Because they are composed of dead, external materials," Damon countered coldly, unleashing a localized ripple of his *Gravity Manipulation*. The sudden pressure forced the guards to their knees, pinning their blades to the floor. "They are not born from your own souls."

King Dominic’s eyes widened as he felt the sheer, terrifying density of Damon's aura. "What do you mean...? Are you suggesting a mortal can manifest a corporeal weapon strictly through their own internal mana?"

"Correct," I replied.

Queen Celestine looked at us, her voice trembling but eager. "But how? The historical records state that the elemental feedback from a pure mana construct will shatter a human's core instantly."

"The records are wrong because your refinement methods are primitive," I explained, gesturing for them to listen carefully. "Close your eyes. Visualize the exact physical blueprint of the weapon you wish to wield. Once the structural design is completely stable in your mind, compress your core's raw elemental mana into a flawless, high-density crystal orb. When the orb reaches its maximum equilibrium point, forcefully project it into a localized dimensional pocket where your visualized blueprint rests. Merge the two. The spatial friction will lock the mana into a permanent, legendary-grade physical form."

To demonstrate the theory, Damon drew his hands from his cloak. In a blinding flash of violet light, he manifested his legendary gravity katana, the ambient air warping and whistling around the dark steel edge.

The entire council gaped in absolute shock. They were looking at a phenomenon that defied modern magical science—a weapon forged purely from a user’s attribute.

Without a second thought, King Dominic closed his eyes. He took a deep, centering breath, channeling every ounce of his sovereign power. A massive sphere of gold energy erupted around his palms. With a sharp shout, he thrust the sphere forward, forcing it to cross into his mental blueprint.

*Clang!*

The room vibrated violently as a pair of sleek, glowing gold gravity dual katanas manifested in his hands. The moment his fingers wrapped around the hilts, a massive, intoxicating wave of raw power surged into his core, multiplying his baseline capabilities by tenfold.

"Incredible..." Dominic gasped, staring at the legendary blades. "My mana flow... it's completely unchained!"

Seeing his success, the rest of the family and the elites immediately followed suit, closing their eyes to unlock their true potential.

Within minutes, the council chamber was illuminated by a spectacular array of legendary-tier armaments. Lucas successfully manifested a pair of roaring dual fire katanas. Queen Celestine summoned a brilliant, radiant light magical staff. Isolde gripped a pristine, shimmering water imperial spear. Valencia held a massive, thorn-wrapped nature scythe that pulsed with vital energy. Ivan forged a heavy, unbreakable earth katana, while Seraphina manifested a razor-sharp wind scythe that hummed with kinetic velocity. Finally, Luke Vale opened his eyes to reveal a dazzling, diamond-sheathed metal katana that looked sharp enough to slice through reality itself.

Sensing their newly elevated thresholds, King Dominic looked back toward us, his expression full of profound respect. "How... how do you two possess this forbidden knowledge? Who taught you how to forge the elements?"

Damon pulled his hood lower, his legendary katana dissolving back into his shadow. "That is a secret we have no intention of revealing."

"Good luck in the upcoming war," I added simply.

Before they could even utter a word of gratitude, I unleashed a brilliant, blinding burst of flash-mana, completely obscuring their field of vision. By the time the light dissipated, Damon and I had completely vanished from the chamber.

King Dominic spun around, his gold blades still crackling. "Where did they go?!"

The guards rushed to the windows and doors, but the corridor was completely empty. The mysterious powerhouses who had just rewritten the laws of magic had vanished without a trace.

Damon and I sprinted back into the first-floor restroom, instantly dropping our illusions. Our bodies shifted back to our normal dimensions, and we quickly straightened our black-and-gold student uniforms. Slipping out of the bathroom unnoticed, we made a beeline back to our private dormitory room to analyze our strategic data.

The moment we stepped inside, I slammed the door and cast an absolute sound-isolation barrier across the walls. I turned to Edward, my expression dead serious. "Edward, we need to map out the enemy command structure. Exactly how many factions exist within the Abyssal hierarchy?"

Edward sat on the edge of his bed, his face darkening as memories of the dark realm resurfaced. "There are twelve primary factions currently active. Technically, there used to be thirteen, but the other lords betrayed our house and slaughtered my father to consolidate their territory."

I walked over to the window, looking out at the peaceful campus. "Where are the remaining Supreme Lords stationed right now? Why haven't they deployed their full battalions yet?"

"They're currently resting within their respective underworld kingdoms," Edward explained, tightening his jaw. "They operate under a strict military hierarchy. They will only mobilize their vanguard legions once they receive a direct direct directive from the First Supreme Lord of the Abyssal Kingdom."

I frowned, turning back to him. "The First Supreme Lord? Hold on, I'm confused. I thought the absolute ruler of the lower sectors was Azrael."

"No!" Edward clarified immediately, shaking his head. "Azrael is just the younger brother of the true commander. The entity who actually orchestrated my k********g and masterminded the initial incursions is **Kristoff Valemont**—the First Supreme Lord."

A sudden realization struck me like a lightning bolt. "Oh... *that* man. The one who stepped through the rift to save Azrael during the border collapse. The one Lucian referred to as his 'brother' and the former left hand of God."

"Exactly," Edward nodded.

"So that means we aren't just fighting a horde of monsters," I muttered, calculating the variables. "There is an entire council of Supreme Lords waiting in the wings."

"Yes," Edward confirmed grimly. "And every single one of them possesses world-ending capabilities."

Before we could delve any deeper into Kristoff's military layout, a massive, deafening roar shattered the silence of the campus. The ground beneath our feet violently shuddered, and the sound-isolation barrier I had placed around the room snapped under a sudden wave of external pressure.

We bolted out of the dormitory, sprinting onto the main central courtyard alongside thousands of panicked students.

Looking up, my blood ran cold. The pristine blue sky above the capital had fractured like glass, tearing open to reveal a massive, swirling crimson rift that bled dark mana into the atmosphere.

A booming, magical announcement echoed from the city's main defense towers, shattering the afternoon peace:

*“CRITICAL ALERT! A MAX-CLASS SPATIAL RIFT HAS BREACHED THE SECTOR GRID! ALL CADETS AND VANGUARD UNITS, MAN YOUR STATIONS AND PREPARE FOR IMMEDIATE COMBAT!”*