That night, Miko couldn't sleep.The camp was quiet. Guards patrolled the perimeter. Soldiers rested in their tents. Everything looked calm.But his mind wouldn't stop. The paladin's words kept repeating. Hundreds of Apex creatures. Thousands maybe. All waiting in the deep Abyss.He got up. Walked through the camp. Just moving. Thinking.Near the edge of camp, he saw someone sitting alone. One of the paladins who'd fought the Apex insect. The same one who'd talked to him earlier."Can't sleep either?" the paladin asked."Too much to think about.""Sit. I'll keep you company."Miko sat on a rock nearby. They watched the perimeter together in silence for a while."You have questions," the paladin said. Not asking. Stating."Yeah.""Ask. I'll answer what I can.""How did the Church get so strong? Your techniques. Your coordination. That's beyond anything the AAU teaches.""The Church has been training to fight the Abyss for centuries. Long before your Academy existed. We know things that

Morning never came.Or rather, it came but looked the same as night. The dimensional influence of the Battery Chamber made time meaningless here."All units assemble!" Galok commanded. "Final march begins now!"Two hundred and ninety-two people formed up. The sixty marked for dismissal had been separated. Sent to a holding area to wait for evacuation.The remaining expedition was leaner. Harder. Everyone who'd survived this far had proven themselves capable."From this point forward, we travel at night," Galok announced."Why?" someone asked."Because the entities that attacked us hunt during the day. Night is safer in this region."That made no sense. But nothing about the Abyss made sense."We march for twelve hours. Then establish base camp outside the Battery Chamber enclosure. Rest. Then breach and destroy.""Move out!"The expedition began marching through the darkness.Not regular darkness. Abyssal darkness. Thick. Heavy. Like it had substance. The kind of darkness that pressed

The figure pulled back his hood completely.Co-ordinator Hayes.The man who'd coordinated their missions. Who'd sent them on reconnaissance. Who'd approved their elite unit status. Who'd authorized this entire expedition.Miko felt like the ground had disappeared beneath him."No," he said. "That's impossible."Hayes smiled. Not the professional smile from briefings. Something darker. More genuine."Nothing is impossible in the Abyss, Miko. You should know that by now."The expedition reached the platform. Galok and Captain Rodriguez at the front. They saw Hayes. Weapons raised.Rodriguez stopped dead. His face went pale. "Hayes? What are you doing here?""Finishing what I started.""We're here to destroy the chamber!" Rodriguez said. His voice shaking. "You authorized this mission!""Yes. I did. Because I needed you all here. Needed Miko here specifically. This entire expedition was designed to bring him to this exact moment."Miko's element marriage burned hotter. Every mission. Eve

They stood at the Battery Chamber. Close enough to touch it now.The structure was massive up close. Maybe forty feet tall. Made of crystal and metal fused together in ways that shouldn't be possible. Glowing with energy that made Miko's skin tingle.Inside. His father. Floating in the center. Eyes closed. Breathing but not moving. Cables running from his back. From his arms. From his head. All of them glowing with ash element energy."How do we open it?" Anna asked."There." Liam pointed. A control panel on the side. Covered in symbols. Some Church. Some older. Some that didn't look human at all.Behind them the battle raged. The Guardian was still fighting. Still killing. The expedition was dying to give them time."Hurry!" Akiya yelled.Miko moved to the control panel. Started examining it. Trying to figure out how to open the chamber.Then a sound made everyone freeze.A roar. But not from the Guardian they'd left behind.From above.They looked up.The ceiling of the massive cham

The ground shuddered violently beneath Miko's feet as another massive section of ceiling crashed down in the distance. The sound reverberated through the collapsing structure like thunder, followed by a cloud of ancient dust that made breathing feel like swallowing sand. His father's weight pressed heavily against his shoulder, the old man's body growing more burdensome with each labored step."Just a little further, Dad," Miko grunted through gritted teeth, readjusting his grip around his father's waist. The old man's arm draped across his shoulders felt fragile, like dried branches that might snap under the slightest pressure. "The exit's right there. Akiya and the others are waiting. We can make it if we just—""No." The word emerged as barely more than a wheeze, yet his father's fingers suddenly dug into Miko's shoulder with surprising, desperate strength. "The chamber... you must take me back to the chamber, son."Miko stopped mid-stride, blinking away the mixture of sweat and d