Iron Sovereign: I Hunt the Apex

Chapter 9: The Abyss Opens

The ground shook hard, throwing Aiden off his feet. He hit the marble floor, keeping his grip tight on the collar of Marcus's silver armor. Marcus screamed as the stone beneath them cracked further, exposing a dark drop into the earth below. Dust and shattered glass rained down from the broken stadium ceiling, drifting through the dark purple light streaming into the sky.

Aiden dragged Marcus away from the edge of the pit. The air coming up from the deep hole tasted of sulfur and old dust. It felt freezing cold, making his breath turn into small white clouds in front of his face.

Up on the royal balcony, the silver-robed city enforcers raised their shields against the falling glass. They were looking down into the arena with wide eyes. Guild Master Vane was gone, having escaped through the rear doors when the ground began to break.

"What is that?" Marcus gasped, pointing a shaking hand toward the pit. "That is not a normal rift! The energy is too concentrated!"

Aiden stood up, pulling Marcus along with him. "It is the source of the purple mist Vane used. He built this stadium right over a hidden rift core."

The beam of purple light widened, swallowing the remaining pieces of the central stage. Small rocks and broken metal frames floated off the ground, lifted by the strange gravity flowing out of the abyss.

Aiden looked down into the dark opening. Deep inside the earth, a steady pulse echoed out every few seconds. It sounded like the slow heartbeat of a giant creature waking from a long sleep.

"We need to get out of here," Marcus pleaded, trying to pull his arm free from Aiden's grip. "If the core collapses, this whole sector will get pulled under!"

"You are coming with me," Aiden said, his voice cold and steady. "You are going to stand in front of the city council and speak the truth."

Aiden turned toward the high exit gates of the stadium, but the falling debris had blocked the main arches. Heavy stone blocks and twisted steel girders lay piled ten feet high, sealing the exits to the outer city streets.

A sudden screech echoed from the top of the ruined stadium wall.

Aiden raised his eyes. Along the high rim of the arena, dozens of small shadow creatures crawled over the broken stone. They had long, thin limbs, pale grey skin, and sharp claws that left deep scratches in the concrete. Their dark eyes scanned the arena floor until they spotted Aiden and Marcus standing near the pit.

The creatures did not wait. They skittered down the steep walls like giant spiders, moving fast toward the floor.

Marcus let out a high whine of terror, trying to hide behind Aiden's shoulder. "Shadow crawlers! There are too many of them!"

Aiden held his red energy blade ready in his right hand. The heat radiating from the blade kept the freezing air away from his chest. He focused on his Shadow Domain trait, feeling the dark energy of the arena move around his boots.

The first three crawlers leaped off the wall, diving straight for Aiden's face.

Aiden activated Shadow Stride. He vanished into a thin shadow on the floor, reappearing behind the creatures as they hit the marble. He swung his red blade in a fast horizontal arc, cutting through two of the crawlers in a single clean strike.

The creatures dissolved into black ash as the energy blade hit them. Aiden did not pause. He turned quickly and kicked the third crawler hard in the chest, sending it flying back into the rising beam of purple light. The creature shrieked as the dark beam pulled it down into the deep pit.

More crawlers reached the floor, forming a wide circle around Aiden and Marcus. They hissed loudly, their sharp claws tapping against the shattered stone in a fast rhythm.

Aiden watched their movements. His heightened reflexes allowed him to track five creatures at once. He stepped forward, putting himself between the pack and the crying guild leader behind him.

"Stay close if you want to live," Aiden ordered Marcus.

Aiden charged into the pack. He moved like a dark blur across the arena floor, his energy blade leaving red trails of heat in the dim light. He thrust the blade into the throat of a crawler, spun around to dodge a flying strike from another, and drove his elbow into the head of a third monster.

Every strike landed with hard, physical precision. The traits he had absorbed worked together smoothly. His body was tough, his movements were fast, and his grip on his weapon was firm.

Within two minutes, ten more crawlers lay as ash on the floor. Faint blue notifications flickered in his peripheral vision, adding small amounts of speed and stamina to his body, but Aiden kept his focus on the main threat.

The remaining crawlers backed away, sensing the danger in the human warrior. They let out low warning growls, retreating toward the edge of the deep pit.

Aiden took a deep breath, wiping sweat and black ash from his forehead. He turned back to Marcus, ready to drag him toward the side exit tunnels.

Before he could take a step, the steady pulse from the pit stopped.

The beam of purple light vanished in an instant, leaving the arena in total darkness except for the faint red glow of Aiden's blade.

A thick silence fell over the stadium. The fallen dust stopped moving in the air.

Deep inside the dark pit, two giant purple eyes snapped open. They were far larger than any eyes Aiden had seen before, glowing with ancient, cold intelligence.

A heavy, clawed hand made of solid black stone reached up from the darkness and slammed down onto the edge of the pit, crushing thirty feet of marble floor into dust.

A deep voice, echoing like grinding mountains, spoke from the darkness of the abyss.

"Who dares disturb the sleep of the Sovereign?"