The God-Slayer's Trash Manual

Chapter 7

The wind didn’t whistle past Renvar anymore; it screamed in agony as he tore through the atmosphere, a streak of black soot and dying light. The Frozen Wastes were a blur of white and grey beneath him, but his eyes were fixed on the jagged scar in the earth ahead—the Forbidden Abyss. It looked like a puncture wound in the world, oozing a darkness that even the sun couldn't penetrate.

"System, talk to me. How’s the clock looking? Give me the bad news first."

[System: Time remaining: 112 seconds. Structural integrity of your soul is currently comparable to a wet paper towel in a hurricane. Also, your heart just skipped three beats. I’m not saying you’re dying, but if you were a car, the ‘Check Engine’ light would be melting.]

"Plenty of time for a grand entrance, then," Renvar wheezed, his lungs feeling like they were filled with hot gravel. "Tell me you’ve got a lock on Yuexia."

[System: Sixty meters below the rim. High concentration of ‘I-can’t-believe-it’s-not-demonic’ energy detected. She’s the spark plug for a very big, very bad engine, Host. If she hits the breaking point, the world gets a factory reset.]

"Not on my watch. I’m the only one allowed to break things today."

Renvar didn't slow down as he reached the edge of the Abyss. He tucked his shoulders and dove. As he plummeted into the dark, the temperature plummeted, but the heat inside him only grew more volatile. Suddenly, something hissed in his ear—a sound like static and wet leather.

"Whoa! What was that? System, did I just hit a bird?"

[System: Not a bird. Shadow-beasts. They’re attracted to the smell of your charred destiny. Watch your left!]

A creature made of oily, writhing smoke lunged from the shadows of the ravine walls. It had no face, only a vertical slit filled with needles. Renvar didn't even turn his head. He just snapped his fingers. A spark of black ash jumped from his hand, and the beast didn't just die—it evaporated into a puff of foul-smelling steam.

"Is that it? I’ve seen scarier things in a bowl of mystery stew!" Renvar shouted, kicking off a jagged rock to propel himself deeper. "Give me a challenge!"

[System: You asked for it. Look down. You’ve got a whole welcoming committee of ‘Nopes.’]

Renvar looked. Hundreds of the shadow-beasts were swarming up the walls, a carpet of shifting darkness.

"Okay, yeah, that’s a lot of 'Nopes.' New plan: ignore them and hope they’re slow."

"Renvar! Stop!"

The voice echoed from below, sharp and terrified. Yuexia.

"Linruo! Hold on! I’m coming for you, and I’m bringing a very large dry-cleaning bill!"

He hit the bottom of the Abyss with a thud that should have shattered his legs. Instead, the ground simply turned to ash under his feet. He was in a massive, circular chamber. In the center, Yuexia was suspended in mid-air, bound by chains of weeping purple energy. Surrounding her were twelve figures in bone-white masks, chanting in a language that made Renvar’s teeth ache.

"Hey! Capes! Which one of you is in charge of this circus?" Renvar yelled, his voice cracking. "I’m here to cancel the show. Also, I’m taking the leading lady to go."

One of the masked men, taller than the rest, stepped forward. "Renvar Xuandian. You’re earlier than expected. And much more... flammable."

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Renvar panted, leaning on his knees as smoke leaked from his pores. "Look, I’m on a tight schedule. Give me the girl, apologize for the kidnapping, and maybe I won't turn this basement into a charcoal grill."

"You don't understand, boy," the leader said, his voice smooth and cold. "She is the catalyst. Her Frost-Moon physique is the only thing that can bridge the gap. The Unmentionable Terror requires a vessel that has been tempered by the Ash. Your union wasn't a rescue; it was the final seasoning."

"The final seasoning? What am I, a garnish?" Renvar growled. "Linruo, you okay?"

Yuexia looked down, her face pale, her eyes wide with desperation. "Renvar, run! The ritual... it’s already started! They’re using the connection we made! Every second you’re here, you’re just feeding the gate!"

"I never was good at dieting," Renvar said, flashing her a bloody, lopsided grin. "Hey, System. This 'Unmentionable Terror' guy. Is he as tough as he sounds?"

[System: He’s literally the heat death of the universe with a personality disorder. If he gets through that rift, your three-minute warranty becomes a zero-second reality.]

"Then let’s close the door. What’ve we got in the manual? Page two? Page three?"

[System: We’re past pages, Host. We’re in the footnotes of madness. Activating: ‘Void-Hand Manifestation.’ Warning: This is going to hurt. A lot.]

"Everything hurts! Just do it!"

Renvar’s right arm suddenly convulsed. He screamed as his skin began to slough off in grey flakes, not revealing bone, but a swirling, bottomless vortex of black energy. His hand elongated, his fingers becoming claws of pure, unlit space.

"Whoa... okay, that’s new. I look like a budget horror movie villain," Renvar gasped, staring at his transformed limb.

"Blasphemy!" the ritual leader roared, raising his staff. "Kill him! Protect the catalyst!"

The other eleven cultists broke their chant and lunged. They moved like shadows, their blades glowing with that same sickly purple light.

"My turn to play," Renvar whispered. He swung his void-arm in a wide arc. He didn't hit them. He didn't need to. The air itself seemed to be sucked into his hand, creating a vacuum that dragged the cultists toward him. "Get over here! I’ve got some questions about your dental plan!"

One cultist vanished into the blackness of Renvar’s palm with a muffled yelp. Another tried to stab him, but his sword simply dissolved the moment it touched the void-shimmer surrounding Renvar’s arm.

"Renvar, your arm!" Yuexia cried out. "It’s eating you! Stop using it!"

"Can't stop, won't stop!" Renvar yelled, punching the ground. A wave of black force exploded outward, shattering the ritual circle and sending the remaining cultists flying like autumn leaves. "I’m having a moment here, Linruo! I feel like I could punch a god in the throat!"

[System: That’s the endorphins talking. Also, the fact that you no longer have a nervous system in that arm. Sixty seconds remaining. The gate is cracking!]

The ground beneath Yuexia began to split. Not a normal crack, but a jagged tear in reality, revealing a swirling mess of stars that looked like they were being ground into dust. A voice, ancient and heavy enough to make the mountains tremble, rumbled from the depths.

"Fiiinnnaalllyyy... aaa... woorrtthhyy... veessseellll..."

"Oh, shut up," Renvar snapped, looking into the abyss. "I’m not a vessel. I’m a person. A very annoyed person with a very bad arm."

Renvar leaped into the air, reaching for Yuexia. The chains holding her lashed out like snakes, trying to pull her into the rift.

"I’ve got you!" Renvar shouted, his void-claws shredding through the purple energy as if it were wet paper. He grabbed her waist, pulling her flush against him.

"Renvar, your eyes..." she whispered, her hands shaking as she touched his face. "They’re not grey anymore. They’re... empty."

"Standard feature of the 'Suicide King' package," Renvar joked, though his voice was barely a rasp now. "Come on, let’s get out of here before the landlord shows up."

As he tried to kick off the air to fly upward, the ground beneath them didn't just crack—it dissolved. The entire chamber became a vortex of grey ash and starlight.

"Hey! System! Where’s the exit? Give me a map!"

[System: Erro— rrr. Sig— nal... lossst. Th— e... grea— t... Incin— erator... is... her— e.]

"System? This isn't funny! Don't go silent on me now!"

The blue screen of the System interface appeared in front of Renvar’s eyes, but it was spider-webbed with cracks. It flickered wildly, the text turning into gibberish before shattering into a thousand digital shards that dissolved into the void.

"System!" Renvar yelled, his heart sinking.

"Renvar, look out!" Yuexia screamed.

A massive, skeletal hand, miles long and made of frozen starlight, reached up from the rift, its fingers curling around the edges of the world. The 'Unmentionable Terror' wasn't coming through a gate anymore; it was simply unfolding itself into reality.

"Yoouuu... aarrreee... miiinnneee..." the voice ground against Renvar’s soul.

"Like hell I am," Renvar growled, tightening his grip on Yuexia. He looked at his void-arm, which was now pulsing with a terrifying, rhythmic light. "You want a vessel? Take this!"

Renvar didn't try to fly away. He plunged his void-arm directly into the giant skeletal palm.

"Eat it! All of it! Every second of my shitty three-year warranty!"

A blinding flash of absolute darkness swallowed the Abyss. Renvar felt his consciousness peeling away, his memories flickering like a dying candle. He felt Yuexia’s hand in his, a single point of warmth in a universe that was turning to ice.

"Linruo..." he whispered.

"I’m here," she replied, her voice the last thing he heard before the world snapped.

The rift didn't close. It imploded. And as Renvar fell into the crushing silence of the void, a new voice—not the System, not the Terror, but something much, much older—whispered into the back of his mind.

"The game has only just begun, little ember."

Then, there was only ash.