The Ossuary King: Infinite Power

Chapter 7

The deeper Lucien walked into the Eternal Ossuary, the more the world began to bleed.

The grey, dull mist of the outer rim was gone. Here, in the "Red Zone," the air was stained with a faint, rust-colored haze. It smelled of old blood and ozone. The ground beneath his boots was no longer soft ash; it was hard, cracked stone that pulsed with a faint, rhythmic heat, as if he were walking on the skin of a sleeping giant.

Lucien stopped. His God-Devouring Veins were screaming. They weren't screaming in fear, but in excitement. The energy in this place was so dense it was almost liquid.

He looked up and saw it.

The Grave of the Fallen Seraph.

In the center of a massive, mile-wide crater lay the skeleton of a six-winged being. Even in death, the Seraph was magnificent. Its bones were not white, but a shimmering, translucent gold. It was massive—each of its six wings was the size of a city block, spread out across the crater as if it had been struck down from the heavens mid-flight.

But it wasn't just a skeleton. A pillar of white, holy light shot up from the center of the Seraph’s chest, piercing the dark clouds above. This light was beautiful, but it was also deadly.

As Lucien took a step forward, a heavy weight slammed into his shoulders.

CRACK.

The stone beneath his feet shattered. Lucien fell to one knee, his teeth gritted. The "Pressure of the Divine" was so intense it felt like he was carrying a mountain on his back. His Primordial Chaos Body groaned, the black scales beneath his skin flickering as they tried to absorb the holy weight.

"So... this is the power of an angel," Lucien wheezed.

He tried to stand, but the closer he got to the crater’s edge, the heavier the air became. It wasn't just physical weight; it was a spiritual rejection. The "Holy" energy of the Seraph hated the "Chaos" energy inside Lucien. They were like water and oil, clashing violently.

[Ding! Warning!]

[Host has entered the 'Grave of the Fallen Seraph' (Red Zone).]

[Current Level: 21. Recommended Level: 50.]

[The Divine Seal is active. Sign-In is currently impossible.]

Lucien’s eyes widened. "Impossible? I’ve come all this way!"

He reached out his hand, trying to force his way through the invisible wall of golden light. His fingertips sizzled. Smoke rose from his skin. The Chaos energy in his veins was being burned away by the Seraph’s purity.

"I need a key," Lucien muttered, pulling his hand back. His skin healed instantly, but the frustration remained. "The System says I can't sign in because of the Divine Seal. I need something that matches this energy. Something... holy."

He sat down on a jagged rock, staring at the golden skeleton. He couldn't go forward, but he refused to go back to his cave empty-handed.

He closed his eyes and summoned the map he had built in his mind using the Eyes of Truth. He looked at all the places he had passed during his months of wandering. He looked for a spark of light that wasn't grey or black.

And then, he remembered.

Two months ago, while hunting a Grave-Worm, he had stumbled upon a hidden valley. In that valley, there was a pool of water that was perfectly still and silver. He had felt a strange, peaceful energy coming from it, but at the time, he was too focused on leveling up his Chaos Body. He had ignored it, thinking it was just a decorative pond of the gods.

The Pool of Reflection.

"That’s it," Lucien said, his eyes snapping open. "The water there was pure. It wasn't necrotic or chaotic. It was... neutral. Divine."

He didn't waste another second. He stood up, the divine pressure still pushing him down, and began the long trek back toward the transition zone between the outer and inner rims.

Backtracking in the Ossuary was dangerous. The "geography" of the graveyard changed as the mist shifted. What was a flat plain yesterday might be a canyon of bones today.

As he ran, a pack of Grave-Ghouls—leathery, skinless monsters with long claws—spotted him. In the past, Lucien would have had to fight them for hours. Now, he didn't even slow down.

As the first Ghoul lunged at him, Lucien didn't even draw his sword. He simply focused his Sword Intent into a single finger and flicked the air.

SHING!

A thin line of silver energy cut the Ghoul into four perfect pieces before it could even screech.

"Out of my way," Lucien growled.

He moved like a blur of black shadow. After hours of running, the red haze began to fade, replaced by a soft, silvery glow. He entered the hidden valley.

The Pool of Reflection was exactly as he remembered. It sat in a circle of white trees that had no leaves. The water was so clear it looked like a mirror held up to a sky that didn't exist.

Lucien walked to the edge of the pool. He could see his own reflection. He looked older. His eyes were no longer the eyes of a discarded son; they were the eyes of a predator.

[Ding! Detected Location: The Pool of Reflection.]

[This is a 'Ancient-Grade' treasure location. Would the Host like to Sign-In?]

"Yes," Lucien said. "Give me something to break that seal."

[Ding! Sign-In Successful!]

[Congratulations! You have received a 'Legendary-Grade' Item: The Holy Grail of Aethel.]

A flash of light appeared above the water. A golden cup, decorated with white pearls and filled with a glowing, blue liquid, floated down into Lucien’s waiting hands.

The cup was warm. The liquid inside smelled like spring rain and blooming flowers—scents that shouldn't exist in a place of death.

[Item: Holy Grail of Aethel.]

[Effect: Contains 'Liquid Divinity'. Drinking it will temporarily grant the Host a 'Divine Aura' and permanently upgrade the God-Devouring Veins.]

Lucien didn't hesitate. He raised the cup to his lips and drank the entire contents in one go.

"Gasp!"

His head fell back.

If the Primordial Chaos Body felt like being hit by an anvil, the Holy Grail felt like being filled with stars. The blue liquid rushed through his throat and exploded into his chest.

His God-Devouring Veins, which were naturally dark and chaotic, suddenly began to glow with a brilliant blue light. The two energies—Chaos and Divinity—did not fight. Instead, the God-Devouring Veins lived up to their name. They swallowed the divinity, wrapping the black energy in a layer of gold.

[Ding! God-Devouring Veins have evolved!]

[Current State: Chaos-Divine Equilibrium.]

[Level Up! Level 22... Level 25... Level 30!]

Lucien felt his power triple. His muscles tightened, and a halo of dim light appeared behind his head, only to be swallowed by the black aura of his body. He was now a bridge between two worlds: the Abyss and the Heavens.

He felt invincible. He felt like he could walk up to the Great Iron Gates right now and rip them off their hinges.

"Now," Lucien said, his voice echoing with power. "Let's see that Seraph try to stop me."

He turned around, ready to run back to the Red Zone.

But as he stepped out of the valley of the Pool, he stopped.

The silence of the Ossuary was gone. It was replaced by a sound that made the marrow in his bones vibrate. It was a low, deep thrumming, like a million drums beating at once beneath the earth.

Lucien looked up at the sky.

The dark clouds weren't just dark anymore. They were turning a sickly, bruised purple. Streaks of green lightning arched across the heavens, illuminating the horizon.

And then, the screaming started.

It wasn't the scream of one monster. It was the collective cry of millions.

From every grave, every pit, and every mountain of bone, shadows began to rise. The ground itself seemed to liquefy as skeletons, ghouls, wraiths, and ancient horrors crawled out of the dirt.

This wasn't a normal hunt.

[Ding! Warning! Warning!]

[Global Event Triggered: The Demon Tide.]

[Description: Once every ten years, the resentment of the fallen reaches a breaking point. All dead beings will rise to slaughter anything with a heartbeat.]

[Estimated Monster Count: 10,000,000+.]

Lucien watched as a wave of undead, five stories high, began to roll across the plains toward him. The grey mist was being replaced by a tide of rotting flesh and rusted iron.

"Ten million?" Lucien whispered, his hand going to his sword.

Even with his new power, those numbers were impossible. But then, a thought struck him. A Demon Tide meant that every powerful being in the Ossuary was awake. Every sign-in location would be overflowing with energy.

If he could survive this, he wouldn't just level up—he would become a god.

But then, he saw something else.

In the far distance, near the Great Iron Gates, he saw the faint glow of magical signals. Humans. The "geniuses" from the sects and the noble families. They were trapped in the outer rim, right in the path of the tide.

Lucien’s eyes turned cold. "The tide is coming for everyone. Good."