The rain did not fall gently that day.It slammed down in sheets, drowning the cheers of the crowd, soaking the blood-streaked stones of the Imperial Execution Square. The sky above the Holy Empire was split with lightning—violent and unrelenting, as if protesting the injustice about to unfold.
Chained in iron, stripped of armor, and branded a traitor, General Raen Tiberis stood on the gallows—unbowed.
He did not kneel.
He did not beg.
He simply stared forward, his storm-grey eyes locking onto the gilded balcony above, where Emperor Valcian watched him with hollow indifference. The man Raen had bled for. Fought for. Won countless wars for.
"This is how you reward loyalty?" Raen's voice was calm, but it cracked through the storm like steel on stone.
Valcian didn't reply.
Instead, Commander Veyla, once Raen's apprentice, now his executioner, stepped forward in pristine white command robes—his robes, only days ago. Her expression was unreadable, but her hand gripped the ceremonial blade just a little too tightly.
Raen didn't look away. "Did you come to see your mentor die, or to feel better about stealing his rank?"
Veyla flinched, just slightly.
A priest of the Divine Church approached, holding a flaming brand carved with celestial sigils. The crowd grew silent.
"For the crimes of beast-binding forbidden by the gods," the priest intoned, "for heresy against the divine hierarchy, and for betrayal of the Holy Empire—Raen Tiberis is sentenced to eternal descent into the Abyss."
A roar of thunder shook the sky.
Raen's lip curled. "You fear power you cannot control. That's your true crime."
The priest pressed the brand against his bare chest.
White-hot agony exploded through his body.
He didn't scream.
He laughed.
In that moment, as the brand seared the rune of exile into his skin, the skies cracked open—not with sunlight, but with a howling, unnatural darkness. A vortex of shadows descended upon the execution square like a divine claw.
The nobles screamed.
The priests dropped their scrolls.
And Raen Tiberis vanished into the void.
He awoke in silence.
No pain. No ground. No sky.
Just void.
A cold mist drifted around him—purple and black, like ink bleeding through parchment. He tried to move, and found himself floating… weightless, yet whole.
[System Rebooting…]
A voice echoed within his mind. Not quite human. Not quite mechanical. Somewhere in between. And filled with the kind of dry sarcasm only the dead could appreciate.
[Welcome, Raen Tiberis.]
[Location: Abyss — Layer Seven: The Devourer's Hollow.]
[Class: Abyssbound Beastbinder.]
Raen blinked. "I died."
[Obviously. You were executed. Messily.]
He narrowed his eyes. "And now I'm what… a ghost?"
[Not quite. You were sentenced to the Abyss. But it seems someone… or something… overrode your fate. Congratulations. You're now the first registered contractor of the Abyssal Bonding System.]
"...Explain."
[No.]
Raen exhaled slowly and stood. Or rather, he felt like he stood, though the surface beneath him was nothing but rippling shadow.
[Basic Tutorial: You are now able to bond with Abyssal-class beasts—creatures too dangerous, cursed, or broken to exist in the mortal realm.]
[To survive, you must dominate them.]
[Or die.]
From the mist, something stirred. A pair of glowing red eyes emerged. Then jagged teeth. A low growl filled the air like distant thunder.
Raen didn't flinch.
The beast lunged.
It was a monstrous hound—massive, skeletal, half its hide flayed open and trailing tendrils of smoke. Its roar was deafening.
Raen sidestepped at the last second, grabbing a shard of obsidian from the ground and plunging it into the creature's exposed jaw. It recoiled, howling.
He landed on one knee, eyes sharp.
[Beast Identified: Hollowfang – Rank C – Sanity: Corrupted.]
[Bonding Opportunity Detected.]
A dark sigil glowed beneath Raen's palm. Chains of black light spiraled into the air, snaking toward the wounded Hollowfang.
"Wait," he muttered, freezing.
The beast wasn't attacking.
It was… shaking.
Its body trembled like a cornered animal. Raen's vision blurred for a moment—and he saw flashes of memory.
Torture.
Abandonment.
Burial.
The creature had once been noble… before it was cast down here like him.
Raen clenched his fist. "We are both broken. But I will not stay that way."
The chains surged forward and bound the Hollowfang in an explosion of shadow.
The beast let out a final cry—then stilled.
Its eyes dimmed from red to silver.
[Bonding Successful.]
[Hollowfang added to Abyssal Codex.]
Raen exhaled. The mist around him shimmered, revealing a jagged landscape—cracked earth, rivers of molten bone, and distant roars echoing through the black sky.
[Quest Initialized: Survive the Trials of Layer Seven – Time Limit: 30 Days.]
[Failure = Soul Erasure.]
Raen climbed onto the Hollowfang's back. The beast bowed slightly, as if accepting him.
He looked ahead at the shifting path that led deeper into madness.
"They threw me into the Abyss to die…"
He smirked.
"…Let's see how they like it when I return leading monsters."
The shadows moved with him.
The Abyss had just welcomed its newest king.