A Leaking Abyss

The movement of the portal had been audible. Mattheo had just woken up, his limbs were somewhat asleep and he felt quite groggy. He wiped his eyes taking care not to scratch them out with his claws. Werewolves were actually light sleepers, which proved to Mattheo that he was right. Not a single demon had approached the portal. The Abyss was going to fade away eventually and there wasn't anything he could do about it, so it made sense due to scarce populations.

He wouldn't have to either, through this portal was his way out. Who knew, maybe he'd even meet people? Back in his world, he had not gotten around much unless it was for a good reason. Only when it was possible to ascend in his own capabilities would there be a compromise.

Gathering himself so as to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything, he ascended the stairs leading to the portal. This was the first time he would have used a portal in his past life and current. Portal magic usually wasn't easy. Even the most dedicated to the practice had only a slight chance of casting portals without a medium, not to mention Mattheo who had never even glanced at it.

Both portal frame and portal were black, they were like carvings from reality itself. Though comparing the two, there was still a large gap in how effective it was at appearing so. The frame had merely been an extremely dark material called "portal stone". Portal stone was used as a medium to set up portals, but was far from commonplace in any world. Obtaining just a little would attract attention as the stone existed in small quantities scattered throughout multiple cave systems in each world.

With much hesitance, Mattheo entered the portal. Immediately the world went black.

Mattheo could feel his body pulse, while an intense headache had put his mind under siege. Opening his eyes, Mattheo saw that he was in a cave. Stalagmites protruded from edges of the ground and ceiling while he sat up.

Below his leg was a feeling of being poked. Picking up his leg to examine what was assaulting him, he found a portal stone! The stone was remarkably smooth and showed no sign of any chips cut out from it. His luck brought him so high that he was a little afraid of falling. Throwing the portal stone into the bag with the rest of his valuables, Mattheo proceeded to investigate his location. All demons had the ability to see in the dark, after all, they come from a place with only 12 stars to provide illumination. They were fainter than the moons of surface worlds and so left demons having to adapt.

Nothing had seemed out of the ordinary. This was a normal cave like any other. Deciding he couldn't figure out where he stood, the Observer was called for once again.

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Location: Cave

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"Why do I even try?" Mattheo questioned himself with serious concern.

Getting up, Mattheo was finally standing in the main realm! Even if it wasn't his own world, it still resembled his more so than the Abyss. As a demon, he would most likely flourish among the local fauna. But such a desirable environment was if there were no humans interrupting his growth. While killing humans would be faster, he still had a long time to feed off of nearby animals. Demons are long-living beings, so long as conflict doesn't kill them, they could live for hundreds of years.

Though with how aggressive they are, that was usually an unlikely situation. Without a god to serve, demons are naught. But must you be reminded of the oh so special Mattheo?

After about 10 minutes of wandering he finally saw some light. Emerging from the cave, Mattheo was filled with uncertainty. What he saw had undoubtedly shaken him.

A forest of "ghost" trees stretched the entirety of the island, along with demons dashing in distant clearings. Not wanting to stretch his mind around something he couldn't comprehend, Mattheo decided to ask the Observer if he had really left the Abyss. It had confirmed it. Apparently, the Abyss was not dying, it was moving! Or rather leaking. The actual Abyss was like a deflating balloon. Demons were the air, and the dimension was a stretchable material that shrunk without it. As for the trees, the demons always influenced their surroundings slightly. Only when large numbers are grouped together would they show any major effects on their environment.

'What's going on..?! I thought only light gods were in this world, this much of the Abyss can't possibly be held back!!' Mattheo thought.

Asking the Observer to explain, it told him what was happening. A long time ago, a war had occured between the demons and the other races. The war was a conflict that showed heavy favor towards the forces of evil. Regardless of the gods inhabiting this worlding numbering 6, only one was dark. He was a conqeror who went from one world to the other, causing terror wherever he reigned. The gods of light entering a state of desperation, sacrificed one of their own to split their world and sanctify their regions.

The only one who could do so was the highest of their ranks, Arch god Thao. Since then, the Abyss has leaked here, and without the ability to grow his minions, the dark god abandoned his conquest of the world. This is the continent told of by the humans in legends, the Dark Continent. Through thousands of years the Abyss had leaked while the other races grew.

As for the Dark god, he never truly got over his defeat. Seeing opportunity in Mattheo's situation, he sent him to the Dark Continent to cultivate his power and pierce the world's sanctification by using what humanity he had in his past life to place a veil over him. As a new demon though, he would have to start from the Abyss. Teleporting from the Abyss to the "sacred" continent would also have been impossible as that is what the barrier was for.

Mattheo stood wide eyed. He didn't know whether to be angry or happy. By sending him here, the Dark god hoped to use him for revenge. While on the other hand, by cultivating his power enough and surpassing all of the beings here, he could have a whole world to himself!

Dark gods couldn't take control of demons outside of the Abyss. Such a thing was only possible in the Abyss since it was a place where the Dark gods could actually descend to if they wished. Their influence of that dimension was a world that could be crafted however they wanted, and because of that, each Abyss was unique. Dark gods were something that spawned from the egos of humans only when civilization grew on a world, making demons identical to the dark side of each person's coin, and a dark god identical to a civilization's dark side.

Of course, there's also the unorthodox method of power ascension, this was what Mattheo was hoping to achieve. The Dark god of this world was long gone, and no more than one could "naturally" spawn in a world.

Mattheo gripped his head as he processed everything the Observer told him before letting out a long sigh. Looking into the distance, he knew things wouldn't be getting any easier from now on.