Chapter 85

"In simple terms, the Abyss is the darkness of humanity."

The looked at her waiting for further explanation. But this was the best explanation she could give. The Abyss was literally the darkness of humanity.

"Well, I will first tell you from where the Abyss came about." She decided to explain the entire thing of how the Abyss came to be.

"I come from another world and so did the Abyss. My world came about from something we call the first flame. It gave birth to disparity. Heat and Cold. Life and Death and finally, light and dark.

Four beings each claimed a Lord soul from there and a being called Gwyn claimed the soul of light. Gwyn was the lord of light. The god of the sun. He formed an age called the age of fire after destroying the dragons who ruled the age before, the age of Ancients.

He was fearless and feared almost nothing. Nothing truly ever frightened Gwyn, not the dragons, not the traitors and not even his enemies. Well, that is except for the dark. The Lord of Light feared the dark above all things.

There was a being called the Furtive Pygmy who claimed the soul of the dark. Using the soul, he formed humanity and served by Gwyn's side. During Gwyn's war with the dragons, humanity fought alongside the gods themselves. 

Eventually, they started worshipping him. A fatal mistake. Humans were formed using the dark soul meaning all of them were part of the dark. The Dark Soul of Man filled the Lord of Light with fear for he knew that fire shall fade one day, and humanity shall inherit the world. His world.

And so, while he was still in power, Gwyn rigged the world in his favor. Gwyn bestowed the Pygmies and Men the ringed city, an enormous, gilded city located at World's end.

The walls were as tall as mountains and it was guarded by Midir, an immortal arch dragon raised by the gods. He even gave up his daughter Filianore to protect the pygmies till the end.

Thou might think of it as benevolent, but it was just a trick of the light after all. The walls were not for protection and the dragon had an eternal duty to battle against the dark. And poor Filianore would never see her father again.

The purpose of the city was not to protect the original holders of the dark soul. It was to imprison them like a ring of fire that surrounds the darkness of humanity. And man was branded with this very seal. The Dark Sign.

There were of course, other human cities outside the Ringed City. One of them was the dark city of New Londo which was ruled by four human kings. The kings were renowned for their foresight and even had fragments of Gwyn's soul bestowed upon them so they could govern better.

This too, was a trick of the light. For above the top of New Londo lies the firelink shrine. A shrine I used to tend to. It was a place of undead sacrifice to Gwyn's age of fire. The gods needed the age of fire to continue, and they use the undead souls of humanity to light the fire.

No human city was permitted to flourish without some benefit to the age of fire. A good example would be the city of Oolacile. A golden land of light sorceries. Light could be manipulated to manipulate illusions and hide their intentions. Any spells of the nature light benefitted the gods and so they allowed it to flourish.

Of course, not all Pygmies were satisfied with being confined within the Ringed City and one set out to Oolacile. His name was Manus. Manus the primeval man. I do not know how but, it is certain that he died there in Oolacile. 

Some said that Gwyn himself sent out the Lord's blade, his orders of Assassins after him. The leader of the Lord's blade was Ciaran, the hornet. It is said that she laid waste to Gwyn's enemies. Of course, there was no proof, but he was part of a race Gwyn was doing everything suppress. 

One thing for sure is that he died and was buried there under the city of Oolacile, hidden away from light and sight. Whatever the case, humans were struggling against the new era. They were creatures of the dark and due to Gwyn extending the age of fire, they were cursed to become undead.

It is said that Gwyn banished the dark of humanity. But the dark that was banished has to go somewhere. They eventually gathered and formed the Abyss. Even new Londo, once a haven for undead has turned into a hideous spawning ground for the Abyss and the dark wraiths within it. 

At the heart of the uprising of the Abyss was a serpent named Kaathe. He swayed the four kings and the numerous undead within them to reclaim their humanity. Their dark souls. He taught them to pillage back their humanity.

It is even said that dark wraiths are the most human of all. But dark wraiths are the enemy of men for they desperately longed for the humanity they do not have. They are enemies of all life for they wish to claim life for themselves.

One of Gwyn's knights travelled into the Abyss to stop it from spreading further alone alongside his giant pet wolf. He is the man I wish I admire most despite his servitude to the gods.

His name was Artorias also known as Abysswalker for he formed a covenant with an unnamed creature from the Abyss and received a ring that allowed him to traverse the Abyss only dark creatures can inhabit. Together with his wolf, he faced the worst of humanity.

But even he could not completely defeat the four kings that formed the Abyss. Gwyn sacrificed the entire city by drowning New Londo as a whole.

Later, the scholars of Oolacile were curious and so they dug up the grave of the primeval man Manus. It incited his wrath, and he rejected death. 

All the banished dark of the humanity gathered in him, and he came to life once more forming the new Abyss of his own. He was as far from peace as he could be. The raw emotion of humanity he billowed out corrupted all the townsfolk of Oolacile. And so, he became the father of the Abyss. The city is lost, and mankind has succumbed to their worst natures.

Gwyn sent for Artorias once again and the great knight went on to hunt the father of the Abyss. He was bested by the primeval man and was forced to retreat.

The final act of Artorias was to protect his companions. His arm was broken, and he could no longer bear the burden. Finally, Artorias himself was overcome.

'All of you, forgive me. For I have availed nothing.' Those were his last words before succumbing to the nature of mankind. He was swallowed by the Abyss overcome by its utter blackness. The Abyss was unstoppable.

Soon after this, the spread of the Abyss stopped. It is said that the knight gave his life to stop it and recused Dusk, the princess of Oolacile kidnapped by Manus. Of course, this too was a lie.

In fact, another champion by the name of the Chosen Undead. It is said by Dusk that Manus was obsessed with a pendant and so he used his powers to summon beings from across time and was finally defeated by one of those beings he summoned.

After this, Manus's suffering has finally ended. In a way, it is a tragedy that the legend of Artorias was all a lie. He failed as a knight, but he was a great knight nonetheless for even in his corrupted state, he continues to seek out and kill the other corruptions of humanity.

I like to believe he is still there somewhere still fighting. His death broke the heart of Ciaran his ... romantic partner but she would take the secrets of his death to her grave alongside the other knights of Gwyn. 

In short, there are two versions of the Abyss. The Abyss of the four kings and the Abyss of the primeval man. No matter what it is, there is no doubt that the Abyss is the enemy of men.

And now, the Abyss is spreading once more and if we wish to stop it, we must find the grave of Artorias for that is where is covenant lies. I shall traverse the Abyss to stop it from spreading further for that is my duty.

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This is chapter 85.

Hope you like it since I don't know much about the Abyss either.