Deeper Than Blood

"You're a monster."

The voice that haunted his dreams returned to Azuma, and once again, he felt nothing but an emptiness that ran deeper than his blood and seeped down to his very soul.

Azuma took in a deep breath and forced his mind to focus.

It might be too late if he wasted another second and so, he was soon rushing towards the chasm—the ground trembled and weathered, nearly swallowing him.

「 Azuma. 」

He lept down the void and the darkness was oddly not as worse as he imagined, he could barely feel the wild whispering winds and the suffocating heat was manageable.

「 You are not prepared for The Devil's Chasm. I am unable to comprehend the reasoning behind your actions. 」

Strangely, the worst of it all was the frightening sense of weightlessness.

Azuma closed his eyes, and he heard the voice of his father again.

"...a monster."

He had spat those words dripping with venom as he took his last breath. A lot happened that night, but Azuma barely understood why his father was filled with such a rage.

The weak were bound to fall.

Azuma took out the grappling gun from his utility belt, it only took a few seconds for the hook to grab a firm surface.

He gasped as his whole body jolted into a stop, breathing hard, Azuma said. The heat filled him with a frightening speed.

"You won't understand."

「 My algorithm was created to understand and help humans. I should be able to assist you with my current resources, Azuma. 」

His father died because he couldn't protect himself.

Then why was Azuma to be blamed?

It was hardly his fault that he did not feel emotions like other people, he was broken down when his mother died but there was barely any pain as his father lost his life. He barely felt anything for his father.

And the old man has always been bitter about that.

"You…" Azuma clasped the metal mask around his mouth with trembling fingers, "You won't."

A neon blue appeared on the side, and a gentle cold air softly filled his lungs.

He didn't understand why he should bear the burden of his father. He couldn't understand why, even though he doesn't care about him, his dreams were haunted by those words that made him realize how much of an outcast he truly was.

And now, as he saw the person who saved him get dragged into the mouth of death.

Azuma realized, in a cold sensation, that he didn't care what happens to her.

The grappling gun allowed him to descend, and his thoughts became clearer under the deathly heat.

He didn't like to be different, to be alone, or to lose someone else from his life because of the frustrating things he couldn't control.

"Zero, can you sense Haru's neuralink?" his voice was rough.

「 I can not. The N.A.B. must have been impaired by now. The connection was very weak earlier. 」

Her calm voice answered.

The ground soon touched Azuma's feet, he was breaking heavily in sweat and trying to not breathe too hard in case the mask uses up all it's oxygen too soon.

〙Congratulations! You have entered an A ranked area. +200 XP 〘

『 Location Updated. 』

『 Current Location: 9th Floor, Level III 』

The path ahead was too rocky and steep, it went downwards into the darkness and Azuma had a hard time to keep himself from just rolling down the annoying path.

『 Alert! Your current rank is too low for this area. Kindly retrace your steps and locate the nearest » Seeker Shelter « 』

The red screen remained in front of him until he dejectedly slide it aside, and then it remained there.

"I thought there would be lava," Azuma asked confused, "or cinders, or anything that explains the heat."

It was natural for the earth to be hot in the deeper depths but the Abyss didn't work within the science earthlings could understood. Instead of being hot, the Abyss was reported to grow colder near it's undiscovered core.

The darkness thinned gradually, there was a crimson halo in the distance and there were low inhumane sounds.

「 The Void Serpents have scales made from cinders, Azuma. 」

Now, he was holding his breath.

Azuma heard the sounds of deep unsettling hisses, he could feel the airs shift as the cavern grew larger and wider. The path was not steep anymore, but the heat was overwhelming.

〙New Quest Unlocked!〘

〙 Domain Quest: The Devil's Chasm〘

Goal: Complete all the required

1. Clear the D ranked domain by defeating its boss.

2. Unearth the core treasure.

3. Claim the Heart of The Domain.

〙Penalty: Death 〘

"..."

「 … 」

"Zero!"