Lin staggered forward through the collapsing void, the afterimage of his shattered double still burning in his mind. His chains crackled erratically, unstable, sparking against the darkness. The hall of mirrors was gone, but the abyss hadn't died with it.

All around him, crimson light ripped jagged fissures through the ground. The void groaned like a wounded beast, pulling itself apart. Fragments of ruined streets, broken laboratories, and twisted corridors—the memories the abyss had stolen—floated past him, colliding violently before crumbling to ash.

Lin clenched his jaw, forcing his breath steady. His body felt hollow, his veins searing as if molten lead flowed through them. Defeating the double hadn't freed him. It had only angered the abyss.

And beneath it all, Jin's voice lingered.

"You've only delayed the inevitable."

Lin's fists tightened. "Shut up."

The shadows rippled in response, stretching upward like skeletal arms reaching for him. He lashed out with his chains, but the effort nearly tore him apart. His knees buckled, vision blurring. Every strike, every movement drained him more than before.

He wasn't sure how much longer he could fight.

But outside—he knew Keller and Min-joon were still there. Waiting. Fighting. Hoping.

He couldn't fail them. Not here. Not now.

Outside the core

The chamber convulsed violently. The monster that had swallowed Lin roared, its voice fractured between Jin's echo and the abyss's primal scream. Its titanic frame split along its torso, fissures glowing red-hot as if molten fire coursed through it.

Keller dragged Min-joon away from the collapsing platform just as a slab of steel snapped free and fell into the void. Sweat streaked down his face, his rifle slung across his back as he half-carried Min-joon.

The younger man was pale, coughing hard, but his eyes stayed locked on the thrashing colossus. "He's… he's still in there…"

"I know," Keller snapped, though his tone was more fear than certainty. His grip tightened on Min-joon's arm. "But if this whole place comes down, we'll be crushed before we ever see him again."

Chains lashed wildly from the monster's body, striking walls and tearing chunks free. Each impact sent shockwaves through the chamber, splitting the platform further.

Keller shoved Min-joon behind a pillar of twisted rebar and raised his rifle, firing burst after burst into the beast's fissures. Bullets sparked uselessly off armor-like plating, but he kept shooting, forcing its attention away.

The monster turned its head toward him, a thousand mismatched eyes glowing like dying stars. It screamed, a sound that split stone and marrow alike.

Min-joon covered his ears, screaming over the noise. "Keller! We can't fight this—"

"Then we don't fight it," Keller growled, emptying his magazine. "We survive it. Until Lin comes back."

But as he said it, a tremor of doubt cut through him. What if Lin didn't come back? What if the abyss had already devoured him?

He shoved the thought away. If he let himself believe that, they were already dead.

Inside

Lin stumbled again, one knee hitting fractured ground that cracked further under his weight. His chains were unraveling, strands of crimson dissolving into the air.

Ahead, a path revealed itself—a narrow bridge of floating debris, leading toward a pulsing core of light. It wasn't steady, flickering violently, but Lin felt it in his bones: this was the heart of the abyss.

If he reached it, maybe he could tear his way out.

The whispers surged louder. Faces formed in the fissures at his feet—scientists from the labs, soldiers he'd killed, even innocents caught in the crossfire. Their mouths moved in perfect unison.

"You are ours."

Lin forced himself upright, glaring into the storm. "No. I am me."

He sprinted.

Chains lashed out from the abyss itself, striking at him like spears. He dodged, rolled, slammed his own chains outward to deflect, every movement sending fire through his nerves. Each time he stumbled, the faces shrieked, but he pushed on, step by step.

The core loomed closer. A sphere of crimson flame, spinning violently, veins of shadow running across its surface. It pulsed with the rhythm of a heart, each beat shaking the void.

And deep within, he sensed Jin.

Waiting.

Outside

The monster convulsed harder, its body tearing open. Crimson light spilled from its cracks, blinding, searing. Keller shielded Min-joon with his own body as chunks of debris rained down.

The ground beneath them gave way with a groan. Keller cursed, dragging Min-joon toward a more stable section, but the platform was disintegrating faster than they could run.

Chains whipped toward them. Keller turned, firing his sidearm in desperation, the rounds sparking off steel. One chain wrapped around his arm, ripping the gun away and dragging him forward.

"Keller!" Min-joon screamed, scrambling to grab him.

Keller gritted his teeth, bracing against the pull. His boots skidded across stone toward the edge, closer, closer—

And then the monster shrieked, thrashing violently, releasing him.

From within its fissures, crimson light burst outward, searing brighter than before.

Min-joon's eyes widened, tears streaming. "That's him… it's Lin! It has to be!"

Keller stared at the fissures. He wanted to believe it. He needed to believe it.

But the light wasn't stable. It was tearing the monster apart—and the chamber with it.

Inside

Lin reached the core. The heat was unbearable, the light blinding. His chains writhed, drawn toward it as though magnetized.

He felt it pulling him in, tearing at his mind, his will.

And then he heard it—Jin's voice, clear and calm, as though he stood right behind him.

"You've come this far only to fall here. Join me, Lin. End the struggle. Accept what you are, and we will rule this abyss together."

Lin trembled, his hands shaking as he raised his chains. His body screamed for rest, for surrender.

But then he saw Keller's face in his mind—snarling defiance even when dragged to the edge. Min-joon's trembling voice, insisting Lin was still there.

They were waiting for him.

Lin bared his teeth, growling through the pain. "I'm not your weapon. I'm not your reflection. I'm not you."

With a roar, he hurled his chains into the core.

The abyss screamed.

The sphere cracked, crimson fire spilling out in violent waves. Shadows writhed, shrieking as they were consumed. The ground split apart, fragments spiraling into the void.

Lin felt himself being torn in two—his body dissolving, his will fraying—but he held on, dragging the chains tighter around the core.

"I end this… here!"

The sphere exploded.

Outside

The monster erupted. Its chest split open, crimson fire spewing outward, chains snapping violently. It staggered, collapsing onto the platform, its titanic frame dissolving into ash and light.

Keller shielded Min-joon again, both of them coughing as debris rained.

When the roar finally died, silence followed. The chamber was a ruin, the platform in fragments, the void stretching infinite around them.

The monster was gone.

But so was Lin.

Keller's chest heaved, sweat pouring down his face. He scanned the wreckage, desperation clawing at him. "Lin…?!"

No answer.

Min-joon sobbed, clutching Keller's sleeve. "He… he has to be alive… he has to…"

Keller swallowed hard, staring into the glowing fissure where the monster's core had been. Crimson light still pulsed faintly there, beating like a broken heart.

And then—

A hand reached out of the light.

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