The chamber was no longer just collapsing—it was unraveling, as though the abyss's core had been the only thread holding the ruins together. Chains shrieked and snapped in every direction, whipping through the air like serpents. The floor heaved underfoot, slabs of metal and concrete tilting and breaking away into the bottomless red glow beneath.

Keller dragged Min-joon across a splitting platform, his boots skidding on the shifting surface. "Move! Don't look down!" he barked, his voice raw, his lungs burning with dust and smoke.

Min-joon stumbled but kept going, his wide eyes fixed on the jagged fragments raining down into the void. Every crash echoed like thunder, and the crimson light beneath made each shadow look alive.

"Where's Lin?" Min-joon choked out between ragged breaths. "Tell me he—he didn't—"

Before Keller could answer, a violent surge of energy tore through the chamber. Crimson light exploded outward, flooding every corner, forcing Keller to shield his face.

Then, through the storm of collapsing debris and screaming chains—he emerged.

Lin rose from the abyss's core as though dragged upward by unseen hands, his body half-wreathed in flickering light. His coat hung in tatters, and his skin was streaked with glowing lines that pulsed like veins of molten metal. For a moment, he didn't look human at all—more like a living conduit of the abyss itself.

Keller's hand froze halfway to his gun. Relief punched through his chest, sharp and heavy, but it carried dread with it. Min-joon's cry split the air:

"LIN!"

The name reached him, but Lin's gaze was unfocused. His eyes burned faint red, chains of light flickering in and out of existence across his shoulders and arms. He stumbled onto the breaking platform, catching himself with one hand as the surface split again under his weight.

The abyss whispered in the silence between crashes. Keller couldn't hear the words, but the effect was clear. Lin's jaw clenched; his fingers curled into fists as if he were physically holding something inside.

"Stay back," Lin rasped. His voice was different—harsher, carrying an edge of distortion that didn't belong to him. "I'm… not stable."

Keller ignored him. He pulled Min-joon closer behind him, keeping his pistol up. "Stable or not, you're still here. That's enough."

The ground shook violently, cutting off any reply. Chains burst from the walls, flailing blindly, as if the abyss itself resented Lin's escape. One struck the platform, tearing a gouge through it and sending fragments tumbling into the crimson depths.

"MOVE!" Keller roared, firing at the chains even though the bullets did nothing. The sound was just to buy them a heartbeat of space.

Lin moved. His unstable power flared without warning—chains of his own shot outward from his arms, intercepting the abyss's whips. The clash sent sparks of crimson and silver scattering, lighting the chamber in surreal flashes. The floor lurched again, tilting toward collapse.

Min-joon screamed as his footing gave way. His small frame skidded toward the glowing abyss below—until Keller dove, catching him with one arm while his other hand scrabbled for purchase on a jagged beam. His shoulders burned, his grip trembling, but he refused to let go.

Lin staggered forward, flickering chains lashing out instinctively to grab both Keller and Min-joon. He hauled them up in one brutal motion, setting them onto a more stable fragment of floor. But his knees buckled afterward, sweat and blood dripping down his face.

The light crawling across his skin pulsed violently, as though the abyss inside him wanted out.

Keller forced himself upright, breathing hard. "Lin—whatever the hell you did down there—it's killing you."

Lin wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. His lips were streaked with blood. "Not killing me. Binding me. The abyss didn't die. I chained it. To me."

The words landed heavier than the collapsing ruins around them. Min-joon's eyes widened, terror spreading across his pale face.

"You—you brought it with you?" Min-joon whispered, shaking. "It's inside you now?"

Lin didn't answer. He didn't need to. The flickering chains wrapping and unwrapping around his body said enough.

The chamber groaned. Entire walls folded inward, collapsing into the abyss. The exit above—the one Keller had spotted earlier—was still there, a jagged opening leading to the surface. But the path was a deathtrap, half the platforms gone, the rest swaying like leaves in the wind.

Keller gritted his teeth. "We climb. No other choice."

Lin forced himself upright, though his movements were unsteady. "Go. I'll keep the abyss off us. Just—don't stop."

Keller gave him a long, sharp look. "Don't you dare fall behind."

Min-joon nodded quickly, tears brimming but unshed. "We're not leaving you, Lin. Not again."

The climb was brutal.

Every platform tilted under their weight, every handhold came loose with a sickening crack. Chains lashed out from the abyss, forcing Lin to intercept them again and again. Each clash drained him more, his knees buckling, his breath ragged. Still, he kept going, shoving Keller and Min-joon upward whenever they faltered.

At one point, Min-joon slipped again, dangling from Keller's grip. A chain shot for him like a spear—only for Lin to throw himself into its path. The impact blasted him sideways, slamming him into the crumbling wall. His shoulder dislocated with a sickening snap. He didn't even scream.

"LIN!" Keller shouted, but Lin waved him off, chains erupting from his good arm to drag himself back up. His face was pale, his eyes burning brighter than ever.

"Don't… stop climbing," he forced out. "The abyss wants you to look back. Don't give it what it wants."

They climbed until their lungs burned, until every muscle threatened to tear. Finally, Keller's hand caught the jagged edge of the opening. He hauled Min-joon up first, then turned back, extending his arm.

"Lin! Come on!"

Lin was still below, a dozen feet down, his chains flickering erratically. The abyss's voice grew louder, pressing into all of them like pressure in their skulls. Min-joon clutched his head, whimpering.

Lin's gaze lifted. For a heartbeat, Keller saw the abyss reflected in his eyes—a hunger, a promise of surrender.

Then Lin roared, chains exploding outward in defiance, lashing into the walls to launch himself upward. Keller caught his wrist, nearly dislocating his own shoulder from the force, and together they dragged him out of the abyss's collapsing mouth.

The chamber below gave one last shriek as the platforms shattered and the crimson light imploded inward, swallowing itself. The ruins fell silent.

The three of them lay on the surface, coughing, bleeding, alive. Above them, the night sky of Seoul stretched endless and dark, untouched by the chaos below. The air was cold, sharp, real.

For a moment, there was only silence.

Then Lin rolled onto his knees, clutching his chest. The flickering light across his skin didn't fade—it spread, weaving jagged tattoos that pulsed with each beat of his heart. His eyes burned faint red in the shadows.

Keller sat up, his hand hovering near his gun without meaning to. Min-joon pressed close to Lin, eyes wet, his voice trembling.

"You're back. You're really back…"

Lin's hands trembled as he touched his own face, as if unsure it was still his. "Back," he whispered. But his voice cracked on the word. "Not… the same."

The wind shifted. Keller froze.

On the horizon, above the ruined skyline, a column of smoke and red light rose like a beacon. The city was not safe. Something else had awakened.

Lin turned his head toward it, his burning eyes narrowing. The abyss inside him pulsed like a second heartbeat.

"The real war," he whispered, his chains flickering in the night air, "isn't down there. It's up here."

The three of them stood at the edge of the ruins, battered and scarred, staring at the city that no longer felt like their own. The abyss was chained, but it was not defeated. And neither were its masters.

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