novelapdf Into the Abyssal Core
Into the Abyssal Core
The descent transformed into a whirlwind of kinetic violence.(VROOOOOOO-SHHHHH!!!)
The obsidian dragon wasn't just falling; she was spinning on her axis at a dizzying speed, becoming a drill of chitin and boreal energy.
"Don't veer off!!"
The air around them compressed into a conical hurricane that repelled the tar droplets before they could touch her armor.
{I'm counting on you for that!!}
In the midst of the critical situation, Shija—buried almost completely between the dorsal spines to withstand the centrifugal force—kept his eyes narrowed, fixed on the chaotic flow of the black waterfall.
(SHAK-SHAK-SHAK-SHAK!!!)
Behind them, the sky had darkened as hundreds of tar sharks gathered in a frenzied swarm: a compact mass of teeth and shadows that writhed like a colossal serpent in pursuit.
{Lead the way!!}
The swarm dripped with despair, emitting a high-pitched screech that sought to break the fugitives' will.
"Maintain a forty-five-degree angle toward the center of the vortex!!"
Nevertheless, keeping his calm, Shija analyzed and perceived the flow to locate the most susceptible and vulnerable area feeding the waterfall.
"Now!!"
Shija’s voice, though infantile, cut through the din with absolute clarity.
"Adjust to the right!! There is a rift in the flow!!"
His emerald tattoos glowed with such intensity that the green light leaked through the fractures in his form.
{UNDERSTOOD!!}
In response to his words, the dragon roared, adjusting her chitin flaps with a metallic snap.
(VRRRRRRRRRRR!!)
As a result, the energy hurricane enveloping them intensified, glowing with purple and bluish tones as their trajectory became a straight line of death toward the heart of the waterfall.
(BWAAAA-SHHHHHH!!!)
In response, the shark swarm lunged in a final effort, stretching their pitch-black bodies to try and bite the dragon's tail; but the speed of the descent was such that the vacuum left in their wake sucked them in and momentarily disintegrated them.
"Now!!"
Finally, Shija dug his fingers into the scales one last time, feeling the cold of the tar become a physical presence before them: a wall of absolute blackness overflowing with negative energy in its purest state.
(HUM-PULSE... KRA-TA-KOOOOM!!!)
The final result of the impact was a collision against a wall of pure, densified emotion.
(KRA-TA-KOOOOM!!!)
The dragon's energy hurricane vanished at the moment of impact, replaced by an overflowing tide that enveloped them completely.
"Aaaaaaaaaagh!!!"
The negative energy was such that a silent scream escaped Shija’s throat.
(PAIN!!)
Every particle of his being was assaulted by a symphony of borrowed pain.
(SADNESS... FEAR... DESPAIR...!!)
It was a psychic avalanche: the raw and lacerating pain of countless wounds, the infinite sadness of irreparable losses, the paralyzing fear of an endless abyss, the crushing despair of futility, the bitter resignation to the inevitable, the blind and boiling hatred that sought to consume everything, and the cold, mocking madness of those who had lost their sanity.
(GLOOO-GLOO-GLOO-OOOOM!!!)
The blackness of the tar didn't just cover them; it leaked into their consciousness.
{RESIST!!}
There was no vision, only an oppressive darkness resonating with the echoes of those primal feelings.
(BREAK!! TEAR!! SHATTER!!)
Shija felt dragged away by a violent current, as if fighting against a river of tormented souls trying to tear him apart and drown him in their own misery.
{IT'S MOM'S DENIAL!! YOU HAVE TO REJECT IT!!}
The dragon's voice was barely a distorted whisper in Shija's mind, like a dying light in an ocean of shadows.
{AT THIS RATE...!!}
Facing the darkness, the beast beat her wings with desperation, every movement a titanic struggle against the incomprehensible density of emotion.
{I will borrow your power!!}
They were moving, but it was an agonizing advance, a slow sinking into the depths of an abyss that devoured light and hope.
(RRRRRRR-ACK-KRSSSHHH!!!)
The dragon’s obsidian scales creaked under the pressure, and Shija felt the tar clinging to his infantile skin, trying to assimilate him—not just physically, but emotionally.
(No... I can't...!)
The sadness was not a vision; it was a cold dampness soaking his soul. The hatred was not a sound, but an intense burn that threatened to incinerate his will.
(I WILL NOT GIVE UP!!)
His tiny fingers let go of the spines, his body arched, and a pang of infantile panic took hold of him.
{The form is gone, matter is the past!}
However, at the epicenter of the agony, just as Shija's will was about to dissolve into the ocean of hatred and resignation, a distinct vibration was born from the beast's spine.
{Let the silken veil now be torn.}
It was not a roar, but a harmonic frequency that sliced through the wail of denial.
{Of flesh and form, I now unmake!}
The doll, her firmament eyes glowing with divine resolution, began to recite:
{Please, sister... From an unwritten future, let the essence of madness come forth!!}
Her voice did not resonate in the air, but in the very fabric of reality...
(VROOOOOOO-OOOOM!!!)
And with those words, the dragon's physical body exploded into a supernova of fluctuating colors.
{THEORETICAL RESONANCE!!}
The black chitin disintegrated, transforming into a translucent energy that bathed the blackness of the tar with constantly fluctuating flashes of gold, sky blue, purple, and emerald.
{NIHILIR!!}
She was no longer a being of mass; she was an astral entity, a flow of pure consciousness dancing among negative emotions without being defiled by them.
{Don't let go, Shija!!}
In a blink of light, the fluid form of pure energy contracted and wrapped itself around the boy's small body.
"¡¡¿?!!"
And as if the very fabric of the cosmos had become a protective cocoon, the astral energy took the form of a spectral jellyfish.
{Here we go, mom!!}
Her tentacles of boreal light extended like nerve fibers, pulsing with a rhythm that synchronized the colors of the spectrum.
(SHHHHH-FIIIIIIIII!!!)
After completely enveloping Shija, he found himself floating inside the newly formed jellyfish, protected by a multicolored energy membrane that acted as an absolute filter against the despair outside.
"Argh... Haaah.. Haa... Bluargh!!"
Once inside, Shija gasped, vomiting up the waters and drenched in a cold sweat, while the tar crashed against the surface of the astral creature...
{HEY, DON'T VOMIT INSIDE OF US!!}
But instead of assimilating them, the tar slid off like water over oil.
(ZIIIIII-ZAP-VUM!!!)
Simultaneously, with a momentum that defied the density of the abyss, the astral jellyfish began to ascend and move forward, her filaments vibrating to "swim" through the tide of hatred.
"I'm sorry..."
Regaining his composure quickly, Shija saw through the translucent walls of his protector how the negative emotions were still there, roaring like hungry beasts, yet unable to pierce the barrier.
(GLU-GURGLE-VUMMMM!!!)
But in the depths of the abyssal blackness, the movement of the astral jellyfish did not go unnoticed.
"This presence!!"
The darkness itself, reactive and paranoid, began to convulse.
{As expected... ~}
Shija watched in horror from within the luminous core as nothingness itself solidified: from the tar walls sprouted rows of obsidian teeth and shadowy fins.
{We’re entering the lion's den! ~}
As if responding to the cheerful words of the doll—who had undergone a personality shift through the transformation—hundreds of cursed sharks composed of phobias detached from the surroundings and launched into a relentless pursuit.
(SNAP-SNAP-SNAP!!!)
Within the negative tide itself, they were faster in their natural element.
{But I won't let them catch us!}
The predators moved like ink-streaked lightning, closing the circle around the sphere of light.
{Let's speed it up!!}
In response, the doll, in her state of pure consciousness, began to pulse with a frenetic cadence.
(BWA-LINNNNNNG!!!)
Each pulse of her spectral filaments generated a chromatic shockwave that expanded through the darkness.
"Don't lower your guard!!"
In this way, the pursuit became a high-speed evasive dance.
{We're in full lair-mode! ~}
The jellyfish performed impossible dodges, contracting her body of light to pass through tiny cracks between the sharks' maws.
(SHRRRRRR-III-ZAP!!!)
Every time the astral creature propelled herself, she left behind a trail of brilliant particles that acted as decoys, confusing the senses of the shadow predators, who collided with each other in a din of viscous matter.
{So, let's keep the party going!!}
Shija felt the vibration of every wave.
(Is her personality affected by the form she adopts... ?!)
Analyzing the situation, Shija saw the elongated bodies of the sharks brush against the shield, leaving trails of pitch that evaporated upon contact with the residual energy, only to reform moments later.
(VUP-VUP-VUMMMM!!!)
Because of this, the pressure intensified with every moment as attacks flew from all sorts of trajectories, forcing the jellyfish to perform maneuvers of astonishing technical complexity, spinning and expanding like a heart of light that refuses to stop beating.
(SHRR-ZIP-SNAP!!!)
The astral jellyfish writhed in the liquid vacuum with hypnotic agility, dodging the snapping jaws of the sharks that sprouted from the darkness like instantaneous nightmares.
{Hey, haven't you found the way yet?!}
But at the center of the core, Shija did not limit himself to merely observing.
"¡¡!!"
Despite his infantile body, his mind operated with the coldness acquired through experience.
(Found it!!)
He had closed his eyes, ignoring the visual spectacle of chaos, and had expanded his Qi perception from the very first second the tar swallowed them.
(PUM... PUM... PUM!!!)
Even amidst the chaos and despair, Shija kept one eye constantly closed, focusing a part of his attention on the search for an exit...
"Lower! We have to go down to where the pressure is unbearable!"
So, once the target was located, Shija shouted, pointing with his small hand toward the abyss that opened beneath them like a hungry mouth, appearing even denser than the rest of the ocean of phobias.
{Deeper?! Well, that makes sense!!}
In response, the doll did not hesitate for a single moment, even as she dodged a coordinated attack from three sharks that almost managed to tear her aura of fluctuating colors.
(VROOOOOOO-OOOOM!!!)
Launching themselves thus with a violent pulse that generated a shockwave, they dove headfirst into the darkest abyss...