The wastes beyond the city walls were a graveyard of gray ash and jagged obsidian. The 4th Demon Commander stumbled through the toxic fog, its breath coming in wet, ragged rattles. One of its horns was a jagged stump, and black ichor leaked from the deep gashes Zoro had carved into its chest. It was weak, starving, and humiliated, but it was still a Commander of the Abyss.
It needed a soul. Any soul. Just enough to stitch its meat back together.
The Commander followed a scent far darker than the rotting wastes—a smell like ancient dust and dying stars. It led to a hollow between two jagged cliffs where a figure lay collapsed in the dirt.
Arkin.
Arkin was not resting; he was vibrating with a violent, unstable energy. He had recently consumed a lesser demon, and the transition was tearing him apart. His shadows were no longer obedient; they lashed out like wounded vipers, whipping against the rocks and shattering stone into powder.
"AGGGHHH!" Arkin's scream ripped through the silence, a raw sound of agony. His skin rippled as if something was trying to claw its way out from under his ribs.
The Demon Commander's lips curled into a wicked, jagged smile. A gift, it thought. A human vessel overflowing with dark essence. I will eat him, and his power will make me whole again.
The demon began to approach, its heavy footsteps crunching on the ash. It didn't know it was walking into a trap set by fate itself.
Inside Arkin's mind, the world was a sea of ink. Then, a voice spoke. It wasn't human. It sounded like a thousand mountains grinding together, vibrating with a weight that could crush a soul.
[ THE VOID HAS ACCEPTED YOUR OFFERING, ] the Despair rumbled, its tone heavy and demonic. [ THE SHADOWS DEMAND A VESSEL. SKILL ACQUIRED: BEAST SUMMON. ]
The pain in Arkin's chest sharpened. It turned from a chaotic fire into a cold, lethal blade. He felt a surge of power so immense his vision turned crimson. He pushed himself up, his fingers clawing into the earth. He sensed the Commander standing over him. He didn't flinch.
Arkin looked up, his eyes glowing with a predatory red spark, and smiled. It was a wide, wicked expression that made the demon's heart stutter.
"You... you are awake?" the Commander growled, raising a clawed hand.
"I'm more than awake," Arkin whispered, his voice dripping with malice. "I'm hungry."
[ SUMMON: HOUND OF THE VOID. ]
The ground beneath Arkin turned into a pool of liquid shadow. From the darkness, a beast emerged—a nightmare of smoke and bone, larger and far more ferocious than anything Arkin had summoned before. It lunged at the Commander with a roar that shook the cliffs.
The fight was a brutal symphony of violence. The Commander, forced into a corner, fought with the desperation of a cornered animal. It tore into the shadow beast, its claws shredding the ethereal fur. Because the Commander was a veteran, it managed to overpower the summon, grabbing the beast by the throat and snapping its neck.
With a triumphant roar, the demon consumed the shadow essence of the beast. Its wounds began to close. Its strength returned. It stood tall again, laughing and mocking the boy in the dirt.
"Is that all?" the demon sneered. "You send a pup to do a king's work? I am healed! I am the 4th Commander! You are nothing but—"
The demon stopped. The air around them had suddenly become heavy—so heavy the demon's knees buckled.
Arkin stood up slowly, brushing the ash from his coat. The aura he released wasn't just dark; it was an absolute vacuum. His red eyes sparked in the haze. The pressure was so intense the demon's throat went dry, its breath catching in its lungs.
"You think because you ate my shadow, you've won?" Arkin stepped forward, and with every step, the ground cracked. "You just gave me a reason to stop playing."
They clashed. This time, it wasn't a struggle; it was a slaughter. Arkin moved faster than the demon's eyes could track. His shadow slashes carved through the demon's newly mended flesh like a hot knife through wax. Arkin didn't just hit him; he tormented him, matching every strike with a more brutal counter.
"What is wrong with this city?!" the Commander screamed, terror finally breaking through its pride. He turned to flee, using every ounce of his speed to vanish into the fog.
The demon ran until his lungs burned. He looked back at the empty haze, his glowing eyes scanning the horizon. "Cursed city," he hissed, his voice trembling. "Why are they so strong? That swordsman... he was a ghost of steel. And now this boy... he is a demon in human skin."
"I... I made it," he gasped, thinking he had reached the safety of the deeper wastes.
"Did you?"
The shadows at the demon's feet moved faster than light, rising up to form the silhouette of a man. Arkin stood there, cold and smirking, his arms crossed.
"You wanted to kill me," Arkin said, his voice a calm, terrifying contrast to the demon's panic. "What happened? Not interested anymore?"
The demon's face was filled with pure, unadulterated fear. He used every trick he could think of—fire, claws, dark mist—but Arkin stood there, unaffected.
"Wait! I can—"
SWISH.
Arkin didn't let him finish. A massive shadow slash, sharp as a molecular blade, tore through the air. The Demon Commander's head spun into the gray dust, its body collapsing into a heap of useless meat.
Arkin didn't hesitate. He reached out, and the shadows began to feast on the Commander's soul.
But the power of a Commander was too much. As the essence flooded into his soul, the agony returned ten-fold. Arkin's body couldn't contain the sheer volume of the despair. His veins turned black, visible through his skin, and his heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird.
The world spun. The power was overwhelming, a tidal wave of darkness that drowned his consciousness. Arkin collapsed beside the headless demon, falling into a deep, unconscious state as his body fought to transform the stolen power into his own.
...The world spun. The power was overwhelming, a tidal wave of darkness that drowned his consciousness. Arkin collapsed beside the headless demon, falling into a deep, unconscious state as his body fought to transform the stolen power into his own.
In the blackness of his mind, the silence didn't last.
A weight settled over his consciousness—heavier than the mountains, colder than the void. A massive, slitted eye of crimson fire opened in the dark.
[ YOU HAVE CONSUMED THE KIN OF THE ABYSS, ] the voice rumbled, vibrating through Arkin's very marrow. [ BUT YOUR SOUL IS A LEAKING CUP. SMALL. FRAGILE. ]
Arkin felt his spirit being stretched, his essence forged like iron in a black furnace.
[ I SHALL MEND THE CRACKS WITH THE SHADOWS OF THE FALLEN. ]
[ ULTIMATE SPELL ACQUIRED: VOID OF HELL. ]
A vision flashed in Arkin's mind: A swirling vortex of absolute blackness. From within the ink-dark center, he heard it—thousands of overlapping screams, a choir of the damned. Pale, skeletal hands reached out from the void, clawing at the air, hungry to pull everything into the silence.
[ WARNING: ] the voice grew even heavier, almost a warning. [ THIS POWER DEMANDS THE ESSENCE OF THE USER. USE IT ONLY WHEN THE END IS NIGH, OR THE VOID SHALL CONSUME THE HAND THAT COMMANDS IT. ]
As the words faded, Arkin's heart slowed to a heavy, rhythmic thud. He wasn't just sleeping anymore. He was evolving. He was no longer just a boy in the wastes; he was a gatekeeper for something far worse.
Author's Note
Partner's Corner:
The stakes just hit a whole new level. While Erin is dealing with the crushing reality of loss and broken bones in the city, Arkin has stepped into a territory where he is no longer just a victim—he's becoming the nightmare itself. "Void of Hell" isn't just a spell; it's a warning.
If you enjoyed this brutal evolution of the Soul of Despair, please show some love!
Enjoyed the chapter? Drop a comment and let me know what you think of Arkin's new power.
Want more? Hit that Power Stone button! Every stone helps Arkin: Soul of Despair climb the rankings and keeps the darkness spreading.
The journey is only getting darker from here. See you in Chapter 13!