VOIDBLADE: THE LAST SWORD OF THE END

The village slept uneasily. Even with the Stalker dead and the Abysslurkers scattered, fear still hung thick in the air. Emberpine's fires burned through the night, but no one dared step outside.

I didn't sleep.

Not because I couldn't — but because the void wouldn't let me.

The Corrupted Heart Shard pulsed faintly in my inventory, sending ripples through my mind. It wasn't words — not exactly. It was feeling. A cold certainty. A call.

Something waits.

Something watches.

And it knows my name.

I sat on the edge of the village's well, polishing the Warden's Hollowblade. The weapon hummed with power — eager, impatient. It wanted blood. I could feel it thrumming in my grip.

Good. So did I.

The quiet broke with hurried footsteps. Lira emerged from the village hall, her face pale and drawn. She hesitated when she saw me — like she wasn't sure if I was more dangerous than the things I'd fought.

Smart girl.

"Another attack?" I asked without looking up.

"No," she said, voice tight. "A message."

That made me glance at her. "From who?"

She shook her head. "Not from the village. A… vision. The seer woke screaming."

Of course they did.

"She said it was for you."

Of course it was.

"Tell me."

Lira swallowed. "The seer said… the heart beats faster. The shadows rise. And the blade in the dark has been seen."

For a long moment, I didn't speak. The blade in the dark. They weren't talking about the Warden's weapon.

They were talking about me.

"Is that all?" I asked.

"No." Lira hesitated, her voice dropping lower. "The seer said… something's coming. From the south."

The south. Where the corruption was thickest. Where the monsters were strongest.

Where I wasn't supposed to survive.

A slow smile spread across my face.

"Good."

—

I left the village at dawn.

The road south was long and empty, winding through dead woods and crumbling ruins. The air grew colder the farther I went — not just physical cold, but something deeper. Something older.

The whispers started before midday.

They weren't words. Not yet. Just faint pressure at the edges of my mind, like a storm on the horizon. But I didn't slow down. If anything, I moved faster.

I wasn't running from them.

I was running toward them.

—

The first attack came at dusk.

[Abysslurker — Level 20]

[Corrupt Shade — Level 22]

They rose from the shadows like living nightmares — but I was ready.

Void Step.

The Warden's Hollowblade sang through the air. Two shapes fell before they even realized I'd moved.

The others hesitated.

Presence of the Abyss rolled out in a wave. The trees shuddered. The air grew still.

And the monsters… broke.

They fled without a fight.

Pathetic.

—

I reached the ruins at midnight.

They sprawled across the valley like broken teeth — jagged stones and shattered towers, half-buried in shadow. And at their heart, the pulse was stronger than ever.

The Corrupted Heart Shard hummed in response, beating in time with whatever waited below.

The whispers became words.

Come.

I didn't hesitate.

—

The descent was brutal. The ruins stretched deep beneath the earth — endless stairs and winding tunnels, choked with mist and silence. I moved fast and quiet, my footsteps swallowed by the dark.

The air thickened the deeper I went. The stone grew cold beneath my fingers. And the whispers… grew louder.

We see you.

I ignored them.

We know you.

I kept moving.

You cannot escape.

That made me smile.

"Who said I wanted to?"

The chamber opened without warning — a vast cavern of black stone and flickering light. At its center stood a monolith, carved with the same symbols I'd seen on the Warden's door. And at its base…

A figure waited.

[Hollow Reclaimer — Level 35]

HP: 100,000

Attack: 7,500

Defense: 3,000

It rose as I approached — tall and gaunt, wrapped in shadow and bone. Its face was a mask of black iron, its eyes hollow pits. In one hand, it held a jagged spear. In the other…

A heart.

My heart shard pulsed faster.

You are too late, the whispers said. It wakes.

The Reclaimer charged.

—

It was fast. I was faster.

Void Step.

I reappeared behind it, sword slashing out — but the Reclaimer spun, its spear lashing toward my throat. I twisted aside just in time, the blade biting deep into its side.

Reclaimer HP: 100,000 → 92,000

It didn't slow.

Neither did I.

We moved like shadows — blurring across the cavern, blades clashing in bursts of black flame and sparks. The Reclaimer was stronger than the Warden, faster than the Stalker — but I was sharper. Every opening, every weakness — I saw them all.

And I punished them.

Sword Entropy.

The spear missed by inches. My sword didn't.

Reclaimer HP: 75,000 → 60,000 → 45,000

It howled — and the shadows answered. The cavern erupted with motion as Abysslurkers and Shades poured from the walls.

I didn't even slow down.

Abyssal Sword Skill: Void Rend.

The first wave fell before they reached me. The second broke on my blade. The third never had a chance.

The Reclaimer tried to press the advantage. It failed.

Void Piercer.

The thrust distorted the air itself — and my sword found its heart.

Reclaimer HP: 45,000 → 5,000 → 0

The Reclaimer collapsed. The shadows screamed — and fell silent.

And the monolith… began to crack.

We see you.

The voice wasn't a whisper anymore. It was a roar.

We know you.

The stone shattered — and the darkness rose.

We are coming.

The monolith's fragments hit the ground like thunder — and the darkness rose.

It wasn't just shadow. It wasn't just corruption. It was presence. Heavy and vast, like something ancient pressing down on reality itself. The air turned cold and thin. My lungs burned with every breath.

And through it all… the whispers became a voice.

"We see you."

My vision blurred. The weight of the thing behind the voice pressed against my mind — vast, endless. I staggered, but didn't fall.

I wouldn't fall.

Abyssal Insight flared, cutting through the pressure like a knife. The darkness shifted — and I saw it.

Not a form. Not yet. But movement. A shape coiling in the deep, too vast to comprehend. And then the cavern shook as something began to rise.

The system notification hit like a hammer.

[Calamity Event Triggered: Herald of the Black Depths]

Warning: You are not prepared.

I smiled.

I never was.

The monolith's remains burst outward — and from the heart of the darkness, it rose.

[Blight-Touched Abomination — Level 25]

HP: 50,000

Attack: 4,000

Defense: 2,000

The thing crawled forward on too many limbs, eyes burning like coals in its shifting mass. Its breath was poison. Its form was… wrong. A tangle of bone and sinew and shadow, constantly twisting.

I didn't wait.

Void Step.

The cavern blurred. My sword sang.

-3,700 HP

The Abomination shrieked, limbs lashing through the air. I twisted around them, my blade finding flesh again and again.

-4,100 HP

-3,900 HP

It was strong — but it was slow. Sloppy. Wild. Every strike carved it apart.

But the darkness… didn't stop rising.

Shapes began to spill from the broken monolith — crawling, slithering, running.

[Corrupt Shade — Level 18]

[Abysslurker — Level 20]

I laughed.

Presence of the Abyss spread like a storm. The air grew heavy. The monsters froze.

And I moved.

Abyssal Sword Skill: Void Rend.

The first wave fell in pieces.

The Abomination howled — and charged.

Void Piercer.

The thrust bent the air — and the Abomination's charge ended in a spray of black blood.

-10,500 HP

It stumbled. I didn't let it recover.

Sword Entropy.

My blade bit deep — and the wound rotted. Flesh blackened and cracked, spreading outward like wildfire.

-5,000 HP

-7,500 HP

It lashed out in rage — and this time, it was faster. Claws scraped my side, tearing through armor.

-2,800 HP

The pain sharpened everything. I kept moving.

The whispers returned. Louder now. Closer.

"You cannot escape."

"I'm not trying to."

The Abomination lunged — and I met it head-on.

The fight became a storm. Blade and claw, shadow and blood. Every strike pushed me closer to the edge — and every strike pushed the Abomination closer to death.

Its movements slowed. Its roars grew weaker. I saw the end.

Void Step.

I reappeared above it — and my sword fell like judgment.

-12,000 HP

-8,000 HP

The Abomination collapsed. The cavern fell silent.

For a breath, I thought it was over.

And then the darkness spoke.

"We are coming."

The ground split open — and the real fight began.

The monolith shattered.

The cavern shuddered with the force of it — stone splitting, shadows screaming. And from the heart of the ruin, something rose.

I didn't move. Not yet. I just watched.

Because this wasn't like the Stalker. Or the Warden. Or even the Reclaimer.

This… was something else.

[Blight-Touched Abomination — Level 25 Boss]

HP: ???

Attack: ???

Defense: ???

I felt its presence before I saw it — a weight on the air, cold and suffocating. The shadows thickened around it, pulsing in time with the shard in my inventory. The whispers grew louder, frantic.

It wakes.

It hungers.

It sees you.

Good. Let it.

The Abomination slithered free from the broken stone. It didn't have a shape — not really. Its form shifted, black and oily, limbs stretching and twisting. Faces surfaced and sank back into the mass — human, beast, and things I didn't recognize.

And its eyes… all of them focused on me.

The cavern fell silent.

The thing lunged.

Void Step.

I reappeared behind it, sword flashing — but the Abomination moved. Faster than anything that size should've been. A limb like a scythe slammed toward me. I twisted aside, barely avoiding the strike.

Stone shattered where I'd been standing.

Alright. No more playing around.

Presence of the Abyss.

The air stopped. The shadows recoiled. Even the Abomination hesitated — just for a second.

It was enough.

Void Piercer.

My thrust blurred through the stillness — and struck true. The Abomination shrieked, the sound high and wrong, as black ichor sprayed from the wound. But its health… barely dropped.

Abomination HP: ??? → ???

Not good.

It struck back — faster this time, wilder. A dozen limbs lashing out at once. I moved through them, barely keeping ahead. Each strike I landed cut deep — but the thing kept coming.

Sword Entropy.

My blade hummed with power, and the next strike bit deeper — shadows curling and withering around the wound. The Abomination reeled.

Its health began to drop.

Abomination HP: ??? → 92,000 → 84,000

Better. But not enough.

The shadows surged.

Abyssal Sword Skill: Void Rend.

The wave of nothingness tore through the cavern, carving a path through the Abomination's mass. Limbs fell away — and crawled back toward it, merging with the writhing form.

Abomination HP: 84,000 → 70,000 → 50,000

It wasn't healing fast enough. I just had to keep the pressure up.

But the Abomination had other ideas.

The ground beneath me buckled. I leapt back just in time as black spikes erupted from the stone — but they kept coming, forcing me to stay on the defensive.

And then the whispers returned.

You cannot win.

You cannot escape.

You are ours.

The shadows closed in.

I smiled.

"You've got it backward," I said softly — and the void answered.

Void Step.

The world blurred. My sword fell — and the Abomination screamed.

Abomination HP: 50,000 → 30,000 → 10,000

It lashed out — but I was already gone.

Void Piercer.

The blade struck its core. The Abomination froze — and began to crumble.

Abomination HP: 10,000 → 0

The cavern fell silent. The shadows dissolved.

And then the ground began to shake.

It sees you.

It comes.

The monolith's remains pulsed one last time — and shattered completely. A black light poured from the fragments, rising into the air.

And I… felt it.

Something woke up.

[Corrupted Heart Shard] has evolved into [Abyss-Touched Core].

Reputation increased.

The whispers fell silent. But they weren't gone. Just… waiting.

I sheathed my sword and turned toward the exit.

The world had just gotten a lot more dangerous.

And I couldn't wait.