I Got A Title: Lord Of The Time!-Chapter 66: Beginning of the Abyss

Royal slowly got up from the ground and looked around, seeing organs and various body parts of the Distorted creature they had just killed scattered everywhere.

Blood covered every surface, and both Royal and Aran were in rough shape. Only Lin, who stood to the side, remained clean.

"Was there anything inside it?" Royal looked at the remains and asked, watching the expressions of Aran and Lin carefully, not wanting to miss a single oddity.

Lin shook his head, along with Aran, who looked slightly downcast.

"Unfortunately — no. When I searched everything here, I couldn’t find anything. Seems like it didn’t drop anything," Lin replied.

Aran nodded a few times.

"There’s nothing there. We weren’t lucky, even though we put in a lot of effort."

Royal carefully looked at each of them, closely observing their faces and movements, until he said:

"Show me everything you have."

"No."

"Royal, since when did you become a cop?"

Lin shook his head and said honestly:

"That Distorted creature really didn’t drop anything. I stood here from the very start of the fight and saw everything."

Royal snorted coldly.

"Oh? And I’m supposed to believe that?"

Lin stared at him coldly.

"Think what you want."

Royal scoffed and looked at Aran, who was fooling around with the remains of the Distorted creature.

"And you? With your ability, you could easily have taken anything from inside without anyone noticing."

Aran smiled and began removing his clothes, showing Royal that he had nothing on him.

Royal examined Aran carefully and didn’t notice anything unusual. Though he was sure the Distorted creature dropped something interesting and that one of these two had taken it.

In any case, he had no way of confirming it. And the dropped item didn’t concern him much.

If it meant starting a full-blown war with the ones who had his back in battle, then what was the point of their cooperation?

Sighing, he told himself:

"Next time — don’t black out..."

"Shall we keep going?" Lin asked.

"What else can we do? Let’s head in the direction that thing came from," Royal said, looking at the dead body of the Distorted creature.

"Well then, let’s go!" Aran went ahead.

As Royal and Lin followed him, he smiled slightly and subtly opened his mouth, from which a faint purple glow emerged.

Inside his mouth was a Low Soul Shard!

...

Several hours later, the group arrived at a grassy plain, where there was nothing except a single wooden house, which was in poor condition. Every part of it was ancient and moldy, speaking to its age.

Next to the house was a well and a stable, though they were in much better condition than the house.

Silence covered the entire plain and the buildings.

As the group approached the house, a faint sound began to break the previous silence and atmosphere.

"What a strange house... There’s something ominous coming from it."

Royal stood beside Aran and nodded.

"Indeed. From the looks of it, this must be a forester’s home, but... why does it give off such an oppressive feeling? And why was it so quiet, even when we got here?"

Lin quickly looked around, but still couldn’t find the source of the anxiety creeping into his heart. He frowned and said:

"This place is dangerous. After all, we’re in the heart of the Dead Lands, and strangeness is everywhere... That Distorted creature was once two Awakened — likely from our academy. And they came from this direction, where this strange house is."

Whoosh!

The wind picked up, scattering the three people’s hair in different directions.

Royal turned around.

"This is definitely not a good sign. I can feel the unnaturalness of this place too. It’s better if we leave."

Everyone nodded and were about to flee when suddenly a woman’s voice came from the well:

"People?! People?! Help! I know you can hear me! Please... Help me..."

After Royal heard the female voice from the well, he grew wary, while Lin and Aran frowned and prepared to draw their weapons at any moment.

Royal looked at the two of them and said quietly:

"A woman’s voice from the well..." he scoffed coldly and continued, "I say we leave."

Lin and Aran immediately agreed and continued heading back, ignoring the girl’s voice:

"Damn it! Wait!! Don’t leave me alone! You don’t know, but it’s in the house!! You’ve probably seen my friends, right? If you don’t save me, the same thing will happen to you!! Wait... Please..."

But the group of three didn’t even turn back and quickly walked toward the forest.

They weren’t heroes who helped every damsel in distress. They had to survive in this harsh place, where even a single mushroom could be the cause of great conflict. Besides, it all seemed too strange, and the three of them felt it was just bait for something bigger.

As the group ran toward the forest, a loud explosion was heard behind them!

Boom!

The trio immediately reacted and looked back, seeing hundreds of massive tentacles!

They were blood-red with black streaks and thrashed in every direction!

Royal instantly activated his skill and sprinted forward at a speed three times faster than Lin’s!

Aran scoffed coldly and vanished from his spot!

Lin was left alone!

"Damn it!" he quickly sped up!

But after a few minutes, the tentacles caught them.

No matter how fast Royal was, how stealthy Aran was, or how much Lin struggled — they were all caught!

Royal sighed.

"This is the end," he said calmly.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha! Death is an abstract concept... But still fascinating..." Aran smiled faintly and slowly closed his eyes to accept death with dignity.

Lin scoffed coldly and simply resigned himself.

There was nothing he could do anyway, as the tentacles suppressed their ability use. And even if they could use their abilities, it wouldn’t help much.

The tentacles slowly lifted the three of them upward and revealed a massive hole from which they were emerging and writhing in all directions.

It was completely black, like a bottomless pit, and exerted a heavy sense of pressure and oppression on anyone who looked into it.

Lin stared into the abyss and felt it staring back at him.

"While you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you... This abyss deserves a full ten. I’m truly impressed by it and even feel a bit of fear..."

He sighed and decided to check the stats of these tentacles:

[Distorted Creature: Beginning of the Abyss.]

[Rank: ???]

[Abilities:

— "???" (Lv.?)

— "???" (Lv.?)

— "???" (Lv.?)

— "???" (Lv.?)

— "???" (Lv.?)

— "???" (Lv.?).]

[Description: ???]

"Argh!!" After viewing the stats of this Distorted creature, blood began to pour from every hole in Lin’s face!

"W-what is this... How is this even possible..." Lin looked at the sky, unable to comprehend how he had encountered such a creature.

"I-is this fate?.."

The tentacles began to slowly retract downward, dragging Lin, Royal, and Aran with them...

They were swallowed by darkness.

They were consumed by the Abyss.

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