Story Title :- Veins of the Abyss
Chapter 5: Blood Debt
The crypt was screaming.
No—not the crypt. Them.
Dozens of twisted, half-born creatures—Aberrants—crawled and skittered from tunnels etched with Dominion runes, their flesh steaming, their eyes empty. Some still wore the remnants of human faces.
Ash tightened his grip on Reaper’s Lie.
The blade pulsed like a living heart.
The bone-masked woman was gone. Left him with nothing but a rusted weapon, a burning system, and death coming fast.
Perfect.
He ignored it.
“You hungry?” Ash whispered to the blade.
The edge shimmered, veins of red light crawling across it.
“Good.”
The first Aberrant lunged—a creature stitched from two torsos, dragging itself with broken arms and jagged bone. Ash ducked low and slashed upward.
The blade sang.
Blood hit the ceiling.
The creature shrieked and collapsed, spasming.
The rest surged forward.
Ash ran toward them.
Echo Vein activated with a hiss, lines of black energy tracing his arms. Time dilated. His steps became flickers. Every movement left an after-image of shadow.
He cleaved one in half.
Dodged the next.
Shoved his blade through a throat and twisted.
He became a blur of steel and rage.
The crypt filled with screams.
Limbs fell. Flesh parted. The creatures weren’t prepared for resistance—they weren’t meant to face a Godmarked.
But then the ground shook.
And something worse arrived.
From the tunnel’s mouth came a tall figure—once human, now bloated and fused with machinery. It dragged chains behind it, every step cracking stone.
It opened its mouth, and a voice not its own echoed from deep within.
“Godmarked… Subject 9B. Classification: Rogue.”
The system inside Ash flared to life.
Ash grinned. His body was trembling from Vein Surge. His blade was soaked. His nerves screamed for more.
“Y.”
He sprinted forward—dodging the first chain whip. The Hunter was fast. Too fast for its size. One strike nearly ripped his arm out of socket.
The second hit him square in the ribs.
He flew into a stone wall, coughed blood, but laughed.
The blade in his hand whispered something.
Not words. Hunger.
Ash stood and let the blade drink deeper.
He activated it.
His hand went cold.
The blade bled as he moved, every swing leaving trails of crimson flame. He darted forward—this time with rage behind each strike.
First slash—tore through the Hunter’s left arm.
Second—ripped the chain from its chest.
The third—
Drove through its core.
Ash screamed as energy surged back through the blade into his system.
The Hunter’s body spasmed.
Then exploded in a gout of black fire.
Ash dropped to one knee, panting.
The crypt was silent again.
Blood dripped from his arms, his mouth, his fingers. He wasn’t sure how much of it was his anymore.
The system chimed one last time:
He rose slowly, limping.
And then a soft click echoed from behind him.
He turned.
A man stood there in Dominion red—black gloves, silver eyes, no shadow.
Not a soldier.
Not a Reclaimer.
A Knife.
“You’re impressive,” the man said calmly. “Messy. Undisciplined. But impressive.”
Ash tightened his grip.
“Who the hell are you?”
The man tilted his head.
“I’m here to make sure you die properly.”
And without warning—
He vanished.
Ash raised his blade just in time as the Knife reappeared behind him, fist already moving.
A direct strike to the chest.
Ribs shattered. Breath fled. Ash flew backward again, vision cracking like glass.
He coughed blood, eyes blurring.
But he smiled anyway.
Because for the first time in his life…
He didn’t want to run.
He wanted to see what he could become.
End of Chapter 5
