The glow of Void’s Kiss faded slightly as Kenrith surveyed the ruins of the chamber. Dust and debris floated through the air, remnants of his final strike against Suffering. The oppressive weight of despair that had filled the space seemed to have lifted, leaving an eerie silence in its wake. For a moment, Kenrith allowed himself a brief exhale, his gloved hand adjusting the white mask that hid his face.
“It’s done,” he muttered, his voice low and steady. But deep inside, he felt a lingering unease. Suffering had dissipated too easily, almost as if it allowed itself to vanish.
Kenrith turned to leave, Void’s Kiss humming faintly in his hand. But before he could take another step, a deafening crack split the air, followed by the sound of stone shattering. He spun on his heel, Void’s Kiss glowing once again. From the roof of the temple, a massive hand of darkness descended, its clawed fingers crashing down with unstoppable force.
Kenrith leapt back, but the hand moved with unnatural speed. It grabbed him mid-air, its sheer size dwarfing him entirely. The grip was suffocating, crushing, but Kenrith braced himself, planting both feet against the tendrils of shadow that coiled around him.
“You’re persistent,” he growled through clenched teeth.
Without warning, the hand flung him with an earth-shaking force. Kenrith’s body hurtled through the temple’s crumbling walls, breaking through stone and sand alike, until he collided with the barren ground outside. A thunderous boom echoed across the Abyssal Wastes, and a crater formed where he landed, dust and debris shooting into the air.
For a moment, all was still.
----------------------------------------
From the center of the crater, Kenrith rose slowly, adjusting his mask as he stood. His cloak, tattered at the edges, billowed in the wind as he dusted himself off. Void’s Kiss remained firmly in his grasp, its hum steady and reassuring. He looked up, and for the first time, a faint smirk crossed his lips.
“So… this is your true form.”
The massive figure of Suffering emerged from the ruined temple, its shadow engulfing the surrounding landscape. It was gargantuan, its body a writhing mass of darkness and despair. Tendrils spiraled outward from its form, clawing at the sky like jagged spires. Its face—or what passed for a face—was a void, a black abyss surrounded by shifting tendrils of energy. Eyes burned within the darkness, glowing with a hatred that seemed infinite.
The air grew heavier with each step Suffering took, the ground trembling beneath its weight. Its presence was overwhelming, the sheer scale of its power pressing down on Kenrith like a tidal wave.
But Kenrith didn’t flinch. He planted Void’s Kiss into the ground, the blade’s runes flaring to life.
“So, the real battle begins,” he said, his voice calm.
----------------------------------------
Suffering struck first. A massive tendril shot forward, its speed belying its size. Kenrith leapt to the side, the tendril slamming into the ground where he had stood, creating a fissure that split the earth. Before he could recover, another tendril came from his right, then another from above. Suffering was relentless, its attacks raining down like a storm.
Kenrith moved with precision, dodging and weaving between the strikes. His cloak billowed behind him as he leapt onto one of the tendrils, running along its length with Void’s Kiss in hand. He reached the base of the tendril and slashed downward.
“Void Cleave!” he shouted.
The blade’s glow intensified as it carved through the shadow, severing the tendril entirely. The massive appendage disintegrated into mist, but two more took its place, lashing toward Kenrith from opposite sides. He parried the first strike, then ducked under the second, using the momentum to propel himself forward.
Kenrith closed the distance between himself and Suffering, his sword cutting through tendrils with each step. As he approached the entity’s massive form, he leapt high into the air, Void’s Kiss glowing brighter with each moment.
“Reality Rend!” he called, bringing the blade down with a devastating slash.
The attack connected, creating a massive shockwave that rippled through Suffering’s form. For a moment, the entity recoiled, its body flickering as though struggling to maintain its shape. But the reprieve was short-lived. Suffering let out an earth-shaking roar, its form expanding as its tendrils spiraled outward, forcing Kenrith to retreat.
----------------------------------------
The battlefield shifted as the fight intensified. Suffering summoned chains from the ground, spectral and glowing with despair. They shot toward Kenrith like vipers, seeking to bind him. He dodged the first chain, then the second, but the third caught his ankle, pulling him to the ground. The cold weight of the chain seeped into his body, sapping his strength.
Kenrith gritted his teeth. “Not today.”
With a surge of energy, he slammed Void’s Kiss into the ground. “Mark of the Phantom!” he shouted. A glowing symbol appeared beneath him, and in an instant, he vanished, reappearing several meters away. The chains shattered, but Suffering was already upon him, its massive hand crashing down like a falling mountain.
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
Kenrith rolled to the side, barely avoiding the impact. The ground splintered beneath the force of the blow, sending debris flying. He used the momentum to launch himself upward, Void’s Kiss slashing through one of Suffering’s massive arms.
The entity roared in anger, its form flickering again. Kenrith landed gracefully, his feet barely touching the ground before he lunged forward once more. He moved like a shadow, his strikes precise and unrelenting.
----------------------------------------
Suffering changed tactics. It raised both of its massive arms, summoning a vortex of shadows that began to pull everything in the area toward it. The winds howled, sand and debris swirling into the air. Kenrith planted Void’s Kiss into the ground, using it as an anchor as he resisted the pull.
But Suffering wasn’t finished. From within the vortex emerged a jagged spear of darkness, glowing with void energy. It hurled the spear directly at Kenrith, the projectile moving too fast to dodge. At the last moment, Kenrith raised Void’s Kiss, intercepting the attack.
The impact sent a shockwave rippling through the air, pushing Kenrith back several meters. He grunted, his boots skidding across the ground as he absorbed the force of the blow.
“Clever,” he muttered, his grip on Void’s Kiss tightening. “But not clever enough.”
----------------------------------------
Kenrith activated his most devastating ability yet. He slammed Void’s Kiss into the ground, the blade’s runes glowing with an intensity that lit up the entire battlefield.
“Void’s Judgement!” he roared.
A massive burst of energy erupted from the blade, cutting through Suffering’s vortex and sending shockwaves rippling outward. The attack carved through the entity’s form, splitting it in two with a blinding light. For a moment, it seemed as though Suffering had been defeated.
But as the light faded, the void entity reassembled itself, larger and more menacing than before. Its massive form towered over Kenrith, its tendrils spiraling outward in a chaotic frenzy.
Kenrith adjusted his mask, his voice calm despite the odds. “You’re starting to get on my nerves.”
----------------------------------------
The final phase of the battle began. Suffering unleashed its full power, the ground beneath it cracking and shattering as waves of void energy surged outward. Kenrith charged forward, Void’s Kiss glowing brighter than ever. The two clashed in a battle that shook the very earth, their strikes creating shockwaves that echoed across the Abyssal Wastes.
Kenrith’s movements were a blur, his strikes precise and unyielding. Void’s Kiss cut through tendrils, chains, and claws with ease, its hum growing louder with each attack. But Suffering was relentless, its form constantly shifting and adapting. The two forces seemed evenly matched, their battle an epic struggle of light against darkness.
----------------------------------------
The climax came when Kenrith leapt high into the air, Void’s Kiss glowing with an intensity that rivaled the sun. He aimed for Suffering’s core, the very center of its massive form.
“This ends now!” he shouted, bringing the blade down with all his might.
The strike connected, creating an explosion of light and energy that engulfed the battlefield. The ground trembled, the air shook, and for a moment, time seemed to stand still.
The battlefield was silent, save for the faint hum of Void’s Kiss planted firmly in the cracked earth. Kenrith stood in the aftermath of the epic clash, his chest rising and falling with steady breaths. The oppressive weight of despair had lifted, but the unease in the air lingered like a phantom. Dust swirled around him as the shadows faded, retreating to the edges of the Abyssal Wastes.
For a moment, Kenrith allowed himself to assess the situation. His cloak was torn, his body bruised, but the white mask that shielded his identity was untouched. He adjusted it casually, his sharp gaze scanning the ruined landscape.
“Suffering,” he muttered under his breath. “That wasn’t your full power, was it?”
The realization crept over him like a chill. The massive entity he had battled—the shadows, the tendrils, the despair—it was overwhelming, yes, but it didn’t feel complete. Kenrith had defeated Grief in the past enough to know when something was holding back, and Suffering had retreated too easily. Its form dissolved not in defeat, but with intent, as if it had accomplished something.
Kenrith narrowed his eyes, his gloved hand gripping the hilt of Void’s Kiss. “A fraction,” he murmured to himself. “That was only a fraction of it's true strength.”
The thought unsettled him, but Kenrith was not one to dwell on fear. If this was just the beginning, then he needed to prepare for what lay ahead. Without hesitation, he activated a communication beacon built into his glove—a small, intricate device connected to the Sanctuary through void energy relays. He pressed his fingers against the runes on the surface, channeling his thoughts into a clear message.
----------------------------------------
The response from Renji came quickly, his voice calm but firm through the projection.
“Kenrith,” Renji’s voice echoed faintly. “Report.”
Kenrith spoke evenly, his words carrying the weight of what he had just endured. “I encountered it. The entity described in the ancient records. I fought Suffering. Its power…” He paused briefly, glancing at the scorched landscape around him. “...it’s unlike anything I’ve seen before.”
There was a silence on the other end, brief but heavy. Then Renji’s voice returned, quieter now. “Suffering hasn’t been seen in fifty years, Kenrith. Are you certain it was the same entity?”
Kenrith’s grip on Void’s Kiss tightened. “I’m certain,” he said. “But something doesn’t add up. What I fought wasn’t its full power—just a fragment. If this was a warning, then something much worse is coming.”
Renji’s tone grew grave. “Fifty years ago, when Suffering last appeared, it left nothing but death and chaos in its wake. For it to reemerge now, and in this form… it’s deliberate. This wasn’t an accident, Kenrith. The void doesn’t act without purpose.”
Kenrith looked toward the horizon, where the Abyssal Wastes stretched endlessly, the shadows in the distance seeming to watch him. He remained silent, but his mind raced. If this encounter was only the beginning, then the Sanctuary—and the world it protected—was far from safe.
Renji’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Return when you can, Kenrith. We need to discuss this. The fact that Suffering is active again changes everything.”
Kenrith shook his head, his voice firm. “I’m not leaving. Not yet. If Suffering is still out here, I need to know why. I’ll send updates when I learn more.”
“Understood,” Renji replied after a pause. “Be careful.”
The connection cut, leaving Kenrith alone once more. The silence of the Abyssal Wastes pressed in on him, but it did not bother him. He sheathed Void’s Kiss and adjusted his mask once again, his gaze fixed on the distant ruins of the temple.
“It's going to get busy,” he said softly to himself.
Without another word, he turned and disappeared into the shadows, his figure blending seamlessly with the desolation around him. The legend of The Shadowy Slayer would continue, but the questions left by Suffering’s return would haunt him long after the battle.