After passing the point that they expected would present the most challenge, the blue sky gained a tint of red. The expeditionary force stopped marching and got ready to camp outside, setting up tents and gathering to prepare for dinner.

“Now that I think about it…what kind of place is the Abyss?” Eun-Hyang suddenly asked after quietly eating for a while. Everyone threw her a glance before turning to Evelyn.

“…Ah…” Teresa frowned like she was conflicted. The fact that Evelyn was the Abyss Witch at one point in time was a secret even inside Seven Stars. There were some people who knew about it before, but after the Balim expedition, the majority of them learned about the matter. Thus, Teresa thought it would be a sensitive issue to openly discuss.

“Did I say something wrong?” Eun-Hyang asked. She didn’t seem to think the same as Teresa and talked like this was no big issue.

“Ho, ho. I’m so sorry, unnie. Eun-Hyang can be insensitive sometimes…” Teresa chided Eun-Hyang a bit, but didn’t put a stop to the conversation. She worded her response in a way that suggested there was no choice but for Evelyn to spill the truth since things had gotten to this point; and truthfully, Teresa was curious about this too. Just in case, she glanced at Chi-Woo since she knew he treasured Evelyn. Thankfully, he didn’t appear that interested in this topic.

“It’s okay,” Evelyn said softly like she considered Teresa’s antic cute while putting down her spoon. “Hm. So the Abyss is…” She placed her index finger on her chin and pushed it slightly up. After a moment of hesitation, she continued, “You know how you sometimes feel like you are in a very deep pit while living?”

Everyone nodded at her words. Yes, there were times when they all felt like that. “It’s a world where that feeling comes true in the literal sense rather than the figurative sense.” They sort of got what she was saying, but…what was the world like then?

“When I was alive, I was born chosen by God. But I couldn’t overcome my trials and took my own life.” Seeing the responses of those around her, Evelyn felt that her explanation was lacking and continued, “I think because of that, I was branded a sinner and fell to the Abyss.”

Listening wordlessly, Chi-Woo understood. A person who committed suicide couldn’t pass the River of Three Crossings or the River Styx. Pretty much any religion on Earth considered suicide to be a grave sin that one must never commit. That seemed to be a similar case on Liber.

“Did you say you fell to the Abyss after taking your own life?” Eshnunna sounded startled by the news. “Then, Yohan…no…”

“It’s okay. Rather than taking his own life, he offered his life to a god.”

“Will he be all right then?”

“Yes. I never saw anyone at the Abyss who sacrificed themselves for the greater good. Not a single one,” Evelyn replied, and Eshnunna sighed in relief. Coming back to her senses, she gave Evelyn an apologetic look.

“But that’s too much, Master. If you really think about it, you were just a victim…”

“No, you don’t have to make it sound better than it is…I decided to run away at that time.”

The atmosphere turned solemn.

Not liking that kind of mood, Evelyn continued calmly, “When I first fell to the Abyss…I don’t know. To tell you the truth, I don’t really remember what happened that well. I didn’t know where I was, nor did I really want to know.” She didn’t feel sleepy or hungry either. She simply stared into space blankly for several days.

“After some time, my mind came back to me, and when I looked around, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.” If she could, she would’ve really died, but she couldn’t do that. Only when it was too late did Evelyn realize that she no longer had a body, that her consciousness and the soul it stemmed from were the only parts of her remaining. In that state, Evelyn wandered around listlessly and mindlessly. A long stretch of time passed after that. In a way, it healed her and made her feel numb to the pain and vengeance she felt during her time alive. For the first time, Evelyn felt lonely.

It could be anyone. She just wanted to meet and talk to someone. Surprisingly, Evelyn’s wish was granted as soon as she had the thought. There was an existence greater than anyone she had met. It was someone who had fallen to the Abyss much earlier than her.

“I met the Abyss Queen for the first time then…and established myself in the world called the Abyss before becoming part of the chasms she ruled.”

Teresa looked confused by Evelyn’s explanation. “How should I say this…it’s a place that’s hard to understand.”

“Well, I’m saying it’s a place where beings live in the end. In whatever place, communities and societies always form matching that world. In the Abyss, gaining the king’s or the queen’s favor was the key to participating in the society.” Evelyn added with a smile that if they were so curious, she could personally give them the full experience, and Teresa ardently declined. No matter how curious she was about something, she didn’t want to die.

***

After finishing their dinner, the expeditionary force went to sleep. Since they were in enemy territory, they didn’t lower their guard, and without exception, everyone took turns being on night duty. After his shift, Chi-Woo went to bed early and slept like a baby until the next morning.

“…Hm?”

Eventually, Chi-Woo opened his eyes and looked perplexed. Why did no one wake him up? That wasn’t all. He found himself all alone with only the mess of used beddings keeping him company. Chi-Woo rubbed his bleary eyes and got up. Outside was a chilling, bleak silence, and after getting out of his tent, Chi-Woo’s face hardened. Something was definitely wrong.

“…What…?”

He didn’t see anyone—not just inside the tent, but outside too. All the expeditionary force who he had left Shalyh with disappeared overnight without a trace, leaving only him behind. What in the world happened? At first, Chi-Woo thought he was dreaming. He slapped his cheeks and pinched his thighs, doing all sorts of things to wake himself up. However, his surroundings remained the same, and he realized that he was in reality. Of course, realizing and accepting this reality were completely different matters, and soon Chi-Woo wandered around the camping site, yelling until his throat felt like it would burst.

“Evelllllllllyn!”

“Ru Amuuuuh!”

“Hey, stop being so noisy.”

At least, until he spotted someone eating alone in the middle of the campsite.

“…Chi-Hyun?” Chi-Woo asked suspiciously after he spotted Chi-Hyun looking calm and indifferent. Everyone was gone except his brother? Furthermore, his brother was just leisurely stuffing himself with food. It was so suspicious that Chi-Woo took out his club of light and looked wearily at Chi-Hyun. Uncaring how his brother reacted to him, Chi-Hyun glanced at Chi-Woo and snorted.

“If you have the energy to go around yelling, you should also eat. Fill your stomach.”

“How can you eat in a situation like this?”

“I’m telling you to replenish your stamina beforehand in case of unexpected situations.”

The way he responded and talked was certainly like his brother, so Chi-Woo put away his club for now. With the feeling of relief washing over him, Chi-Woo ran to his brother and struck up a conversation.

‘When did you get up?’ ‘Around break of dawn.’ ‘Was the campsite the same as now?’ ‘Yeah’ ‘What about me?’ ‘You were sleeping peacefully.’ ‘Why didn’t you wake me up?’ ‘I wanted to think quietly for a bit.’

Then Chi-Woo asked the most important question. “What happened? What does this situation mean?”

“I don’t know,” Chi-Hyun answered calmly, and Chi-Woo looked at his brother, baffled.

“There’s something you don’t know?”

“Did you think I know everything in the universe? I only know things I have a deep understanding in,” Chi-Hyun said while swallowing another mouthful of food. “But I understand one thing.”

“What is it?”

“They one-upped us.” Chi-Hyun let out a low sigh. “It’s not that they gave up on their territory…but that they didn’t have a reason to protect it.”

“I don’t understand a thing you are saying,” Chi-Woo said a bit irritably. He was feeling a bit anxious. The situation was flowing in a bad direction, and he didn’t like his brother’s nonchalance.

“Calm down. You have to keep your composure in situations like this. You will miss things the more urgent you feel,” Chi-Hyun said calmly, “Take a breather and look around calmly. If it’s the current you, I’m sure you will be able to see it.”

Following Chi-Hyun’s guidance, Chi-Woo looked around. It was the same. The campsite looked the same as it did when he just got out. Except for his brother, nobody…

Chi-Woo flinched. For some reason, it felt as if someone had just moved past him. He wasn’t mistaken. He closed his eyes, and after heightening his senses, the faint sensations grew a bit clearer. It was a very strange feeling that was hard to describe. There was definitely no one in this area except them two, but he felt the presence of other people.

And they didn’t seem to be standing idly by. As if they were swinging their swords fiercely, he kept feeling something sharp. And if he wasn’t imagining it, he also noticed a faint smell of blood. After focusing on his senses for a while, Chi-Woo opened his eyes and murmured.

“Hyung. Just now…”

“Yes, it seems that they are fighting.”

Chi-Woo’s eyes widened. He pointed at the ground as if he was asking, ‘Right here?’

Chi-Hyun started explaining in a low voice. The Abyss was a world that was originally in a separate dimension. It was a place where people who had committed grave sins that they couldn’t receive forgiveness for during their time alive went to. Considering that those who fell to the Abyss couldn’t hope to seek any sort of salvation and had to wander meaninglessly forever in isolation, it was similar to Hell in Earth’s terms. Unlike the different hells on Earth, though, the Abyss was an empty, masterless place without a ruler like King Yan of the underworld or Hades.

The majority of Abyss’s dwellers were terrible fiends, and when such beings gathered in one place, wars erupted every day. In a place where no one died, the Abyss was filled with only pain and intention to kill one another. Thus, wars never stopped. Even if one beat everybody and reached the peak, it was only momentary. The Abyss didn’t permit anyone’s rule. And as the seemingly endless fights continued, two existences emerged. It was the Abyss King and Queen. The two knew that the stage called the Abyss was made in a way that there could be no everlasting victor. Thus, the two joined hands.

They made their own factions and silently agreed to not interfere with one another. Within a thin border, they maintained their shaky balance of power so that the society they finally built in the Abyss would not crumble. That was the backstory of how the Abyss, which had only been a place of punishment, came to become a world with some sort of structure and order.

“The Abyss was originally a world where beings wandered listlessly and fought endlessly…the fact that the Abyss King and the Queen managed to create a new world in such a place indicates that they both have special abilities,” Chi-Hyun said calmly after finishing his explanation. “That world was also made here.”

Chi-Woo frowned. “Is it something like the territorialization that great demons do?”

Chi-Hyun shook his head. “If it was only at that level, I would just be laughing right now.”

“Then what is it…?” Chi-Woo asked in shock.

“It’s an Astral World,” Chi-Hyun said. “It seems that the bastard of a king called upon the entire Abyss World.”

Chi-Woo’s breath hitched. This meant that the Middle World and the Abyss World had combined. In other words, the Abyss had merged with reality and created the ‘Other World’.

“Does that mean everyone got swept into that Astral World?”

“Yes. And there are more than one,” Chi-Hyun emphasized. Then he went on to explain what had caused him the greatest grief. If the matter was as simple as a couple of worlds combining together, he would’ve acted already, but it was more complicated than that. Chi-Hyun’s senses were picking up on at least nine worlds. And these nine Astral Worlds were all moving and disrupting Chi-Hyun’s senses. This was unbelievable.

There should’ve only been two beings who could create a new world in the Abyss. At most, they should’ve been able to create two worlds, and even that would be going too far. It was simply baffling how so many worlds—nine in total—could be formed. And facing such an astonishing situation, not even Chi-Hyun could act rashly.

It was then Chi-Woo felt a strange, mysterious sensation pass by his surroundings again. After listening to his brother’s explanation, Chi-Woo got a grasp of what these sensations could mean and frowned. Shalyh’s expeditionary force had been separated into nine Astral Worlds, and they were fighting the Abyss’s army there.