“There are no rules in the infinite Void. Impossible bees possible and you never know whehing will ge. A firestorm bee an icy blizzard in a matter of seds. Creatures you thought long gone, rise from the dead and attack you with a ferocity never seen before. Truly, the Void is a pce where horrors bee real, but evehere is a certaiy to it all.”

  ~ Into the Abyss by Loraveler

  Silend almost plete darkness surrounded Leo from every side as his eyes snapped open. He gasped for air, reeling back even as his body burned with every move. Third time in a row, Leo groaned, resting his head against a kit cupboard.

  Was it all real? The red light, the e, maybe even the weird System. It just couldn’t be a dream. Not when, ever since his eyes opened, Leo felt like a pletely different person, a different being.

  The aches and bits of lingering pain may have remained, but Leo never felt better than at this exaent. There was just something thrumming underh his skin, pumping him with infinite energy, and as Leo tried to focus on this anomaly, he finally uood.

  The power of the Soul. Essence.

  It coursed through the ey of Leo's body like a raging river. The feeling of weightlessness and unlimited power tried to reel him in, almost drowning Leo in his own energy. Only when his instincts — which Leo still wasn’t sure how he possessed — screamed, did he mao wake up from the haze that threateo e his mind.

  Shit, Leo growled, trying to wrestle the fiery inferno under trol. The Essence fought back, shing out and refusing to bend the khe e evidently fot to inform Leo that his own life forned an assassinatiht after waking up.

  It was only thanks to the emergence of Leo’s instinct that he somehow mao shove his Essence a bit deeper inside his body. Sweat f everywhere, Leo pushed one more time, the flow of Essence finally settling down.

  The infinite energy his Essence provided, evaporated in a matter of a sed, leaving Leo almost hollow. He slumped, his body once agai, feeling like it was run over by a herd of charging bulls for the sed time in a few hours.

  Here goes my hope for a quick recovery…

  A few quick breaths mao slightly calm his still rampagi. Leo khat this respite was only temporary, especially with new lines of text hanging in front of his vision and the weird phantom stinging in his left arm.

  Taiatus assimited and dormant. gratutions, survivor, you mao dey the taint from spreading any further. Be advised that to stop any future activation of this status, a stant supply of Pure Void Essence will be required.

  Gd to know that this part is also real, Leo snarked as the notification faded away and once agai him in the pany of darkness. The faint red light ing through the window that barely illumihe opposite part of the kit didn’t t in Leo’s opinion.

  The world must have really goo hell. her the sun nor the moon shoh that kind of color. And why is the mp turned off… He grumbled internally. Leo retty sure it worked before he ged into his soul.

  “No matter,” he murmured, hands reag towards the kit ter in hopes of providing enough support to stand up. I have to figure out what the hell is really going on. The e warned…

  Leo’s thought process stopped when his left hand gripped the ter. The grip was all wrong, almost crushing the wood in its grasp. Even worse was the soft crimson glow ing from underh the sleeve. How did I not notice this...

  Gulping, Leo rose to his feet and positioned himself right in front of the window, the only pce providing a det source of light. This is gonna suck.

  Taking a deep breath, Leo’s left hand rose.

  It was wrong, inhuman, demonic. Gray, jagged and uneven skin covered the entire deformed hand. It looked like someone paihousands of scars upon the limb and the dogs maul it for hours. There was no hair, no soft surface left. Even worse were the crimson veins that glowed from within and pierced his skin in a few pces.

  Slowly Leo’s gaze strayed to his fingers, and at this moment, he khat this was one of those moments that would stick with him for a very long time.

  Lohan humanly possible, pitch-bck cws grew at the tips of Leo’s gray and bony fingers, ready to tear apart anything that stepped in their way. In addition, thin veins, three for each finger, ected the cws with the rest of the hand. Although this time they at least decided to stay underh the skin.

  Truly a horrendous image that might break a lesser man, but not Leo. This barely pared to the sight of his mother’s broken body...

  Stop, Leo shook his head and grabbed the sleeve that covered the rest of the demonic limb. This was not the time to drown in the past long gone. A past that Leo had been fighting with for years now...

  In and out.

  Inch by inch, the sleeve came up, unc more disfigured skin and glowing veins. Even the elbow wasn’t saved from the taint, and for a moment, Leo thought that his entire arm was already ed.

  Only when the bicep came into view, where gray gave way to naturally slightly tanned skin, did Leo release a sigh of relief.

  Could be worse, Leo grimaced and flexed the inhuman arm. It didn’t feel any different from his normal limb, only now he had cws instead of normal fingers. How nice…

  The feeling of normality remained only for a moment... Upon touch, Leo almost instantly snapped his other — human — hand away from the gray mass.

  Cold, as if he touched a corpse, not a living and breathing human. The texture of the skin wasn’t much better. Stone hard, possessing none of the softness normal skin should have.

  Leo didn’t even dare to touch the crimson veins. He had enough surprises to st a lifetime. Or at least the hour… Not that Leo thought it possible to avoid any further shocks, especially not after he took a peek through the window.

  “Bloody hell…” Leo mumbled, taking notice of the red sun happily hanging high in the sky. It mocked him as it bathed the entire neighborhood in a shallow bllow. It was as if someone decided to paint the entire world in shades of red with a few other colors added to the mix.

  Holy, if not for the Sun’s position, Leo would have thought that the day was either at its beginning or end. Hell, even the rest of the sky looked like a crimson carpet instead of the usual blue hidden behind an endless expanse of rain clouds.

  Probably for the first time in his life, Leo missed Engnd’s shitty weather. Even the grass — Which definitely wasn’t that long when I st looked — and trees in the distance cked their usual sway. Instead, they stood pletely rigid, as if someone froze the entire world.

  Focu...

  Whatever thoughts Leo had, instantly vanished when a loud crash echoed through the entire house. Simir to the grass, he stood there almost frozen as something his mind fot in the face of the entire world ging, became quite obvious.

  Edward!

  With a strength his body cked just a sed ago, Leo dashed bato the living room. “Edward!” He almost shouted, voice pierg through the veil of sile getting nothing in response.

  No, no, no, no, no!

  The darkness of the corridor, only illuminated by Leo’s deformed hand, didn’t stop him from sprinting towards the bathroom door. Nor did it stop him from furiously banging at the wooden barrier.

  “e on! Open the fug door!”

  No words came back. Instead, a bone-chilling screeswered Leo’s call. No. Fists ched, they both flew at the wooden door. Only the demonid left a.

  “I’m ing in, father!” A loear flowed down Leo’s cheek, “You hear me!”

  Empty words. Deep inside he khat only pain waited for him behind that door. It didn’t stop him though, not when a member of his family was on the line.

  Cws grabbed the lock, twisting, almost ripping it out. Maybe if Leo wasn’t so drunk oions, he would be surprised by the strength of the deformed limb. But no, only the click registered in Leo’s mind as he grabbed the door handle.

  Any decy that a normal human should have when barging into an occupied bathroom was left fotten as Leo swung the door open with a bang. His eyes immediately wide the sight in front of him.

  A lone figure stood in front of a mirror, its ruby gre already poi the intruder. As dark as the room was, it didn’t stop Leo from seeing what he feared the most.

  No… Father.

  Nothing except the familiar fad scraps of clothes remained of Edward. The gray, almost bck skin melded perfectly with what was left of his hair. Unlike Leo’s inhuman arm, his father’s only disfiguration was the hundreds of cracks spilling all over his body. Cracks that glowed from within with an infuriating scarlet light.

  Leo backed off a step, “Father.”

  Razor-sharp teeth barred for all of the world to see. Edward — Your father is gone — stalked forward, anh-pitched screech leaving his throat.

  Almost toug the wall behind him, Leo shouted, “Father stop! Listen to me!”

  The creature jumped.

  Instinctively Leo sidestepped, wing when the creature's fingernails tore through his shoulder like it was butter. Apparently, Leo wasn't the only one gifted with a perfect butcher's tool instead of fingers.

  Clutg his throbbing shoulder, Leo bolted through the corridht into the living room without ever giving the falleure annce.

  He had to hide, wait out the monster or maybe trap it. What else could he do? Leo wasn’t afraid of fighting back, god knew he had the experience. He just didn’t know if he had the mental strength to do it. No matter how hard his mind tried to reason that this creature wasn’t Edward, Leo’s heart refused to listen.

  Not even his strong bitterowards Edward could stop Leo from aowledging the man as family. And family helped each other no matter what happened. I just have to find a way.

  Unfortunately, the monster never po give Leo a ce tize. It barged into the living room like a bloodhound seeking its prey. Leo barely had enough time t up his arms before Edward’s body crashed right into him.

  They barreled on the floor, engaged in a wrestling match. Leo punched and scratched with his cws, trying to push the creature off him, but his oppo did everything in its strength to remain on top.

  As the creature’s jaw neared his throat, Leo’s instincts puhrough whatever blockade his heart created ahe mind take over.

  Get off! Holding nothing back, Leo pushed as every vein in his body, even the ones outside his taint, burned with a crimson glow.

  The monster sailed through the room and crashed into the opposite wall. It howled, in anger or pain, Leo didn’t care which as he stalked forward, a familiar ability activating as he gazed at the creature.

  Cursed Human (Voidling) | Rank: F- | LVL: 1

  You’re not my father. You are just a monster parading in his skin. I won’t let you.

  Leo’s human hand shot to the monster’s neck, pushing the Voidling against the wall as he dragged it to eye level The creature wailed like a banshee, flinging its arms at the offending limb.

  Blood dripped, and skin burned as more and more scratches appeared on Leo’s arm. Once again, he didn’t care, he only had eyes for the creature that stole his st biological parent.

  “You’re not my father,” Leo whispered as a bloody tear fell down his cheek. “You’re not him.”

  Pitch-bck cws sailed forward, burying deep ihe monster’s chest.

  The screech the Voidling released was like her. Loud and primal.

  Eves volume threateo burst Leo’s eardrums, he still stood there, squeezing the life out of the monster with each hand. Not even the increased glow of his demonic arm and the sudden darkening of the creature’s skin brought Leo out of his trance.

  Only when the monster slid to the floor, no longer able to support its weight, did Leo notice the ges. Gone was the soft glow of the monster’s cracked skin and its ruby-eyed gre... Now in his hand, Leo held a pitch-bck husk of a man, drained of life.

  Cursed Human (LVL: 1) sin | Experience awarded | 1 Ether gained

  Reinfort learned.

  Your taint is now satiated. Bes gained for the 8 hours. Passive Limit Break is now active.

  Fully aware of the notifications, Leo left them unanswered, gasping for breath as his father's body disied before his eyes. From the stab wounds left by Leo’s cws, a steady river of dust seeped out, leaving a bigger and bigger hole. In a matter of seds, only a handful of dust remained in Leo’s grasp.

  “I’m so sorry,” he sobbed, falling to his knees right in front of the pile of dust. Whatever additional strength Leo gained, disappeared along with the glow i-tainted part of his body.

  Tears fell freely, and Leo did nothing to stop them. He couldn’t, not after the reality of the st few minutes fully caught up to him.

  He just sat there, eyes fixed on the remains of his father as he wept for another member of his family lost. First, the mother who meant everything to him, taken away by the idiocy of humanity. And now Edward, who, despite all of his faults, did almost everything to repair their retionship.

  If only…

  “Why didn’t you say anything?” Leo gritted out, fist g as blood spilled down his shoulder.

  Leo wasn’t even sure who was the recipient of his question. They were both at fault, be it his stubbornness or Edward’s cowardice. Even then, deep inside, Leo khat he could have been the bigger man and put ao their dispute. But now…

  … Now, none of it mattered anymore.

  They were never going to get another ce to talk, to finally bury the hatchet between them. Edward died thinking that his only soed him, while Leo had to forever live with the guilt of not fiving his father.

  And this was only the beginning.

  No.

  Leo stood up, wiping the tears with his bloody sleeve. “No more.”

  Mother, father, and who else of his family. They all might be gone, but Leo couldn’t give up now. He had to find them all, dead or alive. He had to keep his promise and find out if anyone survived.

  And if they did?

  Then Leo would fight for them, move mountains if he had to. No matter what, he would protect them from this wisted reality even until his st dying breath. They were all he had left…

  After all, what was the sense of living without a purpose?