Family system

Jack exhaled, his breath visible despite the lack of cold. The atmosphere was thick and heavy as if something unseen had pressed on existence itself. The faint glow of the shifting glyphs along the obsidian ruins cast eerie reflections across the cracked ground, but it wasn't light as he understood it—it was energy, pulsing in unnatural waves, undulating like a heartbeat that did not belong to anything living.

He took his first step forward, the sound oddly muted, as if the ground sought to swallow all traces of his presence. He moved carefully, his senses sharpened, his golden eyes scanning the desolate ruins that stretched before him. This place was supposed to be empty, abandoned—but he could feel it. Something was here.

As he walked, he noticed the lingering trails of movement in the dust, disturbances that suggested something—or someone—had passed through recently. But it wasn't footsteps. It was something far more insidious. The ground itself had been warped, as though the fabric of reality had been stirred by a presence that left no physical form.

Jack reached a massive, crumbling archway, its top barely holding together. The surface was covered in arcane carvings, yet they were not from any known divine or mortal language. They shifted, changing under his gaze as if whispering secrets just beyond the threshold of comprehension. When he reached out to touch them, a jolt of energy shot through his arm, sending a deep vibration into his very bones.

He withdrew his hand immediately, flexing his fingers. This was it. The strange energy Xel'Kazur had tapped into. It was not magic in the conventional sense—not divine, elemental, or even necromantic. It was older. Something primal. Something forgotten.

The wind shifted, bringing a scent that did not belong—a strange mix of ozone, decay, and something metallic, like blood long since dried. Jack turned his head sharply, his instincts screaming a warning, but nothing was there.

Steeling himself, he stepped through the archway.

Beyond the archway, the ground sloped downward in a spiral. The deeper he went, the more the structures tilted unnaturally, their walls no longer adhering to the logic of architecture. Some corridors narrowed to impossible angles, while others stretched as if warping in response to his movement. The further he walked, the more the sensation of wrongness grew.

Then, he heard it.

Like a low drumbeat, a faint pulse came from deep within the ruins. It wasn't just a sound—an impression, a feeling in the marrow of his bones. It resonated with the strange energy in the air, calling to him, urging him forward.

Jack clenched his fists. "This is what Xel'Kazur felt. This is what gave him power."

But there was something different now—it was stronger. More alive.

The walls of the ruins began to shift, their surfaces bulging slightly as if something had moved beneath the stone. Faint whispers echoed from unseen corridors, but when Jack turned, there was nothing. Yet, he was no fool. This place was watching him.

As he delved deeper, the ancient markings became more erratic. They were no longer etched into the stone but embedded within it, pulsing faintly with some kind of dark energy.

He reached a vast chamber, a cavernous space carved from black stone. Its walls were adorned with twisted, interwoven sigils reaching high above his head. In the center of the chamber was a pillar, its surface perfectly smooth, untouched by time yet radiating power.

Jack approached carefully, the pulse in the air growing stronger. He reached out with his senses, trying to understand what it was—this was no ordinary relic. It was a conduit.

The moment his fingers brushed against it, the world around him shuddered.

A deep, reverberating presence surged through him, a flood of memories, of visions not his own. He saw glimpses of figures that weren't mortal, of ancient beings wrapped in shadows, kneeling before something far larger, far darker.

And then—

A voice.

Not spoken. Not heard. But felt.

"You have come to take what is not yours."

Jack's vision blurred as the energy lashed out, wrapping around him, coiling like ethereal chains trying to drag him into something deeper—below this reality.

But Jack was not just any god.

His golden eyes flashed, his power flaring as he ripped himself free, shattering the unseen bindings that had tried to ensnare him. He staggered back, breathing heavily, feeling the echoes of that power still lingering in his veins.

He had felt its source now.

The prison was not empty.

Something was still here. Waiting. Watching.

And it knew he had arrived.

Jack steadied himself, his breathing slow and measured as the remnants of the strange energy slithered around him like unseen tendrils, recoiling from his divine presence. His golden eyes flickered as he scanned the chamber, now fully aware that he was not alone.

The pulse of the abyss thrummed beneath his feet, more distinct than before, as if it had acknowledged him as if something deeper within the prison had stirred in response to his arrival.

He had come to unravel this place, to discover what Xel'Kazur had tapped into, what power had allowed the necromancer to return. But now, the abyss was watching him.

Jack exhaled, his smirk returning. "So, you know I'm here. Good. Let's see what you have to show me."

He stepped forward, crossing the vast chamber, his boots echoing against the stone. The pillar at the center continued to pulse, but the energy reacted to him differently now—less like a passive force and more like a mind adjusting to his presence. The shifting sigils across the chamber walls flickered as he moved, the patterns warping as though they were alive.

A narrow passageway loomed ahead, a jagged opening that led deeper underground, further into the abyss. Jack didn't hesitate. He descended, his steps confident, his senses sharp.

The deeper he went, the more the air seemed to resist him—as if the abyss did not wish to be disturbed. The walls became rough, no longer etched with glyphs but scarred and clawed as if something had been dragged through here against its will. The strange metallic scent thickened, laced with something that sent a thrill of anticipation through his veins.

Then, the path opened into another chamber.

This room was different.

It was vast, but unlike the previous space, it was filled with suspended chains, dozens—no, hundreds—dangling from the ceiling, stretching into the darkness above. Some were broken and rusted, their ends curled and twisted as if something had once been held here… and had long since escaped.

Jack's gaze flickered to the center of the chamber, where a massive, circular platform was embedded into the ground. It was covered in more of the shifting glyphs, but these were shattered and cracked as if something had forcibly broken whatever seal had once existed here.

He smirked. "Xel'Kazur wasn't the first to take something from this place, was he?"

The energy was different here—thicker and more tangible. It coiled around his form, trying to press into him, testing him, and whispering to him in a thousand fragmented voices that belonged to no one and everyone all at once.

"Take it…"

"Feed upon it…"

"You are worthy…"

Jack chuckled darkly, unfazed. "You'll have to do better than that."

He extended a hand, letting his divine energy flare around him. Pushing back against the abyss, he asserted his dominance. The whispers shrieked, recoiling from his will, but he felt something shift in response.

Then, the ground trembled.

From the far end of the chamber, a colossal door, nearly thirty feet high, began to grind open, stone scraping against stone. Dust cascaded down in sheets, and from beyond the widening gap, an overwhelming force of energy surged forward, slamming into Jack like a tidal wave.

But Jack stood his ground.

A presence was beyond that door—something old that should have been long forgotten.

And now, it knew him.

From the darkness beyond the doorway, movement stirred. Heavy, echoing footsteps thundered forward, slow and deliberate, each step reverberating.

Then, they emerged.

Two towering figures, clad in ancient blackened armor, their forms covered in chains that rattled with every step. Their faces were obscured beneath darkened helms, their eyes burning with blue ethereal fire, flickering like dying embers. They were not mere undead or simple constructs—they were remnants of something greater, bound to the abyss.

Each wielded a massive weapon, one a great axe, the other a titanic sword, their blades etched with the same shifting sigils that marked the walls.

Jack grinned, rolling his shoulders. "Ah, finally. A proper welcome."

The guardians did not speak. They merely raised their weapons—and charged.

The chamber shook as they moved, their speed unnatural for their size. The one with the axe reached him first, swinging in a wide, devastating arc meant to cleave him in two.

Jack moved—fast. He sidestepped effortlessly, the blade missing him by inches as he retaliated with a blast of raw divine energy, sending the guardian skidding back. But the second was already upon him, bringing its sword down with earth-shattering force. Stay updated via My Virtual Library Empire

Jack raised a single hand, catching the blade mid-strike. Energy surged between them, the sheer force pushing his feet into the stone, cracking the ground beneath him.

He smirked. "Not bad. But let me show you how it's done."

With a surge of power, he twisted his grip, wrenching the sword aside and countering with a devastating palm strike to the guardian's chest, sending it hurtling back.

The first guardian recovered, its axe now glowing with dark energy, and swung again—this time faster, the chains around its body tightening as if they were feeding its strength.

Jack narrowed his eyes. So they could adapt.

"Interesting."

He caught the axe mid-swing, divine energy crackling along his arms. "But not enough."@@novelbin@@

With a burst of force, he wrenched the weapon from the guardian's grasp, spinning and driving a kick into its chest, sending it crashing into the stone pillars lining the chamber.

The second guardian lunged forward again, but Jack was ready.

He raised his hand, summoning a spear of radiant energy, and threw it with pinpoint precision, impaling the guardian straight through its helm. The force sent it flying backward, crashing against the far wall where it remained pinned. Its body convulsed as the light burned through its corrupted form.

The remaining guardian tried to rise, but Jack moved faster, appearing before it in an instant, grabbing its helmeted head in his hand.

His golden eyes burned. "Stay down."

With a sudden crush of divine force, he shattered the guardian's helm and the energy that held it together.

The chamber fell silent once more.

Jack rolled his shoulders, satisfied. "Well, that was fun."

But he wasn't done yet. The abyss had more secrets to give.

Beyond the massive door, a long corridor stretched into the void, lined with torches of ghostly blue fire. Something loomed in the darkness at the end of the corridor, waiting for him.

Jack smirked. He was just getting started.