[Not seeing the Beast of Disordered Knowledge appear, you understand that while the Gazing Ritual may be dangerous for other demons, it should not be that dangerous for you, who has the Servant of Knowledge supporting you from the shadows.]

[Even if there is some degree of danger, it should not be enough to doom you for all eternity. Otherwise, the Servant of Knowledge, who sees through all, would already have sent the Beast of Disordered Knowledge once more to correct your choice.]

[Having thought this through, you relax a little and, with a somewhat lighter mindset, follow the demon shaman and the many demon lords to the place where the ritual will be conducted…]

[…]

[In front of you is a sheer cliff that bars any further advance. At your feet yawns a bottomless chasm: the abyss, dark and unfathomable.]

[The cold wind that howls up from the bottom of the Abyss sounds like the shrieks of fiends and monsters, making you sway unsteadily at the edge. It feels as if a single careless step will send you plummeting down, lost forever in eternal darkness.]

[You try to lean forward and peer down at the legendary deepest level of the Abyss, but aside from endless murky blackness, there is nothing at all.]

[Staring into the bottom of the Abyss and facing that limitless darkness from up close makes a bone-deep terror rise from the very depths of your heart.]

[Reason tells you that you absolutely must not take another step forward. Otherwise what awaits you will be a crushed body and an eternity from which there is no return…]

[Yet you cannot suppress the urge to jump. In the deepest part of that bottomless Abyss, it feels as if some kind of voice is continually calling you, luring you…]

[The demon shaman’s voice brings you back to your senses…]

[Honored Abyss Child, what lies before you is the entrance that leads down to the very bottom of the Abyss.]

[The procedure of the ritual is very simple: you just have to jump.]

[There is only one thing you need to keep in mind. While you are hurling yourself into the Abyss, you must not use any power of flight. Even if you try to use the power of flight, you will be horrified to find that you are unable to fly and can only keep falling.]

[Because only by plunging toward the bottom of the Abyss with the most primal, instinctive fear can you behold the Divine Image of the great Abyss.]

[By gazing at the Divine Image… you will have completed all the steps of the ritual.]

[Your expression freezes at these words. Just roughly peering down into the Abyss from here was enough to make boundless fear rise within you.]

[To hurl yourself headlong into the bottom of the Abyss, when you cannot fly, and gaze upon the deepest, darkest part of the Abyss… just thinking about it is unspeakably terrifying.]

[You suddenly remember something and quickly ask: if the ritual is completed once you gaze upon the Divine Image of the Abyss, then how are you supposed to return once everything is over, given that you cannot use the power of flight?]

[The demon shaman spreads its hands and says that it does not know either. If it could know every last detail of the process, it might have already become the fourth demon to pass the ritual after the three demon gods.]

[All the answers regarding gazing into the Abyss are for you to find on your own…]

[You turn to look back at the many demon lords behind you. Each and every one of them is looking at you with expectant faces. Their sincere, earnest gazes make you feel that if you do not jump, you will become the sinner of the demon race.]

[Apostle, will you carry out the first step of the ritual and jump into the Abyss?]

At this point, Lin Xun hesitated no longer and decisively pressed ‘Yes.’

[You stride to the edge of the cliff, then turn around so that your back faces the bottomless Abyss. Facing the many demon lords who are full of expectation, you shout loudly…]

[This is a small step for you, but a giant step for the entire demon race.]

[With that, you take a step backward, lean your head back toward the endless Abyss, and plunge into the deepest darkness…]

[In the instant you hurl yourself into the Abyss, you see countless gazes of awe and worship…]

[A powerful sense of weightlessness instantly sweeps through you. The shrill howl of the wind roars in your ears. You flail your limbs, trying to twist your body around, because falling with your back down, unable to see what is below, creates a strong feeling of helpless panic.]

[The speed and air resistance of your rapid fall make it almost impossible for you to open your eyes. With great effort, you finally manage to steady your body and turn over so that you are facing down, only to discover that aside from endless darkness, there is still nothing at all.]

[In that bottomless Abyss, aside from the endless darkness, nothing exists. All light and all things seem to be devoured by this deepest darkness.]

[In this moment, an immense terror rises from your heart. You cannot help wanting to switch shells and use the power of flight to get away from the darkness and escape the devouring Abyss.]

[You force yourself to suppress your thoughts and emotions, gritting your teeth to overcome this instinctive urge for survival.]

[Your rapid fall continues, as if the Abyss has no end at all…]

[The fear in your heart ferments and wildly proliferates. With every moment you keep falling, this uncontrollable terror floods through your whole body.]

[It is as if you have fallen, by accident, into the depths of the ocean at night. You cannot rise, you cannot swim, you cannot breathe, and you cannot see anything around you clearly.]

[You can only feel the ever-intensifying suffocation and despair in the darkness, letting your body keep sinking until you reach the bottom of the ocean.]

[Yet this is still not the most terrifying part. The most terrifying thing is that, in a hazy daze, you feel as if there is some gigantic and horrifying existence at the bottom of the ocean, something far greater, far older, and far more frightening than anything you have ever known.] 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

[Even revealing only the barest hint of itself in the darkness is enough to strip you of all reason when you glimpse true terror, leaving you to sink into endless ruin while howling in madness.]

[The frenzied terror makes you gasp and struggle for breath. You want to break free from all of this, yet you discover that you cannot do anything at all and can only keep falling, ever closer to that indescribable and unnameable monstrous existence.]

[Only when the endless terror completely occupies your every thought and boundless dread dominates your every feeling do you finally behold the Abyss.]

[You are still falling uncontrollably, yet you catch a glimpse of the deepest darkness. Its name is Gloomy Abyss.]

[You cannot describe Its shape or Its form. All you can say is that It is the deepest darkness you have ever seen in your life.]

[You cannot truly gaze upon the Abyss. Simply approaching It is enough for you to be surrounded by boundless terror, with suffocating despair filling your heart.]

[If you were to truly gaze upon It, to face It directly, you have no doubt that you would be tormented into madness by this endless terror.]

[It seems that the Gloomy Abyss is not deliberately spreading this extreme fear. It is simply radiating terror unconsciously while in deep sleep.]

[No, It is not asleep. To be more precise, It is in a chaotic state that is neither life nor death.]

[It is like a primordial fetus being nurtured in the mother body, on the verge of becoming life yet still unable to perceive the self.]

At this moment, however, Lin Xun could not help cursing.

“So much for just taking a look at the Divine Image of the Abyss, this was supposed to count as gazing into the Abyss and completing the ritual… What the hell is going on now?”

What he was seeing now was not the Divine Image of the Abyss, but the true Abyss itself, a main god that was about to revive and return.