Born in the Abyss

The team had already reached the sixth layer of the Abyss. Only one layer remained before the bottom of Naruku. Little was known about the sixth layer, and every step here felt like a step into the unknown.

The group decided to make camp in one of the caves. Riko prepared dinner from the meat of a recently slain creature and Sainon herbs. Reg was setting up a perimeter at the entrance—a thin, almost invisible barrier, but sensitive enough to detect the slightest threat.

Faputa sat in the center of the cave, devouring soup with a look of pure satisfaction. She chewed as if she were in the safest place in the world, though everyone here knew that the Abyss never forgives carelessness.

Beside the pot sat Nanachi, watching over her friends. Her gaze held a mixture of exhaustion and warmth—that strange, quiet joy that comes when you realize these people are your family.

Each of them was lost in their own thoughts. Thinking of what awaited them below. Of what they had left behind above. And of whether they were truly ready to go any further.