Chapter 362: The Story Was a Lie?

The giant eye stared down at him. Kael could not move.

Not because his body refused to obey him, but because, for a moment, it felt like his body had forgotten how to move at all.

His entire existence was being crushed beneath an invisible mountain, a pressure so overwhelming that even breathing felt like a struggle.

His legs finally gave out.

His knees hit the ground with a heavy thud, but he barely reacted. His trembling hands pressed against the cold ground as he tried to push himself back up, yet his muscles refused to respond. A warm sensation slowly slid down his face. When he touched it, his fingers came away stained with blood. A drop fell from his nose onto the ground, followed by another. Kael stared at the blood beneath him, his expression blank as he struggled to understand what was happening.

For some reason, that small drop of blood felt more terrifying than the demon attacks he had faced before.

Because this time...

He wasn’t injured.

He was being overwhelmed.

(What... is this?)

His breathing became heavier.

(I fought demons. I fought monsters. I even fought something that shouldn’t have existed yet.)

(But this...)

His eyes slowly lifted toward the gigantic eye floating within the crack in reality.

(This thing isn’t even fighting me.)

(It is just looking at me.)

And that alone was enough to crush him.

The pressure coming from the Abyss crushed down on him, unlike anything Kael had ever experienced before. His breathing became heavier as his body instinctively resisted it. It wasn’t mana, nor was it demonic energy. It wasn’t anything similar to the power of the heroes or villains he had read about in the novel. This power was different than anything Kael had ever known.

(How can something like this exist?)

(How did the novel never mention this?)

"Since arriving in this world, Kael felt something he had never felt before. His body trembled, not from fear, but from the realization that he was facing something beyond his understanding. He had fought stronger enemies, endured pain, and pushed himself to his limits, but this was different. He wasn’t weak... he was powerless.

Weakness meant there was still a path forward. It meant he could train harder, become stronger, and overcome it someday. But this feeling... This helplessness pressing down on him meant that no matter how hard he struggled, nothing he did would change the outcome."

(Is this the gap between me and the real monsters of this world?)

(The Demon Lord... was this the kind of existence he was facing?)

Kael’s fingers dug deeper into the dirt, his nails scraping against the cold ground as he forced every bit of strength into his arms

He tried to push himself up.

His arms trembled. His muscles strained. He forced every bit of strength he had left into his body. But nothing happened.

His muscles refused to respond. His legs trembled, but they wouldn’t move even a single step.

"Move..." he whispered.

His voice was barely louder than the wind.

"Come on... move..."

He gritted his teeth and tried again, but his arms only shook harder. No matter how much he commanded himself, his body would not respond.

Inside his body, the Abyss-Touched Vessel suddenly reacted.

The black markings beneath his skin began glowing faintly, and dark smoke slowly escaped from his body, twisting around him like it was being pulled toward something.

The moment the smoke appeared—

The giant eye focused on him even more.

Kael froze, unable to take his eyes away from the giant eye.

(It recognizes me.)

That thought was more frightening than anything else.

(Why?)

(Why does the Abyss know me?)

(I was just an extra.)

(A character who was supposed to die without anyone remembering his name.)

Kael’s vision blurred for a moment as countless memories rushed through his mind.

The story he once read. The heroes who were supposed to rise. The war that was supposed to happen. The Demon Lord who was meant to appear in the future.

Everything he knew. Everything he had relied on to survive in this world.

But now, as he knelt beneath the pressure of the Abyss, all of that knowledge felt useless.

Kael wondered if the story he knew had never been the whole truth.

It all felt meaningless.

(Was I wrong?)

(Was the novel never the complete truth?)

A sudden movement caught Kael’s attention.

His eyes shifted toward the Abyss Beast, expecting the monster to take advantage of his helpless state and finish him. But instead of attacking, the massive wolf slowly lowered its body. Its claws sank into the ground as its head gradually bowed toward the giant eye above them.

Kael froze as he watched the creature that had chased him through the forest, the same beast that had tried to tear him apart moments ago, lower itself in submission.

It wasn’t attacking him, It was kneeling before the Abyss.

Kael’s eyes widened as he stared at the sight before him.

(What...?)

His mind struggled to understand what he was seeing. The same creature that had tried to tear him apart was now lowering its head before the giant eye in the sky.

(That monster... is worshiping it?)

The Abyss Beast’s massive body trembled. But it wasn’t the trembling of fear. There was something different in its movements—almost like excitement, like it was standing before something it had been waiting for.

Black smoke poured from its body as it lowered its head further.

"The vessel..."

Its distorted voice echoed through the forest.

"The vessel has awakened..."

He slowly looked down at his hands. His fingers were shaking, and black smoke continued to leak from his skin, rising toward the sky like it was being called by something

His mind went blank for a moment.

(Awakened?)

Kael froze, his mouth slightly open as he struggled to process the words.

(What does that mean?)

(Awakened?)

(Did my power awaken?)

(But... I didn’t do anything.)

(I didn’t activate it.)

(I couldn’t even move.)

A cold feeling spread through him.

(Then what exactly awakened?)

Was it his power?

His body?

Or something else?

Kael felt a chill run through his entire body.

Because deep inside...

He had a terrible feeling.

Maybe the Abyss-Touched Vessel wasn’t a power he obtained.

Maybe it was something that had been waiting for him.

Lunaarie stood several steps away.

Her spear was still pointed toward the Abyss Beast.

But her expression had changed.

The calm confidence she had shown before was gone.

Even she was struggling.

Her silver hair moved violently under the pressure.

Her grip tightened around the Ash Crown Spear.

"This pressure..."

Her voice was quiet.

"Even with my current strength..."

She looked up at the giant eye.

"...I can’t completely resist it."

For the first time, Kael saw something in her expression.

Like she had encountered something beyond her understanding.

Then Lunaarie slowly turned away from the Abyss Beast and the giant eye above them, her gaze falling directly on Kael. He noticed immediately that she wasn’t looking at his sword or his injuries, but at him, studying him in silence for several seconds as if she was trying to confirm something she already suspected.

Kael remained still, unsure why someone like her was paying so much attention to him. Lunaarie didn’t say anything. She simply stood there, holding her spear tightly, her eyes carefully observing every detail about him

Kael felt a strange uneasiness as Lunaarie continued staring at him, her gaze making him wonder why she was looking at him like she already knew who he was. (Does she know me?) he thought, his grip tightening slightly as he waited for her to speak. After a long silence, Lunaarie finally narrowed her silver eyes and said, "So... it was you."

Kael froze, his confusion showing on his face. "What?" he asked weakly, unable to understand what she meant. But Lunaarie didn’t look away. She kept watching him as if she was confirming the answer to a question she had carried for a long time.

"The one everyone was searching for," she said.

The words struck Kael harder than he expected. His expression changed as his mind struggled to process them. (Searching for? Me?) The thought felt impossible. He was nobody. At least, that was what he had always believed. He was just Kael Ashford—a side character, an extra who only survived this world because he knew the story from a novel.

(Everyone was searching for me? Since when? Why?)

The more he thought about it, the more questions filled his mind. He slowly looked at Lunaarie, his voice barely steady. "Lunaarie... what are you talking about?"

She didn’t answer immediately. She only stared at him in silence, and that silence made Kael even more uncomfortable because it felt like she knew something about him that he didn’t even know himself.

"Who do you think I am?" Kael asked, his breathing becoming heavier. "I don’t understand... I’m just..." He stopped, unable to finish the sentence because even saying it aloud felt wrong. "I’m just someone who ended up here."

For the first time, Lunaarie’s expression changed slightly. It wasn’t anger or pity, but uncertainty, as if even she was unsure how to explain what she knew.

But before she could answer, the forest shook violently. The Abyss Beast moved, and the pressure from the giant eye above them grew heavier. Lunaarie immediately tightened her grip on the Ash Crown Spear, her expression returning to focus as she faced the threat before them.

"Whatever answers you want..." she said coldly, her spear releasing a terrifying wave of mana, "they can wait."

Her eyes shifted back toward Kael for a moment. "Right now..." she said, "we need to survive."

Kael stared at her, countless questions still swirling inside his mind, but one thing had become clear—something was no longer following the story he knew. The future had already changed, and somehow, whether he wanted it or not... he was standing at the center of it.