"Stop! Stop, wait, wait a moment—"
The Praiser shrieked and shouted in terror.
When the gate to the Abyssal Return opened from that palm, endless Dark Tide surged forth, accompanied by the thunderous echo of an ocean, reverberating endlessly.
For who knew how many times, he thought of destroying himself—detonating his soul and taking the thing before him down with him.
But ceaseless fear and dread emerged under the guidance of instinct, stopping him from making the stupidest choice and telling him: if he destroyed himself, he would most likely fall into an ending even more terrifying than death—
He might fall into... that darkness before him!
Yet now, when the Abyss bared its fangs and true hell opened its gates to him, he realized that he had never had any other choice.
"I'll confess! I'll confess!"
He struggled to twist his neck backward and shouted incoherently, "I know a secret passage, one that leads directly to the upper levels! There are secret vaults and military routes too! Lord Sacrifice, Lord Sacrifice trusted me! And Justice, Justice—I know his secrets! I'm still useful, I can earn merit! Don't you people of the Present Realm like recruiting Swarms? I can recruit them too, I can love the Present Realm too! Wait, no... Wuwuwu!!!"
The hoarse cries came to an abrupt halt as that black hand pressed down upon his face.
The entire world seemed to fall into dead silence.
Only violent heartbeats echoed in his ears, mixed with ragged breathing and words that even he himself did not know he was crying out.
Pinned down by those bloated gnolls, he could only whimper amid their rancid stench and struggle in despair.
Then darkness—surging darkness—slowly rose before his eyes.
It was as though he had instantly fallen to the deepest floor of