Infinite System Inheritor Return From The Abyss

The wind was loud, and the sky was full of falling stones and broken air platforms. Everyone was holding their breath as the huge shadow dragon opened its mouth wide, the darkness inside its throat ready to swallow them all.

The air pulled them forward, and even strong awakeners could feel their bodies being dragged.

Just as it looked like they were all going to be eaten, Seoha gritted her teeth and flew straight in front of the mouth, both of her hands pushing against the top of the dragon's open jaw.

Gideon came from the other side, wings wide, pushing back on the lower jaw to stop it from closing. Their bodies trembled from the pressure, but they held on.

"Hold it! HOLD IT!" Seoha shouted, sweat running down her face, her sword shaking from all the force she was using.

Behind them, Ji Eun's voice rang out sharply.

"Hurry, Daewon! Get them out of here!" she yelled while floating above, her lotus petals moving fast to catch the wind.

Daewon nodded but didn't waste time replying. He placed Alexa, who was still holding Lauren putting pressure in her wounds into Lee Min Joon's arms.

"Take them!" Daewon said, his voice firm. "Now leave!"

Lee Min Joon didn't argue. He nodded quickly and turned around, holding both women close as he jumped from one falling rock to the next, using them like steps while running across the open sky.

"Back away!" Min Yoon Ji shouted suddenly as she raised her black scythe high above her head, her dark hair flying around her like waves of smoke.

Seoha and the others didn't hesitate. They jumped back just as Yoon Ji's eyes turned completely dark, and she pointed the blade toward the dragon's mouth.

"DARK NOVA!" she shouted with all her strength.

Several small dark balls flew forward, fast like bullets, and went inside the shadow dragon's open mouth. For a moment there was silence—then came the noise.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM!

The explosions were loud and violent, shaking the air and blowing thick black smoke in all directions. The sky was covered by it, and even the dragon's giant head was hidden.

Some of the awakeners flew backward from the shockwave, arms covering their faces. Others steadied themselves on the falling stones, waiting for the smoke to clear.

Yoon Ji hovered in the air using petals, breathing hard, her scythe still glowing with energy. "Did it work?" she muttered under her breath.

But then her eyes widened.

From the smoke, a shape appeared a massive open mouth with sharp teeth and glowing red inside. The shadow dragon was still there, angry and unharmed. With a loud roar, it lunged forward.

"NO!"

Before she could move, the mouth swallowed Min Yoon Ji in one smooth, terrifying motion.

"No—MIN YOON JI!" Ji-eun screamed, her voice cracking with rage and shock.

Everyone froze for a moment.

The sky was heavy with smoke, fire, and the stench of blood, but Choi Ji-eun's eyes burned with rage. Her friend had just been swallowed. Her hands clenched tightly as violet petals spun wildly around her like a storm.

"Lotus" she whispered, then shouted louder, her voice like thunder, "COME OUT!"

From the petals, the wind gathered, and light shot out. The petals danced into place, forming the shape of a long dragon. Its body was made entirely from glowing purple petals, shimmering with mana.

It let out a soft roar as it floated beside her, long and beautiful but powerful.

Ji-eun pointed her hand forward. "Go!" she ordered.

The lotus dragon flew toward the massive shadow dragon, weaving through fire and smoke, its body flexible and fast.

It slammed into the side of the giant creature's face, forcing its jaw back, giving them a few seconds to breathe.

Daewon didn't waste it.

"I'm going!" he shouted, jumping off a floating stone, slamming his foot to gain momentum, and launching himself through the air like a cannonball.

He landed hard on the back of the shadow dragon, the force shaking the beast. His double-headed hammer spun once before slamming down into the creature's back, sending a shockwave through its thick black scales.

But then—

Screeches.

Three smaller dragons came diving toward Daewon, wings flapping hard as their claws reached for him. One slammed into his side, but he grabbed it mid-air and threw it to the ground below, spinning his hammer to crush another dragon in the air.

"Daewon, more incoming!" Gideon shouted from behind, The petal dragon coiled around the small dragon and exploded, sending petals flying like blades.

But then Daewon noticed something.

He paused for just a second and looked down.

A shadow moved.

It was like a tendril black, and crawling just beneath the dragon's scales, sliding along its body like it was alive.

"What the hell is that?" he muttered, watching as the tendril pulsed and spread, crawling toward the dragon's chest.

Ji-eun saw it too from above. "There's something inside the dragon!" she yelled.

The dragon's eye turned toward Daewon, glowing brighter. It roared again.

Daewon braced himself as more tendrils started surfacing, now crawling out of the dragon's back and trying to grab him.

Gideon's large wings flapped hard as he flew across the sky, trying to help from above, but suddenly, a shadow tendril shot out from the dragon's back like a whip and wrapped tightly around his wings.

He grunted in pain, struggling to break free, the shadow pulling him back like it was trying to drag him into the dragon's body.

"Gideon!" Seoha shouted from a few feet below, and without hesitation, she leaped forward, her flaming red sword shining bright.

With a swift swing, she sliced through the shadow tendrils wrapping around Gideon, burning the ends as the sword's heat sizzled through the dark mass. Gideon flapped once more and shot back up, panting but safe for now.

Meanwhile, Ji-eun's Lotus Guardian, the petal dragon, danced in the sky, striking again and again at the shadow dragon's chest and wings, but the shadow kept spreading like poison, healing itself or blocking each attack with strange black armor.

"AAAAAHHH!"

It was Ji-eun.

Everyone turned, and in a blur, they saw a shadow tendril pierce through her stomach from behind clean through blood spraying out as her eyes went wide in shock.

"Ji-eun!" Seoha screamed, and without thinking, she threw herself forward, flying toward Ji-eun as fast as she could.

Ji-eun was falling, her arms limp, eyes beginning to close.

Seoha caught her just in time but the shadow tendrils didn't let go.

Instead, they wrapped around both Ji-eun and Seoha, like a trap waiting to snap, and before anyone could react, both of them were swallowed whole into the shadow dragon's body, vanishing inside the swirling dark mist around its chest.

"Damn it!" Daewon roared and tried to run to them, but the ground beneath his feet turned into thick shadow sludge like sinking mud and tendrils wrapped around his legs, pulling him down.

Gideon, too, tried to fly again, but tendrils latched onto his arms and wings, dragging him to the dragon's surface like glue.