Gacha Summoner: Pulled into Another World

Chapter 12: Beyond the Veil

**Chapter 12: Beyond the Veil**

The air outside the Abyss chamber was surprisingly still, as if the dungeon itself was relieved of a burden it had carried for far too long. Yuuji and his companions emerged from the dark corridors into a small antechamber, the oppressive atmosphere of the Abyss fading behind them. For the first time since they’d entered the dungeon, there was a strange calm.

But Yuuji could still feel something stirring beneath the surface—a quiet warning that their journey wasn’t over. He glanced at his companions. The knight’s armor was scratched and dented, but his eyes were sharp, vigilant as ever. The archer, though outwardly calm, looked weary, as if the weight of their victory had finally caught up to her. The mage, however, was deep in thought, her gaze distant as she studied the walls of the dungeon.

Yuuji sheathed the Blade of Eterna, feeling its warmth pulse one last time before settling into an almost dormant state. The sword had carried him through the Abyss, guided him, but now it was quiet—almost too quiet.

"Shouldn't we be getting out of here?" the archer asked, glancing back at the dark corridors behind them. "I don't want to stick around in case something else wakes up."

The knight nodded. "Agreed. We've done what we came here to do. The Abyss is defeated."

But Yuuji wasn’t so sure. The Blade of Eterna, once glowing with life, now felt heavier, as though burdened by something left unfinished. The calm felt too sudden, too incomplete.

The mage stepped forward, her staff glowing faintly as she ran her hand along the walls of the chamber. Her eyes flickered with a mix of curiosity and concern. "This place… it still holds secrets. The Abyss may be destroyed, but there are layers of power here we’ve barely touched."

The knight frowned, stepping beside her. "What do you mean? We destroyed the heart of the Abyss. What else could there be?"

Yuuji opened his mouth to answer, but before he could speak, the ground beneath them rumbled. The stones trembled, a deep, resonating hum echoing through the walls. It wasn’t the violent shake of an earthquake, but a low, pulsing sound, like the reverberation of something immense, something ancient shifting.

The archer’s eyes widened. "What was that?"

The mage’s face grew pale. "We’ve only removed one layer. There’s something else, deeper beneath the dungeon. I don’t know what it is, but it’s powerful… and it's waking up."

Yuuji’s stomach twisted. He had felt it too—the sense that something had been watching them, waiting for them to reach the heart of the dungeon. Now that the Abyss was gone, whatever had been lurking in the shadows was free to act.

“We need to leave,” the knight said, his voice hard. “Now.”

But before they could move, the stone floor in the center of the chamber began to shift. The intricate carvings on the ground pulsed with light, and slowly, a circular pattern formed, as if a hidden mechanism had been triggered. The stones shifted and separated, revealing a spiral staircase leading deeper underground.

The group stood in stunned silence for a moment, watching as the newly revealed passage beckoned them forward, its depths shrouded in an eerie, flickering light.

“This… wasn’t here before,” the archer muttered, stepping back warily. “What is this?”

The mage stepped toward the staircase, her eyes wide with fascination. “It’s a passage—a hidden one, buried beneath the dungeon. The Abyss was only guarding this entrance.”

Yuuji felt his pulse quicken. This was it—the answer to the unsettling feeling that had haunted him since they entered the dungeon. The Abyss had been powerful, but it was only a distraction, a guardian placed there to protect something far more dangerous.

“This is what it’s all been leading to,” Yuuji said quietly, stepping toward the staircase. The Blade of Eterna pulsed at his side, faintly but insistently. It was guiding him again, urging him forward.

“Are you sure about this?” the archer asked, her voice trembling. “We’ve already fought the Abyss. We barely survived. What if what’s down there is worse?”

The knight was silent, his eyes fixed on the staircase. He had the look of a man weighing his options, knowing that what lay below could be beyond their strength, but also knowing that they couldn’t turn back. “We don’t leave things half-finished,” he said finally. “If this is what the Abyss was guarding, then we need to see it through.”

The mage nodded, stepping forward. “I don’t know what’s down there, but I do know this—if the Abyss was protecting it, then it’s something the world isn’t ready for. We can’t leave it to fester.”

Yuuji felt a surge of determination rise within him. He had been brought to this world for a reason, wielding a sword bound to ancient power. If the Abyss had been only the beginning, then whatever lay beyond the veil of this dungeon was the true test of his strength.

“We go down,” Yuuji said, gripping the Blade of Eterna tightly. “But we do it together.”

With that, they descended the spiral staircase. The light from the carvings on the walls pulsed in rhythm with the beating sound that had haunted them before, but now it was more pronounced, almost like a drumbeat guiding them deeper into the earth.

The air grew colder as they descended, and the weight of the dungeon seemed to press down on them more heavily with each step. The walls were slick with moisture, and the further they went, the more the greenish glow faded, replaced by a deep, ominous blue that seemed to swallow the light from their torches.

At the bottom of the staircase, they found themselves standing before a massive stone door, carved with symbols even older than those in the upper chambers. These markings glowed faintly, as if resonating with some unseen power. Yuuji could feel the energy in the air—thick, heavy, and ancient.

“We’ve come this far,” the knight said, placing his hand on the door. “No turning back now.”

As soon as his hand touched the stone, the door began to move, grinding open with a deafening groan. Beyond it was a cavernous chamber, larger than any they had encountered before. The ceiling was so high it was lost in shadow, and the walls were lined with towering statues, much like the ones they had seen guarding the Abyss Core.

But at the center of the chamber was something far more terrifying.

A massive, swirling vortex of black and blue energy hovered above an altar, its tendrils stretching out in every direction. It was alive, writhing with dark power, and its presence filled the room with an overwhelming sense of dread. The beating sound was louder now, unmistakable as the heartbeat of the thing that lay before them.

“That’s not just power,” the mage whispered, her voice trembling. “That’s a being. An entity. It’s… it’s alive.”

Yuuji stared at the swirling vortex, his heart pounding in his chest. The Blade of Eterna thrummed in his hand, and the whispers of the past wielders returned, more insistent than ever.

“This is what we were meant to stop,” one of the voices said.

“The true source of the Abyss’s power,” another added. “It must be sealed before it awakens fully.”

Yuuji stepped forward, his resolve hardening. The Abyss had been only the beginning. This—this entity—was the true enemy, the darkness that had been waiting for them all along.

And it was waking up.

“We end this,” Yuuji said, raising the Blade of Eterna. “Once and for all.”

The others readied their weapons, standing beside him. Whatever came next, they would face it together.

And this time, there would be no turning back.