CHAPTER 385: CHAPTER385-MALKAR’S CHOICE

At this moment, Malkar had been completely subdued by the man before him.

Any thought of scheming, of testing, of probing Daniel further, had been utterly extinguished from his heart. He dared not harbor the slightest shred of calculation.

For the Malkar of today, Daniel was an existence entirely beyond comprehension. On the surface, Daniel looked like an ordinary human—his aura calm, almost mundane. But Malkar knew better.

To truly believe Daniel was nothing more than a mortal man would have been the height of stupidity. No, the only reason he seemed "ordinary" was because he had grown so powerful that Malkar’s senses could no longer perceive his depths.

Daniel, gazing upon Malkar once more, could not help but sigh inwardly.

He recalled their previous meeting. Back then, he had thought killing Malkar would be difficult, perhaps even troublesome. Yet now? He only needed to raise a finger. He could easily obliterate him, here in the very heart of the abyss. Even in this domain, where abyssal creatures reigned supreme, Daniel still had ways to end Malkar’s life without effort.

After all, Malkar had not even reached the demigod rank.

Daniel’s Psychic Perception alone could completely dominate him, seizing control of his body and mind. If he willed it, killing Malkar would be no harder than extinguishing a candle flame.

Thus, within the abyss, there was no longer any force capable of posing a genuine threat to him.

Daniel’s voice broke the silence, calm but firm:

"Where exactly is the core of the abyss?"

From the message he had received earlier, Daniel understood: if the abyssal key was placed into the core, the entire abyss could be uprooted and relocated to another place.

Confronted by his question, Malkar could not muster even the thought of refusal. He had no room to resist, no excuse to stall. The only option left to him was to answer truthfully.

"The core’s location... I remember it should be somewhere around—"

But before the words could leave his lips, Daniel’s Psychic Perception surged forth, locking onto the very coordinates Malkar’s mind had conjured. In the same instant, Daniel seized control of him, moving his body like a puppet.

The world twisted, and Malkar found himself whisked away. By the time he regained awareness, he was already standing in the sacred heart of the abyss—the Abyss Core itself.

Shock and disbelief coursed through him.

How could he have betrayed such a secret so easily? This was the most important location in the entire abyss! And yet, here he was, having guided Daniel directly to it.

But what choice had he ever had? Against such a power, even his own will could be bent and remolded without resistance.

Daniel, meanwhile, was surveying the surroundings. He had little prior knowledge of the core’s environment. The abyss was vast beyond measure, and fifteen thousand years ago, it had not even existed. He had never had the chance to explore it in full.

As Malkar shrank back, coiling his vine-like appendages tightly around himself, Daniel wandered through the strange space. His eyes gleamed with curiosity.

At length, Daniel halted. Turning, he cast a faint smile toward Malkar.

Slowly, he extended his palm. Resting upon it was a shimmering, shifting crystal unlike any ordinary substance.

"Malkar," he asked quietly, "do you know what this is?"

Malkar instinctively glanced at it—and instantly regretted it.

The moment his awareness brushed against the crystal, his mind was flooded. Thoughts cascaded through his consciousness like a tidal wave, uncontrolled, unstoppable.

[Cognitive Collapse: Overwhelmed by surging ideation, cognition destabilizes and collapses.]

In an instant, his eyes lost all light. His body remained upright, but his spirit was gone, hollowed out. He was nothing more than a husk, a walking corpse.

The truth was simple: the instant he perceived the abyssal key, he had died. His flesh remained, but his spirit had been shattered beyond repair.

Daniel sighed softly at the sight.

"Too fragile," he murmured.

Malkar, after all, was far too weak to withstand exposure to such a thing. With a quiet exhalation, Daniel lifted his hand, releasing a skill.

The husk shuddered—and then, impossibly, clarity returned to Malkar’s eyes. His broken thoughts stitched themselves back together under Daniel’s power.

And Daniel’s voice, calm as ever, resounded in his ears:

"Do not use your mind power to sense it. Look with your eyes alone."

Chastened, Malkar dared not disobey. He shrank back further, vines trembling, and merely gazed at the crystal with his eyes, not his senses.

Even so, terror gripped his heart.

How could it be? A thing that reduced him to ruin in an instant was held effortlessly in Daniel’s palm.

When Daniel finally closed his hand and stowed the crystal away, Malkar exhaled in profound relief.

But then Daniel’s tone shifted, still level, but carrying weight:

"There is something I have never told you."

Malkar froze.

Cold dread coursed through him. Why reveal a hidden secret now? Could it be... that Daniel intended to kill him, to silence him forever?

Panic surged. His vines quivered violently, waving in frantic denial.

"No, no, no! You don’t need to tell me! Please, do not tell me!"

His voice trembled with desperation.

"Daniel, my lord, I don’t wish to die. Please, I beg you—do not share this with me. Keep it hidden, for both our sakes."

Malkar was an abyssal creature, but unlike many of his kin, he possessed intelligence, and with intelligence came fear. Above all else, he feared death. Life in the abyss had become tolerable, even comfortable. He had no desire to lose it.

So saying, he collapsed onto his knees, vines drooping, prostrating himself before Daniel.

But Daniel was unmoved.

He continued calmly:

"In truth... I am the Human Emperor of the human race."

The words struck like a thunderclap.

Malkar’s body stiffened. His mind went blank.

He had stumbled into knowledge of a secret that could topple the world. Surely this meant his death was sealed.

But then Daniel’s voice came again, steady and composed:

"You need not worry. I will not kill you. You have done nothing to harm me, nor the human race."

For Daniel, the logic was simple.

So long as Malkar had not committed crimes against him or his people, there was no reason to demand his life. That Malkar was of the abyssal race mattered little.

Ever since gaining Psychic Perception, Daniel had realized something profound: within every race, no matter how monstrous, there were vile beings as well as those who were good by conventional standards. One could not judge good and evil solely by race.

Malkar’s voice wavered, trembling with disbelief:

"You... you truly will not kill me?"

Daniel smiled faintly.

"I have no reason to. Of course, if you wish me to, I will not refuse."

The dry humor in his tone nearly made Malkar collapse again, though relief mingled with terror in his chest.

When his fear abated somewhat, he mustered the courage to ask:

"Then what do you want of me?"

Daniel’s expression remained placid, but his words cut like steel:

"I want you to relinquish the position of Emperor of the Abyss."

"You may choose death, or abdication. Those are your only options."

There was no trace of negotiation in his voice. No room for compromise.

The silence stretched.

Malkar quivered, vines curling in on themselves. Within his chest, two hungers battled—his infinite desire for power, his intoxicating love of authority... and his primal instinct to survive.

Between ambition and life itself, what choice should he make?