Abyssal Awakening

\'Back in the Slaughter Docks, I wanted to drink the blood of the Abyss Lord… Now that I think about it, will my body even be able to contain that power?\' Alice thought to herself. All she could imagine was herself collapsing or exploding due to the power.

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Manifesting the Avatar of Death, Gin narrowed his eyes at the White Death before flicking his finger.

In that instant, 8 tall pillars of black and purple energy erupted from around them and formed a cage, stopping the White Death from running away.

Realising that it had to fight no matter what, the White Death glared at Gin, and despite knowing the difference in strength, rushed forward.

A Sigil-like pattern appeared on its body, surprising Gin momentarily.

\'I didn\'t think such a beast would have Sigils…\' He thought.

A dark aura erupted from the beast as the symbols above the city started to glow.

Understanding what it was trying to do, Gin couldn\'t help but scoff at its attempt.

Flicking his finger, a giant scythe shot up from the ground, skewering the White Death by the stomach and lifting it high above the ground for all to see.

However, the beast was not afraid.

The edge of its mouth cracked down its neck as a large toothy grin could be seen, sending chills down the spines of all who saw it.

Opening its mouth, the beast took a bite out of the spear, breaking it in half, while the Sigil patterns around its body started to glow and morph.

Jumping back, the armour around the beast\'s body started to crack as a mound of flesh burst out of its back, forming the upper half of a woman created from bones. Thin flesh stretched across her head and arms while the rest of her body was completely made of bones.

Her eyes were closed while markings resembling stitches tied her mouth shut.

Raising both her hands, she aimed it towards Gin, who was floating in the air, and created a cage with her fingers. The moment she enclosed her fingers around Gin from her perspective, space fractured and ten large scythes stabbed towards him, seeking to trap him.

Furrowing his brows, Gin couldn\'t help but glance towards Allura\'s general direction before turning back to the scythes that surrounded him.

Swiping right with his hand, several clones of the reaper that hung above him appeared and blocked the scythes with relative ease.

With Gin taking his attention away from it momentarily, the beast took the chance to charge towards him at full speed. Using its limbs to its advantage, it raced across the battlefield at blinding speed before cleaving at Gin with its two elongated claws, hoping to break the avatar behind him.

"Tch, I\'m too old for this sh*t." Gin sighed as he covered his face with his hand before conjuring a strange mask.

The world turned dark as light itself was absorbed by Gin.

Once the mask was removed, they could see that his appearance had changed. He had lost his wrinkles and beard, regaining a lost youth. Long grey hair fluttered behind him, while black ink flowed from his eyes. Countless black tendrils ripped open the space around him and grabbed hold of the beast.

Everyone noticed something in the sky.

A large, shadowed figure peered through the cracks of space with a single eye that was the same as Gin\'s.

The shadowy figure seemed to have countless tentacles and bones piercing out of its body. One of its hands was controlling the avatar behind Gin while the other grabbed hold of the beast.

Cracking its mouth open, the figure spewed out a wave of black mist that started to drain the vitality of everything it touched. Little by little, all life would turn to ash, and the White Death was no exception.

Its body started to crumble, and it tried to flee, but found itself unable to escape the grasp of the strange figure Gin conjured.

Opening its mouth, the beast tried to consume one of the tentacles, but Gin refused to let that happen. He continued to adjust his grip while the beast was being covered by the mist.

Understanding that it would die if it didn\'t act, the beast glared at Gin before cracks formed across its body. In that instant, a mass of darkness exploded from the body of the White Death and created some distance between the two of them.

A feminine figure slowly emerged from the mass, her body entirely made of it. Two orbs of white on the face seemed to be her eyes, which soon narrowed at Gin.

Covering her face with her hand, the woman seemed to be laughing as a jagged opening formed to represent her mouth.

Raising her hand above her head, the woman slammed them down as hard as she could. As a result, a wave of darkness enveloped the ground around the battlefield.

Within this sea of darkness, skeletal hands and scythes cleaved up, trying to kill Gin. Meanwhile, he fended the attacks off with a frown on his face.

As the owner of the Sigils, Gin could tell the woman had already \'copied\' the death mist that he used a moment ago.

\'Why does it feel like I\'m fighting a stronger version of Alice? The way she borrows power by eating it and how she adapts… What has the Cult of Eclipse been doing…\' Gin frowned in confusion. He didn\'t know the full story. He could only take guesses, and the old hunter couldn\'t help but see the similarities.

*CRACK!!*

Noticing a fracture in space, Gin glanced to the side and saw an inky fist punching towards him.

"That\'s enough. I\'ve humoured you for far too long now." Gin took a deep breath and swatted aside the hand.

Clasping his hands together, all of the attacks around him paused as the figure dwelling in the tear in space was absorbed into his body.

Without letting the manifestation finalise properly, Gin snapped his fingers and drew a vertical line in front of him using one finger.

In the blink of an eye, a large scythe appeared for a split second before disappearing. Within that moment, the world seemed as though it had been cut in half.

*BANG!!!!!*

The ground was ripped in half, creating a ravine that stretched to the mountains, while the woman that emerged from the beast had been petrified after being cut in two. Both halves of her body were slowly disintegrating to ash while Gin reverted to his usual form while panting heavily. There was a layer of sweat on his head as he pulled out his flask and took a drink.

"I\'m getting old. The rest of the youngsters can take care of the aftermath." He muttered while walking back to the city.

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"Interesting… I didn\'t expect there to be an Abyss Lord in this city. This operation has proven to be rather fruitful." Archbishop Mahri smiled while watching everything that was happening.

While she could not contest against an Abyss Lord, that was never her goal. Destruction of the city merely came as a bonus, with the real goal of the operation being the task of collecting tribute for War, one of the Apostles of Eclipse.

The fight between a faulty creation and the Abyss Lord of Death was more than enough of a tribute. All that remained was to take the tribute back once the fighting ended, and they would\'ve gained a profit.

"Send all the beasts. Do not spare a single one. Once that is done, we return to the holy city." Mahri grinned as she sent down the command.

They may have won the battle, but she won the war.

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"It seems like Gin has finished his job. Be careful about any black mist that still lingers. Keep away from those areas. Have fun and enjoy the fight. But make sure to learn as much as you can from fighting, since that\'s when you grow fastest as a Hunter." Allura smiled, snapped her fingers, and transported them with a burst of flames.

Looking up, she could see Gin coming back after advising Neal and his Hunters to avoid the mist.

"Feeling alright?" Allura asked as Gin nodded.

"I will manage. Any clue on what the Eclipse are doing? The fact that \'thing\' was born from an Old Lord and even copy my abilities is concerning. If I didn\'t know any better, I\'d say it felt like what Alice could become if she was at the same level." Gin frowned while sitting down and accepting one of Allura\'s cigarettes that was offered to him.

Smoking cigarette, he sighed out in relaxation.

"No clue. Like I told you last time, there was a ritual going on that involved dead gods and now the eclipse is messing with Old Lords. I\'ve stayed neutral for too long and I don\'t even know half of what\'s going on. Once we finish up here we need to start moving towards the mainland so I can get more information. Which also means we\'ll have to help Alice and Ria get stronger.

Alice needs to learn control but Ria can prepare herself for her fourth Sigil soon." Allura shook her head.

"That early? Well that\'s fine. They can protect themselves better that way since it\'s not like I can keep going out like this and stopping Abyss Lord level threats every time. I\'m not young anymore and there\'s a limit to what I can do." Gin chuckled while watching the battle with Allura.

After his final attack, the map of Zadash will need to be redrawn with a new ravine stretching to the mountains.