Abyssal Awakening

Beating weakly in his hands, Velouria\'s heart pulsed as Nyer activated Cayla. Upon seeing the threads of energy still connecting the heart to the body, he protected this connection using his powers.

Grabbing Velouria before she could collapse onto the floor, Nyer laid her down gently while Cayla manifested beside her.

A bitter expression appeared on her face as she looked upon Velouria\'s weakened form.

"Don\'t think too much. Just focus on the task at hand." Nyer reminded as Cayla nodded her head.

Turning to Alice who glared at the two of them with bloodshot eyes, Cayla felt guilty.

"I thought you were close to Velouria!?" Alice cried out, targeting Cayla who turned her head away.

"Because this is necessary. In this memory, Velouria is no longer the possessor of the Heart of the Abyss. This heart of hers is nothing but a placeholder for what once was here. Even if the Will can recreate the Crown and the Eyes with ease, the Heart is a different matter. It is the key that holds everything together." Nyer explained, walking over to Alice.

Kneeling in front of her, he placed his hand against her chest and slowly dug into her flesh.

"Ack!" Gritting her teeth from the pain, Alice could feel his hand reaching deep and wrapping around her own heart.

"Hm? This is… unexpected. You actually possess a fake Heart… Who made this?" Nyer muttered before shaking his head.

"But this is perfect. It\'ll act as a catalyst to summon the real Heart."

Once he had wrapped his hand around her heart, he didn\'t hesitate to rip it out just like what he did to Velouria.

Losing her strength, Alice felt her vision flicker and fade. She could hear the sound of Alyss\'s shouting next to her ear but couldn\'t make out what she was saying.

As Alice closed her eyes, chains began to appear on her limbs.

"Nyer what the f*ck are you doing?!" Alyss shouted out in anger, surprising Nyer as he paused and glanced up at Alyss.

When he \'extracts\' the heart, he also extracts parts of their Spiritual Heart. And by that extension, the host shouldn\'t be able to do anything during this time. And yet Alyss was cursing him right now.

"Two souls resting in one body." Nyer muttered in realisation. But at the same time, having two souls in one would disrupt the balance. With that in mind, there was only one conclusion. Two sides of the same coin.

Perhaps Alyss was the one he\'d been seeing appear occasionally when they sparred.

Regardless, Alyss couldn\'t affect the outcome of what he was going to do.

All he needed to do was allow her to sit there and ignore what she was saying.

With two souls in his hands, he stepped towards a clearing while Cayla activated a ritual circle using her body as the catalyst.

To awaken the Heart was a rather simple task as it only required the resonance between a vessel, the crown and the eyes. All of which he\'s obtained.

What wasn\'t simple was the fact that they\'re a memory. The real Cayla is fractured and broken, the crown was only recently repaired and Alice couldn\'t function as a real vessel right now.

Meaning he had to bridge this gap using what they have. By merging the \'fake\' with the real, he could use it to repair some of the damages caused.

"I\'m ready." Cayla nodded her head as she took a deep breath, resolving herself.

"Then we shall begin."

*BANG!!!!

From the centre of the ritual circle, a pillar of energy burst into the sky. The light from this pillar drowning out the darkness of the Abyss Realm while Nyer stood in the centre, unphased.

Holding the two beating hearts, he narrowed his eyes.

Letting go of the hearts, he watched as they floated upwards.

"Fu…" Breathing out, Nyer summoned his blade and activated the blessings of Severance and Corruption.

What he needed to do now was to pierce through the veil that separated the Abyss and this memory.

Upon doing so, these two hearts, the Crown, Eyes and vessel will resonate the true Heart.

"ARGGG!!!!"

Letting out a shout while exerting all of his strength, Nyer cleaved towards the sky.

###

Rescue attempts for all of the students stuck in the inverted world were successful.

All of the special class students made large contributions with Luke helping them defeat targets that they would have otherwise struggled intensely with.

Ria, being one the of last few to be saved, had spent her time helping other students instead. Making her way through the inverted world with her speed and taking down all the beasts she could.

The only one left was now Alice.

Everyone else that belonged to her group had been saved yet her inverted world was different. Resilient.

No matter how they tried to enter, even the principal couldn\'t breach the veil and enter the Inverted World.

They couldn\'t see what was going on inside, all that remained was the entrance that pulsed with an alarming amount of energy.

Around this entrance, there were first aid stations set up as some students were too injured to be moved away from the site and had to be treated immediately.

Ignoring her wounds, Ria sat by the entrance of Alice\'s Inverted World with a deep frown. She couldn\'t stop tapping her foot from nervousness, worrying about Alice\'s safety.

Even though she knew how strong Alice was with her special traits, she still worried about her safety.

"I\'m sure she\'s kicking up a storm in there right now. She might have even gotten carried away with things." Luke tried to lighten the mood while bringing over some warm tea for Ria.

"I hope so." Ria sighed, accepting the cup of tea as she glanced towards the principal who was busy running back and forth.

After the incident, she was busy with ensuring the safety of students along with the complaints of a myriad of factions outside of the academy, questioning their safety measures.

Compared to the first time they saw her, she had lost her original flare and composure which was to be expected.

However, what surprised Ria the most was the figure sitting where the principal used to sit.

With a lazy posture, his gaze was fixated on the entrance to the Inverted World, not wanting to miss the moment when it would open or if Alice would escape.

Even though he told the principal to just be stronger, he couldn\'t leave everything to her in the end. He couldn\'t help but worry about Alice.

*RUMBLE!!!

Feeling the ground tremble, he furrowed his brows as the entrance to the Inverted World started to shake. A strange yet familiar feeling pulsed out, causing his frown to deepen.

"Oi Vampire." He called out as the principal rushed to his side, not daring to annoy him as he was her lifeline right now!

"Yes? What can I do for you?"

"Help move the students further away from the entrance unless you want some corpses there." Kaden ordered while the principal could only force a smile.

"Of course."

\'Why can\'t you put it nicer?!\' She shouted out in her head but didn\'t dally on the command.

Ria didn\'t want to go too far but one look from Kaden was enough for her to follow without a word.

Standing up, shadows began to flicker from his body as it formed a perimeter around the entrance.

He could sense something trying to break through and it wasn\'t Alice.

That familiar presence, that sickening aura.

"Nyer…" Kaden mumbled as veins bulged on his neck from anger.

While he didn\'t know why his aura was being felt from the Inverted World, he was ready for the moment that b*stard steps through the entrance.

###

Alice wasn\'t sure what happened after her heart was ripped out.

Right now, she felt as though she was floating down a river. A soft current that carried her body away, free of worries and free of responsibilities.

Opening her eyes, Alice was surrounded by a realm of white light yet it didn\'t hurt the eyes. Instead, it was gentle and soft.

[This has become quite the mess hasn\'t it, o\' master mine.]

A familiar voice rang out as Alice revealed a slight smile.

"Cayla, you\'re finally awake. Though it\'s a tad too late considering I got my heart pulled out." Alice sighed.

Above her, a figure of light manifested as Cayla took Velouria\'s form.

[It took me a while to acclimate to the changes occurring within your body o\' master. Plus, I\'m incomplete. Seeing the traces let on you, it\'s clear that you\'ve seen mine form in its prime. When I held the power of both eyes rather than one.

[Though even now, the only reason I\'ve woken up is because of the resonance formed between the three key components. A forced awakening if you will.] Cayla explained, sitting on an invisible chair.

"What now then. Let me guess, am I dead?"

[It\'s been long yet also short. Who knew mine master would become such a pessimist in this time.] Cayla chuckled while Alice simply rolled her eyes.

"Who knew you would become so articulate in this time? What else can I do? He\'s just casually pulled out my heart. Hell I\'m not even sure how I\'m talking to you right now."

[Because Nyer does not wish for your immediate death. You still need to serve your purpose. A simple glance is enough to let this one know of his plans. He seeks to create a new vessel from imaginary to reality. To allow for the memory of mine old master to inhibit the new alongside the Crown, the Eyes and the Heart. This effectively allows her a new lease on life.

[And once that happens o\' master mine, you die.]

Hearing this, a frown formed on Alice\'s face.

"I hope you\'re not telling me that to see my response in the face of death."

[Of course not. I\'m here to hopefully assist you with a solution.

[I hope that you, my current master, will survive this ordeal.]