Abyssal Awakening

"Since you\'re the same person that killed Jyn and Rita, I suggest you maintain your disguise as Kale for a few more days. Don\'t let people see you as… whoever you are. Erick is already telling me to find out your identity." Selen warned.

"Either way, we can talk more next time. At least now I know you\'re capable."

Raising her hand, Selen snapped her finger as the realm began to collapse around them.

Returning the two of them to the docks, she didn\'t hesitate to leave since she couldn\'t stay away from Erick for an extended period of time without a good reason.

Doing so would just be raising unneeded suspicion.

\'She just does whatever she wants at her own pace doesn\'t she?\' Alice blinked her eyes while Alyss shrugged.

First, she gives her a pin out of nowhere then she tries to kill them. Next thing they know she\'s left after telling them not to reveal her true appearance for a while.

\'Regardless, it seems like she\'s another product of the Zenia\'s. A powerful one at that too.\'

\'Mnm… Those scars on her back look rather nasty too. Imagine what it must\'ve looked like in its original state?\' Alice nodded. With healing blood, you can hide away scars to some extent, but large amounts of damage will still leave marks.

[O\' master mine, I believe there is one thing you must understand first of all. The power that she displayed, it doesn\'t belong to the average beast. The power to be able to manipulate the flow of time, even if it is just in ones body, is gifted to a select few beasts. Most of them cannot extend their powers far.

[A beast that can pull off the stunts similar to what she had displayed and even freeze the motion of attacks launched by Alyss can only be one. Though a slight downgrade to what I have witnessed before, it is no doubt the ability of a sealed Abyss Lord of the old age. The Abyss Lord of Time – Miralith.]

Hearing this, Alice frowned as she quickly reapplied her disguise before someone noticed.

\'Miralith? So… The Zenia\'s have access to a sealed Lord. F*cking great and they\'re throwing out Abyss Lord enhanced Guards as well.\' Alyss threw her hands into the air as this was beyond their initial expectations.

She and Alice knew that the Zenias had other experiments happening on the side while theirs was happening. But to siphon the strength of a sealed Lord and even produce a Guard of this calibre was frankly scary.

They don\'t know the cost to produce such a Hunter but if the Zenia\'s could mass produce it then it\'ll be an army of faux Abyss Lords.

Who knows, the Zenia\'s may have already achieved this and simply hid it from the public eye.

\'Say if we were to start an all out war with the Zenia\'s.

Just from what we know, they now possibly have an army of immortal soldiers using the collar, genetically modified Hunters holding abilities that shouldn\'t be possible and with their inspiration being us, Guards who are able to use powers belonging to sealed Lords and lastly, Abyss Lord level Hunters that could worry the branch master of the Underground. Ya know what?

Maybe, just maybe, we\'re a little f*cked if that happens.\' Alyss let out a laugh before kicking her bed out of frustration.

Panting out of anger, Alyss gritted her teeth.

With every new bit of information they find, the prospect of toppling the Zenia continued to extend beyond their reach.

Taking a deep breath, Alice calmed her mind.

\'However, they have a glaring weakness.\'

Raising her eyebrow, Cayla wondered what this weakness was.

\'They all use Abyss Blood. Remember the book that Nalem lent to us when we first met in Zadash? Though you weren\'t… here like you are now so you might not know. However, the book is the journal of an old friend of his.

\'The Abyss Lord of Poisons – Leoric Becker, first son of the Becker family. An Abyss Lord who got the same first Sigil as me but focused his life on mastering this poison.\' Alice narrowed her eyes.

\'If I want to fight against the Zenia family properly, I might have to walk the same path as Leoric. At least to some extent. I need to extend the range of my blood mist so that it can cover the entire army.\' Alice raised her hand and conjured a single seed that blossomed into a red spider lily.

In her mind, she could already imagine the possibilities. An army of immortal Zenia soldiers marched at her but with a wave of her hand, crimson mist would descend upon the battlefield. In the next moment, a garden of spider lilies blossoming from the corpses of the so called immortal soldiers, forever used as the nourishment of her plants.

\'We could try to combine the effects of your blood mist with my flames while that happens as well. Have the fire erupt inside them the moment they take a single breath of this mist.\' Alyss grinned as the two began theorising about possible ways they could try and wipe out an army using the properties of their fire and flower.

Meanwhile, Cayla watched by the side as her smile twitched slightly from the methods they proposed.

Some may even call it war crimes but against the Zenia family who have forgone any morals in the name of the greater good and research, this was just right.

###

"Where the hell have you been." Erick narrowed his eyes as he noticed Selen being later than usual.

"My apologies. There was a suspicious figure that caught my attention but I was being paranoid." Selen reported as Erick walked up to Selen.

Staring into her eyes, he nodded before turning around.

"Good work. I took the liberty of checking out if there were any… Hunters that took a commission near the orphanage. Turns out, there were three who did. Two are students and one was an old Hunter by the name of Samuel.

"I had him dealt with and now he\'s sleeping six feet under. But the annoying parts come with the two students. One is low profile while the other is high profile. The low profile student is a complete waste. Two years in the academy and nothing to show for it. Trash in other words.

"But the other is the recent main character of the Inverted World incident. Alice Agnelia, the last to escape and the one that took the longest. Someone who made a name for herself during the exams.

There are quite a few rumours that are passed around and if such a high profile figure were to suddenly disappear, it would bring into question the safety of this city." Erick shrugged while sitting on the bed.

"But disappearing is one thing. What if she was to... die inside the Academy grounds."

Hearing this, Selen sighed inwardly as she understood what Erick wanted to imply.

"When do you wish for me to make a move sir?"

"Give it another day or so. We have another meeting with the principal tomorrow and I can bring up the topic of safety within this city. After the incident, their manpower is rather spread out. The only notable teachers are the heads of department while the others are pathetic to say the least. As one would expect of a backwater island such as this one.

"The only value this kind of place has is the fact that the Inverted World is here, and the islanders latch onto it like a parasite." Erick shrugged.

"Now, shall we continue where we left off last time?"

###

The next day, Alice met up with the group again as Kale Grani. Every time Erick would bring up the topic of her joining the Zenia family, Alice would dodge the question embarrassingly as Erick assumed she needed more time to come to a proper decision.

If the day was to progress as usual, Alice would go on and do her own thing but that was not the case today.

Today, Erick invited her to the talks with the principal, surprising both Alice and Selen.

They didn\'t think Erick would take the initiative in such a manner despite the fact that Alice hadn\'t agreed to join the Zenia family yet.

Moreover, outsiders aren\'t usually privy to this kind of information.

\'He\'s definitely thinking with his d*ck.\' Alyss stated.

[With near certainty o\' master mine.] Cayla nodded by the side.

\'Even a blind person can see why he\'s doing this. Accepting this invitation is risky but rejecting it might piss him off considering the fact that you\'ve been dodging his questions all day long.\' Alyss followed up with a grin.

[Allow me to be… crass, o\'master mine. Please continue to act as though thou wanteth to pull down his undergarments and jumpeth onto his bed.] Cayla smiled, holding back a laugh.

Forcing a smile while clenching her fist until blood flowed, Alice cursed the two in her mind as she revealed the sweetest smile she could muster to Erick.

"I mean… If you don\'t mind me being there."

"Of course not. Now come, we must meet the principal of the Academy." Erick laughed as he wrapped his arm around Alice\'s shoulder.

The moment he did this, Alice revealed the slightest hint of killing intent that she couldn\'t hold back while glaring at his hand.

\'Hold it in!\' Selen shouted in her mind, giving Alice a warning glare.

Erick felt a chill but he wasn\'t sure what the source was as he pulled Alice closer.

Maintaining her smile, Alice seemed \'normal\' until you looked behind her collar.

The veins on her neck bulged to their limits as she held herself back from tearing off Erick\'s arm. Her smile wavered but Erick didn\'t notice.

With Selen giving Alice the silent warning, Alice who was mustering everything to hold back and Erick who was clueless to the ticking timebomb he pulled next to him, the group entered Academy grounds.