Abyssal Awakening-Chapter 626 : Apostle Of War

Checking around him, a robed figure made sure that no one was around before entering a cave a little distance away from the Empyrean Dragon Sect.

A cave that offered them a good view of the city in its entirety and the surrounding landscape.

Immediately, he could feel a dark presence wrapping around his body and sending chills down his spine.

No matter how many times he has experienced this, he has never gotten used to it.

Once the feeling disappeared, there was a strange marking around his eyes as his vision of the world shifted.

What was unseen could now be seen.

Lurking within the cave, a twisted amalgamation of eyes, eye sockets, jutting bones and hallowed flesh.

Upon sensing the robed man's gaze upon its figure, all of the pupils across the creature's body constricted, focusing on the man, scrutinising his every detail.

After a period of silence, it cracked open its eye-filled head, unleashing a horrific screech like that of chalk against a blackboard. Its body contorted, lunging towards the man like a rabid beast before lifting him up in the air and shoved the robed figure into its stomach.

Closing his eyes momentarily, the robed figure was soon overwhelmed by a sense of weightlessness before things turned back to normal.

"It's good to see you dear boy. How was it? Seeing your old friend?" A woman's voice rang out as the man opened his eyes and saw her perched upon a twisted throne within this secret realm.

A cosmic swirl of stars and galaxies was painted across the skies with fragments of land circling in an arc around the location. Broken pillars, ritual sites and a broken statue decorated this desolate realm.

And in the middle, a single woman.

Her form ever shrouded by blackened mist, hiding her appearance from the world.

"He's changed." Was all Ye Shen could say.

It was no longer the Jin Yusheng that he knew of the past. His martial arts were different, his gaze was different.

Everything had changed yet he was still the same. Still a candidate, still under someone's control.

A small yet bitter smile appeared on his face, different from the theatrical grin he had when messing around with Jin during their encounter.

"Oh hou hou~ Let's hope he hasn't changed that much. I still need him after all." The woman laughed, gesturing for Ye Shen to step up.

Following her instructions, he closed his eyes as she placed her palm against his forehead.

After a brief moment of silence, she nodded.

"The foundation is still there. There will be no issues. However…" The woman trailed off with a slight frown.

"There's an anomaly with him."

She couldn't help but wonder if this woman next to Jin was sent by Enris. She knew exactly how Enris operated. If it brought more chaos and entertainment, even if its to her own detriment, Enris would allow it.

It's why she's been given the freedom to do whatever she wanted. Enris neither cared nor bothered so long as it was entertaining.

But this woman that's next to Jin…

She had polarising sources of energy within her body. One that she was familiar with, divinity, and one that she's recently grown accustomed to.

Eldrich.

'Those at the Sun and Moon wouldn't cooperate with the Outer Gods. Famine isn't someone to do something like this. She's more preoccupied with her own issue right now.' The woman thought to herself while tapping her fingers against her throne.

Not long ago, an old… acquaintance of Famine appeared and she's been busy ever since.

Right now, the only one active within the faction of the Eclipse was her.

War.

Therefore, if the chances of it being Famine were practically non existent.

'It must be the Goddess then.' War furrowed her brows.

If Enris sent this woman with a clear indication of Eldrich and Holy energy within her body, then was it a sign that she knew what's going on? A warning perhaps? Or was it permission?

Knowing her Goddess, the chances of it being permission were high. If it was a warning, Enris wouldn't do something round about like this. She'd intervene directly.

Something like this would be considered 'interesting'.

Coming to this conclusion, a grin appeared on War's face.

"Prepare the candidates. This… festival celebrating the Empyrean Dragon Sect will soon turn into a theatre of blood."

Nodding his head, Ye Shen turned around and left the private realm while War closed her eyes once more.

Around her, the energy twisted as though it was alive.

A faint tether connecting her vessel to an invisible space above her.

She could easily make a move herself but she was acting as an anchor for the Outer Gods.

Straining herself would stress the connection that she's barely able to establish.

However, she doubted she needed to make a move. If she did, why did she recruit these people to begin with? Why did she train them?

It was all for this day.

Once she was done, a new conflict will grace this world. A beautiful, everlasting era of conflict.

And within this, she'll rise up as a new divinity. She'll usurp the divine throne of the Eclipse and become the God of War.

###

After leaving the main hall, Alice and Jin made their way to a restaurant as Alice slumped down in a chair and practically melted.

"What a pain." She grumbled.

Now that both Sect Leader Jian and Old Man Mo knew of her identity, fighting them properly on the stage to steal their martial arts was probably going to be impossible.

Especially in the case of that Old Man.

Even if she was to try and dodge everything, she'll probably lose in an extended fight.

Of course, there was the option of using her new… 'bomb' that she created.

But there were several glaring flaws for this attack.

Flaw number one, she's not excluded by the attack.

When detonating, not even she could access her Abyssal energy. Had it not been for the Void helping out, she would've suffered heavy damages.

Number two, if someone is prepared, it can be easily countered.

Both Qiu Qiu and Jin were behind rubble and pillars when it detonated, allowing them to avoid the main blast. With energy still reinforcing their bodies, they were able to survive basically without a scratch with the exception of a few minor burns. Naturally, these could be healed pretty easily with Healing Vials.

The bomb itself was good at erasing energy but bad at dealing damage.

If she was to use this attack mid fight and it fails, it'll put her in a state of weakness, exposing herself to the enemy.

And that was the last thing she wanted.

Plus, after experiencing a fight against two Lords, it reinforced Alice's belief that fast casting and hand to hand were the most important aspects.

Even if she was to create distance, there wasn't enough of a chance for her to use her stronger skills aside from Void Flux and its different variants.

Her new skill was incomplete so she didn't have a full image in her mind. Not only that, but the attack she used back in Caethis at the beach took too long to charge.

Had she tried to use that attack, she would've been found dead and buried before her attack even went off.

'Sect Leader Jian was holding back too.' Alyss spoke up.

It was clear that he could've easily subdued them had he used his full power but he was holding back. Perhaps it was to not cause chaos at the festival or perhaps it's because they didn't show signs of wanting to kill them.

Regardless, they couldn't underestimate Lords.

[That's true to some extent but at the same time, it would've made the fight easier for you two. It seems like his main power is Anti Beast. A transformative one at that. Against you two who focus on Anti Hunter and fighting one on one, the benefits it gives him are outweighed by the negatives.] Cayla spoke up.

The most uptodat𝓮 n𝒐vels are published on freёnovelkiss.com.

'I see… but in the end, it's still an issue of speed and power is it not?' Alice shrugged.

Without enough speed, they can only rely on hand to hand and barely being able to react to stuff.

Even with her newly created martial arts, Alyss was only able to even the playing field momentarily at best. She was still being pushed back by Old Man Mo through pure strength.

'I think we need to change something fundamental regarding my way of casting.' Alice contemplated as ideas started to appear in her mind.

A way of spell casting to allow for the fastest attacks while maintaining the power and efficiency.

And most importantly, a way to properly harness the energy within her body.

Right now, she was a walking miracle.

A somehow harmonic merge of four polarising energies all existing within one container.

Abyss, Void, Holy and Eldrich.

The first three she has some experiences in controlling.

Holy energy being one that required the use of her relics. Crown, eye and heart.

Eldrich was something that Alice didn't want to think about just yet considering its nature.

She then recalled how Ria fought when they were still travelling around.

Little by little, the foundations of a new casting method began to appear in her mind.

It's all theory right now. She simply needed a good chance to test it out.

Even though her identity might be exposed to the Sect Leader and Old Man Mo, Alice doubted they'll make a move on the main stage.

Not after proving that she's not an enemy.

Therefore, she'll rejoin the competition. But not as her disguise.

No, this time she'll crash it and challenge anyone who wanted to fight.

Not only to improve Alyss's martial art but to also put her theories to the test. If it succeeds, this new casting method could potentially overturn everything that Kaden taught her in the past.