Abyssal Awakening-Chapter 991: Faust
The moment the silver energy wrapped around his blade, Alice felt a chill run down her spine.
That energy...
That radiance...
Severance.
[Alice!] Cayla shouted.
"I KNOW!" ππππ¦ππππππ·ππ.πΈπ°π
Gritting her teeth, Alice stabbed her sword into the ground.
Now was not the time to think about defense.
If that truly was Alluraβs Severance, unleashed by a Nine Sigil Abyss Lord, then no defense would be enough.
She had to overwhelm it.
Offset it.
Break it apart before it could even fully descend.
Her fist clenched.
Energy surged violently through her veins as the crimson crown above her head ignited like a dying star collapsing into itself.
*BANG!!!
Abyssal energy erupted outward.
The Crown, the Heart, and the Eye of the Abyss aligned.
Resonance!
Reality trembled.
But Alice was far from finished.
Forceful upgrades.
Stat siphoning.
Tiamatβs power.
Inversion.
Void Fang.
Her personal artifact.
Bloodline release.
Every source of power she possessed ignited simultaneously.
The strange realm could barely contain it.
The hellscape around them began to collapse under the pressure alone. Rivers of lava surged violently, mountains cracked apart, and the skies above fractured like broken glass.
A calamity was unfolding.
Miki, watching from afar, could barely comprehend what she was witnessing.
Even the Leader of the Underground found it difficult to maintain an honest smile before this power.
Allura may have produced more energy with her attacks...
But was it as terrifying as this?
The man silently answered his own question.
No.
If Allura limited herself to just her authority, her attacks would not be as scary as this one.
After all, what he was witnessing, what he was sensing, went beyond simply power.
It was pure chaos.
Unnatural in all the ways yet so beautiful at the same time.
A fusion of forces that should never coexist at this level.
Abyss, Void, Eldritch, Holy.
Four dominions woven together and held within a single vessel.
Perfectly contained.
A bead of sweat slowly rolled down his temple.
For the first time since the fight began...
He realized he might have underestimated her.
He had wanted to test the girl. To see how far she could go.
But this...
This had gone far beyond anything he expected.
βAllura... What kind of monster did you raise?β
Taking a deep breath, he poured more power into the blade.
Originally he had planned to hold back, even while using Severance.
Not anymore.
Because if he held back now...
He might die!
Golden chains clasped around Aliceβs limbs as her shadow began to twitch violently.
Dark tendrils erupted from beneath her feet, linking with the wings of Tiamat.
Energy flowed through them like a raging storm.
Absorbed.
Condensed.
Refined.
Converted into something even denser.
Something even more destructive.
The air itself began to distort.
Alice slowly pulled her sword free from the ground.
She narrowed her eyes.
This would be her strongest attack.
No restraint.
No hesitation.
Everything she had.
Lifting her spare hand, a single slice appeared on her fingertip.
Energy condensed into her blood and a single droplet fell towards the ground.
Alice opened her mouth.
The final boost in power she needed to overcome severance.
"Second Resonance." She whispered.
That single droplet of blood feel against the ground and unfolded like a flower.
Petals of crimson spread across the ground, veins of dark energy branching outward like roots searching for soil.
Except the soil was reality itself.
A spreading darkness swallowed the hellscape beneath them.
The rivers of lava vanished first.
Consumed in the never-ending darkness.
The volcanic mountains followed next, their massive silhouettes disappearing into the tide of shadows.
The sky trembled.
Cracks spread across the heavens like fractures across a mirror.
From the cracks, darkness flowed forth.
The darkness was not empty.
It moved.
Slowly.
Like a living ocean beneath the surface of reality.
From the spreading darkness, a city surfaced.
A broken skyline clawed its way into existence, towers of scorched stone rising beneath violet flames that burned without consuming. Ash drifted through the air like snow, settling across streets drowned in crimson rivers.
Cathedrals twisted into jagged arches, their spires fused with writhing masses of flesh. Tendrils crept through shattered walls while spider lilies bloomed upon obsidian thorns that pierced the blood-soaked streets.
Gravestones rose from the river like ribs breaking through skin.
Each etched with Sigils rather than names.
Above the bleeding horizon hung a false moon.
Cracked.
Rotting.
Black ichor streamed from its wounds, and wherever the dark blood fell, fire erupted.
Then, on the reverse side. Through the reflections, the other city stood as always.
A flawless city.
Silent and lifeless.
Two worlds overlaying in one reality.
The Leader of the Underground found himself looking up at this place in awe.
How could a Second Resonance take such a form?
Reverie of Ruin: Litany of Dual Horizons.
The silent city boosted Void and Holy while this landscape of ruin bolstered Eldritch and Abyssal.
And for Aliceβs strongest attack, the focus of her energy shifted its effects.
For the current situation, Abyssal and Eldritch were fine!
The instant her Second Resonance revealed itself, she raised her blade and took aim.
Void Axis!
The moment she swung her blade, the world halted.
In that silence, the horizon split as a single line appeared across reality itself.
The Leader of the Underground barely managed to snap himself out of it before unleashing his own counter.
But against Aliceβs attack, it did little.
Everything was cleaved in half by an invisible axis that stretched beyond the boundaries of the realm.
For a moment it seemed as though the attack had missed.
But everything had already been cut.
Reality distorted and the line that severed the realm expanded.
Space ruptured, mountains collapsed. Blood rivers evaporated.
Despite being the owner of this realm, Alice realised in this exact moment that Void Axis was one that didnβt care about the environment it was in.
It had only one goal.
Cut everything and anything!
Hovering in the air, the Leader of the Underground had five reflective cards held between his fingers.
Four were crumbled and withered, turning to ash while the last one was on fire.
A cut stretched across his chest as blood seeped from his wound.
"Sh*t... Well thereβs a second scar upon this body now." He groaned, falling towards the ground.
Alice didnβt have a chance to care about the man as she was also exhausted.
The main drawback to her Second Resonance, despite its power, was the fact that it heavily drained her energy reserves. Not only that, but Void Axis had even destroyed the realm!
On top of the exhaustion, she now had to deal with the backlash of her own attack breaking her realm.
"F*cking hell... Yeah no this isnβt something I can use without thought." Alice groaned, unable to feel strength in her limbs as she sprawled across the floor. Thanks to her attack, both of the realms were shattered and now they were back in the office.
The man had his back against the wall while blood continued to drip.
Just as Miki ran over to help Alice up, they heard a groan.
A sixth card was pulled out.
"Urgh... To make me burn through six backups. Youβre the real deal." He laughed, pulling himself up.
Despite looking better, a scar was now formed on his chest.
"No wonder Allura cashed in on some of the favour last time." He took a deep breath and pulled out a cigarette.
Lighting it up, he blew out a cloud of smoke.
Alice stood up with Mikiβs help.
A frown hung on her face but an idea of who he was had formed in her mind.
"I suppose itβs time for some self-introductions. You can call me Faust. Abyss Lord of Mirrors."
"Alice. Alice Agnelia." Alice groaned.
Abyss Lord of Mirrors...
Direct yet also conceptual to some degree. Was his authority reflections?
Is that why her position changed and he was even able to hijack and steal certain attacks.
A troublesome opponent.
"Already thinking of ways to kill me if we fought properly. Arenβt you just a joy to be around?" Faust laughed before coughing violently.
Even though he went through his backups, the damage was still heavy on his body.
"So what is it that you wanted? I have some idea but itβs better to hear it from your mouth." He asked, glancing up at the portrait of Mikiβs father.
Alice and Miki stared at each other before nodding their heads.
"I want to reestablish the Nightingale family as a member of the Underground. I want to be able to access the resources like my father did." Miki requested as the man took a deep breath of his cigarette.
"That I can do. Itβs not hard." He nodded before turning to the two.
"But I wouldnβt recommend that. Keeping things at a transactional level is the best thing you can do right now. You so much as dip your finger into this line of business, you wonβt be able to leave.
"Even if you want to. The hyenas belonging to the Underground wonβt let you go so easily."
Faust pointed towards the portrait.
"You donβt know much about your father do you? Keeping a position in the Underground isnβt as easy as you think. He simply proved himself as a key member. So for a little girl like you, I donβt suggest doing the same."
He paused for a moment.
"You canβt handle it."
Miki opened her mouth. She wanted to say something then gave up.
She wonβt say something like she could handle it.
Because the things that happen behind closed doors in the Underground, she didnβt know anything about.
"However..." Faust grinned.
"We can make a different kind of agreement instead. One that wonβt give you the role of a higher up but allow you to use all of the services of the Underground."
