Abyssal Awakening

Chapter 132: Aftermath Of The Hunt

Watching Allura take Ria from Fulton, Gin sighed out before glancing back at Alice.

Even though she had deployed a firewall to block what happened from being seen by others, he still saw her actions.

'She actually copied his powers like what she explained during the fight against the Cultist… I didn't think it was possible and an exaggeration but it's clearly not the case. Allura knows what's going on but she won't tell me unless Alice does.

With Ria being there at the fight before, she must've seen this as well.' Gin thought with a frown as he picked up Alice and poured a vial of healing blood into her mouth before turning to Allura.

"We should leave this place."

"Alright. Let me just deal with this guy first." Allura chuckled as she twisted her body and kicked Fulton into the Leviathan, knocking him out from the force of her kick.

Nodding her head in satisfaction, Allura felt proud of what Alice and Ria managed to accomplish.

Ria managed to help them infiltrate the hunting party without drawing suspicion and stole the kill from under their noses. Not only that, but she also achieved the highest contribution allowing her to obtain the Sigil she wanted.

As for Alice, she managed to protect Ria from a sure hit attack that couldn't be dodged and even killed two five star Hunters. A vast improvement from the time she fought against the Maiden.

'Seems like the lessons have paid off. She used what she learned from the training against the Maiden to dodge the attacks.' Allura smiled as she wrapped them in fire before launching into the sky.

Meanwhile, Haerun kneeled in despair seeing everything that had just transpired. Two unfamiliar people had arrived just before they could kill Alice and rescued them from danger. His guards were either killed or knocked out and he gained nothing in this trip.

The only saving grace was the fact that the entire corpse of the Storm Leviathan belonged to him. In the Law of Agreement, it was stated that should the hunt fail, he was to gain full ownership of the corpse and receive compensation.

But his mind wasn't on his compensation. No, he wanted to know just who had ruined his chance at a new Sigil and stole everything from him.

"Find out who they are! I want a bounty on their head the moment we get back!" He shouted in anger while punching the floor in anger.

Gritting his teeth, he ordered his men to collect the two five star Hunters who were still alive. They still needed to harvest the corpse before going back and it was going to take quite a while.

###

"Hello, young Hunter."

Alice could hear a haunting voice ringing against her ear as the darkness constricted her, stopping her movements.

Trying her best to break out of her bindings, Alice found herself unable to activate her Sigils to defend herself.

"It's no use. I must say, I'm surprised anyone would even dare to eat the essence of a Blight Caller. Activating it granted you power and taking a bite would extend the duration. Yet you decide to eat it whole. You truly aren't afraid of death are you?" The voice chuckled as Alice could see a moving shadow approach her.

It was the familiar figure of the Blight Caller that had overlapped her the first time she had activated this power.

"Oh, so many questions yet no answer. Your body is a trove of answers and knowledge I have no privy to. Had it not been for the cursed flames protecting you, I could've opened you up and taken a good look for myself." The Blight Caller cackled as she wrapped her fingers around Alice's chin.

Furrowing her brows, Alice tried to fight back by biting her fingers, but she pulled back in time.

"What? Are you scared?" Alice smiled but the Blight Caller shook her head.

"No. But you my dear, seem to misunderstand the dark realm. Such waste indeed. The Abyss always wins in the end. You can run, you can hide, but the Abyss always catches up to you. You may think you are safe from the consequences, but you don't know you are already drowning in the deep.

"One of these days, the dark mother will forever welcome you into her sweet embrace and you will become a beast that the Hunters fear. So, enjoy it. Enjoy it while you still can, the pleasure of drinking the blood of the dark realm without care. The folly that comes with becoming drunk with power beyond your control.

"Continue to savour the blood of your enemies, take their powers as your own and when all that is said and done, you will be dragged to the deepest pits of the dark realm and drown." The Blight Caller smiled ominously as the darkness slowly unravelled itself, releasing Alice from her bindings.

Finding herself back in her mind where she would interact with Cayla, Alice laid on her back and sighed heavily.

Clutching her chest, she could feel her heart rate increasing as she thought back to what the Blight Caller had just said.

The words were like a guillotine hovering above her head, ready to descend when she least expected it.

She knew the beast was right. That she was taking her powers for granted.

Had it not been for her body, she wouldn't have survived against the Cultists, wouldn't have survived against the Maiden and would've died against the five star Hunters.

But it couldn't continue like this.

Her 10 years of reckless consumption couldn't be controlled but her life was her own now. She needed to use her talents with careful consideration.

'Nothing is free in this world. There is always a dagger in the dark, ready to stab you. How long do I have until the side effects catch up to me?' Alice sighed as she covered her eyes with her forearm.

'I'll choose something less risky for my third Sigil. See if I can kill it with just my abilities without drinking too much Abyss Blood.'

Taking a deep breath, Alice calmed her mind as she opened her eyes to reality.

Looking around her, she could see that she was sleeping in a carriage.

Just as she was about to sit up, Alice could feel pain shoot through her entire body as she flinched and laid back down.

"What the hell…" She groaned, understanding that this must've been a direct result of her consuming the Blight Caller shard.

"Seems like you're awake. Allura and Ria are still sleeping so let's keep it quiet." Gin's voice rang out as he climbed onto the carriage and sat opposite Alice.

Glancing at Gin, Alice could see that he was deadly serious as confusion filled her mind.

"I want to ask you some questions. As Ria's grandfather, I want to know more about who I'm leaving her with. Mainly regarding your body condition and how you can even think about eating a Blight Caller Shard without care. But most importantly, how you recover so fast without any mutations or side effects." Gin narrowed his eyes as Alice felt a chill down her back.

While she was comfortable with telling Allura, she didn't interact with Gin as much. To her, Gin seemed to be akin to a supplier who happens to be Ria's grandfather and an Abyss Lord level Hunter as well.

She didn't know what he was like and while she understood that he was worried about Ria's safety, Alice couldn't bring herself to tell him about her condition.

Seeing that Alice didn't seem to want to say anything, Gin frowned slightly and sighed before taking a drink from his flask.

"Then answer me two questions that don't involve you revealing your secrets. First, if word were to get out that you can copy abilities by drinking someone's blood, would anyone come hunting you down? People from your past before you met Allura?" Gin asked but Alice shook her head.

"Copying abilities happened recently… It never appeared before." Alice replied truthfully.

"I see… Then what about your strange recovery? What if word was to get out that your body can recover quickly? Especially if you drink Abyss Blood or eat objects that are concentrated Abyss Blood?"

Hearing this, Alice was silent. She thought for a moment before opening her mouth.

"I think… People will hunt me down. My old family."

Scrutinizing Alice for a moment, Gin nodded his head before standing up.

"Keep your secret safe then. Ria is a good kid, she won't tell anyone. So I want you to make sure your secret doesn't bring her harm."

Without hearing Alice's reply, Gin stepped away from the carriage.

"You frightened her. Not very delicate are you?" Allura smiled as she was leaning against a tree.

"Can't help it. Even after all my years as an Abyss Lord, this is the first time I have seen something so strange. It violates everything I know about the Abyss." Gin sighed as Allura understood his worries.

"She said her old family would hunt her down if her secret got out. Seems like it's something the Zenia's kept hidden from the world."

"You did your research." Allura raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, I did. But just out of caution, I had my friends get some information for me instead of the Underground. Alice Zenia, date of death was her 10th birthday. The Zenia mansion was invaded by intruders of a rival noble family and several guests as well as family were declared dead.

Alice being one of them." Gin recounted as he remembers Ria telling him about how Alice had a panic attack after seeing the Zenia's appear in Zadash.

"The details on that day had been wiped clean. There are only a few rumours on what had actually happened during the attack. The people who died were reported but those who witnessed had their mouths sealed. Even after using interrogation Sigils, they wouldn't reveal anything.

"Afterwards, the daughter of the rival family was married into the Zenia's and the two entered a truce.

"And now... A person who is supposed to be dead shows up alive and talking to my granddaughter. Not only that, she gets a strange flame that burns away Abyss's powers and a body that recovers far too quickly." Gin sighed as he glanced back at the carriage.

"I don't know what happened that day but 'Alice' shouldn't be alive. Yet she's here."

"The Zenia's hid her existence. Simply as that." Allura replied, hiding the truth and Gin knew that.

Staring at Allura silent, Gin shrugged and leaned back.

"Then let's just hope the Zenia's won't cause trouble."