Abyssal Awakening

Chapter 276: Velouria's Successor

*BANG!!!!

As their blades clashed, Nyer watched in fascination as the space began to lock and crack!

'She's mimicking me!'

Twisting his body, he prepared to unleash a diagonal slash when Alice did the same albeit a little slower.

Clashing blades once more, the two were pushed back with Alice taking more steps than Nyer.

Yet despite this gap, she didn't dash towards him.

'Right now, she's a mirror. Recording everything I do. If I don't attack, she won't either.' Nyer narrowed his eyes.

She was a canvas that was slowly dyeing itself in his colours. And soon, it'll be a perfect reflection.

'Perhaps that's how she was able to copy Lua's attack and Kaden's casting… Is it Cayla? She has the crown… Has her majesty passed everything to her? Is that why she's been getting Lua and Kaden to train her?' He thought to himself.

He knew that Velouria's body was deteriorating but he didn't think she would've picked a successor already. Alice, a girl who came out of nowhere and possesses both the crown and Cayla.

Even though he should feel happy, a bitter feeling emerged in his chest.

His Master has resolved herself for death and aims to make the most of her life.

Taking a deep breath and sighing out, he glanced up at the sky and let out a bitter smile.

Painful.

His chest tightened up and he felt as though his heart was about to break apart. Therefore, as her loyal retainer, he shall do his best to fulfil his Master's final wish. He will train Alice as she expects him to, even if Alice is walking proof that Velouria has resolved herself to die.

Determination filled his mind as he turned back to Alice and entered an offensive stance.

He will imprint everything he knew, his combat experience and his techniques into her consciousness.

She will become the Sword, Cane and Shield of the Ayrian empire.

###

"So what do you think?" Enris asked as the three Surface Gods held another meeting.

They were currently sitting in Solaris' home while planning their next moves.

"Hard to say. 50% of me believes she's bluffing but you can never tell. Velouria is a monstrous b*tch after all." Solaris frowned.

Just that brief showcase of her power was enough to make them reconsider their plans.

"How's the recruitment of Nyer?" Enris asked curiously as Lunaria simply shook her head.

Even with the news that Velouria was going to die eventually due to the nature of the Abyss, Nyer refused to leave her side.

"Then I guess we're going with the backup plan. We'll help the Abyss expand and speed up her death." Enris laughed.

They knew the risks but Velouria simply held too much power. Even now, parts of their own believers are leaving and joining the Abyss instead. That wasn't something they could tolerate, especially if it's someone who's already one foot in the grave.

"You do realise that there's a chance that we need to deal with the Outer Gods if we go through with this right?" Lunaria sighed.

If she was honest, she would rather sit on the side and watch Velouria die instead of partaking like this. But it was a situation where either all of them agreed or none of them did. If it was just Enris and Solaris taking care of this then Lumiria risked getting targeted by them once they kill Velouria.

"To what extent? If we let her wither and die naturally, we'll lose most of our followers by then. Once that happens, what kind of state do you think we'll be left in?" Solaris shook his head.

"Who told her to lure our followers? If she simply behaved and hid herself in the Abyss then no one would care. Don't invade Ayr and I won't attack? Hah, what a load of sh*t." Enris laughed sarcastically.

'She can't exactly help if if your religion is sh*t…' Lumiria couldn't help but think to herself seeing Enris mock Velouria.

With how the Eclipse Cult operates, it was no surprise that people would defect to the Abyss. Who would want to live every day doing rituals, sacrifices and fighting? Not her that's for sure and not the believers that defected either.

As for her, she doesn't know why people reject immortality. It should be the perfect paradise for those frail humans with short life spans. She had to give them credit though, for such a short lived species they achieve remarkable feats.

'If only they were immortal then they could keep innovating.' To Lumiria, it was truly a shame.

"So what are we doing about Alice then?" She asked.

Out of all the people in the meeting, Alice was the one who made the biggest impression on her. It wasn't that she was strong nor the fact that she was absurdly weak.

Instead, it was her 'spirit' that interested her.

As the Goddess of the Moon, her authority was one that governed the spirit and soul. Yet hers was peculiar. Despite her appearance, her sound was remarkably young, far from the 20 years she claimed it to be.

But that wasn't the only thing. The outline of her soul, so blurred yet so dense at the same time. It's as though she was looking at a black canvas. A complete and utterly silent void yet so full.

It entranced her.

She wanted to know the secret behind such a soul.

"Are you talking about the sparring? We'll just have our Apostles teach her some random theories. It's not like it'll do her any good since she's just a three Sigil bearer." Solaris shrugged.

"So petty. I'm planning on having my Apostles teach her as much as they can in the time they're given." Enris grinned. Even though she disliked Velouria, she loved the chaos her very existence brought to the world.

It made this monotone life far more entertaining.

Heck, if Alice could learn from the Apostles then she wanted to see what Alice could do on a battlefield where there were no rules to protect her.

"What a waste of effort." Solaris frowned.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of a tiny three Sigil human? Aww does the big buff Sun God want a kiss on the cheek to make you feel better?" Enris mocked while blowing him a kiss.

"Tch!" Clicking his tongue out of frustration, Solaris felt as though a vein was about to pop.

"There's no need to try so hard in the first place since she's just a weak human. I'd rather spare my Apostles the effort." He scoffed.

"What a boring man. Isn't that right Lumi?" Enris laughed.

"No comment. But I do believe it is in our best interest to show a bit of effort. Or would you rather get on Velouria's bad side early?" Lumiria shook her head.

"Fine. I'll leave it up to my Apostles what they want to teach her then. Tch, what a waste of time. I'd still prefer to just kill Velouria here and now."

"Then you can go at it alone if you have the balls. I have to admit I'm rather interested in what the Abyss is planning now. If it establishes a connection with another realm then there may be more lands for us to rule." Enris laughed.

Seeing that these two were simply chatting away, Lumiris zoned out from the conversation as she recalled the sight of Alice's spirit. There weren't many things that were a secret to her in this life. As an immortal being, she has seen practically everything.

But Alice's spirit? That was a first. She looked forward to their next meeting.

Unbeknownst to these Gods, the human they marked as a weak being was now holding her own against Nyer!

Even if he was taking it easy for her to learn, she was still keeping up.

As the mirror reflection of Nyer's movements, she began to catch up. She understood the intent behind his moves, why he uses them when he does and what signs he looks for in order to use certain moves.

*CLANG!!!

Launching a stab, their blade tips collided as their timing has matched!

With their timing now matched, violet flames burned across Alice's body as she snapped her finger. Void Fluxes manifested around Nyer as he glanced around and twisted his body.

But before he could launch the slash, Alice jumped into his range and parried his attack before it could be launched.

Widening his eyes, Nyer was worried that Alice would get caught in her own attack.

Yet…

The attacks didn't detonate!

Her goal was to bait him into using this move. And once he did, he had already fallen into her trap. Ramming her shoulder into his chest, Alice activated partial Bloodline Release at the same moment to boost her physical power and caused him to stumble back.

A metal bar appeared behind his ankle, forcing him to adjust his stance.

Taking this chance, Alice entered a low posture and cleaved up with Void Flux – Cleave!

*BANG!!!

Parrying the attack with the face of his greatsword, Nyer managed to redirect the slash elsewhere before launching a punch towards Alice that was dodged.

Just as Alice was about to slash towards Nyer's head once more, a blade appeared next to her neck.

Pausing in a mixture of confusion and shock, Alice glanced back and saw Nyer standing there with a smirk.

"You simply copied what I let you copy. Did you forget about acting weak and surprising them with your trump card?" Nyer laughed as Alice snapped out of her trance-like state and sighed in annoyance.

"Yeah well, some people have one trump card maybe two. You have like five hundred, tch." Alice clicked her tongue. It felt like every time she had Nyer on the ropes, he would reveal that she's been dancing on his palm this entire time.

"That's what allows me to survive against these abnormal geniuses. Now let's take a break and reflect on what you've learned." Nyer laughed as he patted her head. Looking for a suitable boulder nearby, he slashed his sword a few times and turned it into a set of tables and chairs.

A skill he mastered for Velouria when they were travelling through the Abyss.

Perhaps it was fate for him to use the same skill for Velouria's successor.