Abyssal Awakening

Chapter 289: Seizing Control

Breaching Alice's Absolute Zone in an instant, Allura used her flames to guard herself against Alice's attack.

"Tch!"

"Too soft!" Allura grinned, forcing Alice into retreat.

Even though Alice's zone was impressive and her defensive capabilities had increased by several fold, it was still lacking when it came to stopping someone who focuses on physical power. Against casters like Kaden, she may have the upper hand.

But a physical fighter? A horrible matchup.

"Just because you can wield a sword and swing it, doesn't make you a good close ranged fighter! Figure out your advantages and use them!" Allura shouted out, slamming her fist into the ground.

*CRACK!!!!

Cracking the ground apart, Alice stumbled momentarily as she lost her footing.

"My first and second Sigils focuses on controlling the fire around me. My third, lets me concentrate the flame in order to increase my firepower." Taking a deep breath, Allura pulled back her hand as the air began to crackle with sparks.

The fire around her fist started to flicker and roar before erupting with a radiant white flame.

Watching Allura punch towards her direction, Alice widened her eyes as all of her senses were warning her to dodge!

'I'm too slow!' Realising her predicament, Alice could only force herself to block the attack head on.

'Do you really think you can block it? Hah! Blocking it means death. So what do you think you should do right now goody two shoes?' [Alice's] voice rang out in her mind as Alice bit her lip.

However, her distress soon disappeared as she curled her lips into a grin.

'There's only one choice. Eat it!'

Adjusting the grip of her sword, Alice swung down as violet flames roared out, colliding with Allura's punch!

But it wasn't enough. Activating her Partial Bloodline Release, the manifestation of her hunger appeared behind her as a sea of violet flames enveloped the attack and compressed it into a single point before extinguishing it.

"Thanks for the meal." Alice wiped her mouth as the flames across her body began to flicker. Within the array of violet, sparks of white could seen as Allura let out a laugh.

"What a cheeky brat. Since you like it so much why not have a second serving!" Letting out a shout, the flames around Allura grew in intensity as Kaden sighed.

Flicking his finger, a barrier of shadows enveloped the entire area, preventing destruction from spreading out.

With the explosive growth of her flames, Allura looked like a flaming demon from the pits of the Abyss. Her hair flared up from the aura as she snapped her finger.

Taking a page from Alice's book, multiple Nova Cores manifested around Alice but she continued to grin.

A trail of violet flames escaped her mouth as she surrounded herself in a wall of slashes, destroying the attacks in an instant.

Breathing out a mouthful of air, Alice synchronised herself with her flames. Everything the fire destroyed, she 'ate', and her aura spiked due to it.

Crouching down, she activated her Resonance as the Crown of the Abyss manifested above her head.

Surprisingly, her transformation was different to usual. Instead of the violet hue that her hair usually took due to her flames, it remained as a split between black and white like in her normal state. Only this time, it favoured the black side with a few strands of white scattered across her hair.

*BANG!!!

Charging forward, Alice absorbed a portion of Allura's physical prowess from consuming the flames!

The speed had surprised even Alice, but she managed to react in time thanks to Cayla.

Twisting her body, she unleashed a Void Flux – Cleave towards Allura.

"Weak!" Catching the blade between her fingers, Allura shrugged off the attack as Alice noticed a fourth Sigil manifesting on Allura's body!

Sensing that something was wrong, Alice wanted to back off but a wound appeared on her left arm.

Widening her eyes, Alice watched as her blood was thrown into the air from the attack, unsure as to where it even came from.

"Fourth Sigil, Rupture." Allura grinned as Alice jumped back.

Recalling her blood, her wound began to heal thanks to the effects of her Resonance.

Focusing her eyes, she could see the energy belonging to invisible blades hovering around Allura.

'Rupture… Seems like she creates invisible blades to strike at her opponent. While people are too distracted by her head on fighting, they'll have no time to react to the blades beside her.

"It's nothing complicated. Rupture simply allows me to 'record' my sword style and have it fight alongside me. The downside is that it can't react to changes easily unless I overwrite the recording. As for the second function, once it leaves a 'mark' on you, you can't heal it even with Abyss Blood." Allura narrowed her eyes.

With a single flick of her finger, the wound reopened!

Rushing towards Alice while the invisible blades floated beside her, Allura coated herself in flames once more, making it hard for Alice to strike back.

"What happened to that earlier attitude? Thought you enjoyed the meal?" Allura taunted while Alice was forced on the defensive.

Recalling Siera's footwork when defending against attacks, Alice began to mimic her movements while parrying the invisible blades using Zone Stance.

She needed to make sure she didn't get hit by a single blade or else the wound was there to stay!

'Are you still asleep? Do you really think you can match Allura while holding back? Where's the drive, the hunger, the intense desire to kill even if you're wounded? Don't just throw me out there, use me properly sh*tty host.'

This moment of distraction caused one of the blades to cut Alice across the shoulder as she quickly backed off but Allura continued to press on.

'You keep talking sh*t but you're just here to take over aren't you?' Alice scoffed inwardly while attempting to consume one of Allura's invisible blades, but she was prepared and dismissed it before the flames could reach.

'Take over? I think you've got the wrong idea here roomie. We're both owners here. Do you think I'm not making a move because I can't? I'll admit that Velouria's seal is surprisingly sturdy but to wrestle control isn't hard.' [Alice] laughed.

And to prove her point, she stole control from Alice!

Golden chains burst forth, surprising Allura as she jumped back to create some distance.

Despite the golden chain that wrapped around her limbs, [Alice] simply grinned as she stretched her body.

Killing intent burst forth from her body as she overlayed all of her physical augments in one go at full blast! Partial Bloodline Release, Resonance, First Sigil and Allura's strength from her flames!

*BANG!!!

Appeared next to Allura, [Alice] revealed an insane grin before cleaving down with her blade. As expected, Allura was able to react but that was never [Alice's] main goal.

A foreign marking began to spread across her arm as horns appeared on her head along with a pair of draconic wings on her back!

Red lightning and flames burst forth, fusing with her violet flames.

"Tiamat!" Allura inadvertently shouted out in surprise.

Raising her guard out of instinct, Allura felt Alice's punch collide with her arm as a surprising amount of force slammed into her body, forcing her to slide back but [Alice] wasn't done yet.

Flicking her finger, the space around Allura was sealed as she was halted mid movement while the air above her erupted with Void Fluxes. From these orbs, Void Flux – Cleaves descended upon Allura, forcing her to retreat.

"Not yet!" [Alice] shouted out with a laugh. Slamming her hand down, black appendages with teeth erupted from the ground. The very same appendages that could be seen on the manifestation of Alice's hunger!

*KRRR!!!

An array of slashes erupted from the centre of this bombardment as Allura was forced to use her fifth Sigil!

"Berserker's Flame. The closer I get to death, the stronger these flames burn and the stronger I become. It boosts the potency of all of my Sigils." Allura explained as the invisible blades carved away all of the attacks that [Alice] had launched.

"Is that so? Let me get a little serious as well then. One must dress to the occasion if they're dining at a fine restaurant. And you are simply divine." [Alice] grinned while aiming her sword at Allura.

Blood escaped from her arm as it was drawn into the blade. Twisting her body, she cleaved the air in front of her, rupturing the space and revealing a landscape of crimson flowers.

With this slash, another foreign marking appeared on her body.

But before she could continue, the golden chains tightened around her body. From the void, another chain shot towards her neck, forcing her on her knee.

"Tch! Spoiling the fun! F*ck you Velouria!" [Alice] shouted out in annoyance as her power began to fade.

With her control slipping, the ruptured space began to repair itself before disappearing.

Regaining control of her own body, Alice panted heavily as she could feel the pathways inside her body screaming out in pain.

As though a thousand needles were stabbed into her and then subsequently dragged across her skin, she barely mustered the strength to stand up properly.

'How the hell did the other me withstand this pain.' Alice gritted her teeth while narrowing her eyes at Allura.

Even though her hunger was now restrained, she could still remember the sensations of conjuring these abilities. How [Alice] would tap into one of the many connections tethered to the Spiritual Heart in order to bring out its ability.

But it wasn't a simple case of manifestation. No. To use the powers, it was an act of exchange. To manifest the ability, she had to temporarily 'replace' one of her Sigils with the new one.

In essence, reconstructing her body and the contracts mid fight!

Right now, [Alice] had replaced her first Sigil with Tiamat and the third Sigil with a beast known as Blood Blossom Demon.

Naturally, she couldn't keep overwriting her contract since her body could only take so much, even with her insane regeneration.

But it was enough to keep up with Allura!