Abyssal Awakening

Chapter 314: Kaden Vs Thalassa

Narrowing her eyes at the man in front of her, Thalassa frowned in displeasure. His nonchalance and relaxed nature annoyed her.

Perfect food for her 'family'.

Without warning, the ground beneath Kaden started to twist as he glanced down and saw a pair of red eyes staring up at him.

*BANG!!!

Crashing through the ground as though it were a layer of water, a large underwater leviathan burst out with two sets of jaws and prepared to crush Kaden.

"Oh~ Seems like you're in a rush just like me. That'll certainly make things easier for us wouldn't it?" Kaden laughed.

From his shadow, a replica of the beast shot out, crushing the throat of Thalassa's beast.

Flipping through the air, he landed on the shadow beast's head and crossed his arms at Thalassa.

Even though he was joking around with her right now, he was actually taking this fight rather seriously. That beast just now was to test his reaction and power.

"So is that your gimmick? Summoning beasts from the ground as though it's water? Because if so, this should be a rather easy fight for me." Kaden narrowed his eyes.

Slamming his hand down, countless shadow tendrils shot out blades burst out from the darkness and cleaved towards Thalassa.

Gritting her teeth out of anger, Thalassa stomped her foot down as the ground around her transformed into the Abyss Waters.

From these depths, tentacles ruptured the surface and crushed the blades without any issue.

Glaring at Kaden, she silently commanded her family to rush towards him as he simply laughed and dived back into his shadow.

Just as he jumped away, an army of underwater beasts dragged his shadow beast into the depths and tore it apart with brutal efficiency.

*Whistle~

"That would've been pretty dangerous if I didn't get away huh? What now girl? Seems like I'm a bad match for you." Kaden smirked as he flicked his finger.

Similar to Thalassa, the ground beneath began to twist and change before transforming into a sea of shadows. Snapping his fingers, his beasts lunged forth and started to tear apart at Thalassa's 'family'. Blood began to leak into the water as the colour was dyed beast blood.

Seeing Kaden constantly bring out these unholy copies of her family, the Abyss Lord of Waters trembled with anger as she raised her arm and opened her mouth filled with sharp teeth.

Raising an eyebrow, Kaden paused in shock and surprise as she began to tear away at her own flash.

Muscles, tendons, bones. She tore through everything before throwing her arm into the water.

*RUMBLE!!!

Stumbling to his feet, Kaden furrowed his brows as his senses were warning him of danger from below.

Realising that Thalassa wasn't going to hold back anymore, Kaden created a surge of shadows around her before clenching his fist, instructing the shadows to crush whatever was within its grasp.

Yet a cage of bones burst out of the ground around her, protecting her from shadow and the dangers that would befall her.

From the gaps of the bones, Kaden could see her eyes shimmering with an ethereal glow while curling the corners of her mouth into a sadistic grin, revealing her sharp teeth.

*BANG!!!

Jumping up out of instinct, Kaden furrowed his brows as he watched nine skeletal heads tear through the ground while glaring at him. Each head looked draconic in nature with fractured horns and scales while mixed with gills and fins.

Judging by the reflection against the 'water', Kaden could assume that it's full size was comparable to some of the largest old Abyss Lords that the Will had sealed before.

Lining the side of its head were countless eyes that all glared at Kaden.

Feeling his vision waver, he realised that the beast must be one that hindered the senses of a person and immediately counter attacked.

Large spikes pierced up from its shadow against the water's surface, skewering it in the neck before detonating.

But as one dead was torn off, two more manifested with a devious grin.

'So it's that kind of beast.' Kaden frowned.

Snapping his finger, a cage of shadows twisted around the beast, forming thin threads that cut into its skin. From the wounds, countless small heads began to regenerate, fusing themselves with the shadow. But Kaden didn't stop, he continued to inflict countless small wounds upon the beast until it was nothing but a mass of writhing flesh, unable to move.

'Did Thalassa summon this to stall?'

Glancing over to the bone cage that Thalassa had created, Kaden tried to break it open several times to no avail.

With the beast before him now mutated beyond recognition, he focused his power into a single spear of shadows that floated beside him.

Narrowing his gaze, he commanded the spear to stab towards the cage!

A clash of power but to Kaden's shock, his shadow was repelled! Like a stream of water against a wall, his spear was unable to penetrate into the cage at all.

Furrowing his brows, Kaden wanted to continue his attack when the shell began to crack.

In a single blink of the eye, Kaden noticed a large cavity within the shell.

'She's out!'

Immediately scanning the area around her, Kaden tried to find his target to no avail.

Yet the moment he came to this conclusion, he felt a pair of hands wrap around his neck. Reacting immediately and turning into a mass of shadows, Kaden jumped away from Thalassa while clutching his neck.

Upon exiting her shell, Thalassa's form had changed. From the pale skinned girl to an underwater beast with large fins on either side of her face. A pair of large fish like eyes that shimmered with a menacing red.

Spikes and fins decorated her back as her skin was coated in a layer of scales.

Curling her lips into a grin, Thalassa opened her hands and revealed the spikes decorating her palms.

In the moment where she grabbed Kaden by the neck, she was able to inject Abyss Water directly into his body.

"Is that your plan? To inject the water into me so I get corrupted?" Kaden smiled as he moved his hand aside, revealing the wound around his neck.

In response to her excited expression, Kaden simply snapped his fingers and a layer of shadow wrapped around his neck.

Gritting his teeth, he quarantined the injected Abyss Water before tearing out a chunk of his flesh!

Shadows began to weave, repairing the damage.

"You may be the ruler of Waters, but my body is entirely shadow. What can you do?" Kaden grinned.

Little by little, his body began to break down and disappear while Thalassa began to sense her target all around her.

In every shadow, there was a piece of Kaden!

"My offensive abilities are weaker than most Lords. But my casting ability is top notch. Which is why casters have a tough time against me as I simply replicate whatever they do. And while casting is my strong suit, it's not what defines my abilities as an Abyss Lord." Kaden's voice echoed out while countless attacks erupted from the shadows.

Revealing a deep frown, Thalassa began to tear away at the attacks with overwhelming speed yet no matter how she tried to target Kaden, he was no where to be see.

"What I'm known for is being hard to kill." His voice rang out behind her.

*BANG!!!

A beast lunged up from the waters below in an attempt to kill Kaden but he only laughed as his figure disappeared once more.

Without knowing it, Thalassa had already entered Kaden's second Resonance!

The key to a strong second resonance was for the opponent to not realise it. With this in mind, they would be hesitant to use their own resonance in fear of revealing too much information. But by the time they realised what had occurred, they would've fallen for Kaden's trap!

Watching Thalassa fight off his clones within his resonance, Kaden was about to shatter the realm when a chill went down his spine.

Widening his eyes, he glanced back and froze up in shock.

A beast far larger than even the biggest Abyss Lord that he's ever laid eyes on. A singular leviathan head surrounded by a mass of tendrils, teeth and limbs.

With a single movement, the gargantuan beast wrapped its tendrils around the boundary of the resonance.

*CRACK!!!

Shattering the realm in an instant, Kaden jumped back with a deep frown on his face. Seeing Thalassa jump onto the head of this beast, he forced a smile.

"Well this isn't exactly fair is it? A two verses one. What a hassle."

However, it was still within his expectations. After all, casters who focus on summons at this calibre will no doubt have a summon that acts as the anchor of their abilities. For Thalassa, it would be this gargantuan leviathan.

Taking a deep breath, Kaden pulled his hair back so that the strands wouldn't get in his eyes. It was time for him to focus if he wanted to kill this Lord and take her as his eighth Sigil.

###

"Kaden and Lua have improved a lot since I last saw them. Do you think it's because of Alice? Her presence has changed many things within this memory. Lua's innovation being one of them." Nyer chuckled while sitting on a boulder.

Behind him, the Abyss Lord of Metamorphosis coughed up a mouthful of blood while being suspended in space.

All of his limbs were torn off and sealed with blades while Nyer was relaxed in front of him.

"Then again, I suppose her presence has also changed how I would do things. Yet it doesn't matter if she can't cross the final line. And unfortunately for you, you are not required in the final scenario." Nyer sighed as he turned his gaze to the beast in front of him.

"M-monste-"

Not letting the beast finish his sentence, Nyer flicked his finger and a myriad of tears in space erupted around the beast, shredding his body as he let out one final silent scream before being erased.

The Abyss Lord of Metamorphosis – Eliminated.