Abyssal Awakening

Chapter 373: Lords Of The Surface

To Alice, it was a 75/25 gamble. While she knew how the Zenia family operated and the basis of their thoughts regarding advancement, she had no evidence on hand.

The things she claimed just now were speculation based on her own understanding of the family and the hints she'd gotten from sources and their expressions.

All that was left was for them to admit it themselves.

*Clap… Clap… Clap

"Simply… Spectacular." Erick clapped his hands while letting out a small laugh.

"I had expected you to be taken aback by the news but it seems like you're a kindred spirit after all. And to think you'd actually figure out the truth behind the Personal Artifact… You'll be just fine in the Zenia family." He patted Alice's shoulder with a nod before turning to Michael and Melissa.

"Show her the first prototype so that she can bind herself to it. We'll leave for the docks in a moment to… welcome the new guests from the other Kingdoms." Erick waved his hand as he gestured for Selen to follow him.

Giving Alice an annoyed side eye, Selen followed behind while Michael and Melissa walked up to Alice.

"I didn't think you were the kind to think of this solution. Please, how did you come to this conclusion?" Michael asked with expectant eyes, wanting to see the thought process behind Alice's answer.

"Well… It's just the natural conclusion isn't it?" Alice smiled as Michael gestured for her to explain.

"He mentioned the two requirements. First, compatibility. Second, durability…"

Little by little, Alice explained her understanding and the reason she could come up with this conclusion.

###

Outside the room, Erick tapped his chin with a mysterious smile.

"What do you think of Kale?" He asked out of the blue, surprising Selen who continued to look forward.

"She's strange. An abnormality and a dangerous variable. But if used well, it seems like she can be of great value." She replied honestly while Erick nodded in agreement.

"Indeed. That mind inside her head is phenomenal. In the past few days that I've met her, she has never once shown this kind of capability. I mean who in their right mind would even think of the truth? She'll fit perfectly within this family."

"Yes, yes she will." Selen narrowed her eyes.

Alice was more of a wild card than she initially expected. While she may have known the truth about the Personal Artifact, it took her a while to find out. But one hint and Alice managed to think of such a diabolical solution to a question that plagued the common blacksmith.

Truly, it might've been better to dispose of Alice during the first night but now they're both entangled in the web known as the Zenia family.

###

"Ah~ Simply sublime~ Please, you must tell me more about the theory of souls more often!" Michael smiled brightly as he continued to question Alice regarding her thoughts.

In order to avoid suspicion, Alice only gave a slight insight to what she truly knew yet it was enough to enlighten Michael.

[That's because you had the benefit of visiting Ayr and myself. Being able to see the secrets of the world invisible to the naked eye along with witnessing the soul are opportunities that many scholars would kill for. Literally.] Cayla reminded as Alice nodded her head.

"Anyways, don't we need to leave soon? I still need my personal equipment, right?" Alice chuckled as Michael smacked his head.

"Right, my bad. I got too carried away ahahaha. Here, this is the node that will form your equipment. When you find the chance, sit down and focus your Sigil power into it and it'll modify itself to match your power." Michael smiled, handing over a crystalline orb to Alice.

The node looked similar to the Inverted World but with a swirling mass of darkness within.

Though it may be momentary, the darkness seemed to form a crying face as Alice winced inwardly before storing it in her pouch.

"I'll do attune to it later since we need to go to the docks." Alice chuckled.

Nodding his head, Michael gestured for the other guard to follow as they made their way out of Erick's room while Melissa gave Alice's arm a hug.

"Can I call you little sister from now? Fufu~ You should join the research department when we get back. I'm sure you can get a much better position as a researcher than you would being a combatant. Plus, what's so fun about fighting ugly beasts all day~" Melissa sighed while pulling Alice into her embrace.

"There's fun in both sides." Alice replied despite holding back the killing intent she had for this group.

Little by little, step by step.

Since entering the Inverted World was inevitable, she may as well kill them inside and find a chance to close it.

The principal will find it hard to deny the power of the three countries behind Zenia. If she were the one to make a move, it would be akin to declaring herself an enemy.

However, there was one exception. And that's for Alice to be the one to break the Inverted World from the inside out.

If she was the one to break the Inverted World while the Principal was under scrutiny, it gives her an alibi and dissolves the suspicions.

[The principal doesn't know about the new order. Meaning she cannot 'warn' us beforehand and can't pull anything either. If it wasn't for the fact that you approached Erick, we would've been taken by surprise.] Cayla furrowed her brows.

Truly, she never expected the Zenias to be able to rope in three Kingdoms into this negotiation.

At this point, calling it a negotiation was generous. If anything, it's more of an order.

'That's just how influential the Zenias are. They've pretty much got a monopoly of Abyss Blood on the surface and their reputation is rather 'good' as well. Not only that, but they also borrow the influence of the Church of the Moon with distribution. All these things combined make it so that not even the leader of these countries can take the family lightly.' Alyss frowned.

While it's speculation, they can only assume that the Zenias have access to several Abyss Lords at their disposal.

'Regardless, we need to find a way to break the Inverted World from the inside out. If we can't achieve that, we'll be giving the Zenias access to an unlimited supply of experimental subjects for their house of horrors.' Alice narrowed her eyes.

If they are able to make Personal Artifacts out of unborn babies, there's no telling what else they could do. They simply need the resources to experiment before trying it with real victims.

[It's as you say o' master mine. I'll try to think of a way to destabilise the space holding the Inverted World. But I need to warn you. Doing this could lead to two conclusions.

[If things go well, the Inverted World simply collapses in on itself and the space is repaired. If things go bad, the energy released by the death of an Abyss Lord would assault this island. It's going to be a gamble on which results we land on.] Cayla warned.

'I'll take that into consideration.'

Leaving the inn, Alice saw Erick waiting with Selen and gave her a small wave.

"Come, we must go to the docks. The ship carrying the new guests is about to arrive. I have to warn you though, even though you may be part of the Zenia family, you still have to show respect. Our guests are Abyss Lords, beings that can kill us with a snap of their fingers." Erick warned as Alice paused for a moment before nodding her head.

Considering the fact that the principal is the strongest beneath the Lords, sending Lords is the natural conclusion if they wished to force her to abide by the rules.

"Wait, they're really sending Abyss Lords to this backwater island? Why?" Michael furrowed his brows.

"That just goes to show how important this mission is. So we can't afford to fail." Erick winked.

To the public, this was a mission to find a solution to the pandemic. But to the Zenia's, it's an opportunity for development.

As they approached the docks, Alice didn't even need Erick to tell her that the Abyss Lords were coming.

Even from this distance, her senses were warning her of the passengers upon that ship. Beings who can flatten the island in mere moments.

Civilians who felt goosebumps but didn't know the source.

Hunters felt the looming sense of death and became on guard.

Alice felt the aura of a Lord for the first time properly while they weren't supressing themselves.

Allura supressed her aura, same with Kaden.

When she fought the Lords during the war in the Inverted World, she had power 'equal' to a Lord in terms of Sigil power. But now? She only had four Sigils and just their presence was enough to send her into a fight or flight response.

Holding onto her arm, Alice furrowed her brows as she followed silently and soon, they arrive at the docks where three figures could be seen stepping off the ship.

"Man what a bother. I could've just arrive here faster myself than to ride a slow ship." A young man complained.

He had long blue hair and a pair of emerald eyes and wore a loose fitting white outfit with scaled paddings on the arm, shoulder and waist. A red belt with a scabbard tied to the back.

"Have some self respect. We are here representing our nations. Don't do anything that will cause shame, even if you are a Lord." A woman reminded.

She had a pair of elongated ears pointed upwards and a pair of azure eyes with red markings along the edges of her eyelid. Platinum coloured hair and wore a knight's attire with plated armour across her body.

And finally, a man with a large stature, far bigger than the average Hunter and the same height as Allura.

He let out a silent huff and refused to say anything more.

Compared to the other two, he seemed far more aged yet his aura was the most potent. A man with greying hair and a full beard. A scar over his eye, nose and lip.

His attire consisted of a large fur collar cape hiding the thick leather armour below with chainmail and buckles.

These three were the Lords sent forth by the nations of the surface.