Abyssal Awakening

Chapter 382: Alice Vs The 'Product'

[Abyss Lord of Time: Miralith – ?????????]

Widening her eyes, Alice took a step back upon seeing the visage of a sealed Abyss Lord.

While it wasn't here in its true form, the pressure it exerted was no less than Tiamat from the Inverted Realm!

Seeing all of this, Nyer scratched his chin with amusement.

'Miralith huh? It's not the same Miralith I know from this time. Meaning this lass is from the future as well. . . Interesting.'

With the ritual zone established, Selen gritted her teeth as blood began to pour from her orifices but she continued the ritual.

Meanwhile, the beast tried to break out yet the barrier held firm.

Little by little, her movements began to slow down as the zone within the barrier slowly lost its colour.

Even without Cayla, Alice could tell that Miralith was slowing down the time within the barrier until it came to a stop.

[Once Miralith completely stops the time within the barrier, anything trapped inside will essentially be removed from the flow of time. In essence, they die.] Cayla explained using her previous knowledge of Miralith as a basis.

However, things didn't go that smoothly.

From inside the barrier, the beast narrowed her gaze as she could feel the withering of her body. The slow decay and the removal of time from within this barrier.

If she were to do nothing, she would die!

Die? No, she couldn't let that happen.

She had to survive! She refused to die in this place!

"ARGGGGG!!!" Letting out a cry of anger, briar thorns exploded out of the beast's back as it latched onto the barrier.

While it couldn't pierce it, the beast didn't care as it wasn't her goal in the first place.

*BANG!!!

Violet flames and red spider lilies blossomed across her body while strange marks appeared. It reminded Alice of Sigil patterns yet they were very different at the same time.

A fake Sigil.

"What the hell is this beast?!" Selen widened her eyes, clearly sensing a familiar power contesting against her ritual.

The briar thorns that exploded from the beast's back began to glow as pulses of blue energy could be seen rushing towards the main body.

*URAHHH!!!!

Letting out a roar, Miralith cracked her jaw open as energy gathered into a single orb.

Firing it towards the beast that was attempting to siphon her power, Miralith slammed her claws into the ground.

Within the barrier, light began to fade. The material that composed the floor and rubble cracked apart and was reduced to dust in the blink of an eye.

The briar thorns and the flowers withered while the flames reduced in size.

Alice wanted to assist but there wasn't much she could do right now. Anything she did would interfere with the barrier that Selen had established.

'It's not enough. The flame isn't extinguished, the… beast is still alive.' Alyss frowned.

The pulse of the fire held on as it flickered to a heartbeat.

*Ba-dum… Ba-dum…

With each beat, the flames would fight back before calming down.

Fight back then calm down.

With each flicker, it acclimated itself to the surrounding pressure of Miralith attempting to extinguish it. With each flicker, it anchored itself in this realm that was slowly being drained of time.

With each flicker, Alice could feel herself being drawn towards that flame.

Unknowingly, the violet flames that she commands began to manifest around her body.

"Selen, you should get back." Alice frowned.

She could feel the beast gaining more power with each pulse and soon, the barrier wouldn't be able to hold it back anymore.

Selen wanted to protest but decided against it. Seeing as how Alice's flames were beginning to sync up with the beast's, it was clear that Alice understood what was happening inside that realm.

Not only that, but Selen could sense her ritual beginning to fail with Miralith struggling to exert more pressure within the barrier.

It felt as though an invisible wall was blocking her, preventing more time from slipping away.

Clenching her fist, Selen nodded her head before pressing her palm against Alice's back.

"It's a slight speed buff. It's not much since the effects are diminished when used on someone other than me. But it should help you keep up to some extent."

Raising an eyebrow, Alice chuckled before nodding her head.

Watching Selen jump back, Alice placed her hand over her chest.

She could feel the beating of her own heart in tandem with the rhythmic pulses of the flame.

While their meeting may have been coincidental and should never have happened, now that she's here, a resonance has been formed.

Much like how a beast would feel threatened when an equally strong opponent was to invade their territory, Alice instinctively felt anger and threat towards 'herself'.

Only one of them can exist!

'Calm yourself. Don't lose sight of the goal and switch when you need to. We're not a one woman show, there's two of us here.' Alyss reminded, understanding that Alice's state was abnormal.

Not only was she psychologically stressed due to the revelation that she was a product all along and not even the Original Alice, but her body was also reacting strangely due to the presence of the beast.

*Fuuu…

Letting out a breath, Alice nodded her head.

'I know. I won't do something stupid.' Alice forced a smile even though she didn't feel like smiling.

She understood that neither Alyss nor Cayla could hear the ringing in her ears. A command that continued to echo while the flames fester within the boundary of frozen time.

KILL!!!

*CRACK!!! SHATTER!!!

Breaking out of the barrier, several thorns shot towards Alice.

Crouching down, Alice activated her partial Bloodline Release and dashed towards the beast without any hesitation.

Creating a sword similar to Void Fang using her blood manipulation, she activated the Shard of Kara.

Using the shard to defend her blind spot, Alice pivoted on her right foot and slashed down.

*KRKKK!!!!

Tearing apart the root using her blade coated in flames, Alice adjusted her grip into a reverse grip and parried two more attacks.

Just as a third thorn was about to collide with her body, the Shard of Kara slammed into it from the side, knocking the thorn off target.

Taking a deep breath, Alice manifested a wall of blood beads and sent it towards the beast. Each of the beads began to pulse as flames erupted from the centre. Sparks of light detonated within and it turned into a blanket of Void Fluxes!

*BANG!!!

Colliding with a wall of thorns, smoke and debris shot out while the beast furrowed her brow.

'Behind!'

Snapping her head 180 degrees, it watched as Alice burst through the smoke with her blade in hand.

However, she was ready for the sneak attack as she curled her lips into a wide grin and revealed her sharp teeth.

Clusters of thorns appeared behind Alice and exploded before she could jump out of the way!

Gritting her teeth, Alice could feel the thorns digging into the flesh on her back.

Now that she was face to face with the beast, she might as well get a good hit in before she distanced herself!

*KRK KRK!!!

Two rapid slashes, one on the right arm and one on the left.

Just as the beast was about to regenerate, Alice interfered and snapped her finger.

Metal stars stabbed into the beast's wound as red spider lilies blossomed!

First Resonance!

Looking at Alice who has flower patterns manifested on her face while her form shifted to match her Resonance, the beast unleashed a barrage of roots to force Alice away.

Panting heavily, she glared at Alice who looked at the thorns that squirmed beneath her skin.

Letting out a small chuckle, golden chains and cuffs materialised across her body.

The appearance of Alice's first Resonance changed to match Alyss as countless black limbs burst out of her shadow, clawing at her flesh, forcefully dug out the thorns and tossed them onto the ground.

Stitching her flesh together, Alyss narrowed her eyes and taunted the beast.

Gritting her teeth, the beast created a blade of thorns and removed her arms from the shoulder before regenerating new limbs, matching Alice's actions.

Grabbing the sword, she stabbed it into the ground.

At that moment, a ritual circle erupted around Alice, the very same that Selen tried to trap her in!

"That's not gonna work on me." Alyss laughed as she exploded with blinding speed and appeared next to the beast. Twisting her body, she kicked the beast in the head, sending her body flying into a wall.

However, the beast managed to leave a thorn in Alyss's stomach. But she didn't care for the damage and clawed it out forcefully.

Watching this short exchange, Selen winced at the thought of sustaining such injuries.

It didn't feel like a battle between a Hunter and a beast. Rather, it was more reminiscent of two beasts clawing at each other in desperation!

Looking at the beast who was pulling herself out from the rubble, Alyss frowned as she could see the beast improving with each second.

The longer they fight, the stronger the beast became.

Thus they must finish it as soon as possible. An attack to completely surpass their regeneration.

Closing her eyes, Alyss handed over the controls back to Alice as she reached into her pouch and pulled out a single orb.

Looking at the swirl of energy that seemed to resemble a screaming face, Alice apologised inwardly.

She wasn't able to free them or undo what had been done.

What she could do was grant them a chance at vengeance.

To foil the plans the Zenia's have worked towards and end the beast along with this Inverted World.

She was going to tune herself with this orb to create her Personal Artifact!