Abyssal Awakening

Chapter 404: Beast Within The Canyon

Agar's Canyon.

A Canyon named after Lord Agar, the previous Abyss Lord of Titans and one of the founding figures of the Verona Queendom.

During the fight against a Lord of the Extalia Kingdom, he sacrificed his life to release a single devastating slash that forever altered the landscape of the mountain. Even with abilities that conjure earth, Warriors discovered that the terrain could not be altered no matter what they did.

If they tried to fix the Canyon, the earth would crumble apart. If they tried to carve out the mountain, the excavated earth would crumble while the hole would mend itself.

Ignorant of this property, the Verona Queendom had lost a few miners who were tasked with excavating this mountain for important materials.

Riding the shaking carriage, Alice could see the Canyon in the distance. Flanked by two large mountains, a single path and a sheer cliff on the left and a mountainous forest on the right, Alice could feel her hair stand on end.

"Even after all these years, the aura of Lord Agar's strike persists to this day. Those with a high instinct stat like you will sense it clearly while those with lower stats need to be closer." Bo chuckled seeing Alice rubbing her arms while glancing at the Canyon.

"I'm more surprised that the earth refuses to be changed after his strike. Have people ever found out the true cause or is it just because he had that much power to alter the land?" Alice asked curiously.

She's seen the wreckages left by Lords and Apostles alike during her time roaming the Abyss. However, this was the first time she heard that the land refused to be changed.

"It's more to do with Lord Agar's abilities as the Abyss Lord of Titans. If I recall the stories accurately, his strike sealed a portion of the enemy Lord's abilities in the land. This essentially crippled one of the Lords belonging to Extalia while also making it so that his title couldn't be passed on unless he died.

"But you should take that with a grain of salt since I heard it from a Bard's tale. No one dared watch the battle between Lords as it would be a miracle should you survive. They are practically living breathing natural disasters after all." Bo laughed.

While the difference between six Sigils and seven Sigils may be just one Sigil, the gap was practically insurmountable. To attain the acknowledgement of the Abyss and be granted its blessings upgraded your body beyond mortal limits. No matter how much power someone has, without that blessing, no one would be able to reach their full potential.

"We're all familiar with the story of Lord Agar, captain. I don't see why you want to tell her about our history." Brynja grumbled while Bo shook his head.

"If Alice doesn't want to know, she'll verbalise it. I'm merely acting upon the curiosity she displays for our culture. If she wishes to learn more, I don't see why I should stop her." Bo lectured with a frown.

He wasn't sure why Brynja was being this petty towards Alice but he wasn't going to stand for it.

"Urg…" Gritting her teeth, Brynja bit her lip but nodded her head.

Making their way through the Canyon, Bo jumped off the carriage and kneeled next to some tracks.

Furrowing his brows, he placed his hand on top of the footprint. A wave of energy pulsed out from his body for a moment, knocking aside the snow.

"Got him." He muttered, standing up.

"The Mortis Necrothrax is deep inside this forest. From here on out, I'll be observing. Remember, work as a group to cover one another's weaknesses." Bo reminded as he disappeared into the trees.

Alice and Selen nodded at one another as they both jumped off the carriage and pulled out their weapons.

Splitting her shard into several fragments, she had them hover around each member of the party. Einar and Bjorn looked at the shard with doubt while Brynja furrowed her brows in disdain but didn't make a move to swat it away.

Doing so would just cause Bo to be angry with her.

With Einar taking the lead, the group followed behind with Alice creating a grid around them.

The moment anything approaches this grid, she'll notice.

As they walked through the forest, snow began to fall. Trees were blanketed in a layer of white while the tracks behind them were being hidden.

Alice could feel the coldness assaulting her body with the tip of her nose turning red. Forgetting that her resistance to elements had weakened thanks to her injured body, Alice was beginning to regret the action of making her outfit cute.

Just as she thought this, Bjorn halted the party.

Furrowing his brows, he grabbed a dagger and climbed up a tree.

Closing his eyes for a moment, his ears began to twitch.

"It's approaching, fast." He called out as flames condensed between his fingers and turned into an arrow.

"Positions!" Einar shouted. Slamming his hand into the ground, energy condensed around his palm as he pulled out a greatsword almost as tall as he is.

Both Einar and Brynja took a defensive position with their backs to one another without caring for Alice and Selen.

Seeing this, Alice could only roll her eyes and shrug at Selen.

"No matter." Selen ignored it and summoned her staff. Holding her sword by her side, she narrowed her eyes and scanned her surroundings.

Even though the Necrothrax was approaching fast, it still hadn't pierced the boundary that Alice had set up around them.

At that moment, Alice sensed a high speed projectile piercing through her grid.

Widening her eyes, she immediately gathered the shards at a single point and expanded the barrier.

*BANG!!! CRACK!!!

Shattering the shield in one go, Alice froze up seeing the large bone spike that was sticking out of the shard. Sparks of crimson lashed out from the bone as it began to erode the protective barrier.

Seeing this, Alice dismissed her shield and recalled the fragments.

While she was blocking the surprise attack, Bjorn took this moment to fire an arrow towards the source of the attack but there was no response. The beast had already left its position.

'Fast and it has ranged attacks.' Alice thought to herself with a frown.

If she could still use her energy, she would've sent out a pulse to try and detect the beast. But from the looks of things, Bjorn had already tried that yet it was still out of detection range.

Once more, Alice sensed a rapidly approaching projectile and gathered her shards.

*BOOM!!!

Before it could collide with the shield, it imploded into an array of violent crimson sparks that tore up the ground around them.

Selen created a barrier to deflect the attack, protecting Alice while Brynja formed a protective dome for Einar.

Bjorn was out of the range so he was safe from the attack.

"It's changing the way it's attacking. This one was clearly prepared for when I try to block it." Alice frowned.

However, it wasn't something they couldn't deal with right now.

"Let me know if it gets within range. You should remember my limit right?" Selen suggested as Alice nodded her head.

Expanding the range of her shards, her main goal was to find where the target was rather than block things. Selen and Brynja had it covered.

*BANG!!! BANG!!!

Two rapid hits, one from the north and one from the south.

'It's that fast???' Alice thought to herself in disbelief as it was still out of her range yet it was able to fire the second shot despite a small delay.

Gritting her teeth, she spun the shards in a circular motion around them.

This time, since the beast chose speed over power, her shards were able to knock the spikes barely off course as they slammed into the ground beside them, knocking up a wall of snow.

"What are you doing!? You're blinding our vision!" Brynja shouted in frustration as a vein bulged on Alice's neck.

'Ignore it, ignore it.' She chanted to herself in her mind as this was no time to be fighting with her 'allies'. The beast was the main concern.

While she may be able to kill five star beasts usually, this wasn't her usual state. She was vulnerable.

"West! It's preparing to fire again!" Bjorn shouted from the trees.

"Nah, not this time." Einar gritted his teeth.

Twisting his body, his muscles bulged as he slammed his greatsword into the ground and cleaved up.

*CRACK!!!

Erupting from the ground, a wave of destructive energy rushed towards the west while infernal chains flanked its sides.

"Rush it down!" Einar commanded, crouching down and jumping towards the west.

Looking at one another, Alice and Selen nodded. Without giving Alice a chance to prepare herself, Selen threw Alice over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes and jumped after Einar.

". . ."

'At least carry me gently or something.' Alice retorted in her mind jokingly while focusing on setting up a new grid with her shards.

Approaching the beast, Selen threw Alice away and planted her staff into the ground.

Activating her Sigil ability, a dome manifested around the beast just before it could escape.

However, it refused to be captured as its body turned into a blur. A flurry of bone spikes rushed towards Selen but Alice countered with her shards.

With the brief moment of safety that Alice bought, Selen was able to complete her skill as the dome collapsed and the strands of energy embedded itself into the beast's body and slowed down its movements.

Soon, its appearance could be seen with clarity.

[Mortis Necrothrax - ?????]