Abyssal Awakening

Chapter 467: To Stare At One's Reflection

Sensing the uncanny energy from the hybrid all the way to the west, Alice's lips curled up into a twisted smile as killing intent began to radiate from her body.

From Keira's current path of travel, if Alice was to do nothing, Keira will be lost in the Void having missed them entirely. But that was a fate too good for her.

She could still remember the sense of death, the desperation she felt as she watched the meteor. Of course, the brush with death allowed her mind to be opened to more theories and her potential unleashed but Alice wasn't about to let Keira have an easy way out.

No, that's far too good of a fate.

Three times they've encountered one another. The first was her loss as she was forced to escape at the watch tower. The second was her win as her friend came and saved her in the nick of time. And the last? A tie for neither of them managed to severely hurt one another and was transported into the Void.

Alice had never fought a proper opponent four times but she was going to end it now.

Standing up, Alice gave her body a stretch as she took a deep breath.

But patience is key. She was going to get Selen and the other's out first before attacking Keira without a care for spectators. She'll use everything of hers to thoroughly crush Keira's soul and spirit before killing her.

Sensing the malicious thoughts from Alice, the woman shivered.

'Twisted little sh*t.' She couldn't help but think to herself.

"If I deal with her quickly, you'll teach me something new right? And is there a limit to how much damage I can cause to the realm?" Alice asked, wanting to make sure the owner was fine with her trashing parts of the house if needed.

"Go wild. It's not like the Void can't recover from the damage anyways. It's mostly just floating rocks, debris and Vaults. If anything, I'd be more concerned about you destroying some random family's vault and they send their goons to you." The woman shrugged while smoking her pipe.

Nodding her head, Alice jumped down to the islands below. She could see that most of them were resting while Torgeir was trying to organise things.

Seeing Alice, he quickly ran over as he learned from Selen that she was the one who sent them here.

"Before you ask anything, I'll make a portal so you can take everyone out of here. I need to finish what I started and deal with the f*cker that tried to kill us with a meteor." Alice held up her hand as she was sure that Torgeir had plenty of questions.

Overhearing Alice, Selen frowned.

"Are you seriously fighting again right after breaking out of that crystal???" Selen shouted over, while Egil tried to calm her.

"Ehehe~ Just one fight. I need to get revenge for the sneak attack after all. And surely you don't expect me to leave her be after almost killing all of us?" Alice stuck out her tongue.

Wanting to retort, Selen choked on her words as she too wanted vengeance against the hybrid.

Plus, having this kind of ticking time bomb trying to track them down was going to be annoying. It was no wonder that Alice forced herself to stay awake all this time. If it wasn't for her, they wouldn't even be here right now.

"Fine. How confident are you?" Selen sighed. After all this time, she understood that stressing about Alice's choices would only age her. Alice was stubborn after all.

"I'm feeling pretty confident. This is practically home ground after all." Alice gave her an ok hand sign and a grin.

With her recent adaptation to the Void, she felt stronger than ever. It felt as though the entire realm moved to her command. Naturally, that's not the case since the woman earlier is the true owner but it was just a feeling.

"Just don't come back unable to move and I'll be happy." Selen waved her hand as Alice nodded her head.

Meanwhile, Torgeir stood there in silence with countless questions in his mind.

There's one thing he understood though. To nod and have Alice send everyone back. There's no point trying to understand the weird split haired sadistic war machine over here.

Gathering everyone onto one island, Alice activated her personal Artifact and used the Singularity mode.

Using it as a catalyst, she created a bridge back to reality and had Torgeir lead everyone out.

Waiting until she was the last one, Selen turned back and make a cut on her arm. Filling a small vial with her blood, she threw it towards Alice.

"Use it if you need."

"Will do." Alice chuckled, giving Selen a wave.

Once she was gone, Alice closed the portal and sat down. Sweat dripped down her body as keeping a portal open long enough to send everyone through was rather exhausting.

But now that they were gone, she could take this chance to recover and take her time with preparing a sneak attack.

One attack on the level of the meteor that Keira unleashed. However, she also needed to make sure she could fight after unleashing that one attack. She needed something powerful but not disable her right after.

To measure out her current limits and work within that boundary.

She couldn't replicate the attack that she did back in Kvia, doing so would leave her defenceless if Keira survives.

'I need something powerful. Something that can guarantee a solid hit against that armour of her's and destroy it to pieces. Void Flux isn't enough anymore. Even if modify it for the piercing variant the damage it deals will be healed in an instant.' Alice thought to herself.

She thought about all the Sigils she had. All the powers, all her knowledge and even the new ideas that she executed earlier.

The paradoxical energy of the Void that flowed through this realm.

She was going to use it all to create a new attack. One that belongs to Alice Agnelia.

Not a variant of Void Flux, not a enhancement of her cleave. A brand new strike designed to pierce through armour.

In order to do this, she had to remember the origin of Allura's Nova Core. The skill created for her by Kaden.

It's a skill designed to contain all of Allura's power with all of her Sigils.

Therefore, Alice must think of something that encapsulates all of her powers.

Fire, Blood, Metal, Void and the newest addition, Ruin.

Flames cancel and eat away at abilities. Blood acts as the outline, a malleable shape for her skills and creations. Metal acts as reinforcement. Void tears apart the target between two dimensions and navigates space. Ruin…

Ruin siphons, adapts and enhances at the cost of creating a rift. A double edges sword with a powerful strike.

Aside from her Sigils, she has her Resonance and the Artificial Resonance from her personal Artifact.

Closing her eyes, Alice began to piece together the skills like a puzzle. The benefits of each ability, how it would synergise, how the energy flows and how it may conflict with one another.

Even with her awakening, she struggled to combine them. This only further increased her respect for Kaden as she understood just how hard it was to create something from scratch.

She couldn't just throw all her energy in one direction either, without a proper idea of what she wanted to do, it'll just be wasted effort.

*Drip…

Hearing the sound of a water droplet, Alice opened her eyes and found herself in an empty realm of white.

She recalled the lesson she had with Nanna, the Apostle of Immortality. To observe one's reflection and see the truest part of your soul.

It was at that moment that she saw her twin. The soul of the original Alice.

But if her twin was to sleep, what would she see within herself? What is the Soul of Alice Agnelia? Product of Nyer, student of Kaden and Allura.

Slowly, a mirror appeared before her and Alice slowly raised her hand.

She could see a slight tremble. She was still afraid to see herself, to see what Nyer had created.

Letting out a small chuckle, Alice took a deep breath and reinforced her gaze. She had already made a vow back in the Inverted World. Whatever the answer is, she is Alice Agnelia. She knows her family, she knows her purpose. Thus, her path is clear.

###

Noticing the fluctuation of energy around Alice, the woman couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. There were several influences in her meditation right now. Methods of the Moon, ideologies of the Abyss and the nature of the Void. But she wasn't getting lost in this information.

In fact, she was thriving in this. Her aura was experiencing changes as she reflected on her own soul. A new metamorphosis different to the adaptation to the Void.

*BANG!!!

The ground fractured around Alice as the woman felt a chill. A chill from looking at something so unnatural that your body and mind rejects every notion of that 'thing' existing in the same plane as you. A primal repulsion from seeing something so unholy you cannot accept that it exists.

But the strangest aspect was that Alice's energy started to condense behind her. A spectral woman began to form.

Her body was created from the Void, a stellar darkness filled with glimmering stars. Long flowing white hair that danced as though it was underwater. Imprinted upon the hair was a crown like silhouette.

Slowly, her eyes began to open. On the left, the icon of red spider lilies. On the right, a singularity.

From partial to full, Alice activates Bloodline Release!