Shadow of the Abyss

Chapter 223: Ashen Blood III

On the bed where he'd left her, Altair stood to his feet draped in the robes of Tenebrae. He strapped Shadowclaw to his belt and conjured Aurora from out of the depths of his soul.

"Get her cleaned up," He commanded.

The journey down the southern tower had been a long, dark walk racked with such guilt and shame. He could not bring himself to face Reina, not after how he'd taken her. He couldn't understand how or why she didn't fight back or why she allowed him to do as he pleased. But by the time he'd come too, she laid in a slop of their making.

Three weeks had slipped through his hands like water.

"There's our conqueror," Tasha shouted. Waiting for him outside the tower, she grinned. "Any longer and might have joined. A vigorous fucking like that is—"

"Enough," the young lord snapped. Visible anger seething from his scarlet eyes.

She grinned. "I wouldn't break, you know. We were made to fuck. Made never to break beneath another. Though that never stops others from trying." Tasha folded her arms, plumping her breasts up. "Think of it as our sole goal in life."

"Just tell me what I've missed," he said darkly.

Tasha noted the outline of his manhood pressed against his britches. Licked her lips with a devious glow in her eyes and said, "The Ninth Circles are battling it out." she pointed towards the skies scorched by flames, war, and blood. Ash came from the clouds, staining the realm in darkness.

It was light out. The sun hung far over the skies, yet it seemed so small, so frail as if it hadn't graced the land in many moons. The once cold winds that had ravaged Vesim died beneath the clashes, shifting the seasons.

"I see that wound of yours has not healed." She pointed out.

Altair glanced indifferently at the scar on his hand. "Whatever manor scheme someone has against me will fail." he mused, a baleful glint pulsating off the sigils within his pupils.

He wasn't worried. Rather, he was excited. Excited for what fool was willing to challenge him?

Within the Solar, he found Syris in meditation, a dagger resting quietly on her lap. In front of her, a cup of warm tea lay steaming. She hadn't sensed when he entered, hadn't sensed his approach, but shuddered nonetheless as his touch sent ripples dancing along the flesh.

The teacup shattered, spilling tea everywhere.

Syris opened her pale eyes, her breath stiffened by how close he was. He smelt of pine and…

A faint flush rose along the tips of her cheeks. "What are you doing?"

"Wondering how my general is doing." He said, jerking her to her feet against her will. "How is Lyain?"

"Battling," she answered, sensing something off about the boy in front of her. Something about him had changed. "We all decided that all Ninth Circles are to be our shields. Though one seems against joining no matter how we protest." her eyes darted to Tasha just outside her room.

Altair laughed. "No surprise there. And you. Are you ready for war?"

"Of course! Waiting has never been my style, not in the least," she puffed up her chest, snatching Altair by the collar. Syris glared into his eyes. "Plus, I've not gotten my revenge against that dick Davos."

"Ooh-la~la, So aggressive," Tasha sang. "Think she's like that in bed?"

"Piss off!" Syris shouted, letting Altair go. She straightened up his robes, somewhat apologetic. "Well? What is the plan?"

" I've neither the knowledge nor the power to scheme against these monsters. Not without gambling on unseen forces," he shook his head. Not entertained on the idea just yet."No plan. Just blind violence this time around."

"That's the best kind of violence," Syris swore, sheathing that silver dagger to her's to her hip. She beamed.

'Plus… I want to experiment more with Fallen Necromancy,' he thought. The ability to collect souls had been something he'd only discovered by chance. And if D-Rank skills were the peak of mortal understanding, Altair figured there had to be more to it than simply absorbing and sorting souls.

'There had to be more.'

"I'll show you why they call me Elemental Queen."

Onto the balcony attached to her Solar, they stood peering up at the aimless rays highlighting the intense battle shattering the skies above. Elements of all kinds danced and bent, tearing and folding until they could hold no more, exploding in destructive waves.

Heavens Constructs defended, their swords and shields moving in tandem, blocking and slashing simultaneously.

Altair had never seen a more perfect symmetry between offense and defense. He liked it. He liked it a lot.

"I'll see you up there," He said. Something changed about him at that moment; much like the flick of a switch, a profane bolt of dense plasma crackled from off his being. Slashing at the space around him like a whip seeking to scar heaven and earth.

The tainted glow in his eyes shone when he leaped in an earth-shattering explosion. Altair became a string of infernal lightning tearing through the skies. He arrived before a Soul King faster than a bolt of light, his fingers balled up in a fist, catching over the jaw of some unnamed Astral King.

A gut-wrenching cry echoed as Altair blasted the man well past the reaches of the wall into the horizon and watched his soul disintegrate into dust when a platform of scarlet lightning formed beneath his feet.

The battlefield descended into silence. Countless eyes flocking towards the Prince. Greed practically colored their pupils.

Altair drew Shadowclaw and felt his existence harmonies with his blade. He could feel the layers of hell that had tempered his blade. Could feel the fire it had experienced touch upon his soul, seeking to taint it black.

When at that moment, Altair weaved to his left, informed by his Primal instinct, and dodged the blade that came from out of the void. His eyes whirled towards the dark-haired king, whose red eyes were marked by the sigil of the crimson spear.

Roxas tsked in annoyance before flicking his blood spear, allowing the blade edge to twirl much like a snake toward the prince's throat. But stood shaken when Altair caught the blade with his bare hand.

Blood came wrenching from his palm as he gave a sinister laugh. Shadowclaw came cleaving down, blazing the horrid might of the Vale as Altair channeled [Desolate Descent] over the edge of his blade.

Without any time to dodge Roxas, he tilted the Polearm of his spear with his free arm to meet with Altair's blade.

The phoenix-like cry of the winds howled became the last thing Roxas heard and saw as his body tore through the earth like an oil rig. Hellish lightning exploded from out from the Prince as he followed hundreds of meters down into the earth's crust to find a star-struck Astral King. He smiled, piercing his blade towards the man.

[Desolate Descent]

Another explosion erupted like a volcano, spewing magma nearly fifty meters into the air from out of its core. A rainfall of hot magma came onto the land as blow after blow echoed from down below. Both man and god saw Roxas shriek from the earth into the skies as a boy draped like a god of lighting followed in a vicious arc of light.

He snapped in an instant, and one hundred Pale Shadows emerged, each of them cloaked in a similar lightning.

"SHIT!!!!" Roxas howled, opening his Spirit Domain. He paled when he felt another hundred other domains marking him with their intent. "What type of monster are you? How is that possible!"

Altair's eyes narrowed when he suddenly pivoted off a string of lightning, dodging the arc of wind seeking to sever him in half. A hint of a sneer played at his lips as he looked up towards the newcomer. A boldface demihuman. Dragonborn, no doubt. Possessing golden draconic scales and eyes over his coppery skin. He stood nearly eight feet tall, wielding a golden spear in his hand.

"Go recover, Roxas. You've been battling for seven days. I'll handle the boy."

"Is that why you were so weak?" The Prince mocked, studying the man. "Run along. I'll allow it."

Roxas felt a fire rise through him. The sting of humiliation was not one was accustomed to. He straightened himself out, pressing down the wrinkles over his robes. "I'll not forget this—"

'You've no right to speak to me," Altair informed airly. He no longer placed him in his eyes, focusing on the Dragonborn towering over him. He didn't like how high his eyes stood. "Keep the others back. This one is mine."

The Pale Knights nodded, turning their attention towards the other Astral Lords. They were indeed no match for any of the Astral Lords. But with their lives on the line, they knew holding them back for a set time was enough.

"You've grown much stronger since your battle with Strava." The Dragonborn said, unveiling his domain.

Altair felt an intangible force clamp down on his bones like an iron mountain. Seeking to shatter them into dust. An encompassing domain expanded over him alongside a few of the Watchers.

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"Ignus Bloodgrave. Remember it well, boy."

"Boy this… Boy that…" Altair frowned, the sigils within his eyes blazing like two stars. In his off-hand, the ebony blade of the Vale congealed.

Ignus felt the mana begin to dwindle, pulled into the black hole that was Altair Blackwood before him. The winds that were once beneath his control wrenched themselves from out of him, reeling back in fear as the Sword of the Vale began to blaze. There, he saw them: Three Vale Stars emerging from out of nothing, crowning the prince.

"Hey… Mr." Altair smiled a smile of utter madness. "Don't die too soon!"