Abyssal Awakening

*CLANG!!!

Ria stumbled back as sweat dripped down her face.

Rusted weapons rushed through the air as she twirled the blade in hand, deflecting two before ducking under the third.

There was something strange about these weapons.

They couldn’t be blocked at all. If she tried to stop them head on, they would penetrate any kind of defence she pulled up.

But deflection was still possible.

Then there was the matter of not being able to step away from the angel.

Two authorities that the angel could access yet...

’They don’t activate simultaneously. If one is activated, the other disappears.’ Ria analysed, lunging forward with a flicker of lightning.

Her weapon stabbed toward Hayil who wrapped a chain around Ria’s hand in an attempt to restrain her.

Despite the madness in her eyes, her combat sense was off the charts!

*KSH!!!

Lightning crashed down from above as Ria quickly swapped her location, escaping the chains.

Even though the contact was brief, Ria could feel some of her energy being pulled away.

Not only that, but the wound she had suffered was beginning to fester.

If this fight continued...

Ria exhaled through her nose.

Authorities of War and Famine.

She couldn’t help but recall the prayer that Astrelya had given her before stepping in here. The one that exiled her from the Eclipse.

For the Eclipse that revels in chaos. For the one who smiles in calamity.

Let her blade find its path. Let her strike carry the weight of her will. When hunger gnaws at her bones, when the world strips her bare and leaves nothing behind, let her endure.

Let her cling to life with bloodied hands and broken bones.

There were hints to Hayil’s power within this prayer.

The blade that finds its path, the weight of her will.

It clearly reflected the authority that made it impossible for Hayil’s strikes to be dodged.

Then what about Famine? The hunger that gnaws at the bones...

’That’s probably the cause of me leaking energy.’ Ria flickered from her spot as lightning webbed out from her feet. Her form flickered across the arena in a zigzag as the authority preventing her retreat was activated.

’Then what about endurance?’ She frowned, unleashing slashes against Hayil’s body.

In response, Hayil covered herself with her wings, causing the slashes to bounce off.

Ria’s sword was thrown back, her guard was open.

Gritting her teeth, she braced herself as the wings slammed into her body, throwing her across the arena.

Ria realised that Hayil must have figured out that her defences were rather low. Especially considering the fact that she was starting to use the authority that prevented retreat more and more.

Quickly flipping herself in the air, Ria prepared for the follow up attack yet...

There was none.

Hayil simply stood in place as one hand clutched her head.

Her lips were moving, murmuring in a hushed tone.

"You always liked the rain... Right... It cleansed the blood and made things feel clean. Do you remember?" Hayil creased her brows before her face warped in fury once more.

"Enris... Enris!!!"

But that fury quickly turned to laughter as blood tears rolled down her face.

"You gave up on me. Tossed me aside... Why did you keep me alive?" She stumbled back, unable to contain the laughter.

"I was your fragment. The first of many. I failed but... you didn’t abandon me... You... didn’t?"

Hayil paused.

"You did! Didn’t. DID!!! You left me to rot!!!" She started slashing at the air around her.

"Then why do I live? I let me live. No... yes?"

"Ahh... ARGHHH!!!" A mournful cry slowly transformed into one of rage as red and gold energy enveloped her body.

The world around them started to tremble as a blur of red appeared in front of Ria.

"!!!"

Quickly stabbing her blade into the ground, a wall of lightning erupted around her.

"Was my effort in vain?" Hayil’s voice echoed out as her hands clawed through the energy. Even though her flesh burned, strange black energy filtered through her veins as her flesh started to regrow.

Charred yet continuously writhing around the wound as Hayil breached the wall.

"It was you... You gave me to that mad man. Doomed me to this fate.

"Look at what you’ve done!!!" She screamed, tearing the wall in half.

Wings started to grow like malignant tumours on her back as her flesh bulged and burst apart. Her regeneration fixing her body yet her form continuously mutated, sending her into a cycle of destruction and repair.

"ARGHH!!!"

Ria took this chance to jump back as Hayil’s eyes snapped toward her.

"Have you come to take me back to Enris? I don’t want to go!"

Her wings unfurled, unravelling into a mutated grotesque display as feathers ripped themselves free and surged toward Ria.

Quickly breaking her sword and scattering the fragments of lightning, Ria teleported repeatedly to dodge the strikes.

*CRACK!!!

Hayil started ripping out the wings one by one, her fingers digging into the base. With a sickening wet tear, she tore the first one free. Blood splattered against the ground as her expression twisted in pain.

She reached for the second, then the third.

One by one, she ripped them out, tossing the wings away while her body continuously tried to repair itself. The regeneration surpassing the damage she was causing.

"You did this to me!!!"

Pulling her blade back, blood converged toward her location as three forms of energy swirled in her arm.

Ria recognised it.

A familiar sensation.

An amalgamation of Abyssal, Holy and Eldritch!

Ria’s eyes widened.

’F*ck! This isn’t mini Enris, it’s mini Alice disguising as Enris!’

"ARGH!!!" Unsheathing her blade, Hayil released a giant arc of raw destructive crimson energy. One that felt as though it would swallow the entire space.

With no other choice, Ria retrieved the nodes she had hidden throughout the battlefield, filled to the brim with energy, and gathered it into her own body. She had done this in preparation for a trap but...

If she couldn’t offset the destructive force of this strike, she would die!!!

Lifting her hand, a giant blade of lightning formed. She slashed vertically as the edges collided, shattering the space upon impact as cracks splintered across Ria’s arm.

Clenching her teeth, Ria held back a scream and focused her power, surpassing the slash before her.

*BANG!!!

As the attacks detonated, Ria’s body fell toward the ground as the right side of her was burnt from the overload of lightning coursing through her vessel.

Slamming into the ground, she coughed up a mouthful of blood and glared at Hayil, who was struggling to keep up with her own regeneration.

To constantly tear apart pieces of herself so that she didn’t become a giant mutated mound of flesh.

This was what Alice could have become.

The failure that came before, kept alive only because of Enris.

This was the Endurance that Astrelya had spoken about. To endure the pain of constant regeneration even though the body was already fixed.

A pitiful fate.

"Let her cling to life with bloodied hands and broken bones, huh?" Ria mumbled with a pitying smile. Forcing herself to stand up, she took a deep breath.

What sounded like a blessing was actually a curse for Hayil.

A curse to live no matter the torment she was facing.

To live as a failed experiment.

How long had she waited for liberation?

Then what about the last part of Astrelya’s prayer? Was it because she knew what Hayil had become?

Ria resolved herself as she took a step toward Hayil.

A blade manifested in her left arm while Hayil collapsed on one knee, the weight of countless wings bearing down on her body.

The power of Famine spread outward as Hayil corrupted her own wings, forcing them to rot and fall off. Flesh splattering against the ground while bone cracked and withered.

Her bloodied tears turning black as tar.

From the sludge of her own rotting flesh, Hayil crawled out with hatred burning in her eyes.

Flicking her wrist, two twisted barbed blades appeared as she tightened her grip around the handles. Spikes digging into her palms as her regeneration fused, nay, assimilated flesh and metal together.

Rusted weapons continuously stabbed and slashed from her own back. Spear tips piercing through her flesh while spiked chains dragged across her legs.

An existence stuck in perpetual battle the moment it recognised danger. A being who couldn’t control her own regeneration until all life around her had perished.

Eldritch forces tainting, mutating and consuming her body.

Only in the ruins of Ayr could this be suppressed by the lingering presence of the Goddess.

Yet even so... Even when suppressed, she continued to suffer a life of torment.

She had been abandoned by Enris. Left to rot until she found worth in her existence.

So until then...

There was only one thing she could do.

Suffer.

Ria stared at the crying woman once more with pity. This was no longer a hunt. This was purification. A cleansing in order to save the life in front of her.

And the only salvation she could find would be in death.

"May madness never stain your mind.

"May corruption never run through your veins."

Ria recited the prayer that Astrelya had given her before stepping into this tower. But one line stood out to her. What Astrelya had said after her marks were cleansed.

"Didn’t you say you wanted to wipe out the Eclipse? I’ve given you the foundations of a weapon. Whether or not you can make it a reality is up to you."

Only now, after seeing everything Hayil had become, did Ria understand what Astrelya had given her.

It wasn’t just a ritual to cleanse the markings. With it came a gift.

"May your actions erase the mark of the Eclipse upon this land." Ria spoke the final line.

*BANG!!!

A burst of energy erupted from Ria’s body as the roars of thunder echoed through the air.

With a flash of light, black and white lightning crashed down upon her as her blade shifted.

A blessing of purification specifically targeted at Enris.

One that would erase the blessing of endurance placed upon Hayil and kill her for good.

Ria aimed her blade.

"May you find peace in death."