Abyssal Awakening

Aegis Array served three main functions.

First, it should serve as a transport that allows Alice to breach any realm she wanted.

She had already engraved it with the necessary triggered casts in order to make this possible. The only thing she needed to activate them was her own personal movements.

Flicking her finger, the largest cannon flipped horizontally as Alice jumped onto it.

Shifting her heel, a convergence of energy appeared behind the cannon as the realm began to warp.

Alice’s eyes shifted, her view now overlaying with the nodes she can project and teleport to.

Once her target was selected, she slammed down with her heel.

*BANG!!!

In an instant, space exploded behind Alice as her figure was now already in the distance.

A speed far faster than Void Steps!

Void Steps only had the initial friction acting as the booster.

But for Aegis Array? This was a constant! She was permanently riding on the gap between realms in order to use that friction to propel herself forward.

Then, by using the Void’s natural pulling power, she ’glued’ herself to the cannon to avoid being shaken off.

Of course, just because your legs were glued on didn’t mean you could just stand straight.

Leaning forward, Alice clenched her teeth as the wind cut against her cheek.

"I can go faster!"

Shifting her centre of gravity, Alice activated the Eye of the Abyss at full force in order to capture her surroundings.

With her heel pressing down on the acceleration without letting go, her form soon turned into a streak of blue.

Receiving a message from Alice, Cayla simply smiled and pressed her palms against the ground.

Targets started to appear one after another. Using the power of the Void, she had them teleport around randomly to make it harder for Alice.

But the moment the target’s appeared in the air.

*KRK!!!

A flash of light rushed past as Alice sliced apart five in an instant.

Flipping her body almost horizontally, Alice grabbed the cannon with her hand and pulled back.

The propulsion fought against her current acceleration. Reinforcing her body to the max, Alice winced before spinning to a stop.

Second function, the ability to breach all realms, including personal realms for a guaranteed hit!

"Target locked." Alice’s normal eye shifted as a glowing blue ring appeared around her pupil. Taking aim with her finger, the second cannon hovered to her left and unleashed a piercing blue line that cut the world in half.

An attack that reached its target no matter the defences around it.

With the restrictions Alice had placed upon this cannon, it had lost a lot of its power. But in exchange, each attack was a guarantee. They are forced to parry or take the hit!

The best part? If she wanted to, she could compress its power so that it reached a potency greater than what it had in its Lance Form. Using this would put the cannon into a cooldown state that requires Alice to use other methods unless she wanted to risk the vessel breaking.

Then there was the third weapon.

Most likely her main form of attack for the time being until she created new skills with this weapon in mind.

The cannon using the foundation of the Axe form along with Singularity form.

Both power and control fused into one.

Clenching her fist, Cayla’s targets were reinforced before splitting apart, multiplying over and over until hundreds of them filled the air.

Clapping her hands together, Alice framed all of the targets between her palms.

A translucent grid of blue appeared in the air.

Their movements captured in her Vision as the cannon next to her hummed with anticipation.

A smile appeared on Alice’s face as she gave it a gentle pat.

"Go wild. I permit it."

Flicking her wrist, countless shards of blood mirrors appeared in the airspace.

From inside the mirrors, duplicates of the cannon appeared.

"All targets locked, fire at will!"

*BANG!!!

Countless streaks of energy cut across the sky, each holding power no weaker than her most concentrated Void Flux. The metal disks around the cannon hissed as coils drew in energy from its surroundings thanks to Tiamat’s power.

Of course, these three weapons didn’t limit her to just long ranged combat.

If necessary, they can act as blades as well. Blades controlled by the mind. In that form, the most powerful would be the cannon beneath her feet. The fastest of the three.

Regardless, all of the targets had been shot down as Alice shifted her heel and appeared next to Cayla.

She stepped on the ground as all three weapons hovered behind her.

Alice had also noticed something else.

After being reforged, each of the three had a distinctive personality of its own. One that would be transmitted to Alice telepathically. Weapons that had their own preference on what they wanted while still listening to her every command.

The first weapon, one that Alice considered to be the ’youngest child’ was energetic and cheerful. The most active when it came to pleasing her, hence its enthusiasm in proving how fast it could move and act as her transport.

The second was what Alice determined to be the oldest child. Calm, collected, focusing on the main task and performing it to the best of its abilities. Fitting for the weapon that guarantees a perfect shot.

Then there was the last weapon. The middle child. Energetic like its younger sibling while retaining the calm of its older sibling. One that was eager to throw itself into combat but not letting that eagerness carry it into danger.

"Let’s see... calling you three Aegis Array might be a little inappropriate now." Alice folded her arms as the first weapon danced around Alice, causing her to chuckle.

"Alright, let’s give each of you names okay? Let’s call you... Ruby, like it?" She asked as Ruby responded by shooting into the air and drawing a heart with the streaks of light behind her.

Without Alice on its back, she could travel faster than before.

Coming back to Alice, she nuzzled against her face as Alice gave it a gentle pat.

"Next, let’s call you... Leon." Alice glanced towards the second weapon.

Unlike Remi’s reaction, Leon simply ’nodded’ before hovering close to Alice.

In Alice’s eyes, she could almost see a tall young man trying to act cool but feeling happy on the inside.

Giving it a gentle pat on the head as well, Alice turned to the last weapon.

The middle child learning from both its younger sister and older brother.

In some aspects, this one was the most similar to Alice. Energetic while still being careful.

"Helena. That shall be your name."

Flying into the air, Helena fired off several shots before detonating them into a brilliant display of fireworks to celebrate this situation.

Bringing all three weapons towards her, Alice gave them all a long deep hug.

Thought hey may be ’weapons’ to her, they were akin to her children.

Especially after seeing their personalities.

Not only that, but this was simply the weapons in their base forms.

She left plenty of space for her to ’engrave’ Sigils onto them to shift their powers depending on the situation.

And, because they’re given the authority of the Abyssal relics, imbuing them with Abyssal energy or even fighting in the Abyss would cause their overall powers to increase.

Finishing the hug, Alice flicked her fingers as all three started to fade away, hiding in the folds between realms rather than always hovering next to her.

Of course, Alice could choose to turn them into a necklace instead but that would feel rather stuffy for these children.

Instead, she’d much prefer them to move freely until she needs them.

"How fast can you deploy them?" Cayla asked curiously.

"I don’t need to deploy them since they’re always around me. They’re simply travelling through the gaps resting between our reality and others. They’re neither in the Surface, Abyss or Void." Alice chuckled.

"So something like hiding in a tunnel without walking out. I see..." Cayla nodded before pausing.

"Wait, I thought you were making escape devices?"

"I have. With these children helping me, as long as I give the Void Explorers a node and ’save’ it as a data point for Ruby, she’ll lock on with the help of Leon and breach the Void in one go. Even if Nyer is there to stop me." Alice smiled as both Ruby and Leon materialised next to her.

They were standing proud in front of Cayla as if to prove that they could do it.

With a helpless smile on her face, Cayla simply nodded.

"If it works, it works. There are other ways we can track them down if things go wrong."

The two almost seemed offended when Alice calmed the down.

"Nalem is resting and Allura is still doing her check up. Shall we spar as much as possible before she comes back?" Alice asked.

She wanted to familiarise herself with the new form of combat quickly and make it as smooth as before.

After all, with Aegis Array at her disposal, certain key skills had to now be modified to fit the new weapon.

###

Karya held her chin while glancing between Allura and the reports.

"Is it bad? Is it good?" Allura asked with a slight smile.

Whatever the news, she had already accepted her own time limit.

"It’s good. I’ll be honest with you, when I set the limit before... It was only realistically around 10 months time. The last two months would have you bed ridden and unable to move. Simply waiting for your energy to run out then die." Karya admitted truthfully as Allura raised an eyebrow.

"But your constant spars with Alice using Nightmare energy is helping your body hold out to some extent. You’ve gained around 5 days of movement before you’re bedridden. So I suppose... Keep it up but keep it under moderation. We don’t want you to push too hard and tap into the time you have left." Karya warned.

Letting out a deep sigh, Allura nodded and leaned back.

With the time she had left... could she resolve everything?

And... With the enemies they must face...

A battle was unavoidable.

Allura silently clenched her fist.