Abyssal Awakening

Swallowing her saliva nervously, Alice could see two figures hovering in the air on the same level as the strange draconic beast. Their auras are once again on the verge of breaking through to Lord.

Had it not been for the barrier hiding their auras, there was no way such pungent energy would be ignored.

The first beast had a sleek serpentine body with dark scales covering its entire body. Shard spikes with red tips lined the sides and back of its body while the underside was akin to flowing magma.

Through the gaps, a deep crimson glow pulsed as its fierce eyes glared at the camp with a hint of mockery and disdain.

The beast didn't have any wings or legs. Only a pair of claws and a tail.

The second beast was heavily built with an imposing muscular frame covered by a strange white marble material with gold highlights and cracks that pulsed with a golden energy. It has an elongated neck and head with exposed teeth, small white eyes, a pair of long muscular arms with blue claws and thick muscular legs.

Its tail waved behind it but the most prominent feature was the array of large crystalline spikes that ran down its spine.

They radiated a vibrant pink and purple glow while purple lightning would crackle across the surface, jumping from one crystal to another.

One beast looked as though it was built for speed while the other looked like it was built for pure destructive force.

Regardless, with Alice's experience at the crater of the first draconic beast's attack, she could sense the same uncanny nature on these beasts and understood that they were manufactured products.

Beasts created by an unknown party, potentially the Zenia family.

With their plan now discovered, the beasts glanced at one another as energy coalesced towards their location.

Realising that they were attempting to break through his defensive barrier, the shield captain activated all of his Sigils.

Resonance!

Activating his resonance, the shield captain manifested a suit of armour around his body while the three layered barrier began to transform.

A spike of energy woke everyone up in the camp as they rushed out to see the swarm of beasts gathering just outside of the barrier.

Little by little, a fortress manifested.

*BANG!!!!

A torrent of lava clashed against the illusionary fortress while the lava began to sear away at the energy.

Without needing to ask about what happened, Olivr took command.

"Warriors! Kill them all! Show the might of Verona!" He roared, activating his Resonance.

*HURAH!!!!

All of the warriors cried out at the same time as they grabbed their weapons and activated their abilities.

Frontliners took a formation, ready to clash with the beasts while the casters began to hurl abilities at the swarm.

Supports began to buff the casters while Alice made sure no one was looking and took out a vial of her own blood.

'The captains have split into teams of three while the shield captain stayed behind to provide a barrier for everyone. They won't have time to check out the weird sh*t that goes on.' Alice thought to herself as she strapped the vial onto her waist so that she could dip the bolts whenever she needed it.

It was the perfect chance for her to put her blood to the test and see if it still retains the poison or if it, like her, has lost a lot of its effectiveness.

Taking aim with her crossbow, Alice narrowed her eyes at a bird like beast that was preparing to swoop down.

*Thunk!

The arrow embedded itself into the beast's cranium and Alice immediately noticed the flesh around the wound begin to bulge.

'Wait already???' She thought in shock as she didn't expect such a fast reaction.

The rest of its body was fine but the head bubbled and boiled.

Letting out screeches of pain, it began to froth from the beak. Its eyes darted around the battlefield and spotted Alice.

*KRKK!!!!!

Folding its wings, it swopped towards Alice as she fired a second shot.

This time, the arrow pierced its shoulder. The flesh bubbled and black tendrils burst out from the flesh, ripping away at the wing until the bones were exposed.

'Holy sh*t what the f*ck is wrong with my blood???' Alice cried out inwardly.

She had seen what her blood did to people and beasts alike. The mutations that occur over time and desperation.

But the bird's reaction was completely different to everything that had happened before. The effect was instantaneous despite the small area. Not only that but rather than a mutation, it was more like the hands that Alyss would conjure whenever she activated her ability.

These tendrils tore away at the beast and just before it could reach Alice, arrows and abilities slammed into it, blasting it apart in the air.

Seeing the bird being blasted apart, Alice could see the parts of its body that were beginning to mutate thanks to her blood.

However, she also noticed another risk that she now had to take into account. Her blood.

While it is the source of this damage, there is also the risk of her blood being taken by her allies.

Thankfully, the flames burned away her blood when the beast was killed. But if it was shot by an arrow, her blood could've landed on an ally and the consequences would've been dire.

'You probably need a way to dispose of your blood once you use it.' Alyss suggested.

Burning away the corpse after using her blood would be the best option to clean up the mess.

'How do you think our Sigils will change because of our new blood?' Alice asked with a twitching smile.

Her third Sigil conjured blood that could be used as a source for her flames and Void Flux.

Meaning, it had the same effects as her standard blood even if it's at a lesser potency. Alice didn't know what kind of mutation happened with the blood inside her body but this was clearly different from normal. If she was to summon a wave of her own blood in a fight then…

'I don't think I should fight near people until I figure out what the f*ck is going on with our body.' Alice concluded while Alyss agreed.

The dangers of dragging other people was too high. Just consuming her blood was a death sentence before the mutation never mind now.

Then there was the synergy with her first Sigil.

The Sigil that transformed her blood into a hallucinogenic while also having addictive properties.

Thinking about all of this, Alice realised her blood was basically a war crime now.

One sip and your body will mutate beyond repair, you'll have hallucinations and even become addicted so you can't stop.

Just the thought sent shivers down Alice's spine.

Sealing the bottle, she placed it back into her pouch. Without a proper way of dealing with the aftermath, Alice couldn't use it.

Especially now that she's on the surface. If she was to bleed into a water supply she'll basically doom an entire city.

While the Vanguards were pushing back the beasts, Alice took the time to glance towards the captains fighting the experimental beasts. She could tell that the experimental beasts weren't taking the fight seriously, only focusing on dodging and firing abilities from afar.

Bo was keeping up with the serpentine beast but lacked the damage to pierce its defence. Captains who tried to attack it would only find their attacks missing since it was simply too fast.

As for the bulky beast with white scales, the captain's attacks were bouncing off its body and failing to do any serious damage. Whenever a big strike was prepared, the crystals on its back would shimmer and reflect it back at the group.

The best they could do was stall unless they decided to burn everything for the sake of killing them. But if they did, they wouldn't be able to take out the fort as planned.

Right when Olivr was about to make the call to focus on killing the beast, the space around them began to fracture.

Seeing this, the crystalline beast reared its head back and let out a roar.

Slamming both of its fists into the ground, an earthquake erupted, causing the Warriors to lose their footing as the beast began to retreat.

Seeing that another beast was about to escape his grasp, Bo gritted his teeth in anger and tried to grab onto the serpentine beast but it managed to dodge and slam its tail into Bo's chest, sending him crashing towards the ground.

Even though they failed to destroy the supplies, they still lost a few Warriors from the attack while their losses were superficial.

It was at this moment that Olivr knew that they had been caught in a trap all along. Even if they retreated, they wouldn't be able to survive the journey back. The beasts will keep ambushing and they'll continuously lose their numbers until no one is left.

With them being this close to the port, there was only one choice.

An all of nothing gamble to take back the port or die trying. The alternative option was to head back and die on the way.

"Gather your stuff! We march!" Olivr shouted as the Warriors couldn't believe his order. However, all they could do was listen and continue on knowing that this was a death march.

To die with honour or die as a coward. For the northerners, this choice was clear but even so, they had hoped it was for something that made a difference rather than something futile.

All of them knew deep down that this march had failed.

Gathering their supplies, the group continued their journey towards the port.