Abyssal Awakening

Shaking his hand from the punch, Egil walked over to the slumped remains of the metallic dragon. He could see it slowly falling apart, revealing the bloodied and wounded woman who tried to kill Selen earlier.

That hateful glare felt like a tiny pinpricks against his skin, nothing serious.

"You want me to kill her or leave her be?" Egil glanced back.

Making a gesture of running her finger across her neck, Selen turned away to look at the fissure above them.

Behind her, the sound of bones cracking before popping could be heard.

"Did you have to crush her head like a grape???" Selen was speechless.

"What? It was painless." Egil tilted his head while shaking off the blood from his hand.

Letting out a fatigued sigh, Selen scratched her hair.

With the woman breaking apart her seal around the fissure, reapplying it wouldn't have the same effectiveness since she needed to activate her personal realm.

Unfortunately, since the personal realm was forcefully broken apart, reactivating it would take some time and a standard time slow barrier wouldn't be enough.

*Sigh~

"Why the long face?"

"ARGG!!!" Letting out a scream, Selen was shocked by Alice's voice suddenly appearing behind her.

"Make a sound when you walk!!" Selen cried out, feeling as though she just had a heart attack.

Confused, Alice shrugged before looking at the destruction around them.

"So why the sigh?"

"Because I can't exactly hold back the fissure anymore. Please tell me Torgeir has a method to shut this thing down for good." Selen shook her head.

"You see, I would be here to deliver some good news but unfortunately, that's not the case. He's calling for a retreat rather than closing the fissure since he doesn't have a method to stop it." Alice replied while peaking through the gaps of the fissure.

Seeing the countless beasts squirming inside, aiming to get out while the aura of Tiamat got stronger, she couldn't help but whistle.

The sheer destruction they could bring was going to become quite the spectacle.

'There won't be anyone left to help those on the frontlines if this thing breaks apart.' Alyss folded her arms.

'Yep. However, if we stop it, it's a thankless job. We won't get the rewards promised to us.' Alice let out a sigh.

'Honestly, f*ck it. Let it break who cares? It's not like we didn't try to stop it in the first place. If Torgeir is insistent on not closing it, who are we to stop him?'

To Alyss, it was far easier to just let hell break loose so Torgeir understands what kind of decision he made. How are they going to learn if they never fail?

Plus, having Alice risk her body twice, once to keep people safe and once to save people on the frontline was a no go for Alyss. She still remembered the consequences of risking her body last time. Alice was practically hanging onto strands and if it wasn't for Selen keeping her safe, feeding her and taking care of her bandages, she would've died.

Crossing her arms, Alice was a little hesitant. She had the same thought at one point but letting a fissure connected to Terminus break apart was simply off the table. If a permanent passage is created, all the horrors of Terminus will come spewing out, turning the surface into a second Abyss.

Furrowing her brows, Alice made a decision.

"If I'm going to stop this f*cking fissure, I'm gonna make it worth my damn time. Selen, let it break. Take this time and recover. Set up a perimeter around the opening and slow all the beasts down. Allow more beasts to pop through if you can.

"Depending on what happens, I'll either shut down the fissure or leave it be."

Hearing this, Selen tilted her head.

"What are you planning?"

"What else? I'm going to grab my fifth Sigil." Alice revealed a daring grin as Selen felt like her jaw was going to fall off.

"Are you crazy?!"

"Fufu~ Just a tad~ But don't worry, if there's nothing suitable, I won't risk my body. I'm only going to make a move if one of the beasts looks useful to me." Alice stuck out her tongue as Selen didn't hesitate to smack her on the head.

"What do you mean you won't risk your body??? You need to fight if you want to hunt!" Selen huffed in anger.

"If I get my fifth Sigil, I can speed up my recovery! So if things go well, I wouldn't risk my body ya know? Since it would've recovered partially." Alice tried to persuade Selen while Egil held her back from smacking Alice some more.

"But don't you need a shaman? How are you going to attune to a spirit?" Egil asked curiously.

"Erm… trade secret." Alice stuck out her tongue once more.

Taking several deep breaths to calm herself, Selen reluctantly nodded her head.

"But if there is nothing suitable, we're giving up on this place alright? No heroics of closing the fissure if there's nothing worth it."

"Gotcha~ Now let's get to work." Alice chuckled.

With Egil's help, Selen began to place several nodes around the fissure. The space was large enough to accommodate several beasts without breaking apart so the moment Alice saw something she liked, she'd be able to close the fissure immediately. If there's nothing, they'll give up.

The time limit was how long Selen's barrier could hold as the moment it breaks apart, they'll need to leave or else they risk being dragged into a fight against the beasts.

'I don't believe we have a full understanding of the beasts from Terminus. Or are you planning on waking up Cayla for something suitable?' Alyss asked curiously.

'Nope, nothing of the sort. Instead, I'm going to provoke a fight between them and see what kind of abilities they'll showcase.' Alice shrugged.

She was basically going to turn this entire place into a monster derby to pick her fifth Sigil.

If Torgeir wasn't planning on saving this outpost to begin with, she wasn't going to hold back.

###

Furrowing his brows, Torgeir glanced at the spot where a pillar of light had just exploded.

80% of the evacuations were done but many of the civilians had to leave without any supplies or their belongings. Meaning the travel towards a safer outpost inland was going to be treacherous with some even possibly losing their lives during the travel.

However, since it was the sudden appearance of an Abyss Break, there was nothing they could do. The only thing he could hope for was to save as many lives as he could while also leaving a potential path of return for those still fighting on the frontlines.

'This outpost is going to be a dead route once the fissure breaks. Once the groups are split into two, I'll need to get scouts to find a secondary path of retreat.'

The ideal situation would be to let Alice close the fissure but there was still the case of the unknown beasts that ambushed the previous expedition.

If they were truly as fearsome as Bo had reported, he needed Alice's power for them specifically and not a fissure they could just avoid for now.

At that moment, three figures appeared above Torgeir, each radiating killing intent.

The first was a fully armoured man clad in black metal and a fluttering red cape. Pulses of red energy could be seen through the gaps as he wielded a large black and red scythe.

The second was a young woman with black hair tied into two long twin tails. The end of the twin tails were set ablaze. She wore a black uniform, similar to the armour the first man wore but slightly different as parts of it were also on fire.

The last was a man with short swept back black hair. He wore a large fur lined coat and a uniform like the woman. There were no distinct features on his body except for a floating cube that constantly broke itself apart before piecing itself together.

"Seems like you're not satisfied with losing two of your finest warriors last time." Torgeir narrowed his eyes.

During the previous Abyss Break, he had assassins try to take his life as well but they fell short. This time was going to be no different!

Stomping down with his foot, a ritualistic circle crackled to life behind him as armoured bestial limbs clawed out from the summoning circle.

Beside him, another circle appeared, holding his spear.

*BANG!!!

Twirling his spear, he parried the first scythe while an armoured wing covered him from the flames.

"Are they so desperate that they'll send weak men to their deaths?" Torgeir questioned as another claw came down from above, looking to crush the armoured man.

However, a barrier manifested around him with pieces of a cube acting as the nodes for the barrier.

'A frontline, a main damage dealer and one support. A standard composition to fight a beast rather than assassination.'

Pushing the armoured man away from him, Torgeir adjusted his grip on the spear and threw it towards the support.

*CLANG!!!

It was blocked by the woman who wrapped flaming chains around the weapon but Torgeir wasn't phased.

A spear may be his preferred weapon but it wasn't the focus of his Sigils!

*ROAR!!!!

Pulling out its upper body from the ritual circle, a four armed winged beast could be seen as four crimson eyes glaring at the assassins with glee.

Energy converged towards the two horns on its head, condensing into a spiralling orb of power before firing.

*BANG!!!

The barrier shattered apart in an instant as the support didn't expect this kind of firepower but Torgeir wasn't done.

To ensure that the fight was short, he recalled his spear while the Sigil on his arm pulsed with energy.

Twisting his body, he released one more devasting throw.

*KRRR!!!

Tearing apart the earth beneath it, the spear pierced the body of the support and the woman before erupting with raw energy, obliterating their bodies.

All three were barely stronger than three Sigil warriors which only confused Torgeir.

This moment of confusion allowed a gap in his defences as a silver haired man curled his lips into a menacing grin.