Abyssal Awakening

Upon seeing Alice breaking out of her illusion, the Demonette twitched uncomfortably as blades pulsed across her body like a heartbeat. She recoiled in surprise before carving a hole through the ceiling and climbing through, disappearing into the darkness of the mansion.

Furrowing her brows, Alice didn't think she would leave just like that but first things first, she needed to find Ria.

Making her way back to where she had come from, she noticed Ria clenching her heat with furrowed brows.

"Ria! Are you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, don't come here. Please tell me you're actually Alice and not whatever the hell that was." Ria groaned as she clearly had a harder time breaking out of that illusion than Alice did.

Before she could say anything, Alice felt a chill down her spine and she immediately bent her body back out of instinct.

Above her, a shimmering blade reflected her visage as Ria had transformed into the same smiling woman that had disappeared into the cracks of the house earlier.

Widening her eyes, Alice rolled to the side and activated her second Sigil.

The violet flames now covered her blade as the illusion was shattered once more.

She was still in the same location while the smiling woman growled in annoyance.

'What the… Did it cast a second Illusion after I broke out of the first one? Where's Ria?' Alice thought to herself as she didn't dare to let the violet flames drop for even a moment.

She didn't know if she would be dragged into another illusion if she allowed the flames to extinguish.

After seeing Alice break out of its illusion for a second time, the beast seemed more annoyed than before as she crouched down and slowly backed away.

Alice's main priority right now was to find Ria, not to fight this beast. Until she found Ria and made sure she was safe, she didn't want to commit herself to a fight.

Just as Alice took a step back, the Demonette pounced forward. Her speed, far surpassing Alice's expectations as she was already in front of her face by the time she could react!

*BANG!!!

Cleaving her blade up to parry the claw, Alice was sent crashing into the walls of the mansion as the Demonette followed up with a spray of thin threads that aimed for her limbs.

Stabbing her sword above her, Alice dragged her body up to dodge the threads before using the wall as a launch pad. Lunging at the beast with a blade in hand, Alice slashed down diagonally only for her attack to miss as the beast split itself in two.

Widening her eyes, Alice watched as her blade passed through the gap and missed her target entirely.

Threading herself back together, a blade jutted out of the beast's chest, stabbing into Alice's shoulder as she rolled back.

Gritting her teeth, Alice sealed her wound using her blood for now but she couldn't keep taking attacks like this.

'What the hell is up with that speed? Not to mention… I didn't think she could separate her torso like that.'

This was no ordinary Unbound Demonette. The illusionary abilities and the way it was separating itself was outside of the usual skill set.

On top of that, the Organic Porcelain was having no reaction towards the light shed by her blade.

With one of the aforementioned weaknesses of the beast no off the table, they had two choices. The first was to observe and take samples to see what it would react to.

Impossible given the current situation and the limits of their power.

The second was to brute force it!

It wasn't going to let her reach Ria in this state. The moment she even shows a slight hint of weakness it would lung for her life.

Taking a deep breath, Alice gave her surroundings a quick glance to see if there was anything she could use. This was the time to be resourceful while she figured out where she was at.

'Did the beast cast an illusion the moment we stepped in? This place seems to be rather deep into the mansion.' Alice wondered to herself while creating a set of blood needles and shot it towards the beast.

Once the beast parried her needles, she charged forward and cleaved up with her blade only for the beast to separate itself once more.

But this was what she was aiming for!

The needles that the beast had parried suddenly burst into flames as they attached themselves to her innards, burning her from the inside out.

Letting out an ear piercing screech, she swung her claws at Alice while cutting off pieces of herself to stop the fires from spreading.

"Tsk!" Clicking her tongue, Alice threw a dagger of blood at the beast but it was now cautious of her attacks.

Jumping to the side, the beast began to breathe heavily as streaks of red slowly stained its porcelain skin. A primal growl escaped her mouth while the blades started to vibrate with each breath.

Alice could feel the temperature around her dropping rapidly as frost started to form on the walls while her breath created clouds of mist.

Widening her eyes, Alice understood that this beast is an Unbound Demonette that was no longer vulnerable to her original weaknesses!

Disappearing with a burst of shadow, the beast vanished from Alice's view.

"!!!"

Turning around out of instinct, she was barely able to catch a glimpse of her reflection upon the Demonette's blade before it disappeared once more.

No matter how fast she turned, the Demonette always seemed to be right behind her, waiting for the perfect moment after she tires herself out. She could never catch more than a glimpse of her target while frost slowly built up on her body, slowing down her movement.

Clenching her fist, Alice amplified the head emitted by her blade to try stave off the coldness, but it did not stop the decreasing temperature of the room.

The harder she fought, the colder it became.

Turning around once more, Alice decided to run to the closest window if she wanted a chance to get out of this predicament.

Even if she risked the Demonette attacking from behind, it was a risk she was willing to take!

*CLANG!!!

Parrying the Demonette the moment it had attacked, Alice used the force from its claw to push herself further away.

As Alice pushed herself away from the frenzied Demonette's attack, she raced further into the mansion in a desperate attempt to find a window that she could use.

*CLANG!!!

Parrying a second attack, a layer of ice manifested around her fingers as she reopened the wound on her shoulder. Getting the blood to splash on her hand, she enveloped them in a violet flame to warm herself up before resealing the wound.

'Do I use Allura's skill? No… doing so will do more harm than good in this situation.' Alice bit her lips while trying to think of a way out.

Parrying another attack aiming for her throat, Alice tried to kick the beast away only for its torso to open up into a swirling mess of blades, waiting to tear her leg apart.

Stopping herself before she lost her leg, Alice rammed her shoulder into the beast's head, forcing it to stumble back.

Adjusting the grip of her sword, she slashed towards the beast once more as it flickered into the darkness before reappearing beside her.

Her claws were mere centimetres away from her eyes as Alice tilted her head to the side, causing the beast to scratch her face.

Countering with a swipe of her blade, Alice jumped back as the cold air assaulted her lungs.

No matter what she did, the cold seemed to invade every part of her body and her flames weren't strong enough to counter the coldness.

Pushing into a corner, Alice could feel her heart begin to panic as she scratched away at her neck. No matter what she envisioned herself doing, it felt impossible to take down this beast.

'Think! What else can my Sigil do?!' She cried out in her mind.

Her first Sigil made her blood poisonous and dispelled Abyssal influences due to her second Sigil.

Her second Sigil created flames from her body while also allowing her to control blood.

Parrying another strike from the Demonette, Alice slammed into a bookshelf and broke it apart while the beast lunged at her from above.

Quickly rolling to the side, she threw a handful of blood towards the beast. Dodging the splash, the beast attacked from behind once more as Alice barely managed to block with her sword but her reaction was slowing now.

'F*ck it! I can worry about damages after this b*tch is dead!' With no other choice, Alice enveloped herself in a frenzy of purple flames, preventing the beast from approaching before gathering it into an orb above her palm.

"Come on then!! Didn't you enjoy trying to rip my head off?! Try to do it again! I dare you m*therf*cker!" Alice shouted as the orb started to stabilise itself.

But before she could fire her attack, a blade erupted from the ground beneath her, piercing deep into her arm.

"!!!"

Widening her eyes, Alice understood that the Demonette had detached a part of itself to interrupt the cast of her skill!

Unable to pull her arm away, Alice was flung into the walls as the orb destabilised and collapsed in on itself, causing a burst of flames to erupt out and slammed against Alice.

With her arm almost torn off due to the blade and the cold invading her body, Alice could feel herself reaching her limit.

Her breathing was shallow as her gaze blurred.

'Is this the end?' She wondered to herself.

She wanted to muster up the power but her mind was surrendering to the coldness that surrounded her. She just wanted to close her eyes and sleep in this moment.

No! She had survived for far too long for this to be the end!

Gritting her teeth, she set the blood within her body aflame as she was engulfed in the violet flare.

The blood she spilt started to surge towards her as she covered up her wounds. There was now a new malevolent light in her eyes as a cruel unhinged grin manifested on her face.

She remembered the feeling of being pushed to the brink when she was in the Colosseum. The bestial urge that erupted out from within. 'Her switch' that she would flip when she began a hunt.

"Yo~ Demonette. Shall we go for round 2?"