Abyssal Awakening

Alice couldn't hold back as she let out a laugh from the deepest part of her soul.

In this state, she could recognise a distinct emotion from the beast in front of her. Despite her smiling visage and aggressiveness, she was 'afraid'.

The Unbound Demonette was feeling fear as Alice stood up while flames engulfed her body.

Jumping back to make some distance between them, she had the piece of herself that she split off earlier shoot another blade towards Alice's face.

*PSHH!!!

Blocking the blade with her arm, Alice grabbed the blade with her bare hands and pulled it out of her arm.

"Just because this thing is split from you doesn't mean you can't feel it right~"

Pulling the blade out of the ground, Alice could see threads and flesh extending from beneath the wooden planks.

Naturally, she could burn it to cinders but she had other goals.

No, she felt… Hungry.

Pulling out the flesh from the floorboards, Alice started to bite down as she swallowed the flesh, allowing the tainted blood to flow into her body. The smile on her face only seemed to grow as she lunged towards the Demonette with the flames still burning across her body.

As she lunged towards the Demonette, Alice couldn't help but wonder why she had been so reserved. Why did she restrain herself? She should be indulging in the blood of her enemies, tearing them limb from limb.

Missing her lung against the beast, Alice laughed as she aimed her palm towards the Demonette and released the same blade that the Demonette had used.

*CLANG!!!!

Parrying the attack, the Demonette used to leverage its speed against Alice but she was now catching up!

No longer could she take the Hunter off guard through raw speed!

"What's wrong? Running out of ideas?" Alice snickered as even the cold no longer bothered her. With the flames running through her body to clear the illusions and Unbound Demonette's blood keeping the cold from killing her, this had become her turf.

Kicking off the bookshelf, Alice lunged forward and grabbed the beast by the throat.

Blades pierced her body but her response was to laugh. Blood splashed against the Demonette as violet flames assaulted her body.

No matter how she attacked Alice, she seemed to shrug off the wounds as tendrils of flesh would weave around the damage, fixing itself.

As she was holding the beast up by the throat, Alice could feel herself sinking deep into the bestial nature that lay dormant within her.

This… Sadistic nature where she does not care for the damage caused upon her so long as her enemy suffers and dies.

Her vision started to blur as all she could imagine was the warm corpses of those belonging to the Zenia family. How she would gut them and pull them apart for their sins. How she would drink deep of their blood and watch as the life faded from their eyes.

She had felt this before, yes.

This sensation that she's been deprived of.

A shudder of excitement rang through her body as she snapped open her mouth and bit down against the Demonette's neck.

The squirming, the panic, it felt just perfect. How the blades cut against her skin only to show the Demonette her futility.

She remembers the feeling of warm blood coating her body, the sensation of blades trying to stop her. She remembers the screams and the cries. The pleas and soon, the silence.

Just as she was about to continue her savagery, Alice paused as the Demonette had stopped resisting.

Her limbs fell limp beside her while Alice sat in the pool of blood, panting heavily. Her face, flushed with excitement as her hands trembled in glee.

This is who she is.

She who revelled where there is bloodshed. It was never a 'state' nor the flip of a switch. It was merely the act of her giving up her restraints. This is her nature.

Touching the warm blood that splashed against her face, Alice couldn't help but lick her lips in satisfaction.

She wanted more of this feeling, the feeling of a life slipping into the embrace of death. How the warm blood loses its heat and how the body turns cold.

"Alice?"

Hearing her name called out, Alice slowly looked behind her and saw Ria by the doorway.

###

Ria knew that Alice's past was largely unknown. As much as Alice was sharing, there were parts of her history that she did not want to share.

She respected that as she too did not tell her full history to Alice.

However, there had always been a side to Alice that she could never wrap her head around. That killing intent and savagery that she displayed was not something you would see often.

Perhaps a side effect of her imprisonment? Or was she imprisoned because of this state?

As she laid her eyes once more upon the brutality that Alice could cause to the Demonette, Ria couldn't help but think it was the latter.

The way she laughed as blades cut into her body, the joy she felt when tearing out the guts from the beast. She was clearly not in the right state of mind as she didn't even notice the abnormalities in the beast.

All she did was pull out its insides and enjoy the shower of blood.

Even now, Ria felt as though she was staring at a beast, ready to pounce at a moment's notice. She had no doubt that if she was not Alice's friend, she would most certainly lunge towards her at this moment and tear out her insides just like what she did to the Demonette.

"Are you alright?" Ria asked out of concern. She wanted to know how Alice was feeling, if she was back to normal and if she knew what had just happened.

After stepping into this place, Ria felt her mind being mired in a swamp of her own thoughts and hallucinations with no sign of being able to break out. But before she knew it, she was back in her own mind, leaning against the wall not far from the entrance of the mansion.

She could hear the sounds of battle in the distance and clearly, halfway through the battle, the beast had given up on maintaining the illusion. And when she arrived, Alice was brutalising its corpse without a care in mind.

"Hm? Yeah I am. I was just… indulging myself a little. My wounds… should be fine without healing blood if you're worried about that."

'Seems like she has returned back to her usual self. At least… somewhat.' Ria thought to herself before examining the corpse.

"Wait… weren't we supposed to check out if there's anything wrong with the beast?"

###

As the two stood before the brutalised corpse of the Demonette, Alice finally returned to her usual state of mind and was silent.

She didn't know what had come over her but her memories of the fight were largely a blur. All she knew was that it felt good and she caused this.

"Well sh*t. Hm… I mean… It wasn't a normal Demonette since it wasn't weak to light or cold. In fact, it was the one making the surroundings cold. Not to mention it could use illusions which is most definitely not part of its skill set." Alice scratched her hair in confusion as she wasn't sure what kind of beast this was.

"But Cayla did show that it was indeed a Demonette and with three stars at that. But it said something about it being… incomplete?"

If she hadn't murdered the beast in such a way, she might've been able to investigate the truth a little easier but now they were on their own.

"We could just take the money that's owed to us since we completed the task. But its definitely weird. The Guild mentioned that those who survived left and gave up on the task because they didn't feel like they could accomplish the task. When asked about it they only said they don't know but something felt wrong." Ria shrugged.

Just as Alice was about to open her mouth, a sudden realisation dawned on her.

"Ria… Do you still remember what the Lord said about the beast?"

"Hm? I mean yeah but you're gonna have to be more specific than that." Ria nodded.

"Remember how he got his hands on the Demonette."

Tilting her head, Ria furrowed her brows before searching her memories. And upon remembering the Lord's words, she too paused in realisation as her eyes slowly widened in shock.

"He mentioned that it was a replica statue of his late wife. But why would a statue have blood and organs?" Alice spoke slowly as she looked at the state of the skin.

It was a strange rubbery texture, not quite skin yet not quite Porcelain. The lustre and shimmer of the surface mirrored that of Porcelain to a poor degree.

Looking at the eyes, Alice could still see the horror and fear that the beast showed in the final moments, but they were definitely organic.

If the Abyss Blood had merely possessed a statue replica it wouldn't have 'grown' the organs. Not to mention, what about the rest of the body? It was clearly all organic.

Hesitating for a moment, Alice gave the woman a silent prayer before using her dagger to pry the head open.

"Why would a statue have a need for a brain?" Alice narrowed her eyes.

". . ." Ria was silent.

This was not the replica statue of the Lord's wife. This was a living breathing person before they got forcefully transformed into an Abyss Beast. Even now, Alice could see the signs of surgery on her body.

"We should report this to the Guild." Alice suggested as Ria nodded her head.

However, before they could leave, they felt the ground beneath them disappear as they fell into the darkness.