Abyssal Awakening

It took the referee a moment to announce the winner as he didn't fully register what had happened.

But once he did, the arena was filled with a mixture of joyous laughs from those who bet on Alice, screams of anger from those who bet on Jyn and even those who claimed the fight was rigged.

However, Alice didn't pay it any attention as she walked up to Jyn to make sure he was okay.

Holding her hands behind her back, she leaned down and saw his eyelids twitch.

"Yahoo~ Wakey wakey~" Alice called out as Jyn let out a groan.

As he shifted his body, the armour on his body broke apart and landed on the ground with a deep thud.

"Seems like I lost." Jyn muttered with a slight frown, sitting up and leaning against the wall to support himself.

"Seems so." Alice chuckled with a nod.

"I apologise for looking down on you. Seems like I couldn't let go of my initial judgement and underestimated you even when I wasn't trying to." Jyn let out a hearty laugh as he wanted to stand up but the injuries sustained by that last hit stopped him.

He didn't think Alice would've been able to react in such a manner, the time when his defence was at its lowest as well.

"What did you even kill to get this kind of power?" Jyn asked curiously while Alice tapped her chin before smiling.

"Secret." She replied, sticking her tongue out before offering her hand to help him up.

Accepting her help, he got back onto his feet before looking down at the armour that was broken from this exchange.

"I don't have to pay for that right? I'm pretty broke."

"I'll cover for it myself, don't worry." Jyn reassured.

Stepping out of the arena, he made his way back to the VIP suite while drinking some healing blood to heal himself from the damage. Meanwhile, Alice took a moment for herself before meeting up with everyone again.

After all, she had placed a bet on herself before the fight!

###

Stepping into the VIP suite, Jyn kneeled towards Selen and Erick who watched the clean-up of the arena.

"I'm sorry." Jyn apologised as there was nothing else he could say.

There were so many ifs and whats, but the reality was that he lost. He dropped his guard because his opponent only had three Sigil.

"Why didn't you use everything you got from the beginning? I believe you had enough information to help you win in the first exchange." Selen asked with a neutral tone.

Even though she had foreseen this to some extent, it coming to pass was a different feeling entirely. She couldn't help but wonder what if it was her down in the arena, what would've happened?

"I… Looked down on my opponent. I will follow squad rules and reflect upon this once we return to the Surface." Jyn looked down with a slight sigh.

"Forget it. She's an abnormality that none of us foresaw. Take this loss and improve yourself using the things you learned. But now that you lost, it seems like we'll have to honour our agreement to her." Selen shook her head before turning to Erick who finished his wine and stood up.

"I don't see any issue with that. Make the necessary preparations for this trip after we talk with the principal. Give her a way to contact us and a way for us to contact her. Even if it wasn't for her suggestion of helping out in the Inverted World, having someone of her calibre be our ally is beneficial for us." Erick chuckled.

Just as he left the room, he saw Alice skipping towards their general direction while holding a bag of gold.

"Oh! Are you leaving already?" Alice asked while blinking her eyes before storing her pouch away.

"We have a meeting with someone rather important. Let's visit the Inverted World another day." Erick smiled while Alice paused momentarily.

Looking down, she kicked her leg with a sigh before nodding.

"Fine. . . How long are you staying here?"

"It's undecided yet." Glancing over to Selen, Erick gestured with his finger as she nodded and took out a badge.

"You can use this to contact me and likewise, I can use this to contact you. I'll let you know once we're ready to enter the inverted World and I'll hire you for your services." He explained, giving her the badge of the Zenia family.

Taking it, Alice had to suppress her innate disgust and put it into her pouch before nodding with a 'happy' smile.

"It's a promise okay? Don't forget to contact me!"

Not wanting to stay a moment longer, she jogged away while Erick simply chuckled, not knowing what kind of person Alice was.

###

Leaving the arena, Alice made her way back to the academy. Once she was sure there were no eyes on her, she dismissed her disguise.

'Disgusting.' She thought with a frown.

Thankfully, it seems like there were no tracking Sigils attached to the crest otherwise she would've needed to stay in this disguise for much longer.

'You don't say. Seeing you act sweet with them is giving me goosebumps.' Alyss smirked while lying on her own bed.

During the time that Alice was gaining the Zenia's favour, she had Cayla teach her the gimmick of making this space comfortable.

'I can't exactly avoid it. If I want to do this properly, I need to find out what they're here for, what they've done and if they're scumbags like my father and brothers.' Alice shook her head while giving her body a stretch.

She needed a break before going to the underground or else she'd feel like throwing up.

###

Looking at the group of people leaving her office, Rosalyn furrowed her brows and waited until they had left.

Snapping her fingers, she sealed off the room before a crimson aura erupted from her body.

"ARGGGG!!!!" Letting out a cry of anger, she threw the chair towards the wall as Kaden stepped out of the shadows and caught it.

"Seems like you're rather displeased about their suggestion." Kaden smirked while Rosalyn scratched her hair before sighing.

"They're a bunch of bandits that's what they are. F*cking Zenia's, always looking for ways to monopolise the sh*t in the Abyss. Just because of one incident, they think it's alright to parade into MY academy and ask for access to the Inverted World I've guarded all this time?

They can on f*ck themselves if they think I'm going to accept this sh*t!" The principal raged as she couldn't believe the audacity of these people from the Zenia.

However, because of the influence they hold behind their name and the connections they've made, she couldn't outright reject them either. She could only delay things for now by telling them to give her some time.

Biting her nails, Rosalyn paced back and forth around her office while Kaden placed the chair down.

He noticed the traces of Alice's blood attached to their body, it was very faint but noticeable if you're familiar with Alice's power.

'Seems like the kid is trying to get some revenge early on.' Kaden mused to herself as he knew she hated the Zenias with every fibre of her being. The fact that they've decided to show up now was rather good for her.

Of course, if she was to kill them, it would only prove to become even more of a headache for Rosalyn.

"I'd suggest you deal with them as soon as possible. Or even scrub your hands clean of them since they might be dead soon." Kaden advised as he closed one of this eyes and searched for Alice's wear abouts.

"Eh? What do you mean they might die soon? If they going to die, f*cking die elsewhere! Why does it have to be here???" Rosalyn blinked her eyes as colour drained from her face.

If they truly died here, it wouldn't end with just one visit from the Zenia family, it'll become an entire headache for her!

Especially since Erick was close to the main Zenia family!

"I'm just giving you a warning. Regardless, it's got nothing to do with me." Kaden laughed, taking a step back into the shadows.

"Wait! Sh*t don't leave me with this headache!!!" Rosalyn cried out but Kaden had long left the room.

Gritting her teeth, she let out another shout before throwing the table to the opposite side of the room.

Not only does she need to find a way to settle things nicely with the Zenia family, but now there's also a ticking timebomb of not knowing when they're going to die!

"I swear to the Gods if I get my hands on whoever's trying to kill them." Rosalyn clenched her fist in anger.

As long as they die away from the Academy, Rosalyn wouldn't care. But if they die while discussing the Inverted World? She'll be the prime suspect!!!

"I can't leave things like this!"

Dismissing the seal, she stepped out of the room and called for a meeting with every department. They need to keep the Zenia group safe no matter what.

###

*ACHOO!!!

Rubbing her nose in annoyance, Alice finished the mead to wash out the spicy taste in her mouth.

Since Alyss could only watch, Alice decided to apologize via spicy skewers.

Now that both of them were satisfied, she made her way towards the docks once more.

Looking around for the Underground sign, she found it to be relatively close to the arena and made her way down. Surprisingly, it seemed like they were expecting her as she was welcomed in without any hassle.

Walking down the steps, she soon entered a large cavern beneath the surface as several ribcages supported the ceiling of this space.

Situated in the middle of this cavity within the earth was an assortment of buildings but that wasn't what caught her eye.

What caught her attention was the platform detached from the buildings and suspended above a pit of crimson.

A spider like creature with large metal stakes pierced through its body was pinned against the platform.

[Zahak – Sealed Lord of Venom: ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦]

An eight star Sealed Abyss Lord!