Abyssal Awakening

Looking at the pillar of destruction she caused, Alice couldn't help but cough awkwardly as this was far beyond what she had initially expected.

She knew that it was going to be strong but to this extent?

Not only that, but this line of darkness that refused to disappear, Alice could tell the barrier between realms was waning around this spot.

'Safe to say even if the Tenebris has the Darkened Heart it won't revive right?' Alice asked with a twitching smile.

[You don't say… How did your firepower reach this extent when I was asleep?] There was no shock in Cayla's voice; it was just sheer confusion as to what had happened.

One moment, Alice was barely getting out of the Inverted World alive, the next she's practically making new paths between realms.

'And here I thought I was gonna get a chance to fight. *Sigh~ what a waste.' Alyss complained.

This was the first time they 'one shot' a beast as a Hunter should without things going south. Though the power required was… Intriguing to say the least.

Just as Alice was about to reply, she felt the strength escape her body as she collapsed in the crater she was in.

One attack was all it needed to burn through all the time she had with Torgeir's blood.

Thankfully, she expelled everything with that one attack. If even a fraction of that energy was left behind, there was no telling what could've happened to her body.

However, to make matters worse, a foreign flow of energy began to seep into Alice's body.

The Tenebris Sigil!

Alice wanted to stay awake but she began to struggle. An overwhelming sense of fatigue assaulted her mind but she was unable to pull herself to safety.

She couldn't even hear what Cayla and Alyss were shouting at her as a blurry figure came into view.

###

Glaring at one another, Torgeir and Valtor were both on their knees as blood poured from their wounds.

Neither had any healing vials left to keep them in the fight and the sudden pillar of darkness had also cut their fight short.

"I didn't think you had this kind of card up your sleeve. Is that why you wanted your warriors to evacuate the civilians?" Valtor asked, looking up at the darkness.

There's no doubt that all of his subordinates were swept along with this attack as he was the one who ordered for them to keep people within the city.

"Who knows." Torgeir responded. It was true that he didn't know as this was outside of his calculations.

The only person that possibly came to mind was Alice but it felt impossible to him.

This level of power and destruction, could the source really be a split haired girl who couldn't even maintain her body properly?

Regardless of the truth, the calamity of the fissure came to an end.

Forcing himself to stand up, Torgeir took a deep breath and brandished his spear.

The immediate danger may be over but he still needed to kill Valtor.

"Seems like you don't plan on letting me live this time." Valtor let out a hollow laugh as Torgeir shook his head.

"Not this time. You've crossed the line."

Chuckling softly, Valtor took a laboured breath and glanced up at the sky.

"Say, old friend. Do you know how we were able to cause an Abyss Break?"

Hesitating for a moment, Torgeir stopped in his steps. If he were to know the secret behind it, then it could make attacks like this in the future avoidable by noticing the initial conditions.

However, this hesitation of his brought a twisted grin to Valtor's face as he threw something into his mouth and burst into action.

"!!!"

Widening his eyes, Torgeir expected Valtor to attack him but that was not the case. What he was aiming for was the pillar of darkness!

'Sh*t!' Gritting teeth, Torgeir cursed himself as he ran after Valtor.

Knowing his old friend, there was no way he was doing this without a plan. Meaning there's still something he could cause!

'Is he going to open another fissure?' He thought to himself as he pivoted on his foot and launched the spear.

*BANG!!!

Sacrificing his right arm, Valtor cackled in a frenzy and showed Torgeir a middle finger.

"It's too late Torgeir!" Valtor grinned as a black orb could be seen pulsing on his chest.

Veins of dark energy stretched out from the orb and dug into his body, causing Valtor to cough up blood but he didn't care anymore.

Since he was the last one left, he'll make the plan come to fruition.

An Abyss Break was only the start of the calamity planned for the Verona Queendom. The beginning of the apocalypse.

Upon reaching the base of the pillar where he could see a fluctuating singularity that was still absorbing the surrounding power, he couldn't help but laugh as the gods had not abandoned him yet.

While the attack may have destroyed the fissure, it left behind a seed of destruction that he could use to his advantage.

"Valtor!" Torgeir screamed.

"I can hear you just fine old friend! Now watch! Watch as I burn this nation to ashes!." Valtor plunged his hand into his chest and pulled out the orb.

Strands of flesh clung onto the orb as he pulled his arm back before jamming it into the singularity.

*RUMBLE!!!

With this, the realm began to tremble once more as crimson lightning crashed down from above. The singularity spun to life as the force of attraction surged out once more.

But this was part of Valtor's plan.

To fuse himself with this singularity and become the new calamity that will befall this nation. To watch its fall with his own eyes.

Around him, the air began to warp, bending the space in impossible ways as it seemed as though the world was flipped on its head.

With a deafening silence, the singularity imploded, creating a vacuum where all light and sound were consumed into nothingness.

Valtor's body was broken down right to the very atoms that made up his existence as Torgeir stabbed his spear into the ground, preventing him from being dragged into the orb.

A shockwave exploded out, shattering the reality around the singularity and revealing the infinite Void, the chasm between realms. A stellar sea of infinite stars and the radiance of cosmic flames.

*BANG!!!

The sky tears apart, revealing even more fissures leading to the Void as energy began to filter towards the Void. The form of Torgeir's spear began to falter, unable to sustain itself.

Through the singularity, the horizon warped, folding itself to the point where it felt like there were now two worlds. One above and one below. Countless corpses began to float as everyone within the boundaries of the outpost found themselves being lifted into the sky.

Even the corpse of the mountainous beast was dragged along as its lava and blood pooled into beads in the air.

An unravelling of energy now visible to the naked eye. A kaleidoscope of colour bleeding out into their realm. Their deadly beauty signifying the breakdown of the very realm they live in.

"It's over Torgeir. I've won. This power- no… MY power, will become the end of this worthless nation." Valtor's voice echoed out as the stellar seas began to form a figure around the singularity.

"And my first act will be to wipe this outpost from the face of this earth!" Valtor roared as his energy soared.

The unravelled strands of energy were pulled towards his core as Torgeir was helpless to stop it.

At this stage, Valtor has far exceeded the power given to a six Sigil Hunter.

The power to warp the very realm they live in… The power of a Lord!

Colour began to drain from the world, leaving nothing but the flashes of energy from the singularity. Within this maelstrom of energy, Torgeir felt infinitely small as though he was nothing but a speck on a single orb. As though his mind had left his body and he was witnessing everything from above.

The energy of the world, no the world itself was compressed into a singular orb and lost its colour. A realm of darkness and flames surrounded them as Torgeir froze at the sight of a being that held the orb within her palm.

Wild red hair danced within this darkness, hiding one of her eyes. Draconic horns protruded from her head as she revealed a set of sharp teeth. Her lips curled up into an amused grin.

Playing with this orb in her hands with Valtor frozen in time, unable to move, the woman narrowed her eyes as flames began to coil around the orb.

Licking her lips, she opened her mouth and threw the orb in…

*CRACK!!! SHATTER!!!

"!!!"

Falling onto the ground, Torgeir panicked as he felt like his entire being was consumed by the but he was returned back to reality.

What used to be a pillar of destruction with Valtor was now missing as a single woman hovered in the sky.

She wore an elegant sleeveless black dress that reached her ankles with draconic patterns along the fabric. A pair of long black gloves on her arms, tights and thigh boots, the woman let out a charming chuckle.

The chains that surrounded her wrist and ankle began to wither and fade while the restraint on her neck remained.

But just as the restraints on her wrist and ankle disappeared, golden chains rushed down from above, seeking to bind her once more.

"Dead but still a pain in my ass. Don't you know the dead should stay dead, Velouria?" She clicked her tongue in annoyance.

However, compared to before, these bindings were far weaker as she snapped her finger.

*BANG!!!

Flames rushed out and collided with the chains, igniting the sky in a sea of fire. However, a single cuff still managed to latch itself onto her wrist.

"Tsk, well three out of five seals undone is good enough for now." She sighed before taking a deep breath of fresh air from the surface.

Tiamat, Dragon Queen of the Apocalypse, a sealed Lord of old was now free.