Abyssal Awakening

Appearing in front of Keira, Alyss grinned.

She adjusted her footwork, twisted her hips and slammed her fist forward.

Instinctively, Keira raised her arms to guard.

*BANG CRACK!!!!!

Widening her eyes in shock, Keira watched as the obsidian armour on her arms broke apart to reveal the bruised flesh inside!

She wasn't able to hide the shock on her face as Alyss's eyes gained a sadistic gleam. The gauntlet variant of the Ruinous Void allowed her to plant 'bombs' wherever she punched and detonate them for armour piercing damage.

Seeing as how Keira's arms were bruised inside, she was rather happy with the effects.

Not letting Keira a moment to recover, Alyss stomped down on Keira's foot, preventing her from escaping before unleashing a flurry of attacks against the torso and the head.

When she would guard her head, Alyss punched her in the ribs. If she guarded her torso, Alyss gave her a right hook left hook against the head.

Anger filled Keira's mind as she gathered energy around her but Alyss was one step ahead.

Grabbing Keira by the wrist, she twisted her body and threw Keira into the air.

"I'm counting on you twinnie!" Alyss shouted, giving back control momentarily as Alice already knew what kind of combo Alyss wanted to do.

Snapping her finger, she created a portal behind her and jumped through.

As Keira reached the apex of the throw, she turned her body to try and find Alyss but it was no use.

A portal opened above her as Alyss dropped down and kicked Keira in the side.

Another portal appeared below Alyss as she appeared in front of Keira and gave her a uppercut. One last teleport above Keira before grabbing her arms and stomping down on her back, sending them crashing towards the ground.

*BANG!!!

Jumping out from the smoke, Alyss furrowed her brows.

She could see that her shoes were being melted by lava as she kicked them away. All the damage she did to Keira during this combo could mostly be ignored as she started to cover herself with the same armour around her arms.

"How dare a rat… Do this to me…" A low growl could be heard as Keira pulled herself from the rubble.

Flames, lava and obsidian could be seen all over her body as scales began to show up.

'Seems like she's planning on transforming.' Alice frowned.

'Seems like it. She's definitely the skinny wingless dragon from the ambush. The lava breath and fire powers explain it. However… her human form seems pretty weak. The only thing noticeable is her durability.' Alyss agreed as she didn't plan on letting Keira transform easily.

Without giving her a chance to keep speaking,

Ruinous Void – Axe Form!

The strongest form of Ruinous Void made for raw destruction and power. In exchange for this power, it does make her slower but the trade off was the fact that each hit would increase damage! A stacking ability along with obscuring regeneration was a great trade off in Alyss's opinion.

Granted, this would struggle against fast enemies since it's mainly targeted at large beasts.

Bringing her centre of gravity low to the ground, Alyss dashed towards Keira as each step would crush the ground beneath her.

Twisting her body, she was about to release a horizontal slash when Alice forcefully took over and created a portal in front of them.

*BANG!!!

Returning back to their original spot, Alice had cold sweat down her back. If Alyss had continued their attack, they would've been eaten by the molten dragon head that shot out of the ground.

"I've had enough of this. You're dead you f*cking rat!" Keira shouted. Her eyes turned draconic while scales continued to manifest across her body.

The aura around her soared, forcing Alice to take a step back from the pressure.

Resonance!

*BANG!!!!

Just as Keira activated her resonance, a burly man landed next to her, punching her in the face and causing her to crash against the ground.

The flames around them faded as Alice was confused by the sudden appearance of another.

Seeing as how he possessed the same uncanny aura, Alice realised that he was probably another hybrid like the woman.

"Stupid b*tch." Troy clicked his tongue in annoyance.

If he hadn't interfered, everyone would've seen them for what they truly were. Hybrids.

Should such a secret get out, they can forget about returning to the family.

Glaring at Alice, he was somewhat surprised that someone could actually harm the defence of a hybrid. But with Keira being someone who focuses on speed, an attack like that wouldn't harm him who focused on the defensive aspect of his new evolution. So it was nothing to worry about.

Throwing Keira over his shoulders, Troy began to leave when a spark appeared in front of his face.

"Are you really so eager to throw your life away?" Troy warned in a deep voice as he glared back at Alice with killing intent.

Hearing this, Alice gave a charming laugh as she snapped her finger once more, detonating a spark next to his face.

"Don't worry, I treasure my life. But you two~ Seems like you don't want your secret discovered by the Kingdom. Aren't I right?" Alice taunted with a grin.

Since two hybrids brought themselves to her doorstep, she wanted to see how far she could push them.

To push them to reveal their true natures that they seem desperate to hide.

"Don't push your luck. Your time will come." Troy frowned, stomping his foot down as the ground fractured before an earthquake erupted, causing Alice to lose her footing.

Without wasting another second, Troy crouched down before jumping away, leaving Alice alone on the battlefield.

"Tsk, what a mood killer." Alice frowned.

It would've been the perfect moment to test out her fifth Sigil against two hybrids but they weren't intent on fighting to the end. Not only that, but seeing his stature, Alice presumed his was the white bulky beast.

One that none of the warriors could harm.

Without trying herself, she wasn't sure of his defence but it didn't worry her too much.

This was just a taster of what was to come. After all, neither of them used their resonances.

Since her fun was cut short, there was no more reason to stay here on the frontlines where everyone could see her.

She might as well help out the northerners a little and take out this annoying barrier so they can't chase them while they're retreating.

"Let's see…" Alice muttered, scanning her eyes across the barrier to look for a weak point.

She could see the array of energy coiling with one another, shifting through the barrier and gathering into certain nodes around the base.

In order to dismantle the barrier, she'll need to topple it over by getting rid of these weak points.

Just as she summoned her artifact, Alice could feel her hand tremble as she understood she must've overexerted herself a little.

Constantly using the abilities of the artifact drains her stamina quickly and pushes her body to the limit.

Without fully recovering, she couldn't use it freely without consequences.

'Seems like I got a little carried away.' Alyss scratched her cheek as she was the one who kept on using the Artifact.

'Don't worry about it. As long as you had fun.' Alice reassured with a chuckle.

Since her body was nearing the limits, she'll scare them a little instead of taking out the barrier.

Damaging one node should be enough.

Taking a deep breath, Alice gathered her flames into a single spark and turned it into an arrow.

Creating a bow using metal and blood, she arched her body back and fired the arrow.

*BANG!!!

Without seeing what had happened, Alice turned around and made her way back to their side of the battlefield.

After the fight with Keira, parts of her outfit were burned to ash much to her annoyance. Her favourite pair of shoes were also destroyed leaving her to walk in the dirt with her socks.

Even though she bought a lot of outfits, she couldn't go around destroying them with every fight. The costs will eventually stack up.

Meanwhile, a sea of violet flames exploded out and began to eat away at the node.

"I'm back~" Alice greeted Egil who wanted to say something before sighing and giving up.

There were many questions in his mind but he doubted Alice would answer them.

"Welcome back. Seems like I don't have to drag you away to safety." He chuckled.

"Nope~ The fight ended before it turned interesting. Killed my mood." Alice shrugged, letting out a disappointed sigh.

Hearing this, Egil's smile twitched once more.

The intensity of their exchange was clear for all to see. It was short but many would've died 20 times over! Especially that fire breath attack that the other girl used.

Then there's the large man and the killing intent he exuded. It was far away but Egil could feel his hair stand on end. But Alice? She stood in front of him and shrugged it off.

With each demonstration, Alice only proved how much of a monster she is when it comes to power. It made Egil begin to question if he even chose the right Sigils up till now.

###

"Urg…" Clutching her head, Keira sat up and noticed that Troy was sitting not far away from her.

"What ha-"

"You're a f*cking idiot." Troy cut her off as veins bulged on Keira's neck.

"HAH?!"

"You almost exposed our identity as hybrids. Do you hate that rat so much that you'd rather kill her then have the family kill you?" Troy spat out in annoyance as Keira couldn't respond.

Gritting her teeth, she stood up and punched the wall behind her in anger.

Next time, next time for sure. She'll drag that rat where no one can see and finish her off for good.