Abyssal Awakening

While Alice and the others were slowly closing in on Esna, Keira hovered above the clouds while a flaming aura flickered around her body.

During this entire time, she wasn't just watching. No, she has been accumulating as much power as her body could contain.

If she was a normal human, she would've long reached her limit. But as a hybrid, the benefits of being a beast allowed her to accumulate far more energy than what should be possible.

In fact, it is because she's a hybrid that she could get the benefits of both sides. The control and utilisation of Abyssal Energy of a human and the capacity and adaptability of a beast.

A constant tether to the Abyss that funnelled power directly into her body.

Breathing in the air around her, Keira could feel the pulse of energy running through her body.

After all this time of accumulating energy, her appearance had changed somewhat.

Three pairs of flaming wings had long unfurled behind her. Its radiant aura shrouded by the light of the sun.

A halo of flames spun behind her and on the halo, miniature stars orbited.

One attack with all her might. To completely erase the existence of Alice. An attack that she had been preparing for the last few days.

"Ah~ I can feel it." Keira muttered, raising her hands towards the sun.

The apex of her power, the absolute limit.

Clasping her hands together, she shattered her bestial form and activated her second resonance.

Human Beast Hybrid!

Around her, obsidian armour and flaming cloth decorated her body. A fusion of red, purple and orange.

Ribbons of energy danced around her while the spectral visage of her bestial form hovered behind her.

Should Alice see this with her own eyes, she'll recognise it to be the fully manifested version of the Bloodline Release!

Tapping into her bestial bloodline, Keria's pupils turned draconic while scales and armour appeared along her arms and legs.

Now that she was in her second resonance, she activated a ritual.

Beneath her, a ritual circle manifested.

"Energy levels exceed regulation. Second Resonance activated. Subject 12, designation Keria, requesting for limiter removal." Keira muttered as flames exploded from her back.

Around her, the flames coalesced into humanoid figures.

Her aura spiked as the figures stood in silence and soon, one stepped forward.

[Failure is not allowed. Eliminate the enemy at all cost.]

"Accepted."

[Your identity shall not be divulged and secrets shall not be revealed.]

"Accepted."

[Leave no survivors. Eliminate all witnesses.]

"Accepted."

A smile appeared on the humanoid's face as their figures began to disappear.

[Limiter removal approved.]

*CLANG SHATTER!!!!

The sound of chains breaking could be heard as her aura increased by threefold.

Golden lights converged from around the world as Sigil markings shimmered across Keira's body while he rapid pulsing of energy through her veins could be seen.

The ultimate power that she could harness, one that rivalled that of a Lord!

*BANG!!!

Flames erupted from her eyes as the obsidian armour around her body shattered leaving only the garment of fire.

Flying up until the world around her became a balance of the infinite cosmos and the realm of man, Keria hovered and glanced down at the world.

Behind her, the flaming wings began to expand.

The spectral beast behind her cracked open its jaws as the energy from her wings began to dissolve into strands of energy that gathered into a singular orb.

Opening her mouth, she swallowed the orb. At that moment, her body began to immolate as she fell towards the impact zone. Flames continuously gathered around her, transforming her into a devastating meteor of destruction.

###

As they approached the last stretch of the journey, Alice let out a sigh of relief.

Around the next mountain, they'll finally be able to see Esna. Even though her the warnings in her gut never faded, it'll soon cease to be her problem.

"Maybe you should sleep for a bit. You haven't slept at all the last few days." Selen furrowed her brows in worry. She had tried to convince Alice previously but she was stubborn, saying that she couldn't rest while still feeling the danger.

But no matter how they scouted, nothing was nearby. Yet despite this, Alice still maintained the defensive grid around them.

"It's fine. It's just one more mountain." Alice shook her head with a smile.

She could feel a cold chill from within her body, it wasn't the chill from her surroundings but rather the chill from not sleeping.

No matter how powerful she is, she still has to respect the limits of her body otherwise it'll collapse from stress.

"We're basically home already. Even if something happened, can't they send reinforcement quickly?" Egil followed up as Alice was somewhat swayed.

He wasn't wrong. With the retreat of the frontlines, Esna had become a hub of warriors. Any incident this close to Esna would have the warriors rushing over rather quickly.

But at the same time, this was a Hybrid that they were talking about. It wasn't something that the average warrior could handle as proven by the ambush when they were journeying to the port.

If the Hybrid that could manipulate the Void better than she could were to appear once more with an army, how were they supposed to respond? What if the Zenias send more hybrids? After all, she didn't know how many there were.

In the end, Alice nodded her head and retrieved her grid. Fatigue immediately flooded her body as she had continuously fuelled the grid for the last few days. But even so, she couldn't sleep.

The grid may have disappeared but she still wanted to stay awake at least until they reached Esna.

Pulling out some fruit, Alice gave it a bite. The fruit's healing effect was soothing as usual but wasn't as effective as she expected. Granted, the fruit was more for the body rather than mental exhaustion.

"I feel like I can sleep for 24 hours." Alice groaned, causing Selen to laugh.

She would prefer it if Alice indeed slept for 24 hours after everything that has happened.

*Drip…

Furrowing her brows, Alice noticed that she was sweating. In this weather?

Glancing around her, she noticed that people had taken off their fur coats. The snow around them was slowly melting and the warning signs were screaming in her mind.

"I didn't know the north had a summer this late into the year. Isn't it close to winter now?" Selen asked Egil who tilted his head.

"Hmm… it is a bit strange. It's not supposed to get this hot."

Hearing this, Alice immediately stood up and expanded her grid once more, trying to pinpoint the anomaly but it was no use. Once again, there was no danger around them.

'Cayla, is it Solaris?' Alice questioned. The first thing she thought when it came to heat was the sun God but Cayla shook her head.

[There is no sign of divinity. This isn't Solaris' doing.]

Furrowing her brows, the bad feeling continued to grow.

At this point, even Torgeir was concerned about the sudden increase in heat as the snow around them had completely melted away.

Shielding her eyes, Alice glanced up at the sky. It felt as though she was suddenly transported to the desert with this heat. But the way the temperature was climbing up was clearly abnormal.

It wasn't a gradual climb, no. It was as if someone was turning up the dial.

At that moment, Alice noticed a slight fluctuation within the sun's radiance. Upon noticing this fluctuation, the uncanny feeling returned to her heart as her pupils shrunk. A shock went through her system as she was jolted awake immediately.

"BARRIERS! DEFENCES! NOW!!!" Alice shouted at the top of her lungs, shocking the people around them.

Without hesitation, Selen immediately activated her time slow barrier.

Torgeir glanced around for signs of danger but questions flooded his mind.

"Where?"

"It's not the sun! It's the enemy's attack!" Alice shouted back, activating her Sigils.

She wasn't a defensive fighter so the only thing she could do was try to offset the attack with an equal or greater power. However, she wasn't sure if there was even enough time to prepare something powerful enough.

Not only that, but the flickering orb of fire was still gathering energy with each passing second.

Upon hearing her shout, everyone glanced up and saw the spiralling orb of flames that began to dye the sky in a deep red. Black, red and purple flames twisted to become an icon of destruction.

Many of the defensive warriors wanted to create barriers but as the meteor came closer, the difference in energy rooted them in their spot.

Even if they were to put barriers, it would be akin to using a piece of paper to stop the crashing tides. It was inevitable.

Gritting her teeth in anger, Alice created a bow and gathered her flames into a single arrow.

Resonance!

Briar thorns and spider lilies manifested across her body but it still wasn't enough.

Partial Bloodline Release!

"Feast!"

Activating both the bloodline release and her ritual with Alyss, the flaming arrow on her body exploded with power but it was still lacking in the face of this attack.

Even with the embers of a fallen divinity, she lacked time to properly gather this power. Hell, even with the proper time and preparation, the flood of energy from the meteor from this distance was enough to tell her that it was far beyond her capacity.

Trying to contest it was simply foolish but it doesn't mean Alice was willing to roll over and die. There was only one choice left. A Sigil that allowed her to increase her maximum capacity while draining those near her.

Since they weren't going to prepare a barrier anyway, they have no use for their energy!

Fifth Sigil activated!

Scarlet Wings, Demonic Descent!