Abyssal Awakening

Resonance, the power of harmony between three Sigils. In the past, she had attempted to create a single Sigil resonance but that tipped the balance in her body, leaving a permanent side effect.

If Resonance was the harmony between three Sigils, then couldn't she do the same with her Personal Artifact? Especially since it has the passive effect of adaptability.

If she were to imbue each form with a different Sigil and force a harmonic reaction between all three, wouldn't that be the same as a Resonance? All three forms grant her an aspect of control over the Void.

Should she succeed in fusing all three, it would give her dominion over the forces of the Void. On top of that, since it used the basis of resonance as a reference rather than her risky single Sigil resonance based on the ability of beasts, it should be far safer to execute.

But considering her current predicament, there was no point worrying about safety when her life was at stake.

Feeling the power of the Void flowing through her body, Alice could sense the changes occurring from within. To shape her into a better vessel so that she could accept the power of the Void.

Gritting her teeth, Alice raised her hand.

She couldn't spare the energy for a perfect transformation since that would take too long with a literal meteor above their heads. One attack. One attack to empty out all of this energy within her body.

*BANG!!!

A singularity spun to life above Alice's palms as black and white energy coiled around her. Stars flickered while the golden rings of her personal artifact wrapped around her wrists.

There was only one thing that Alice wanted to do right now. And that was to send Keria into the Void!

Golden strands began to form around the singularity as she pulled back her hand before launching the attack into the air.

*BOOM!!!

Expanding into a cosmic array of stellar radiance, the meteor collided with this barrier as a spray of blue flames splashed out from the collision.

Clenching her fist, Alice utilized the pushing force of the Void to slow down Keira but it wasn't enough.

Even though she was using the power of the Artificial Resonance without it being fully manifested, it was still far more powerful than what she used initially. Yet she could still feel Keira's power eating away at the resistance and forcing a path through.

*BANG! BANG!!!

From the struggle, she could hear the sounds of explosions as Keira punched her way through the layers.

"Even this isn't enough?" Alice gritted her teeth as sweat rolled down her face.

Clasping her hands together before opening it, a spectral array could be seen as Alice attempted to compress the space that Keira resided within.

The array was an advanced version of her grid formation that she used with her blood and metal. Only this time, she was utilizing it with the abilities of the Void. To mark down grids onto reality so that she could make it easier to manipulate.

Glass fractures began to appear around Keira...

*SHATTER!!!

Alice's hands were forced apart as her pupil shrunk. Keira's resistance was simply too strong. A truly unstoppable force that Alice couldn't hold back. But above all, Alice could sense hints of corrosion from Keira's attacks. The effect of eating away at the opponent's energy.

"YOU CAN'T HIDE ANYMORE RAT!!!" Keira's voice howled out as she shattered the final resistances of Alice's attack.

With mere moments away from a collision, Alice let out a shout as glass fractures appeared around them.

The flames from the meteor condensed into a single pillar that stretched into the sky before disappearing. And from the impact, a dome of gold, red, white and purple expanded in a single instance, burning away everything within the vicinity.

Lightning crackled down from above, the clouds parted and the lands trembled. The nexus of destruction tearing a hole in the reality they resided within while a blinding light flooded the lands.

A secondary pillar of destruction pierced the skies, dying the world in a purple and red radiance. Sparks shot into the sky while rings of destruction shot out. What used to be a land of beauty, a land of snow was reduced to a flaming disaster. Mountains crumbled in the face of such power.

Those from Esna could see the pillar of destruction as a maelstrom of wind crashed into the city, tearing houses from their very foundations and sending people flying through the air.

A wave of debris from the mountains crashed against the walls while smoke and clouds rolled out like a tsunami.

Despite the barrier around the outpost, it was shattered by the residual energy of the attack.

Following the expansion came the implosion as the air was sucked back towards the explosion.

A secondary barrier was hastily activated by any captains who could still stand as they turned towards the mountain range that had disappeared. In its place, a column of smoke and fire with the lands bubbling from the head as though it were liquid.

However, as the flames cooled rapidly, what remained shocked anyone who saw. A geometric marvel of cubes and straight edges. Pieces of the land looked as though it was glass shards or layers upon layers of crystals.

In the place of mountains, a forest of crystals now stood. Yet strangely, there was no one in sight. Not a single person, carriage or debris from the fight.

Complete emptiness without a single sign of life.

###

"Urg..." Groaning in pain, Selen felt a sense of weightlessness as she opened her eyes.

She believed that she'd see the light of the sky but instead, she was greeted by the sunless stellar expanse of the Void. Sitting up in a panic, she tried her best to remember what had happened as flashes of battle appeared in her mind.

The final collision as Alice tried her best to destroy the meteor.

Remembering this, Selen widened her eyes as she quickly looked around for everyone. She could see debris floating in the Void with many passed out around her.

There were several floating islands and it seemed like everyone was dragged into the Void.

Countless questions flooded Selen's mind such as how were they alive if they were stuck here? Then there's also the question of how long they were passed out for and what happened in the end.

Forcing herself to stand up, she limped around the island, hoping to find Alice or Egil in the masses but they were nowhere to be seen.

In the distance, large serpentine beasts with and otherworldly appearance could be seen 'swimming' in the sky. Its body was segmented and covered in fluorescent blue spikes. There was no head to the beast nor eyes from what Selen could see. If anything, rather than serpentine, it was more akin to a worm.

Yet strangely, they didn't approach them at all. However, Selen wasn't going to complain since it was better that way.

She could still recall the experience she had last time with Alice, how they travelled through the Void.

Walking to the edge of her island, she gave a light hop as her body floated through the air and landed on the secondary island without any issue. Spotting Egil's large stature in the distance, Selen let out a sigh of relief before looking around for Alice.

Most of the Warriors that were part of the caravan was here but Alice was still nowhere to be seen.

Even after going to the third island, Selen could only see Bo and Torgeir who she recognised.

'Where is she?' Selen frowned.

The cluster of islands they were on consisted of three large islands and a few smaller ones. The smaller ones didn't have anyone on them.

After checking through every island, there was only one left that Selen hasn't checked and that was the small island a little further away from the cluster.

Aiming her jump carefully, she launched herself up and grabbed hold of the ledge. Pulling herself over, her pupil shrunk in shock as she saw a giant crystal situated in the centre of the island. What's more shocking was that Alice was inside that crystal!

"Alice!"

Quickly running over, Selen looked for a way to get Alice out of there but there was nothing that she could see.

Furrowing her brows, she pulled her arm back and prepared to punch it in order to chip off small pieces.

But just before her punch could land, a long smoking pipe blocked her punch.

"!!!"

"I wouldn't do that if I was you." A charming voice rang out as Selen jumped back in shock.

She could see a woman sitting next to Alice's crystal while holding a smoking pipe. But rather than smoke, it seemed like entire galaxies were being exuded from the pipe.

The woman had black and blue hair with the back being weaved into three braids. A pair of charming crimson eyes and dark lipstick.

She wore a tight fitting asymmetric attire with silver decorations and weaves of multicoloured fabric that seemed to shift with every passing second. One arm had gloves that went up to her bicep, the other had silver ornaments and same with her legs.

"I assume this is your friend?" She asked, tapping her pipe against the crystal that Alice was encased within.

Furrowing her brows, Selen nodded her head.

"Who are you? What have you done with Alice?"

Raising an eyebrow, the woman took a deep breath from her pipe before exhaling a cloud of stellar smoke.

"Hah! Why would I do anything to your friend? I don't see a reason to do something so boorish." She laughed in mockery.

"As for who I am? A little rude to not recognise the owner of the house. The Void is my realm, young one."