Abyssal Awakening

Seeing Feris approaching, Alice swallowed her saliva nervously.

"Ahahaha~… Hi Feris, how have you been?" Alice laughed awkwardly while sitting on her knees.

Folding her arms, Feris gave Alice a glare before smoking her pipe.

"Are you really asking that now?" She asked, her voice as cold as ice.

Both Darrow and Tristan took a step back, allowing the two to resolve things. After all, they weren't involved with this at all.

"Picture this for me. You're having a nice, long, relaxing nap. Then all of a sudden, someone breaks open your window and seawater starts to pour in. Not only that, but spells and attacks that can destroy a mountain start to fly everywhere.

"You think to yourself, am I getting attacked? Then you see a strange m*therf*cker perched on your window, ready to jump in. And after all that, some small garbage dumping prick goes and asks you how have you been. How would you react?" Feris asked while crouching in front of Alice with a glare.

*Cough…

"Sorry…" Alice apologized as Feris held out her hand.

Tilting her head in confusion, Alice placed her hand on top of Feris's hand, causing her to slap her on the head.

"What are you? A dog? I'm not asking for your paw. Hand over the tablet, I'm counting this as the favour repaid."

"Right." Alice nodded, feeling wronged. She could've just said so, why did she have to smack her on the head?

'It is a little unfair. If she hits you too hard, your last working brain cell will fly out your ear.' Alyss mocked while Cayla nodded her head by the side.

Pouting in annoyance, Alice ignored the two bullying her and handed Feris the tablet.

Snapping her finger, Feris destroyed the tablet and yawned.

"Try not to get involved with the Outer Gods more than you have to. Though it's not exactly avoidable with the barrier weakening." Feris sighed.

"Any tips on how to kill them then? All of the people tied to the Outer Gods can't be harmed by me." Alice frowned.

However, upon hearing this, Feris turned her gaze back as her pupils trembled in shock.

Gritting her teeth, she snapped her finger and sent the other two away before walking up to Alice.

"Explain! What do you mean you can't harm them?!" Feris shouted.

Surprised by her reaction, Alice blinked her eyes before manifesting her flames.

"It doesn't matter what I use, the damage done to them is limited. When I use these flames, the damage is zero. Tiamat's power only damaged them slightly." Alice explained while manifesting Tiamat's power in her other hand.

"That's… That should be impossible… No… What? How?" Feris frowned while observing the flames.

Pacing back and forth, Feris had a worried look on her face.

"I'm asking you again and I want you to answer me truthfully. What the f*ck are you?" Feris gritted her teeth while staring at Alice.

###

Tumbling through space, Tristan and Darrow quickly orientated themselves as they landed heavily on the ship.

Glancing up with a frown, Tristan wanted to run back but the exit had already been sealed.

As for Darrow, he understood that there was nothing else he could do at this moment and began to recall the fleet.

The monster was dealt with, the shipments taken away and the traders killed.

Peace was extended momentarily and he wasn't going to waste this time. He needed to get more information on the traders, the cargo they were dealing with and the person behind it.

"Are you going to keep staring or are you going to leave? Alice seems to know the other person so I don't think she should be in any danger." Darrow asked as Tristan paused before nodding his head.

On the way back, Tristan could sense his Goddess trying to establish a connection once more.

The current situation didn't favour a communion so he had to wait.

Parting ways with Darrow, Tristan took a detour and made a temporary shrine.

"Are you avoiding me now? I tried to contact you so many times and it's only now that you think about contacting me back." Lumiria lamented while floating around Tristan.

"My apologies. I was in a bit of an awkward situation that didn't allow for a communion." Tristan showed an apologetic smile as Lumiria tapped him on the cheek.

"Fine~ I forgive you. So what made you use my blessing? It was quite a high output at that and I even lost track of where you were for a moment. I was about to send my Apostles out." She wrapped her arms around his neck.

Listening to his report, Lumiria tapped her chin.

"No wonder. Even though Feris isn't a Goddess in the traditional sense like me or Solaris, the Void is still her realm. It's only natural that you'll struggle to maintain a proper connection without the right preparation.

"If anything, I'm surprised she agreed to give you a hand. Don't tell me she got her eyes on you?!" Lumiria frowned but Tristan shook his head.

"She seemed more annoyed by the fact that something breached her realm."

"Good. And it sounds like her anyway. I doubt the shut in has any desire for companionship. The only companionship she needs is a blanket and pillow." Lumiria sighed.

Her figure started to flicker as the Goddess clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"Seems like time is out again. See you soon my dear Tristan." She gave him a wave and a smile.

Watching her figure disappear in Lunar lights, Tristan wavered.

He didn't tell Lumiria about Alice.

He didn't tell her that Alice was the source of this power of Duality.

'Did I make the right choice?' Tristan questioned himself as he made his way back to the Inn.

Alice had… offered to help his sister. Even though she understood the risks, she still told him to seek out Calista. Of course, by hiding her identity it was a way to protect herself.

But what if she harboured ulterior motives?

She was at the port during their first meeting. The same port that was taken over after the battle with countless lost and buildings blown up.

However, she promised to talk and he wanted to hold her to that promise. If she doesn't then… They can only be enemies the next time they meet.

###

Stepping out of the Void, Alice glanced up at the sky and sighed.

The information she just received from Feris was… heavy to say the least.

Neither Alyss nor Cayla had the mood to crack a joke or say something to change the subject. All three were silent.

Feris had explained the physiology of the Outer Gods and their minions clearly. They're something foreign and one of the four types of powers that exist in this world.

First, the most common is Abyssal. Energy given by the Abyss that condenses into Sigils through contracts.

The second, Holy. Blessings given by Gods and their divinity, a power fuelled by the faith the God accumulates. It's also the main source of energy used by the Apostles.

Blending both Holy and Abyssal together is the strongest type of energy as of yet.

The third is the Void. To say it's compatible with the other sources is true but at the same time, it's false. The Void in itself doesn't act as a source but rather a state.

It cannot offer contracts or blessings but merely changes the state of your energy. To manipulate it so that you can modify the space you occupy.

And the fourth and last one, Eldritch.

It's the energy that belonged to the foreign entities that sat outside the borders of their realm. It is innately incompatible with the first three, causing them to cancel each other out to some extent.

If one was to fuse Eldritch and Holy together in one body, the byproduct with be a twisted amalgamation of corrupted divinity, changing the initial intentions of the God's blessing.

Should you fuse Eldritch and Abyssal, you'll massively speed up the progress of any side effects and transform you into a zombie type creature that's entirely under the control of the Outer Gods.

If the Void and Eldritch were to fuse… Well… The space becomes 'dead'. It becomes a parasitic zone that leaches essence from the realm they're in, siphoning everything and expanding the affected area.

Following this logic, fighting the Outer God's minions would only leave death and destruction in its wake. Permanently altering the place they reside in.

Due to Tristan's nature as a Cardinal, his blessing was stronger than average and thus allowed him to eliminate the Eldritch power that resided within the fodder.

When the strange beast entered the Void, Feris had to permanently erase that part of the Void to prevent future troubles from occurring.

Never one in any of these situations did Abyssal, Holy or Void have 'no effect'.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Tiamat for example, was only weakened since it was a fragment of the original.

If Alice's flames had no effect on the strange black mist then it could only mean one thing.

She had hints of Eldritch power within her body!

That was the only logical conclusion that Feris could come up with. Eldritch power behaved differently to the aforementioned three sources. Eldritch doesn't exactly harm another Eldritch source. Rather, it assimilates.

The weaker source is swallowed into something greater.

And the last thing that Feris said dwelled in Alice's mind.

"By all rights, I should kill you right now. To eliminate all sources of Eldritch power. However, it's also true that your body is somehow keeping all four sources in check. I should've figured it out sooner. Everything you did was Eldritch in nature."

This was the last clue that Alice needed.

Her soul siphoning power, the replication of holy power and relics, her adaptation to the Void.

She's been utilizing a portion of Eldritch power this entire time.