Abyssal Awakening

The hall echoed with the sound of his crawling. The grating sound of his nails scraping against the shattered marble.

Behind him, one of his legs twisted unnaturally, ripped off from below the knee. No matter how he tried to regenerate, no matter what skills he used, the wounds remained.

His armour, torn open like paper with parasitic creatures crawling in his flesh, eating him slowly.

Slowly, a shadowed figure approached.

"I! – Please! I d-don't know! Have mercy!" He gasped, shouted with desperation. His eyes wide in fear and delirium. "I really don't know where the Apostle is!!! She goes where she pleases!"

Tears of blood rolled down his cheeks with the parasites now climbing up and into his face.

The figure said nothing. No words, no expression, only a pair of cold eyes staring at him. His boots clicked softly across the floor, his approach unhurried.

"L-let me live! I'll be a spy! I'll try and find the information you need!" He begged but the man didn't stop.

The man lifted his leg, placed it against the begging man's trembling skull and began to push.

No matter how the begging man tried to punch, claw or push the leg away, it was a firm unmoving pillar.

Slowly pushing down with an even pace, unable to be stopped.

He could hear his skull cracking from the pressure, the blood pouring into his eyes. The flailing of his limbs as he could feel his end approaching.

"P-please! I really don't know! F*ck! Say something! I can't! I can't die like thARGHHH!!---"

And then his screams were cut off with a sickening crack that echoed through the rooms.

What used to be a Lord now lay lifeless on the floor, his head caved in by a single footstep. Brain matter and flesh smeared across the floor with pieces of bone added into the mix.

Lifting his foot, Kaden didn't say anything and continued forward. His expression was dark as his trails leading to the Apostle of Famine had now been cut off.

Like a lizard that realised she's being hunted, Famine has been cutting off her tails and escaping.

The longer this drags on for, the worse it'll be and Kaden didn't have the patience to play this waiting game.

"Don't you just look like you can kill a man with that expression of yours alone." Nalem spoke up, following behind Kaden.

At first, his killings were quick and swift, getting as much information as he could. But now, they were, slow, brutal, a way for him to vent out his frustrations.

A side that he usually keeps concealed unless in moments like this, where he couldn't make any progress at all.

"If we can't track famine down at all with this method, why don't we change our approach?" Nalem suggested as Kaden glanced over.

"The Apostle of War has died. Enris only has one Apostle left and I'm not sure if she'll be finding another one soon. But don't you think that's a good place to start?"

Turning his eyes away for a moment, Kaden contemplated before shaking his head.

"No, Enris wouldn't do something like that. A God she may be but one that's on the verge of losing her mind. Truly." He furrowed his brows. "She'll welcome any form of challenge to her. If Famine dies, she wouldn't care either. If anything, I'd wager she'll be happier knowing that with her now on the edge, people will swarm in to kill her."

Nalem paused as he couldn't quite comprehend why a God would act that way.

But then again, he's not the one that's been chasing after revenge all these years. He's been locked up in his own bookshop, monotonously drifting through life.

"Then what do you plan on doing?" Nalem questioned, wondering how Kaden was going to lure out the Apostle of Famine.

"How else? I'm going to snatch everything and anything she's gathered in the years that she's been alive. And what I can't take I'll destroy. Do you think she can still run away from me if I keep doing that?" Kaden grinned.

". . . Are you a burglar or are you an Apostle?" Nalem's smile twitched.

"Who said they were mutually exclusive?" Kaden shrugged.

He had to draw Famine out as soon as possible. Otherwise. . . No, he didn't want to think about it.

Time was short, he didn't even have time to congratulate Alice on unsealing the eye and weapon. The sooner he resolves this issue, the faster he can meet up with the little mead goblin.

He had to admit, he was curious about how she is now.

###

*COUGH!!!

She dropped on one knee, coughing violently with each one tearing through her chest like broken glass. Black and red blood splattered against the third, her vision swirled and the world began to tilt.

Taking several raspy breaths to try and calm herself, she braced against the wall.

With trembling fingers, she fished out a cigarette and lit it with her finger.

Bringing it up to her lips, she didn't smoke it immediately. She simply held it there, watching the smoke curling up in the air. The medicinal smell that she had gotten used to long ago no longer had any effect on her body and a weary smile crept across her face.

The medicine was no longer working.

It doesn't matter how many cigarettes she smokes, none of it was even alleviating the pain at this point.

"You should take a break. Stop fighting for a while, your body can't handle it anymore." Gin's voice echoed out. "Just look at your blood, it's even turning black for Gods sake."

Allura didn't turn to look at him. She simply took a slow drag of the cigarette and exhaled.

"Maybe it's time we went back. Back to the Alice, Ria and Luke. You can't keep pushing your body like this otherwise. . ." Gin held his words.

"Otherwise the great Apostle of Severance will die to a sh*tty Lord?" Allura let out a small chuckle.

"You're running out of time Allura, stop being stubborn. At least. . . You can still use the rest of it with Alice and the others." Gin frowned.

The recent fights were taking longer and longer, each one becoming more dangerous than the last.

Even in her weakened form, Lords can't kill her but the wounds will pile up. And at a certain point, she won't be able to protect herself.

Thinking about Alice and the other's, Allura's eyelids trembled momentarily.

She could still remember the moment she saw the split haired girl in the arena. . . What Alice was like when they first met in that room.

How the little girl hid under the blankets with a candle holder, ready to attack the person that'll approach her.

Allura remembered how Alice awkwardly navigated conversations with her limited vocabulary, how her eyes would shimmer when she discovered something new.

How proud she looked when she was able to perform a skill that should've been outside her skill level.

Thinking about this girl that was forcefully put into her care by Kaden, Allura couldn't help but smile despite the pain flooding her body.

"I can't go back Gin. Not yet." Allura finished the cigarette and crushed it in her hand.

While the effect maybe gone, her habit of smoking was one that strangely helped settle her chaotic mind.

"This crumbling body of mine will be used to pave a path forward for her. That's what a guardian does." Allura chuckled but Gin stood in front of her.

A deep frown on his face along with a glare.

"And what then? When she finds your corpse pierced by spears and arrows? The lifeless eyes of someone who she depended on? You're like a mother to her, you're the foundation in which she finally managed to pick herself back up to face the world." Gin gritted his teeth.

"Did you even think about the despair she'll feel if you were to disappear?! You're running out of time, I know that! But rather than using what little time you have left away from her, why not fill her with memories of you rather than the time without you?! You're just going to leave her with a bunch of regret she'll never be able to resolve!"

Allura faltered for a moment. She knew what Gin was aiming at and understood why he was saying what he was saying.

She too wanted to spend the rest of her time with them if she could. . . To laugh with Kaden again like in the past.

But. . .

"If I were to see myself as Alice's guardian and mother, is it not a parent's duty to make the world a better place for them? A parent works hard so that the child can enjoy what life has to offer." Allura smiled.

It's because she placed Alice in her heart that she did this.

"I will walk until I cannot walk anymore. I will fight until I cannot raise my hand. And at the end of everything, if Alice blames me then so be it. I'm not greedy for much. But as long as Alice can be happy in this world I'm content." Allura walked past Gin who grabbed her arm.

"Stubborn b*tch. Alice will be happy if you're next to her." Gin spat out in annoyance as he lifted her arm over his shoulder to help her walk.

He didn't say anything else but Allura knew that he was helping.

"Sorry for taking you away from Ria." Allura chuckled causing Gin to release a string of curses.

"Don't remind me otherwise I'm going to leave you here and go back on my own!"

If he takes too long to get back, he might become a great grandfather before he knew it. And if that were to happen. . . He'll give Luke a proper chat regarding his darling grand daughter.