Abyssal Awakening

Her frown only deepened the further she read.

Sitting her, Alice held her head as her movements alerted the two.

"Ah, you\'re awake. Are you feeling better? What happened?" Allura asked, taking this chance to have a break from paperwork.

"Mnm, sorry. I\'m feeling better now, how long was I out for?" Alice nodded with a small smile while Allura was checking her body to see if there was anything else that was wrong.

"You were out for 2 hours." Kaden chimed in.

Hearing this, Alice paused in surprise.

2 hours? She had only talked to Cayla briefly and nothing more. Yet that still knocked her out for 2 hours.

\'Damn, at least she can choose to talk to me face to face next time.\' Alice grumbled inwardly.

But considering neither Allura nor Kaden knew of Cayla in the future, perhaps Cayla didn\'t make herself known in this era.

To both of them, Cayla was simply known as the Eye.

"So any reason as to why you just passed out? Or was it the mead?" Kaden asked curiously. He\'s heard of people passing out after getting drunk but passing out at the sight of mead? This was the first.

"It wasn\'t mead. Just had a conversation with someone in my head."

Raising his eyebrow, Kaden saw that Alice wasn\'t joking.

"Should… Should we investigate it or is it fine?" He asked, wondering if Alice wanted assistance.

Shaking her head, Alice got out of the bed and looked for her shoes. Just as she was doing this, she had a realisation.

\'Why the f*ck is there a bed in the library of all things?\'

Turning around, she watched as Kaden snapped his fingers and the bed disappeared into his shadows.

\'Damn… That sh*t is handy as f*ck.\'

Once again, she was reminded of how efficient Kaden\'s shadows were.

With the bed now packed away, both Kaden and Allura returned to their work while Alice sat next to them watching curiously.

"Did something bad happen?" Alice asked.

"Just some annoyances. Beasts are becoming rowdier for an unknown reason. They\'re attacking everyone on site without care for their own survival. It\'s happening all over the Abyss on every layer, even the layers close to the surface with some from the deeper layers going up." Kaden sighed. Even if he could teleport him and Allura around the Abyss constantly, there were too many reports coming in.

Going to one place means another would be under attack.

The Queens Guard and Lord Commander Nyer were out dealing with this sudden uprising but there were only so many of them compared to the vast sea of beasts.

Naturally, he and Allura could make a move but Nyer has already contacted him saying that he\'ll handle it. The two of them should focus on defending the city since they\'ve been granted authority from the Goddess.

Nyer wasn\'t granted an Authority but he didn\'t need one. After all, before he \'became\' human, he was one of the most feared beasts that resided within Terminus. Even after being reborn thanks to the Goddess\'s power, he retained the strength he had previously.

If anything, in terms of raw power, he surpassed Allura and Kaden!

###

Looking at the mountain of corpses before him, Nyer sighed and kneeled down. Closing his eyes, he gave them a silent prayer.

While they may have the form of a beast, they were humans to him. Each one had the potential to join them in their glorious city yet their insanity deprived them of such opportunities.

He didn\'t know what was happening, but it was clear that this was an attack aimed towards his Goddess. A challenge against the laws she put in place.

"I am in no mood for visitors. Please leave." Nyer warned without turning around.

"Why the cold greeting? I believe you know that I mean no harm to you." A feminine voice rang out behind him with a chuckle.

"What does the Apostle belonging to the Moon want with me now? I believe I have already rejected your proposal last time, don\'t make me repeat myself." Nyer warned as a heavy pressure descended upon the area.

Despite him not being an Apostle, the woman could feel a chill down her spine. He was the only one who could make her feel this way aside from the other Apostles.

"I just came to let you know that there\'s been a slight change that we\'ve observed. You already know about the burden placed upon the Goddess of the Abyss. But what you see is only the surface. Do you truly know what is happening to her?"

Furrowing his brows, Nyer glanced back at the woman with a frown.

"Speak."

Seeing his response, the woman\'s smile grew wider as this was now a time for negotiation. If she plays her cards right, they may gain another ally.

"You see, the Abyss is expanding. The rate of expansion was slow before but it\'s beginning to speed up. However, the burden of expansion is being placed on your Goddess since her laws are being implemented.

"As a result, her condition should be deteriorating. How long do you think she can hold out before she cannot take it anymore? Even though she is a special entity in the Abyss, beneath the Will of the Abyss, she is but a pawn like the rest of you."

"Stop telling me riddles and just tell me what you want." Nyer glared. He wasn\'t unaware of the Goddess\'s condition. She who used to walk around her city with joy can no longer move away from her castle.

At this point, she can only look over her city while her body continues to suffer.

"We\'re looking for a way to confront the Will of the Abyss. While we do know it exists, we do not know where it resides. But with your assistance and cooperation, we\'ll be able to get one step closer."

"Is that all?" Nyer sighed as he turned away from the woman.

Hearing this, she was confused when Nyer opened his mouth once more.

"Her Highness already knows about her condition and the Will of the Abyss expanding. She also knows that the Gods of the Surface desire her power. Targeting me and convincing me to help you sever the connection is what you desire right?

"If I help you sever her connection with the Abyss, you\'ll be able to target the source."

Furrowing her brows, she wasn\'t sure where Nyer was going with this.

"I bore of this. All of you Apostles want my power to help you target my Goddess. Be grateful that your Goddess of the Moon has blessed you for this encounter. Now leave."

Before she could even ask about what he was talking about, she noticed the area around them beginning to distort.

Countless cracks across the space revealed themselves as she had been surrounded by blades this entire time. A multilimbed beast loomed above her in the cracks between reality. Slowly, it retracted its weapons and the space sealed itself.

Cold sweat dripped down her back as she didn\'t even sense anything that was wrong with this space.

The only exception within the hierarchy of power. The one who can kill Apostles despite being \'just\' an Abyss Lord.

Nyer, Lord Commander of Ayr.

Without hesitation, she took a step back and left the area.

Standing alone, Nyer closed his eyes.

The Gods knew that his will was wavering. That\'s why they kept sending Apostles to try convince him. His loyalty lies with the Goddess and no one else. Not even the Abyss.

It was she who saved him, not the Abyss. Yet to point his blade at the Abyss was equivalent to pointing his sword at the Goddess.

\'If I don\'t do anything, she dies from the expansion. If I try to stop the Expansion, she may die from the backlash.\' Taking a deep breath, Nyer sighed while looking up at the sky.

He was stuck between two impossible choices where the results would always end up with the Goddess\'s death. Was there no third path?

###

After dealing with the reports, Kaden stood up as he needed to do the patrols around the current Layer of the Abyss. With his powers of teleportation, he was the most suited for Patrols.

As for Allura, she was responsible for the safety within the city and any who targeted the outer walls. Alice will be joining Allura.

Before Kaden could teleport away, Alice opened her mouth.

"Would… Would it be possible for me to meet the Goddess?"

"You want to meet Master?" Kaden raised an eyebrow. Knowing that Alice is from the future, he understood that there were probably things she wanted to find out about. Things she couldn\'t easily talk about.

Hesitating for a moment, Kaden glanced towards the Castle.

"I\'ll ask Master. If she says yes, I can take you there now while Allura does her patrols around the city."

Wrapping himself in a cloak of shadows, Kaden disappeared from the area. It didn\'t take long for him to return and when he did, there was a strange expression on his face when looking at Alice.

"She has agreed to see you. I\'ll send you just outside her door."

Gesturing for Alice to grab onto him, Kaden thought back to what the Goddess said a moment ago.

"Yes… I\'ve been wanting to talk with my successor. If she has some questions for me then let\'s take this time to answer some of them. You can bring her over Kaden."

\'Successor? Alice is… the Successor of Master, the next Goddess of the Abyss?\' Kaden thought to himself with a slight frown.

The fact that Alice is a Successor brings certain theories to mind that he didn\'t want to think about.

But regardless of what he thought, there was no denying that Alice came from the Future and that she is the Successor. Even if he wanted to change the outcome, he doubted that he could.

All he could do was simply follow the instructions given to him by the Goddess and bring Alice to her.