Abyssal Awakening

Activating his resonance, a new set of armour covered him from head to toe while his spear and sword combined into a greatsword that flashed with a mixture of blue and purple.

"Unlike my friends, my resonance is Anti Hunter. Despite the appearance, this is not for fighting beasts." Wess warned as he entered a greatsword stance.

Stomping down, he dashed towards Ria as chains burst out of the ground, locking Ria's leg in place as she widened her eyes.

Gritting her teeth, she snapped her fingers and absorbed three orbs before coating her fist in lightning energy.

Twisting her body, she slammed her fist into the face of the greatsword before it could reach her body.

However, that was a feint as Wess used the force of the punch to propel himself into a swing, cutting towards Ria from the right.

"Damn!!" Bending her body back with the help of the chains, Ria was able to dodge the blade. Funneling her lightning charge through her legs, she broke the chains apart before jumping back and taking several deep breaths to calm herself.

Narrowing her eyes at Wess, she noticed that he didn't charge at her.

'What is he up to?' She thought to herself as he broke his greatsword into a pair of longswords and unleashed a flurry of slashes that sent what seemed to be flaming arcs towards her.

Widening her eyes, Ria charged both her fists with lightning and parried every single slash that was sent towards her. Even when Wess appeared in front of her with a cleave, she managed to catch the blades with a grin on her face.

"Anti Hunter? I think it's lacking a bit of power to be classified as Anti Hunter no?" Ria asked but Wess shook his head.

"I never said this was all of my abilities."

At that moment, it seemed as though time was stored in a single moment as every single slash that he had unleashed appeared around the two of them. Kicking off Ria's arm, Wess jumped back before stabbing his swords into the ground.

With his left hand, spectral chains appeared around Ria's body, locking her in place while he targeted her using his right hand.

Clenching his right hand into a fist, all of the slashes charged towards Ria.

Taking a deep breath, Ria gritted her teeth and absorbed five orbs of lightning as power coursed through her body, breaking the chains in half.

With five times her usual max charge flooding her body, Ria created two lightning dragons around her, protecting her body while also parrying every single slash that was 'recorded' by Wess and fired off in an instant.

Watching Ria dismantle his net of slashes, Wess couldn't help but applaud her power.

His Anti Hunter resonance allowed him to 'record' all of the slashes he had unleashed since the start of the activation. Once he has selected a target, the slashes will never miss and will all be unleashed at once.

But despite that, he was witnessing Ria punching all of his slashes away like they were nothing.

Slamming the final slash into the ground, Ria had a grin on her face but her mind was racing.

'Damn… I didn't think Allura asking me to train with Alice would be this helpful.' Ria thought to herself in disbelief as Allura's attacks while mimicking the Blood Maiden was much faster than what Wess demonstrated.

All she had to do was to create a safe spot for herself while dodging most of the slashes and hit them on the way back. It was simply a process of creating gaps if there were none. A brute force method yet proved to be very effective.

With the slashes now dealt with, Ria cracked her knuckles and charged towards Wess.

###

While Ria and Alice were occupied at the Academy, both Allura and Gin had made their way down to the Underground.

Approaching Joseph's chamber, they could see the man kneeling in front of the altar once more.

"To think I would have the pleasure of meeting two VIP's entering together, how can I help you two esteemed guests today?" Joseph asked with a smile.

"Information like usual. Though it's not you I want to ask these questions. I'm sure you know what I mean." Allura smiled as she threw an object towards Joseph.

Catching the flying object, Joseph saw what it was and frowned.

A crimson key crafted from what seemed to be red briar and metal. A symbol for the Underground and one that's only given out by the owner.

The people that hold this item in the Abyss could be counted on one hand and Allura happened to be one of them.

". . . Very well. But please understand miss Allura, that we don't like to do this often." Joseph smiled bitterly as a marking appeared on his palm.

Hovering it over the key, one of the briars started to disintegrate as he threw the key back to Allura.

"There are two more uses left. Please allow me a moment while I conduct the ritual."

Nodding her head, Allura waited by the side while storing her key away.

"I should get one myself. But I rarely see the boss I don't believe I'll get the chance." Gin shrugged as he was envious of how useful the key was. It was an item that allowed them to break Underground rules. The most basic key that hand handed out rarely was only allowed to be used once.

Yet the one that Allura has in her possession gave her the same authority as the leader for a total of 5 times, this being the third time she's using it.

"Meh. It was given to me as a trade for a favour in the first place. If you really need it I can give one of the uses left to you if you want." Allura shrugged as such an item didn't hold much value to her. If she really wanted to or desperately needed the information, she could simply raid the vaults herself for their records.

Watching Joseph draw out the ritual circle while covering parts of his body with the same paint, Allura thought about the questions she wanted answers to and the best way she could get them answered is by asking the leader of the Underground himself.

Activating the ritual, a burst of energy enveloped Joseph's body as his aura started to change. A spectral figure overlapped his own as he opened his eyes and stared at Allura.

"Ah… If it isn't Allura. To what do I owe this pleasure of seeing you again my lady?" 'Joseph' bowed elegantly.

"Jinya, you should know what I want to ask. First of all, how come the Eclipse Cult has found a way to harvest the bodies of the sealed Abyss Lords? Second of all, why do some of the people belonging to the new faction popping up around the place have the aura of a dead god?" Allura asked as Jinya paused and nodded his head.

"I believe the reason as to why the Eclipse Cult has found a way to harvest the bodies of the Abyss Lords is due to their newest Cardinal that has made his existence known to the world. Cardinal Andmos is his name and he wields some interesting powers. At this moment, we do not know his full capabilities nor do we know about his whereabouts. He comes and goes as he pleases." Jinya shrugged.

"As for your second inquiry, my information is limited but their knowledge of blood rituals and pacts far exceed what is known by any of the three religions. Some of the people with information on them have began to call them the Blood Cult. As for their legitimacy and whom they worship, that is still up for debate but they are making moves across the world.

For the matter of the aura of dead gods… I'm afraid I have no answers."

Hearing this, Allura sighed as she had expected as much.

"Is there anything else you require of me? If not, I would have to say it's quite a terrible use of the Key I have given you. If you wanted answers like these you could've just visited." Jinya chuckled.

"Then help me revoke a few memberships of the Eclipse Cult who are involved in the matter of the White Death. Secondly, I want you to revoke every single membership belonging to the Zenia family and refuse to give them any support of any kind."

Hearing this, Jinya paused as the Zenia family was the leading family in terms of Abyss Blood research and supply. Cutting them off immediately would cause drastic damages.

"The first I can do easily as desecrating the bodies of the old Abyss Lords are looked down upon by both the Sun and Moon. However… The Zenia's are deeply ingrained into our society along with the three Churches. Not to mention their influence on the surface. Cutting them off so suddenly on a whim is… Difficult. Even if it's you who's requesting this." Jinya smiled bitterly.

"If it was anyone else I would've said it's either the Zenia's or me. You know that right? But since its you, I'll spare you the trouble. Just hinder everything they do from now on. Hinder their businesses, hinder their attempts to collect blood and make sure to expose whatever secrets you can dig up from their house.

Just as a hint, they may struggle to produce more usable Abyss Blood for the world unless they start kidnapping a large number of people for experiments. Use that against them. I want their reputation and trust from the world ruined. You don't have to cut them off if you can't, just make sure they suffer." Allura demanded as Jinya couldn't help but sweat.

Allura had always kept herself a bystander and a neutral party to most things yet for them to receive such a reaction from Allura, he couldn't help but wonder what crimes they committed to deserve this.

"Very well. I would say this request would've been worth two uses but seeing as though I have declined your first request and made you change it due to difficulties on our end, this one will only cost the one use that you have already paid. I believe that is everything you require of me, yes?" Jinya asked as Allura nodded.

"Then I shall bid you farewell and hope to see you soon." Jinya bowed, watching Allura and Gin leave the room.

"Oh boy… The Zenia's are going to suffer for annoying Allura." He shook his head with a sigh.

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