Abyssal Awakening

Everything in the world has a 'time limit'. Nothing is eternal.

Even for those deemed as cursed, immortal or even the Gods, time limits exist for everyone.

Some may not be the standard type of 'time limit' that one would think of, but nothing truly lasts forever.

For the Goddess known as Velouria, that time limit was the Will of the Abyss.

Sooner or later, the expansion of the Abyss would've taken her life if the Gods failed.

When the sealed Abyss Lord of Old, Miralith, taps into the powers of time, she interferes with this time limit.

That's the key goal of the ritual performed by Selen when she 'summons' Miralith.

A barrier is formed around the target and within that barrier, time slowly comes to a halt. Once time is fully halted, the target is removed from the flow of time and erased.

But rather than halting time, it's better to describe it as forcefully dragging the time limit towards the current time. By exhausting all of the 'time' they have allotted to them, they're removed from this life.

The stronger the opponent, the harder it is to drag the time limit.

*CLANG!!!

"HAH! You puny sh*t! You'll never get through our defences like this!" Troy roared as he stomped down and punched towards Selen.

Bending her body, she dodged easily before disappearing like a ghost once more.

They couldn't kill her, but she couldn't kill them either.

It'll only be a matter of time before the others come here to deal with her since it was taking too long.

Sweat dripped from her face as she landed on the roof and took a few breaths. However, her break was short as Haldir appeared next to her with his arms raised.

"!!!"

*BANG!!!

Jumping back just in time to dodge, Selen narrowly avoided the fate of being crushed into the roof.

'My perception manipulation is losing effectiveness.'

It wasn't a case of her opponents adapting but rather her energy was almost reaching rock bottom.

Ducking down, she avoided the sneak attack by Troy before slashing up with her blade.

*KRKKK!!!

Once again, she couldn't pierce his skin and her blade was deflected. Gritting her teeth in annoyance, she slid through his legs and rolled to the side, avoiding the tail slam.

*BANG BANG BANG!!!

Footsteps heavy like cannon shots roared out as Troy jumped to the side, revealing Haldir who was charging at her with his horns first. A barrier of energy lashed out around him, making it hard for Selen to dodge.

Acceleration!

*CRASH!!!

She didn't want to have to cast acceleration since it exhausts a lot of energy but there was no choice. Even she could tell that charge was dangerous and if she was to allow herself to get hit by that, she didn't have another safety net to rely on.

Right now, she had no healing vials and no energy. She had to kill these two with what she had available to her.

But their defences were still a large issue that she couldn't deal with. If she can't deal with the defences, she'll never kill these two.

One other option would be a ritual with Miralith. But considering she needed to set up the perimeter and stand still, she doubted it would work.

[We can make a different kind of contract if you desire.] Miralith's voice growled in her ears as Selen widened her eyes.

Rolling away to avoid Troy's attack, she frowned.

The only other time Miralith has taken the initiative to talk to her was the first time they were 'fused' to a certain degree. The moment her blood was infused into her body and granted the power to manipulate time.

That was the only time they talked and the moment she established the first ritual of utilizing her strength.

'A bit suspicious that you're offering it to me now. You've been watching haven't you.'

The timing was too good to be a whim of the sealed Lord.

[You expect me to rot here and die silently? After the b*stards fed you my blood? Hah! Fat chance.] Miralith laughed as Selen flipped back and avoided Haldir's slam.

Running up his arm, he tried to stab him in the eye but Troy was ahead of her.

He jumped over Haldir, ready to punch Selen but she swung herself from his horn and avoided the blow.

'So what do you want from me then?' Selen asked as she could feel her heart crashing against her chest.

[If you desire the power to kill these two, I can help you out. A contract to connect me to your Spiritual Heart. I'll funnel the power into you and in return… You allow me to take over from time to time. A fair trade don't you think? After all, I've been stuck here for so long. I too long to take a breath of fresh air.]

If it was before, Selen would've said yes.

However, after her recent awakening and understanding of Miralith's power, this was clearly a trap. A vile trap designed to take over her body completely.

The moment she allows Miralith to take over her body, she'll use her powers to stretch out the time she had with it and find a way to eliminate Selen from the equation. Essentially, her body becomes an avatar for the sealed Lord.

'I'll pass. I'm not so desperate to give up my body like this. It's not like I'm completely out of ideas either.' Selen narrowed her eyes.

There was still something she could try, something she learned from Alice and her reckless plans.

Sometimes, it is within the danger that one will find the path to survival.

Adjusting the blade in her hand, Selen crouched down and dashed towards both Haldir and Troy.

Without her perception manipulation, both of them could see her coming from a mile away.

Curling his lips into a grin, lightning sparked through his crystals as Troy slammed his hands down to get into all fours and cracked his jaw open.

Truth Seeker!

Activating the skill of Truth Seeker, Selen's view of the world began to shift.

After fighting these two, the information she's obtained and the habits she's observed gave her all the tools she needed for a perfect prediction.

The next 10 seconds was completely in her grasp!

A torrent of raw destructive energy.

Stepping to the side, Selen used her blade to swing herself away from danger, dodging the initial and fastest part of Troy's breath attack.

After witnessing it missing, he swiped it to the right in an attempt to catch Selen but she dodged over it with ease.

Throwing her blade towards Troy's eyes, Selen watched as Haldir blocked it for him but it was fine since she just needed one opportunity for him to lose sight of her.

Grabbing her blade, she ignored Haldir's grab towards her as she slashed at the corner of Troy's mouth.

Stopping his breath in anger, Troy grabbed Selen by the arm and held her in the air.

*CRUNCH!!!

His jaw crashed down on her torso, the sound of bones shattering and blood oozing out could be heard but there was no scream.

Only laughter.

A fearful feeling crept into Troy's heart as he glanced towards Selen's face and saw her grinning like a wild woman while blood dripped from her lips.

"Yo hybrid, have you ever heard of your predecessors?" Selen asked as Haldir and Troy were immediately on guard.

They remained in their beast form this entire time so how did the girl know that they were Hybrids?

"Failed products who couldn't fully adjust to the blood of the original. So instead, they gave us the blood of sealed Lords to try and offset it. But you guys… hehe… You guys have more of her blood in you don't you?" Selen laughed as the wound she cut in Troy's mouth pressed against her wounds.

The blood of the hybrids and her own blood began to mix. The concentration of Alice's blood within the Hybrid's body was far higher than Selen's and she could already feel her body burning up from the inside.

However, after she was forced to take care of Alice during her weakest period, consistently exposing herself to the full concentration of her blood, Selen's resistance had increased drastically!

"Spit her out!" Haldir roared as Troy swung his head and tried to throw Selen away.

"Too late!" Selen laughed.

Grabbing one of his crystals the moment Troy let go of her, Selen swung herself onto his back and stabbed towards the back of his head with her fingers.

Troy tried to blast her off his back using the sparks of electricity but it was no use, Selen ignored it all.

A dark energy wrapped around Selen's hand as her fingers came into contact with his scales.

At that moment, Selen could see a strand of green from the contact point. A frail strand, flowing with the progression of time.

*KRK!!!!

Ripping that strand in half, Selen's hand tore through his scales as it began to wither.

"ARGGGG!!!" Letting out a frantic scream, Troy wanted to slam Selen into a wall as Haldir punched towards her.

A pulse of energy erupted with Selen in the centre. Everything around her began to slow down as she took hold of Troy's brain.

A cold light glimmered in Selen's eyes as she clenched her fist and crushed it without hesitation.

Before Troy could hit the ground, Selen threw his brain matter towards Haldir's eyes, blocking his view.

Jumping up, she grabbed him by the horns.

She tried to wither him earlier but Troy always got in the way. But now? There was nothing covering for him.

Rather than wither, she had a better idea in mind.

She was going to 'steal' his time!

A maniacal grin appeared on Selen's face as runic patterns appeared above her head. From Haldir's body, strands of green energy could be seen escaping his body and entering Selen as he began to age and decay rapidly.

His speech, an incoherent mess of panicked screams and cries.

Soon, he collapsed on the ground as a dried up husk with old white hairs all over him.

Letting go of Haldir, Selen stumbled towards Troy.

Haldir was a lost cause but Troy still had Alice's blood in him. Licking her lips, she grabbed a knife and carved out his heart.

Miralith was silent while looking at the husk left behind by Selen.

After increasing the concentration of Alice's blood within her body, a mutation had occurred! The ability to steal time from others...

At this point, Miralith could no longer call it an extension of her powers.

It was simply... Demonic!

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