Abyssal Awakening

Raising the heart above her head, Selen curled her lips into a menacing grin. There was a strange light in her eyes as she crushed the heart and opened her mouth.

*Gulp

Drinking the blood, her body trembled as Alice's blood diffused into her body.

"Haha… Hahahahaha!" Letting out a laughter from the depths of her soul, Selen tossed the heart away.

She felt a high like no other.

Seventh heaven.

She could feel her energy replenishing as strength coursed through her body. Glancing down at Troy's body, she giggled to herself.

It was too much of a waste to leave this be.

*KRK!!!

She dug her hands through the corpse and began to drink what blood she could get her hands on.

A laughter howled out in the area as those who were curious felt a chill down their spine. Illuminated by the moonlight, Selen dressed herself in a outfit of blood, scales and innards.

Twisting the flesh above her, she bathed herself in blood.

A pair of bloodshot eyes scanned around for her next targets but she couldn't find anyone.

"Ah~ I want more~" She giggled.

Standing up, she wanted to leave when her smile faded away.

Gritting her teeth, anger filled her chest as she gathered energy into her fist and turned around in one swift movement.

*BANG!!!

Punching Troy's corpse so that pieces of him flew everywhere, Selen let out a scream of anger.

Kicking pieces of Troy's body while panting, tears began to fall.

She kneeled down and cried a river of tears that mixed with the blood around them.

Her mind spun in turmoil as black feathers and spikes began to manifest across her body.

Clutching her eyes, Selen felt the urge to claw them out as a pin like pain stabbed against the back of her eyes.

Countless strands of energy representing the flow of time stretched out in front of her. A blinding swirl until colour began to fade from the world.

She could see her flesh writhing beneath the skin as though a thousand insects were crawling through her body.

Raising her hand towards the moon, Selen let out one more cry of pain before deafening silence.

###

Floating in the air, Elowen gritted her teeth as things deviated from their initial expectations.

Things were quickly spiralling out of control as four hybrids have now died.

Half of their numbers were gone!

"Captain, are you still going to ask us to stay here?" Kagen asked as a dark aura exuded from his body, hiding his appearance as only a pair of crimson motes could be seen, representing his eyes.

His tone was calm with a hidden anger.

"His words have some merit. Perhaps it is time for you to consider a different plan." A woman landed next to them gently.

It was the same woman who appeared next to the living shadows that were sent to deal with the Lords.

The wild card brought to deal with the queen herself, Ayla.

"Are they not here as a trump card to begin with? Or are you suggesting that you're going to take care of the anomaly?" Ayla asked with a small smile on her face.

Furrowing her brows, Elowen sighed.

She was here to make sure all of them had a path back.

"The anomaly is taking care of us one by one. Even though both Troy and Haldir are dead, it's clear that she took much longer to deal with it than Folmar and Neia. Sticking as a group will make it much harder for her to single us out." Elowen replied.

Even though she wanted to see what was happening at the base of the strange flower, that was the domain of Verona. Even if Ayla was here to deal with her, it was still risky to fight on her home turf.

They had to be careful.

With the Queen not even showing her face, it only raised more questions. What was she waiting for? Was she hesitant about being infected? Why was she doing nothing while chaos filled her capital? Or was she confident that things would end just fine?

"So in the end, we're still just waiting then? Even after she killed our family?" Laura gritted her teeth as her aura began to match her twin.

Frustration and anger.

"That's…" Hesitating for a moment, Elowen couldn't deny it as there were too many unknown variables at play.

With her being their only way out of the capital, she couldn't risk it. It was already enough that they lost four hybrids. At this point, they should just cut their losses.

Right as she turned around to tell them her decision, her pupils constricted in shock.

Standing silently in the middle of them, a woman stood with a wide grin on her face. Feathers and spikes decorated her body with a pair of wings folding in front and hiding her eyes. Long black hair that fluttered in the wind and the thick stench of blood filled the air.

On top of all that, it was only now that Elowen could feel an unstable aura similar to the Hybrids. Rather, her aura had traces of Troy mixed into it.

One thought came to mind.

'She's the one that killed Troy and Haldir!'

"One… Two… Three and four… Seems like this is all of you." Selen tilted her head slightly.

With Elowen noticing Selen, her presence became clear to the hybrids around her.

The twins immediately attacked with Laura releasing a torrent of white flames and Kagen slashing towards her with a claw coated by a black mist.

However, before their attack could land, it was frozen in mid air.

"Tsk tsk tsk, I'm only saying hi, why so hostile? Unless… you wanted to die? Oh you poor souls, should I liberate you from this life?" Selen asked, disappearing and reappearing behind the twins.

Her hands slowly reaching towards them but Elowen managed to compose herself.

A Void fissure cracked open in front of Selen, pushing her back while the twins were teleported next to Elowen.

Tilting her head, Selen glanced at her fingers before turning her head to the Hybrid that controls the Void.

"I remember you… You're the one that ambushed us when we were going to the port…" She muttered.

"!!!"

Glancing to her side, Elowen felt sweat drip down her back as Selen appeared on her shoulder with her hands stroking her draconic face.

"Whatever should I do with you… Thanks to your ambush, we went through quite the trouble you know?" Selen let out a soft giggle as the scales slowly began to wither.

Elowen wanted to move but instinctively, she knew that she if did something hasty, Selen wouldn't hesitate to kill her.

The cold hands of death wrapped around her neck, slowly tightening with each passing second.

"Get your filthy hands off the captain." Kagen warned with gritted teeth as he prepared to attack but Selen held up a finger.

"Let's not get violent here. If anything, I should be the one angry you know? You barge into this capital, release your disgusting disease and laugh as people are transformed. But when I kill your allies responsible for this, I'm disgusting?" Selen's smile slowly faded as her aura began to climb.

In the next moment, she disappeared from everyone's view and reappeared next to Kagen, dispelling his aura and halting his transformation.

Her hand wrapped around his neck as green strands of energy could be seen pulsing on his neck.

"It doesn't really sound fair now does it? Don't you think life should be repaid with life?" Selen asked as Laura lashed out.

But before her attack landed, a hand grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back.

In front of her, time halted and pieces of her clothing that were caught withered into dust.

"Lucky gal~" Selen chuckled.

Ayla was the one who pulled Laura back before she was killed.

For the twins to show their full strength, both of them needed to be alive.

Just having one half would significantly decrease their fighting power.

"Lost lamb of the family, should I congratulate you on your upgrade? To go from a failed product to becoming part of the new order like us." Ayla smiled.

She could clearly sense that Selen's body was undergoing changes thanks to Troy's blood, the blood of a hybrid.

Even now, something shifting inside her mind, inside her body. But… If there wasn't a foundation to work with, this wouldn't have happened.

Meaning, she was a product of the Zenias. Only a product would have the foundations necessary for an upgrade like this.

"Lost lamb? No… I'm not lost. I never wanted to be part of this family to begin with. Ah~ How infuriating. To think you would even think of me as family… Disgusting." Selen frowned as veins bulged on her temple. Her grip began to tighten around Kagen's neck but soon, she calmed down.

"You may not like it but you cannot deny the power it has given you. Are you not drunk from its excellence right now? The feeling of becoming a hybrid. The power at your fingertips, it draws the true you out from all of that façade." Ayla slowly curved her lips up into a smile.

Darkness spread out from her like tentacles, dyeing the world in darkness as Selen furrowed her brows. There was something... Eerily family with this woman.

Little by little, the feathers and spikes around her eyes began to peel away, revealing a pair of darkened eyes similar to Cayla's true form.

The sclera was black while the pupil shimmered with an ethereal green and blue.

With her sight partially restored, Selen's gaze trembled at the sight of Ayla.

"Alice?"

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