Abyssal Awakening

"Alice?" Selen muttered upon seeing Ayla's appearance.

Similar yet also different at the same time.

The scars across the face, the way she dresses, those mannerisms… Selen knew that the woman in front of her wasn't Alice.

Her brief moment of distraction was enough for Kagen to break free of her grip and kick her in the stomach, forcing her back.

Elowen wanted to take this chance to attack but noticed Ayla paused on the spot.

Her smile faltered as her eyes were focused on Selen.

The appearance of the original host was not known very well through the family. Even for the hybrids, they don't know exactly what happened.

But Ayla was a recent addition to the hybrids. An attempt to recreate the original host. She knew whom she resembled and what her name was.

If the woman in front of her was able to accurately say the name upon seeing her appearance then…

"The original host still lives…"

On top of that, the woman in front of them knows her!

"Elowen, a change of plans. We're capturing this woman in front of us alive." Ayla smiled.

"Huh?!" Laura looked over in shock.

"Why are we taking her back with us alive? She killed our family!" Kagen questioned with a burning rage.

"Because her knowledge will be a great asset to the family. It is her knowledge that'll let the family achieve their goals." Ayla explained.

Hearing this, Kagen and Laura gritted their teeth in anger.

But if its for the family, then they had no say in the matter.

"Taking her alive is fine. We can beat her up a little right?" Kagen asked.

"Go ahead. Just don't kill her." Ayla nodded with a wave of her hand.

While the hybrids were talking, Selen came to her own conclusion.

First of all, they don't know that Alice is alive.

Second of all, they still don't know where she is.

Third of all, most of them didn't know what Alice looked like.

Selen understood one vital fact from these three truths.

Even if she was feeling the high of power, even if she felt like the world was spinning around her, she refused to let the Zenias hurt Alice any more than they already had!

To achieve that, she had to kill all witnesses!

Feathers and spikes covered her eyes once more as a malevolent aura burst out from Selen's body.

Monochrome World!

However, after her mutation, her realm experienced a few changes.

Above them hung a swirling chaotic spiral of clouds and rampaging energy. A single bleeding eclipsed sun connecting the skies above to the lands below.

Scattered throughout the monochrome lands stood broken decayed clock towers, each one surrounded by a pile of ruin. Each clock face had countless cracked glass with the clock hands jumping back and forth around the same number, perpetually stuck in one moment of time.

Dark twisted trees with clocks fused into the trunk. Warped bases coated by spikes.

Branches that melted while barely maintaining their form, leaving dark liquid strands hanging off the trees.

Some trees didn't have branches, only a trunk leading up to a single broken clock face.

A river of darkness created by the bleeding sun meandered through this nightmarish hellscape.

Even without fully understanding Selen's realm, Elowen could sense that it was unstable.

'If Ayla's words are right, she's still trying to adapt to the changes in her body. We have the advantage!' Elowen reared her head back as the energy around her body shifted to a neon yellow.

*BANG!!!

Lightning crashed down from above but Selen disappeared from her spot.

"Captain! Permission!" Kagen shouted.

"Granted!"

With permission finally granted, Kagen and Laura rushed towards one another as their aura began to soar.

However, before they could reach one another, Selen appeared in the middle of them.

Twisting her body, she released a spinning kick and launched them away from one another.

It didn't take a genius to realise that these twins had something up their sleeves. The fact that they asked for permission only solidified this thought.

Thankfully, Selen had already gained a rough understanding of her opponents. Elowen seemed to be more of the utility kind, lacking proper damage. While it may be good against weaker targets, it lacks the lethality to kill someone like her. The twins were rather weak while they were separated.

As for the Alice lookalike, Selen didn't have any information on her so she had to keep an eye on the wildcard.

"ARGGG!!!" Releasing a torrent of white flames in anger, Kagen tried to hit Selen but she disappeared like a ghost.

*BANG!!!

Appearing next to him, she slammed her knee up into his jaw, forcefully closing his mouth and launching him up.

She then grabbed him by the ankles and slammed him onto the floor. Summoning her sword, a dark energy wrapped around the blade as the clocks around her began to toll.

But before she could stab down, a portal opened next to her with Elowen rushing out in her hybrid form.

She was dressed in a flowing white gown that shimmered with the same radiance of her flames. Smoke that formed a raiment that weaved through her armpit, over her shoulders and behind her head. Her blond hair shifted to the same white as her scales and in her hands, she held a large white scythe.

Leaning back, she slashed up with the scythe as Selen faded from her perception and reappeared not far away.

The space that she had occupied earlier was torn apart with hints of the real world leaking through before repairing.

Furrowing her brows, Selen understood that there was a risk of Elowen dismantling her realm skill.

"Laura! Kagen! Do what you need to do, I'll keep her occupied." Elowen ordered, adjusting her stance.

Hearing her declaration, Selen burst out in laughter.

"You? Keep me occupied? Pft! Ahahahaha! Alright, try if you can. Keep your eyes on me and don't let me escape your notice now~" Selen giggled, tilting her head with a wide grin.

Furrowing her brows, Elowen wanted to attack when a slash wound appeared across her torso.

"!!!" Widening her eyes, she didn't even know when Selen got so close to her!

Twisting her body, she wanted to push Selen away but she disappeared once more and another wound appeared on her back.

"What's wrong? I thought you were going to keep me occupied? What if I was to disappear and hit the twins instead~" Selen taunted.

Confusion filled Elowen's mind as she couldn't work out what Selen's powers were. Turning around, she looked towards the twins and saw Selen raising her blade in hand.

Reaching out with her hand, the space around the twins began to distort.

*KRK!!!

Slashing down with her blade, she appeared next to Elowen and cut her arm in two.

Flinching from the pain, Elowen was a little late in blocking as Selen twisted her body and kicked her in the stomach, throwing Elowen back as she crashed into the twisted trees of this realm.

The twins that she saw weren't the real twins but rather a 'recording'. A reflection of where they were a few moments ago.

The real twins were already suspended in a prison of time by Selen, unable to reach one another despite the short distance between them.

*Clap clap clap~

Glancing towards Ayla, Selen could see the girl clapping her hands.

"Simply remarkable. I don't understand why you don't feel gratitude in your heart after the family has granted you such power. Do you think you could've attained such a feat had it not been for the family?" Ayla asked, crossing her legs and resting her chin on her palm.

"I never chose this path." Selen raised her sword towards the girl but didn't make a move.

Her opponent was too confident to the point it was eerie.

There was something about this girl and she couldn't rush in blindly.

"You never chose this path? Stop lying to yourself. You could've stopped at any point the moment you left the family. But you continue to use this power have you not? And… To seal the deal, you even bathed yourself in the blood of us hybrids. You wanted more power didn't you?" Ayla grinned.

Selen wanted to retort but it was the truth.

She was already at her limit during the fight against Troy and Haldir. If she didn't gamble with her life and infuse herself with the blood of hybrids, she would've died then and there.

She hated the Zenias but had to admit that their research and experiments had created beings with immense power. If it wasn't for this, for the power to control time, Selen probably wouldn't be able to contend against these hybrids without a perfect set of Sigils.

"I don't feel gratitude because there wouldn't be a need to have this power if the Zenias didn't create freaks like us."

"Still denying your saviour to the end. No matter, I simply need to guide the lost lamb back to the family." Ayla sighed as Sigils lit up across her body.

From her back, three pairs of wings began to unfurl itself, wrapping her in a cocoon of white feathers.

Not wanting the girl to finish her transformation, Selen conjured a staff to halt the time but a frown appeared on her face.

Around the girl, there existed an invisible barrier that her powers couldn't bypass!

As the feathers unfurled, Ayla's bestial appearance revealed itself.

She had a skeletal form with pieces of silver armour adorning parts of her body. Flowing white hair that reached to her ankles and a tattered red cloak that contrasted the white bones and hair.

Behind her, six wings unfurled, revealing their pristine white feathers.

Ominously, eyes decorated the centre of these wings as two golden halos spun to life above Ayla.

In her hands, she held a single bloodied white spear.

In front of Selen now hovered an angel of death. A blend of holy and demonic.

"Allow me to guide you back to the right path."